Isaiah 17 The beginning of the end

The Beginning of the End

Taking another look at Isaiah 17

Isaiah 17 (Amplified Bible)

¹THE MOURNFUL, inspired prediction (a burden to be lifted up) concerning Damascus [capital of Syria]. Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins.

Damascus, Syria has been conquered, destroyed and then rebuilt many times but it has never ceased from being a city. Therefore, while there is a historical fulfillment of this prophecy when the Assyrians attacked Damascus, which was allied with the northern kingdom of Israel, it is very probably that there is a future destruction that has yet to occur.

Possible fulfillment:

We start this story with the complete, sudden destruction of Damascus, Syria. We can surmise that it is destroyed by a military attack.

Some of the following prophecies have been partially fulfilled in history, but since the primary prophecy about the complete destruction of Damascus has never been fulfilled and these other prophecies are associated with this destruction of Damascus, we can safely assume that the complete fulfillment of all of these prophecies is yet in the future.

²The cities of Aroer [east of the Jordan] are forsaken; they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

The cities of Aroer are cities that were on the northern banks of the river Arnon in Jordan, in the original land of Rueben. There was also an area in the land of Gad near the current city of Rabbah (Amman, Jordan) that was known as Aroer. These cities are forsaken or deserted and become grazing land and it will be a place of no fear. Because the area becomes grazing land, it is unlikely that they are destroyed with nuclear weapons (they are destroyed by fire, conventional weaponry – Jer. 49).

Possible fulfillment:

This verse tells us that Jordan will be involved at the time that Damascus is destroyed. Jer. 49 reveals to us that Amman will be destroyed and the neighboring cities burned with fire (conventional weaponry). The prophecies against Moab and Amman (Jordan) are given in Isaiah 15-16 and Jer. 48-49. These prophecies tell of great destruction and cities destroyed in the areas east of Israel.

³His bulwark [Syria] and the fortress shall disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria will be like the [departed] glory of the children of Israel [her ally], says the Lord of hosts.

The fortress of this area of Ephraim (northern Israel) shall cease or be destroyed and the kingdom from Damascus or the power of Damascus will end (the sovereignty, royal power and authority will be removed). Those left in Syria, the remnant, will be like the remnant of Israel after the Assyrians had devastated the northern kingdom of Israel.

The land of the tribe of Ephraim is today what we know as Samaria or the West Bank. The fortresses or strongholds could refer to terrorist strongholds that exist today in the West Bank. So we see that when Damascus is destroyed, the West Bank will be cleansed of strongholds, which implies that Israel will attack the terrorists in the West Bank as the have just done in Gaza.

Possible fulfillment:

These verses tell us that the Palestinian strongholds of the West Bank will also be destroyed or removed as a player in the coming events. They also tell us that there will be a remnant in Syria that will be much like the remnant of Israel after the historical earlier Assyrian invasion.

The picture being painted here is of an attack on Damascus and the terrorists in Samaria. Given the current situation of the growing threat of Iran gaining nuclear weapons, and the fact that the leading terrorist organization are headquartered out of Damascus, an Israeli attack on Iran and Syria and on the terrorist camps in Samaria seems not only possible, but highly likely. The response to this attack will most probably be counter attacks on Israel’s key cities and their military bases.

⁴And in that day the former glory of Jacob [Israel--his might, his population, his prosperity] shall be enfeebled, and the fat of his flesh shall become lean.

Israel will suffer during these events. There will be poverty, privation and desolation. Israel will also suffer much with deaths, food shortages, poverty and fear.

⁵And it shall be as when the reaper gathers the standing grain and his arm harvests the ears; yes, it shall be as when one gathers the ears of grain in the fertile Valley of Rephaim.

It will seem that Israel has been abandoned like fields after the harvest. The valley of Rephaim is the area west and southwest of Jerusalem (would include the Tel Aviv-Joppa area).

Possible fulfillment:

This tells us that the area west of Jerusalem including Tel Aviv will suffer during this time of military activity, stripped bare and abandoned like fields after the harvest.

⁶Yet gleanings [of grapes] shall be left in it [the land of Israel], as after the beating of an olive tree [with a stick], two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outermost branches of the fruitful tree, says the Lord, the God of Israel.

There will be great destruction in Israel and only a remnant or gleaning will remain. Only those in "the highest branches" will survive. Israel will be stripped bare of people.

