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This call for reformation as set forth here is the direct result of the study of the thirteen chapters in the book of Isaiah, as devised by the Seventh-day Adventist denomination and presented to the churches in the entire organization throughout the world. These lessons were taught in the Sabbath School department during January, February, and March of the year 1929, and beginning with the 54th chapter, ended with the 66th. We believe the hand of God was leading, and that these particular lessons came at an appointed time by divine direction, with intention to arouse His people to action from the lukewarm Laodicean condition, and spiritual feebleness.
In Volume 3, page 492, we read: "General Conference, which is the highest authority that God has upon earth." ("General Conference" spoken of here is not one man's opinion, but a General Conference of brethren assembled from all parts of the field, as described in Gospel Workers, page 489: "But when, in a General Conference, the judgment of brethren assembled from an parts of the field is exercised. Private independence and private judgment must not be stubbornly maintained but surrender"). For this reason, God honored the General Conference, and sent the lessons through that channel, with the intention to bring forth a reformation in the entire denomination in one single quarter of Sabbath School studies.
These thirteen chapters of Isaiah are one continuous letter written for the church. Though they have been in the Bible for many centuries, they were intended for us at this present time, and stand as a direct epistle to the church now. The 54th chapter is the beginning of the letter, and it ends with the 66th. The following reasons are given for believing thus.
"Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord." Isa. 54:1. Chapter four of Galatians says the woman spoken of here, the "barren," "She who travailed not with child," "desolate," is Sarah. The other, called the married wife, is Agar. Sarah is desolate, because she stepped aside and gave her husband to Agar thus Agar is the married wife. Sarah was barren, without child, while Agar had Ishmael.
"For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: For the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband." Gal. 4:27. Gal. 4:25, says Agar represents the Old Testament church or Jerusalem in Palestine. "For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children." "But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free. "Gal. 4:26, 31. Thus Sarah (the free) is the symbol of Jerusalem which is above, or the church of the New Testament.
Ishmael represents the children of the Old Testament church, but Isaac, the children of the New Testament (Christian) church. "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now." Gal. 4:28, 29. As Abraham did cast out the bondwoman (Agar) and her son (Ishmael), just so God did cast out the Old Testament church, or Jerusalem which now is. Gal. 4:30: "Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: For the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman." The Scripture makes the subject too plain to be misunderstood. Sarah is the symbol of the Christian church, and Agar, of the Jewish church.
Turning to the 54th chapter of Isaiah, it will be noticed that this chapter is addressed to the barren, childless, desolate woman,--Sarah, who is the symbol of the Christian church. The Spirit of Prophecy, commenting on this chapter, says the prophecy is for the gospel church at this time. We read in Prophets and Kings, pages 374, 375: "Looking on still farther through the ages, the prophet beheld the literal fulfillment of these glorious promises. He saw the bearers of the glad tidings of salvation going to the ends of the earth, to every kindred and people. He heard the Lord saying of the gospel church, 'Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream;' and he heard the commission: 'Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: Spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles.' Jehovah declared to the prophet that He would send His witnesses 'into the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, Lud,...to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off.' The prophet heard the voice of God calling His church to her appointed work, that the way might be prepared for the ushering in of His everlasting kingdom."
The prophecy could not have been for the early part of the Christian church, for we read in Isa. 54:17 "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper": If this scripture had a reference to the early part of the church, or prior to the dark ages, then God would have failed to carry out His promise. Note that from the beginning of the Christian church the stones, swords, crosses, ropes, fires, and many other cruel instruments which were formed against the church did prosper, and continued to prosper up till about the middle of the 18th century, therefore the prophet could have had no reference to the early part of the church. The following quotation will prove the time to which the scripture applies: "Whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake....'No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.'...Clad in the armor of Christ's righteousness, the church is to enter upon her final conflict. 'Fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.'...The darkest hour of the church's struggle with the powers of evil, is that which immediately precedes the day of her final deliverance. But none who trust in God need fear; for 'when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall,' God will be to His church 'a refuge from the storm'." Prophets and Kings, page 725.
