Doves,
I mentioned that I would later post
and give you my thoughts on the remaining verses of
that chapter of scripture which are 1,2,3 and 7. The
time hasn't seemed right to go forward with this
discussion for whatever reason (God I
believe). Yesterdays reading of Barry Amundsen's
post concerning the rapture and arc of the
covenant seemed to prompt me to continue. Also
fresh news coming out of Egypt.
The time now seems right for me to
finish the rest of Isaiah 18 and post my thoughts to
you for your consideration.
Verse 1,2,3 and 7 are or can be vague enough
to be open for all manor of explanations. I know several
Doves who insist that Isaiah 18 verse
2 is referring to the United States. I don't
agree and it's my opinion that Isaiah in all his
writings was talking about his "neighborhood" that he
was aware of and familiar with. That being........ the
Middle East, North Africa or Asia Minor. Not America,
Brazil, New Zealand or wherever. I know that our pride of
and in America beckons us to believe that
many of these bible passages speak of and to it
(America) and that God sees some great importance with us
but I truly believe Isaiah was just talking about "his
neighborhood".
That being said let me list the verses and
then share my thoughts on these verses and how they are
being fulfilled now before our eyes
and may signal the soon rapture timeframe.
Bible....Black
My comments.....red
1 Woe to the land of buzzing wings,(Egypt and its locust swarms recently)
Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,(Egypt is downstream of Ethiopia's rivers)
2 (Egypt) Which
sends ambassadors by sea,
even in vessels of reed on the waters,
(we have all seen
the large boats from Egypt built of reeds from the
Nile)
saying
"Go, swift messengers,(from
Egypt) to a nation proud and tall and smooth
of skin,(Ethiopia)
To a people terrible from their beginning
onward,
a nation powerful and treading down,
whose land the rivers divide."
The tribes from Ethiopia and
Sudan are the tallest people on average in the world. The
men average 6'4" and the women 6'0". And they are smooth of
skin, no body hair. Ethiopia was a nation powerful from its
start but didn't keep up as time went by hence they
"treaded down". A map of Ethiopia will show how the country
is divided like a cut pizza by it's rivers.
Why would Egypt send
messengers (ambassadors) to Ethiopia?
The Nile River is
presently drying up and is the life-blood of Egypt.
Without the Nile there is no Egypt. Egypt gets its water for
the Nile from Ethiopia and Sudan to the south. Ethiopia
plans on building a large hydroelectric facility which will
divert water from getting to Egypt drying up the Nile even
more. This will be intolerable for Egypt and the
Egyptian government. Presently the Egyptian government is
sending ambassadors to Ethiopia to try to
prevent this from happening. Here's the article.......
3 All inhabitants of the world and
dwellers on the earth:
(that would be us.......
He's saying pay attention to what is happening)
When he (God) lifts
up a banner on the mountains, you see it,
And when he (God) blows
a trumpet, you hear it.
Presently and for months
now people all over the world have been hearing trumpet
sounds not knowing where they are coming from. And there
have been volcanoes going off all over the planet which
spread smoke horizontally across the mountains and
sky for hundreds of miles...... like banners.
Note...for the explanation of verses 4,5 and
6 see my prior post.....
7 In that time (when
these other things listed are happening) a
present will be brought to the Lord of hosts,
From a people tall and smooth of skin,
And from a people terrible from their
beginning onward,
A nation powerful and treading down,
Whose land the rivers divide---- (we have determined this to be Ethiopia)
To the place of the name of the Lord of
hosts,
To mount Zion. (Jerusalem)
What kind of a present
could the Ethiopians bring to Jerusalem now and
present to the Lord of hosts (Jesus)? The "arc of the covenant".
I am sure many of you are aware from watching National
Geographic specials that the "arc of the covenant" is
supposed to be housed and protected in a church in
Ethiopia. Are the Ethiopians for whatever reason now near ready to bring the arc to Jerusalem
and present it to the Lord of hosts? And will this signal
the timeframe for the rapture of the church? Or will this
happen immediately after the rapture of the church?
Let me recap all of this the way I perceive
it. Isaiah is giving us a heads up as to when the rapture of
the church will happen. He says....
....when you see Egypt send ambassadors
(negotiators) to Ethiopia having something to do with rivers
(verse 1,2)
....when you see volcanoes around the
planet belching out horizontal smoke trails for miles
that look like banners across the mountains (verse 3)
....when you hear trumpet like sounds all
around the planet (verse 3)
This is when our Lord will take His
rest and look down from His dwelling place (the clouds?) to
witness two things rising. The dead in
Christ and the alive in Christ in the great
resurrection....the rapture.(verse 4 )
He comes to take His bride but leaves
the sour grapes (Jews) to ripen, to sweeten to Him later.
(verse 5)
This happens some time late spring or early
summer whenever the "sour grape is ripening in the
flower"(verse 5)
The left behind (branches) will have to
face Satan's troops...UFO's that appear in summer and
the beasts of the earth (terrible demonic locust from Rev.9)
in the winter (verse 6)
In that time whether just
before or immediately after the rapture the
Ethiopians will see fit to bring the "arc of the covenant"
to Jerusalem as a present to Jesus, the Lord of hosts.
(verse 7) Keep in mind also that Ethiopia has been a
Christian country for centuries.
I believe that when the "arc of the
covenant" reaches Jerusalem it will give the Israelis the
impetus they need to build their new temple.
The signs Isaiah gave us are staring us in
the face. And considering other world and especially Middle
East events I perceive we may be very close to the "big"
trumpet blowing to bring us home.
Blessings.........John B
PS...Shane C this post is for you......I
believe it was you that especially asked that I finish
Isaiah 18