Possible fulfillment:

Here we learn that there will be a surviving remnant in Israel. The surviving remnant will be in a "high place". The only safe and high place that I can imagine in such a time as this will be in the Lord. I believe that the believers in the land will survive.

At least part of the surviving remnant will be in the High Place of the Lord's protection, the Rock, their hiding place.

⁷In that day will men look to their Maker, and their eyes shall regard the Holy One of Israel.

These events will cause those remaining to look to the Lord their maker and have respect for the Holy One of Israel.

These events will be the catalyst for a great turning back to the Lord.

Possible fulfillment:

All of these events are intended to bring God's people Israel back to him. The remnant will look to their God, their creator and have respect for the Holy one of Israel. These events drive the Jews back to God and in fact drive them to come to believe that Jesus is their Messiah. The believers in the land today will be a “voice crying in the wilderness, behold Jesus is the Messiah”. These events will be the catalyst of a great revival in the Land of Israel.

⁸And they will not look to the [idolatrous] altars, the work of their hands, neither will they have respect for what their fingers have made--either the Asherim [symbols of the goddess Asherah] or the sun-images.

The survivors will forsake their idol worship in whatever form they have made it. Humanism, false religion, spiritism in all its forms, and materialism will fall. The remnant in Israel will give up their idol worship of human greatness, money, power, pleasure, humanism and materialism.

⁹In that day will their [Israel's] strong cities be like the forsaken places in the wood and on the mountaintop, as they [the Amorites and the Hivites] forsook their [cities] because of the children of Israel; and there will be desolation.

Possible fulfillment:

The strong, largest cities west and north of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa will be forsaken. They will become just like the cities of the Hivites and Amorites abandoned when the Israelites (Joshua and company) came long ago. And there will be desolation.

What about Jerusalem? Looking to Jer. 49:25 NIV, it seems that for some reason Jerusalem is not "forsaken" or destroyed, and not abandoned.

Jer. 49:25 AMP - "How (remarkable that) the renowned city is not deserted, the city of my joy!"

Here we see that the large cities west of Jerusalem will be attacked. Tel Aviv and Haifa will be attacked but Jerusalem will not be. It would seem that the attacking armies and the terrorist organizations that are associated with those attacking Israel attack Haifa and Tel Aviv, the large cities of Israel, but not Jerusalem, where the great Shrine of the Dome and Mosque are located.

¹⁰Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation [O Judah] and have not been mindful of the Rock of your strength, your Stronghold--therefore, you have planted pleasant nursery grounds and plantings [to Adonis, pots of quickly withered flowers used to set by their doors or in the courts of temples], and have set [the grounds] with vine slips of a strange [God],

All of this will happen because Israel turned from the only God who could save them. They turned from the Rock that could hide them. They planted the finest imported crops but not to honor God and they did not give Him any credit or glory for the fruit of their plantings.

Possible fulfillment:

Israel planted their nation in 1948 and it grew quite quickly. But it was without their creator and despite his many blessing and help, they refused to acknowledge or honor him who created them and gave them the land in the first place.

¹¹And in the day of your planting you hedge it in, and in the morning you make your seed to blossom, yet [promising as it is] the harvest shall be a heap of ruins and flee away in the day of expected possession and of desperate sorrow and sickening, incurable pain.

These plants or crops grew very quickly (Israel grew very quickly from 1948 through lots of trials and tribulations) but in the end the harvest will be a load of grief and desperate, incurable pain and sorrow.

All of their political efforts to establish themselves as a respected nation in the international community fail. They refused to trust God, and relied on their own capabilities and contrivances. It all turns to grief, pain and sorrow.

But God's promises to them, His covenants, are irrevocable (Rom. 11:29). So all of these last day's events are God's plan to bring his people back to him so that he can bless them and fulfill his covenants with them.

Rom. 11:25-32 - Lest you be self-opinionated (wise in your own conceits), I do not want you to miss this hidden truth and mystery, brethren: a hardening (insensibility) has [temporarily] befallen a part of Israel [to last] until the full number of the ingathering of the Gentiles has come in,

²⁶And so all Israel will be saved. As it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will banish ungodliness from Jacob.

²⁷And this will be My covenant (My agreement) with them when I shall take away their sins.

²⁸From the point of view of the Gospel (good news), they [the Jews, at present] are enemies [of God], which is for your advantage and benefit. But from the point of view of God's choice (of election, of divine selection), they are still the beloved (dear to Him) for the sake of their forefathers.