Again we read in Early Writings, pages 284, 285: "As the saints left the cities and villages, they were pursued by the wicked, who sought to slay them. But the swords that were raised to kill God's people broke and fell as powerless as a straw. Angels of God shielded the saints. As they cried day and night for deliverance, their cry came up before the Lord." Thus we have proof that the chapter was written for the people of God who shall live at the time of the end. The intention in this article is not to explain all the chapter contains, but to point out the time it was intended for, with a few instructive remarks. In another study we may take all these chapters separate of each other, verse by verse.
In Isa. 54:14, 15, there is great encouragement for the people of God, and it ought to strengthen our faith. "In righteousness shalt thou be established: Thou shalt be far from oppression; for...they shall surely gather together, but not by me: Whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake." The time of the fulfillment of these verses is well portrayed in Early Writings, pages 282, 283: "I saw the saints leaving the cities and villages, and associating together in companies and living in the most solitary places. Angels provided them food and water, while the wicked were suffering from hunger and thirst. Then I saw the leading men of the earth consulting together, and Satan and his angels busy around them. I saw a writing, copies of which were scattered in different parts of the land, giving orders that unless the saints should yield their peculiar faith, give up the Sabbath, and observe the first day of the week, the people were at liberty after a certain time, to put them to death....but angels in the form of men of war fought for them. Satan wished to have the privilege of destroying the saints of the Most High; but Jesus bade His angels watch over them....Next came the multitude of the angry wicked, and next a mass of evil angels, hurrying on the wicked to slay the saints. But before they could approach God's people, the wicked must first pass this company of mighty, holy angels. This was impossible. The angels of God were causing them to recede, and also causing the evil angels who were pressing around them to fall bank."
Isa. 54:11, 12, contain another wonderful promise, and show the purity and holiness of God's people. "O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones." This scripture could hardly refer to the New Jerusalem,--the Holy City, for there is no reference made of the walls of the city having windows, nor could there be any necessity for them, for twelve gates only are mentioned. Furthermore, the gates are made of one great pearl, and not of carbuncles. ("And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: Every several gate was of one Pearl." Rev. 21:21.) The verses being considered at this time refer to a spiritual house of which Solomon's temple was a symbol. This spiritual house is referred to by Paul in Eph. 2:20-22 "and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."
Note that this spiritual house has foundations, windows, gates, and borders (enclosures). The foundations refer to the apostles, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone. See Eph. 2:20. The windows of a house are used to give light. This has reference to the prophets who foresee things in advance and give the light upon the subject as in 1 Sam. 9:9, ("Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: For he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a seer.") The "gates" of a house serve the purpose to let in those who have the right, and to keep out all others. This could have no other meaning than the watchmen on the walls of Zion (the ministry). The "borders" (or enclosures) mean the church members the "lively stones." 1 Pet. 2:5, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."
Note the kind and quality of material used here in this spiritual house. It is the most precious known to humanity--"I will lay thy stones with fair colors" (Isa. 54:11). Foundations of sapphires, windows of agates, gates of carbuncles, and borders of pleasant stones. Think of Jesus as the precious corner stone; the apostles, who sacrificed their lives, as the wonderful foundations; the prophets (many of whom were killed by cruelty, even to the extent of being sawed between two logs), as the windows to give light to this beautiful house; and those in the church during he dark ages, who suffered and were tortured by the cruel persecutors, to beautify the borders of this most glorious, spiritual house.
Let each one ask himself, Am I fitted to
be used in this spiritual structure whose stones are of fair colors? Am
I willing to trust in God, and suffer for Him, whatever He may permit for
my good? Or do I want the world, and heaven, too? Can we serve God and
Mammon? Can we in any way disregard the instructions given to us by the
Spirit of God, and expect to be fitted among those who would rather die,
than disobey in the smallest of His commands? How fearful the thought.
Can the church supplant the instructions of God with wise plans of men?