²⁹For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.]

³⁰Just as you were once disobedient and rebellious toward God but now have obtained [His] mercy, through their disobedience,

³¹So they also now are being disobedient [when you are receiving mercy], that they in turn may one day, through the mercy you are enjoying, also receive mercy [that they may share the mercy which has been shown to you--through you as messengers of the Gospel to them].

³²For God has consigned (penned up) all men to disobedience, only that He may have mercy on them all [alike].

Back to Isaiah:

¹²Hark, the uproar of a multitude of peoples! They roar and thunder like the noise of the seas! Ah, the roar of nations! They roar like the roaring of rushing and mighty waters!

This destruction of Damascus and Amman causes a great uproar among the nations, the multitude of many people. The international community mounts a great protest and apparently their armies rush forward towards Israel like waves thundering towards the shore. This brings us to Ezek. 38 where we see armies from the north coming at Israel.

Ezek 38:1-9 (NKJV)

¹ Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, ³ and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. ⁴ I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. ⁵ Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; ⁶ Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops--many people are with you. ⁷ "Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them. ⁸ After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely. ⁹ You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you."

¹³The nations will rush and roar like the rushing and roaring of many waters--but [God] will rebuke them, and they will flee far off and will be chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind, and like rolling thistledown or whirling dust of the stubble before the storm.

The nations of the world are in an uproar against Israel for attacking Iran and Syria. They seem to "rush" at Israel like breakers on a beach. But God silences them. They flee far off like chaff in a windstorm, like dust whirling before a storm. The international reaction to these events is extreme, off-the -scale outrage. As Ezekiel saw, these armies come against Israel but on the mountains of Israel, God defeats them.

¹⁴At evening time, behold, terror! And before the morning, they [the terrorizing Assyrians] are not. This is the portion of those who strip us [the Jews] of what belongs to us, and the lot of those who rob us.

Ezek 38:18-23 (NKJV)

¹⁸ "And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel," says the Lord God, "that My fury will show in My face. ¹⁹ For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: 'Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, ²⁰ so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.' ²¹ I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains," says the Lord God. "Every man's sword will be against his brother. ²² And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. ²³ Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord." '

Israel waits in terror in the evening, but by dawn its enemies are dead. This is the reward of those who plunder and destroy the people of God.

Possible fulfillment:

All of this activity happens in a short period of time. This scenario includes Israeli attacks on Iran, Damascus, Amman, terrorist strongholds Samaria and perhaps even on Egypt (Jer. 9:25-26, Ezek. 29:1-32:32) and other Islamic neighboring nations (Jer. 48-50, Ezek. 38). This scenario also includes attacks against Israel and on Tel Aviv and Haifa from forces from the north including forces from the Islamic nations surrounding Israel. All of this is related to the first 6 seals of Rev. 6. This activity sets up a revival in Israel, but also a great falling away from the faith in the nations due to great persecution of Jews and Christians who support Israel. This war initiates political activities that enable a powerful world leader (really the Antichrist) to arrange a 7-year peace treaty between Israel and those attacking her. This will initiate Daniel's last week of years, the time of the tribulation, the days of the wrath of God.

Dan. 9:26-27 - ²⁶And after the sixty-two weeks [of years] shall the Anointed One be cut off or killed and shall have nothing [and no one] belonging to [and defending] Him. And the people of the [other] prince who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood; and even to the end there shall be war, and desolations are decreed.

²⁷And he shall enter into a strong and firm covenant with the many for one week [seven years]. And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and offering to cease [for the remaining three and one-half years]; and upon the wing or pinnacle of abominations [shall come] one who makes desolate, until the full determined end is poured out on the desolator.

With the breaking of the 6^th seal of Revelation 6, a great earthquake signals the coming of the wrath of God.

Rev 6:12-17 (NKJV)

¹² I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. ¹³ And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. ¹⁴ Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. ¹⁵ And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶ and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! ¹⁷ For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

The 7 years of tribulation are about to begin and the times of the Gentiles are coming to an end.

Romans 11:25-29 (NKJV)

²⁵ For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; ²⁷ For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins." ²⁸ Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Daniel’s last week of years, the 7 years of tribulation, deal with Israel and the Jews and the judgment of the kingdoms of the world. As God judges and cleanses the nations of the world, He completes His irrevocable covenant promises to Israel. These promises are a National Land forever (Gen 12:1; 13:14-15, 17; 15:18-21), spiritual blessings and redemption (Isa. 61:8; Jer. 31:31-40; 32:40; 50:5; Heb 8:6-13; 13:20), a dynasty (Kingdom of no end), a nation (the house of Jacob), and a throne (the throne of David, 2 Sam 7:11, 13, 16; Jeremiah 33:3-26; 31:35-40; 1 Chron. 7:12; 22:10; Isa. 55:3; Ezek. 37:25; Hosea 3:4-5; Ezek. 37:21-28; Amos 9:11-12; Jer. 30:7,11,18). They guarantee Israel a permanent national existence, perpetual title to the land of promise, material and spiritual blessing through the Messiah, and a King forever.

The climax is the Lord’s triumphal return to establish His Kingdom on earth and take His rightful place as King of kings and Lord of lords over all the earth. And He will rule and reign for 1000 years from His throne in Jerusalem with His Bride, the true Church at His side.

But it all begins with a war in Israel!

The Worthless Shephard

The Worthless Shepard

Is it possible that the Bible gives us a physical description of the Antichrist?

Zec 11:16 "For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or sustain the one standing, but will devour the flesh of the fat {sheep} and tear off their hoofs.

This is a prophecy about a time that follows Jesus’ death and resurrection (Zec 11:10-15). Zec 12, 13, and 14 all deal with the last days, the Day of the Lord. Therefore is it reasonable to assume that these verses deal with the last days also.

God tells us here that He is going to raise up a shepherd, a leader, in the land of Israel who will not take care of the people, but will devour them. Because this leader is a leader in Israel, he will most probably be Jewish.

Zec 11:17 "Woe to the worthless shepherd Who leaves the flock! A sword will be on his arm And on his right eye! His arm will be totally withered And his right eye will be blind."

This worthless shepherd leaves (unattended) the flock or the people of Israel, Jews. A literal interpretation would tells us that one of his arms and right eye are struck by a sword and the arm withers and he is blinded in the right eye.

Some commentators say that this worthless shepherd is the Antichrist. Thus the Antichrist would be a Jew with a withered arm and a blinded right eye.

This just as well could be the key leader in Israel at the time the Antichrist comes to power and negotiates the 7-year peace treaty.

It is also possible that this worthless shepherd could be the False Prophet of Revelation 13:11-17, a religious figure and the cohort of the Antichrist.

Figuratively, the word used for eye could be interpreted as relating to mental and spiritual faculties and the word used for arm could be interpreted as a symbol of political and military strength. The word used for blind could be interpreted as, to grow weak, grow dim, grow faint, falter, be weak, be dim, or be darkened. Figuratively then, the mental and spiritual capabilities of this Jewish leader would be dimmed and his political and military strength withered.

These intriguing verses might not give us a specific physical description of the Antichrist but they do give us a greater insight into some of the key players of the last days.

The Fix for a Troubled Heart

THE FIX FOR A TROUBLED HEART

D.P. Weary

January 2009

In today’s world many have “troubled hearts”. Financial, social, political, war, lawlessness, terrorism and world instability situations are taking a toll on a lot of people. And for those in the Middle East, the daily events of war are taking a terrible toll. Stress, hopelessness, discouragement, sickness, and a host of other issues are in some degree affecting all of us. How do we cope with all of this, much less live victoriously in such times as these? This seems to me to be the question of the hour, especially for Christians as we are supposed to be the “light in a dark world”. An indeed, the world is getting dark and it will get darker in the days to come.

Jesus answers this question directly in the book of John. Let’s see what He has to say.

Jhn 14:1 "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.

The basic fix for a troubled heart is to believe in God and in Jesus. But what does this “believing” really look like in our lives? In this chapter of John, Jesus is going to telling us what really “believing” looks like. Let’s see if we can find the keys.

Jhn 14:2 "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

First Jesus tells us that heaven (My Father’s house) is a real place and that He is going there to prepare a place to live, a dwelling place or home for all true believers.

Jhn 14:3 "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, {there} you may be also.

Jesus then reassures us that He will personally come back to the earth to get us and take us with Him to the Father’s house and our own dwelling places. This is a clear promise to believers of the rapture of the Church (1 Thes 4:16-18; 1 Cor 15:52).

Jhn 14:4 "And you know the way where I am going."

We are supposed to know how to get to our dwelling place. But do we?