"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." Isa. 55:1, 2. The word "Ho" signifies "whosoever, or "anyone that will hear". It was not so in the Old Testament time, for the Jew then thought the Bible was for the descendants of Abraham only.
"Come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money." Water is the most essential article to sustain life; both human, animal, and vegetable. It is the most abundant substance, and without it life is impossible. In this verse it is meant to represent spiritual life, which is bounded by Eternity. Jesus, speaking to the woman at the well, said, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." John 4:14.
Water is composed of two elements; namely, oxygen and hydrogen. Without hydrogen life cannot exist, and without oxygen, life would cease in less than fifteen minutes. Water is never sold; it is free. The price we pay in the cities is not for the water, but for the service rendered in bringing this necessity to us for daily use. Neither is it for sale in the Scriptures, but is offered free. No price can be set for life eternal. If it was sold, no one could buy it, therefore the symbol used here is perfect. It would be impossible to substitute any other earthly articles to represent spiritual life.
"Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Though the water is free, the wine and he milk are sold, but there is no set price on it, nor is the exchange made with money. Something must be given in trade to make the transaction. What must it be? The answer is found in the seventh verse, as follows: "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: And let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." We must forsake our ways and our thoughts, and in exchange, take God's thoughts and follow His ways. Isa. 55:8: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." Not until after this transaction is made can one please, serve, or understand God, nor can he enter heaven. When this transaction is made, the thoughts, ways, desires, actions, and the whole human being is changed. How do we get God's thoughts? Only in one way may they be attained. God's thoughts and ways are found in His Word (the Bible). The man who will follow the complete instructions by the Spirit of God is in a heavenly atmosphere, and walks with God as Enoch of old.
What is the wine and the milk? We shall first speak of the wine. While the water is rich in oxygen, the wine is rich in iron. With the absence of iron in the system, oxygen, would be of no essential value to the human body, for iron is the train by which oxygen is transported throughout the human anatomy. As soon as oxygen enters into the lungs, the agency of iron takes the element and carries it through the entire system. Thus, whatsoever the wine represents, without it, the water (life) would be of no importance, as well as the water without the wine (as symbol) would be altogether useless. The wine represents the blood of Christ. Therefore, the wine is used in connection with the Lord's supper; a symbol of the spilled blood of Christ. If you must have life eternal (water), you must also have the blood of Christ (the wine) for one would be of no value without the other. Again we see that no other earthly article, substance, or element could be used to represent the blood of Christ.
The next symbol mentioned is the milk, and it, too, must be perfect in itself in order to point out the truth intended by the Spirit of God. The human body is made up of sixteen different elements. If we should exhaust our supply of one of these elements, and life did not cease immediately (depending on the element lacking), there would be trouble somewhere within the human system. If milk contained all the elements required to keep the human body, the meaning of the symbol would indicate that the first two symbols, or doctrines are of no great importance. Since milk does not contain all the necessary elements, it signifies that the doctrine represented by the milk only is not sufficient. (The element of iron is absent from milk. Though a trace of iron is found in the milk, it is so infinitesimal that it may be expressed in the following language: "The amount or iron found in ten gallon of milk could be put in the corner of one's eye.") That which is not found in the milk is supplied by the wine. Therefore the three doctrine taught here cannot be separated one from the other.
What is the doctrine taught by the milk? This symbol is simple to understand. The milk represents the Word of God as found in the Bible. 1 Pet. 2:2, "As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." God's Word is perfect and it will supply all the doctrines (elements) needed for the human heart to make us perfect, but without the shedding of the blood of Christ, it would not profit us at all. Neither would the Word and the blood help us much if there was no life in the Son of God. Thus, the water, wine, and milk are combined, and can not be separated one from another and still maintain life eternal. Perfect symbols are they not?