Jhn 14:5 Thomas *said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?"

Even Thomas did not know where Jesus was going or the way to get there.

Jhn 14:6 Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Here is the bedrock of our faith, of true Christianity. Jesus is the only way to the Father’s house, to heaven. Further, He is truth. Truth is not found in intellectual pursuits, it is found in Him. This is why truth is so elusive. We seek it in men’s intellect and pursuits, in books and research, in philosophies and studies, even in intellectual studies of the Bible, but even here the scriptures only testify of Jesus (John 5:39).

Jhn 14:7 "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him."

Jesus says that if we really know Him, we know the Father and if we have seen Jesus, we have seen God! For those that saw Jesus in the flesh, they actually saw God with their own eyes.

Jhn 14:8 Philip *said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us."

Like Philip, many of us are still looking to see the Father.

Jhn 14:9 Jesus *said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and {yet} you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how {can} you say, 'Show us the Father'?

Jesus says to Philip, and I am afraid to many of us today, “I have been around you for a long time yet you still do not really know Me”. The issue was they still did not recognize that Jesus was God in the flesh, the Messiah.

Think about this. We know about a lot of people. We real books about them, study their lives, even write paper or books about our favorite people. But, can we say we really know them. No, to really know someone you must spend time with them, live with them, experience life with them. You do not write about them. You write about the times you have or had together, the joys and sadnesses you have shared, the adventures you have had together, and the relationship you have with them. And the longer you share life with them, the more you really know them.

What this tells us is that we need to stop just learning about Jesus and start living life with Jesus. It is not hard for little children to live with an invisible friend or playmate. We seem to lose this ability as we become adults, after all it is so childish, even psychotic. What a shame. Maybe this is part of what Jesus was referring to in Matt, 18:3. "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus is our invisible friend and He wants us to live every moment of our day with Him. This is how we are going to come to really know Him.

Jhn 14:10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.

Jesus clearly says that God the Father is in Him. He is God in the flesh. Further, it is God in His fullness that works through the flesh in both the words Jesus speaks and the works that He does.

Jhn 14:11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.

Jesus says that the words that He speaks and the works that He does prove that the Father is in Him. Think about this, if we say that we “have Jesus in our hearts”, then the words we speak and the works we do should show, even prove that God is in us. This can only be true if the words we speak change lives and the works we do are things that cannot be done in the natural. In other words, they are miraculous. There is precious little miraculous in most churches today and many even shun anything miraculous.

Jhn 14:12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater {works} than these he will do; because I go to the Father.

Here is a key to what really believing in Jesus means. The person (he) that really believes in Jesus will do the works that He did, and even greater works. This is getting scary. How many of us are doing even greater works that Jesus did?

Jhn 14:13 "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

We ask a lot of things “in the name of Jesus”, but how many of these things really happen? What is wrong with this picture?

Jhn 14:14 "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do {it.}

Jesus promises, ask Me anything in My name and I will do it. Is Jesus just kidding us here, or is there something wrong with “our asking”? The implication is that this will be true if the one asking really knows and loves Jesus. So the keys to receiving what we ask for in Jesus name, and if fact “not having a troubled heart”, are to really know and love Jesus. So how do we know if we “really know and love” Jesus? As I commented before, much will be revealed by the way we talk about Him and by the words we speak and the works we do.

Jhn 14:15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

First clue, we will keep His commandments. Here we must first ask ourselves, what are His commandments? And then we must ask, do we keep or live by them?

Jhn 14:16 "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;

The implication in this interesting verse is that we probably do not really know or at least understand His commandments and that we probably cannot keep them without some help. And Jesus tells us here that God the Father will give us a Helper, to be with us forever that we can know and keep Jesus’ commandments.

Jhn 14:17 {that is} the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, {but} you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

This verse is the Key! God is going to give us the Spirit of truth (the Holy Spirit) to teach us truth, to enable us to really know and understand Jesus’ commandments, to be able to keep these commandments, to do greater works that even Jesus did while He was on the earth, and even to really know and love Jesus. Note that the world cannot receive the Holy Spirit because it does not see Him or know Him but the disciple knew Him (the Holy Spirit) because He abided or lived with them in the physical or flesh as Jesus. Even more, Jesus tells these disciples that later the Holy Spirit will be in them.