Suppose you would add an element to the milk, would it not be a strange one? And if it be a strange one to the milk, would it be foreign to the human system? If this be true, we must conclude it would be poison to the human body. "But," you say, "suppose I add the element of iron, it would not then be poison." By adding another element, it would put the milk out of balance, and it would be milk no longer. It is impossible for human wisdom to improve on God's work. Just so, it is impossible for us to neglect one of God's words and yet maintain spiritual life, neither can we add, though the thing may be good, as we may see it. It would throw the Word out of balance, and it would be God's Word no longer, just as the milk would be milk no longer. God's Word must be kept in the human heart, pure and adulterated, if we must live by it. "This robe, woven in the loom of heaven has in it not one thread of human devising."--Christ's Object Lessons, page 311.
(One may say, if milk is not a balanced diet, how then can a babe be raised on milk and yet be perfectly healthy? God, who made the milk, knew what the baby requires for its growth, and what the milk could supply, so He has made provision before the babe is born. Between the stomach and the small intestine, in that part of the bowel is found a large "lump." This "lump" is placed there to supply the iron. The opening to the small intestine, as well as to the stomach, is too small for the "lump" to pass through. Thus it is compelled to remain there. Each time nourishment passes by, it absorbs part of the iron; thus the element is supplied, and the babe has suffered no lack. As the baby grows older, the "lump" gradually decreases in size. Just as it is with the human babe, so it is with the animal life.) Truly our God is infallible and who can comprehend His wisdom?
"Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? And your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." Isa. 55:2. When we spend our money for food which does not contain all the required elements, or if it is of an unbalanced proportion, then it is not as the Creator made it. In such a case we have spent our money for that which is not "bread."
When buying food we must be very careful in our selection and make sure that it is free from adulteration, or disjunctive manufacturing Processes. In such foods the elements required to sustain physical health are not found. It would be only a waste of money in buying such foods. The worst harm done by the use of these baser products is not to one's pocketbook only, but to his health in reducing his physical powers. The upkeep of the human body depends on the food supply we give it.
There is a severe charge against His watchmen of their failure to deal with the sins in the church and the result is that His people are devoured by the enemy. "His watchmen are blind: They are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark." Isa. 56:10. The phase "dumb dogs" is not to humiliate them, but is used here as a symbol. Of all animals a dog is man's best friend, and it is a dog's business to protect his master, or warn him of the danger by the sound of his barking. But if that dog becomes dumb and fails to give the sound, then he is not only useless to his master but dangerous, for he can not be depended upon. Thus, a "dog" is a perfect symbol of a watchman over God's people.
A good faithful minister is man's best friend by warning him of the danger involved in sin, but if that minister will not sound the alarm and give the warning, then he has become as a "dumb dog." Not only useless but dangerous, for thus the sheep are devoured by the enemy. The watchmen are not only charged with failure to deal properly with existing sins in the church, but they are greedy as well. "Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink." Isa. 56:12. This refers to the same watchmen or servants as in Matt. 24:48-50, who are gluttonous, disregard health reform, and do not see the danger. Read "Isaiah the Gospel Prophet," page 25, first paragraph. The watchmen mentioned by the prophet are not those in Babylon (popular churches), but "His watchmen" in His true church. According to Testimonies to Ministers, page 445, Ezekiel 9 is the sealing of the 144,000. Speaking of Ezekiel's prophecy in Volume 5, page 211, we read: "The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light, and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God's power as in former days. Times have changed. These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil. He is too merciful to visit his people in judgment. Thus peace and safety is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God's people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs, that would not bark, are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children, all perish together."
The entire 57th chapter deals with idolatry in God's church. God's people were called to come out of Babylon. The reason why we are called out is that we are to depart from the customs of Babylon. This chapter reveals the truth. Though we came out, we brought the customs and idolatry into the house of God. The evil spoken of in this chapter is Christmas-keeping and Christmas gifts one to another. The 9th verse says, we have honored the king (the devil) by doing this, and "debase" ourselves "even unto hell." This surely is true. We as a people spend the Lord's money in telling the public that Christmas is not the birthday of Christ, and then turn about and do the same thing the world is doing. By such methods we are implicated in the highest form of hypocrisy.