Jhn 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Here Jesus clearly tells the disciples and us that the Holy Spirit is none other than himself, Jesus. If the Father is in Jesus, and Jesus is the Holy Spirit, and Jesus is in us, then we know that the fullness of the Godhead, the Trinity, is in fact in us as Spirit if we really know and love Jesus.

Jhn 14:19 "After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you {will} see Me; because I live, you will live also.

Jesus tells us here that after He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, that the world will no longer see Him. This is the condition of a lot of the world today. But, the disciples were to see Him because He was going to be in them. And because He is living in them, they would really live also. Life without Jesus, the Holy Spirit living within us is not really living at all, it is just existing.

Jhn 14:20 "In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

The picture here is that for those that really know and love Jesus, the fullness of the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, comes to live within the true believer.

Jhn 14:21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."

This indwelling of God will be true for those that know and do (keep) Jesus’ commandments. For these, Jesus promises to disclose or reveal Himself to them.

Jhn 14:22 Judas (not Iscariot) *said to Him, "Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?"

The point here is that Jesus has promised to disclose or reveal Himself to some, but not to the world. Judas, like many of us asks why, or what does this mean?

Jhn 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.

Again, the key to all of this is repeated. To those that really love Jesus and keep His word or commandments, the promise is that God in His fullness will come and live within such as these.

Jhn 14:24 "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.

It is clear, the one that does not keep Jesus words does not love Him and God, in the person or form of the Holy Spirit, will not come and abide in them. Therefore they connot know God, or truth, or experience real life, or have real peace in the midst of the storms of life (they will have troubled hearts).

Jhn 14:25 "These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you.

Jhn 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

Again the Lord emphasizes that it is the Holy Spirit that will teach us, that will cause us to know the Lord’s commandments and be able to do them, and even do more miraculous works that the Lord did while He was on the earth in physical form.

Jhn 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

Do no let your heart be troubled or fearful for God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are within you. This is Peace, this is security, this is power and authority, and this is truly living.

Jhn 14:28 "You heard that I said to you, 'I go away, and I will come to you.' If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

Even though Jesus was God in the flesh, the Father (the fullness of the Godhead) is greater that Jesus was while He was in the flesh as He voluntarily came down from His throne to live among us as a servant for a little while that we might be lifted up to live with Him in His fullness and Glory forever.

Jhn 14:29 "Now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe.

God does reveal the future to us so that when it happens, we may believe. The prophetic scriptures reveal the future to us even to the very end of the age. But do we know these scriptures, believe them, and then prepare to respond appropriately when the events happen? Not very well I am afraid.

Jhn 14:30 "I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me;

Jesus forewarns the disciples that Judas and the religious rulers are coming to arrest Him (clearly Satan’s workmen). But he reminds them, and us today, that Satan has nothing in or over Him. God is in control no matter what it might look like temporarily. This is a very good point to remember today.

Jhn 14:31 but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here.

I like the Lord’s final words. They are the word of the hour for us today.

Do exactly as the Father tells us to do.

Now, let’s get up and move out. The final battles are on!

Summary

To have an untroubled heart:

· Believe that there is a real heaven and that Jesus is preparing a real dwelling place for each true believer.

· Believe that Jesus is coming personally to take all true believers to his or her dwelling place.

· Know that Jesus is the only way to get there.

· Know that ultimate truth is found not in human endeavors but in the person of Jesus.

· Know who Jesus really is. Know that God the Father is in Jesus and when we really see and experience Jesus we are seeing and experiencing the Father.

· To really know God, we must know Jesus, not just about Him, but know Him in relationship as a close, but invisible companion.

· For those that really know Jesus and the Father, expect your words to change people, expect to do miracles, expect to more miraculous things that even Jesus did while He was on earth and know that it is not you that are doing these things, but God within you doing these things.

· If you really know Jesus, expect that what you ask in His name will be done. This will be so when the things asked for are things of and from God and not from self.

· We prove we really know and love Jesus by knowing and keeping His commandments. We prove that we do not love Jesus by doubting and not keeping His words.

· Receive the Holy Spirit (who is Jesus in a spiritual form) who the Father will send to those who ask, to be your teacher and give you the ability to keep Jesus’ commandments.

· We must have the Holy Spirit within us to know truth and to have the things of God like security, peace, power, authority, and an untroubled heart.

· We are to expect Him to reveal the future to us so that we are not surprised and are prepared.

· We are to be obedient, to do what the Father tells us to do and we are to get going and move on from where we are.