Isa. 57:4, 5, and 6, tell of the evil practices of Israel of old, and are written in this chapter to make a comparison with the people now, in as much as to say we are doing the same as they back there, and are no better. Quoting Volume 1, page 129: "I saw that many who profess to believe the truth for these last days, think it strange that the children of Israel murmured as they journeyed; that after the wonderful dealings of God with them, they should be so ungrateful as to forget what He had done for them. Said the angel, 'Ye have done worse than they'." To explain the entire chapter, it must be taken verse by verse, but being too lengthy, it can not be done at this present time.
Isa. 58:1--"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." God asks His watchmen to cry aloud and not to leave one thing undone; to life up their voices like a trumpet, and fear not how far the sound may reach; to show the transgressions and sins to His people, by a general housecleaning, "for His salvation is near to come, and His righteousness to be revealed". Quoting Testimonies to Ministers, page 427, we read: "Cleanse the camp of this moral corruption, if it takes the highest men in the highest positions. God will not be trifled with."
The second verse describes the people to whom He wishes to speak. The first part of the third verse tells of the complaints His people are making. "We have fasted" "and have afflicted our souls, but our prayers are not heard." He takes no knowledge of them, is their cry. The last part of the verse tells where the trouble lies: "Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors." This fast cannot be a fast for food, for when one is fasting of food he is permitted to find pleasure, and exact all his labor. In fact, one must go about his daily duties as usual, so that he would show no outward appearance of fasting. Our Saviour requires that this duty be performed in sincerity, and not in hypocrisy, for the glory of God, and not for attraction and appearance to men.
Jesus said, "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." Matt. 6:16-18.
Turning back to Isaiah 58, verse 13, tells the kind of fast this is. "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words." Therefore, the fast mentioned here is not a fasting of food, but of pleasure, labor and our own ways and thoughts, and that we must honor God and keep His Sabbath holy. The charge is, that we exact all our labor on the Sabbath day. As a people we have forgotten the true meaning of Sabbath keeping. We have come to suppose that anything which pertains more of less to religion is permissible on God's holy day. It is said, It is the Lord's work. But God has never said anywhere in the Scriptures that His people are at liberty to do all manners of work (that pertain to religion) on the Sabbath day. Work which can be done on a day other than the Sabbath is not a work for the Sabbath. "Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: In it thou shalt not do any work."
Note the way the commandment reads: "Any work." God does not mean that we can do our work in the six days, and His on the Sabbath. He says it is a day of rest: Not physical, but spiritual rest. For instance, it would be wrong for one to sell good religious books on the Sabbath, even if he turned all the proceeds to the church. It would be wrong for a surgeon to perform surgical operations on patients on the Sabbath day if it can be done at another time. It would be wrong for a nurse to give treatments to patients on the Sabbath day if it was not absolutely necessary. Read Volume 7, page 106. It would be wrong for a church council to meet on the Sabbath and discuss church business, or make plans of any kind. It would be wrong for a Sabbath keeper to load himself with evangelical announcements for a series of meetings, and distribute them from house to house on the Sabbath day. All this manner of work could be done on a day other than the Sabbath.
When we do this kind of work on the Sabbath, we do it to save ourselves an hour or so of time for the next day, thus we rob God of His time and add it to our secular pleasure. If it is wrong for one to go and sell good religious books on the Sabbath, though he turns all the proceeds to the Church, it would be doubly wrong to sell that same book in the house of God on the Sabbath day, regardless of what is done with the income. If all of this is true, then it would be wrong to go out with Harvest Ingathering papers and receive contributions for missions on the Sabbath. It is time for God to call our attention to these things.
Quoting Patriarchs and Prophets, pages 313, 314: "'Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you....Whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.' Directions had just been given for the immediate erection of the tabernacle for the service of God; and now the people might conclude, because the object had in view was the glory of God, and also because of their great need of a place of worship, that they would be justified in working at the building upon the Sabbath. To guard them from this error, the warning was given. Even the sacredness and urgency of that special work for God must not lead them to infringe upon his holy rest day."
The balance of chapter 58, teaches that we must take care of our poor and sick, instead of sending them to the county farm, or hospital, if we are to delight in the Lord. There are many lessons that we can draw from the services of ancient Israel. God gave them the seventh-day Sabbath as a day of rest for praise and thanksgiving. Though the sacrificial was a sacred, religious service, requiring much labor, they were not permitted to do it on the seventh-day Sabbath. For this reason God gave them the monthly Sabbaths in which they were to do that sacred work. If God did not allow every kind of religious service to be performed on the seventh-day Sabbath then, will He now? "I the Lord change not." Read Lev. 23.
Isa. 59:2-8, tell how terrible and grievous our sins are in God's sight. The first verse contains the wonderful promise: "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear." If we would repent of our sins and turn to Him with fasting and prayer, He will have mercy upon us, and will hear our prayers. Though our sins are unspeakably great, Isa. 59:9-13, are of a good report. Some of the people are conscious and repenting from their sins. In Isa. 59:16-19, is a prophecy too sad to speak of. It applies to those upon whom the responsibility rested to bring about reformation by presenting the lessons to the church in their true light, calling every sin by its right name instead of applying it to other people and times, and thereby diverting the instructions intended for the church. The admonitions in the Scriptures were overlooked and unheeded, and what God expected of His people during the first three months of 1929, was not accomplished, simply because those in responsible positions failed to discharge their duty.
Isa. 59:16, first part "And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor." God "was astonished". Moses and Aaron "stood between the dead and the living." Num. 16:48. God used Elijah on Mount Carmel. 1 Kings 18. In the crisis here brought to view, God finds no man (Eze. 22:30), so He Himself interposes.
Isa. 59:16-18 "Therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a breast plate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence." God clothes Himself with His own attributes, and advances to set things right. Had there been a man, God would have let the man do the work, but as there was none, He does it Himself. This reveals one of God's working principles. He will use one man, or a nation, to help correct or punish another. When that cannot be done, God steps in. While God will come with vengeance to some, He comes with salvation to others. Isa. 59:20: "And the Redeemer shall come to Zion." This is not referring to the second coming of Christ in the clouds, for it takes place before probation closes. He is not coming with vengeance to the ungodly in the world, but coming to the church. And when He comes, He will do the work mentioned in Mal. 3:1-3.
Isa. 59:19: "So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun." God will make this coming as an example to the nations, just as He did with Sodom and Gomorrah. Isa. 59:19, last part: "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.' John in Rev. 12:15, refers to this incident. "And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood." The woman here mentioned is God's church (Seventh-day Adventist) "which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." The "flood" is not the blue Sunday law, or any persecution in the past. The blue law has a different setting, and is described in Revelation 13, as a persecuting power to enforce the mark of the beast.
"Flood" is the same as "water", which means people (in the church) unconverted, whom Satan is using to cause the church to be carried away in a very quiet manner, so that no one would be suspicious of the great deception. In this way he attempts to deceive the very elect (144,000) if it were possible. Being impossible, Christ Himself interposes and delivers His people (those who sigh and cry for all the abominations in the church) and then makes an example of the others. Rev. 12:16, "And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth." The meaning is that they die, being buried in the earth, as in Num. 16:32, "And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods." Thus, "the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him." Isa. 59:19, last part. This will fulfill Matt. 13:29, 30: "Let both the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest." The separation will mark the beginning of the harvest, which is the Loud Cry of the third angel's message. Rev. 18:1. The Spirit of God is poured upon His people (those who escape the ruin), and the promise is, that it shall never depart from them. Isa. 59:21, "As for Me, this is My covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and forever." Read "Isaiah the Gospel Prophet," Volume 3, pages 43-49.
As soon as the separation is finished, and Satan has lost out with his deceptive scheme, the church finds herself in a great conflict with the enemy. Rev. 12:17, "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed [those who are left], which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." (The war against the woman is the blue law.)