but defiled and unclean. In Isaiah lxiv we have part of that
wonderful prayer which the remnant of Israel is yet to utter. It
begins with that sublime prayer, Oh, that Thou wouldest rend the
heavens, that Thou wouldest come, that the mountains might flow down
at Thy presence. And then follows the confession: We are all become
as one that is unclean, and all our righteousness is as a polluted
garment. Alas, how little Israel knows at this present time of such a
confession. On the day of atonement the lips confess sin and
unrighteousness in similar words, but it is still the lips and not
the heart. But at last Israel will confess her guilt and the
bloodguiltiness like David did.
In the vision Satan is seen. This is not the enemy who at Zechariah's
time tried to hinder the rebuilding of the temple, but it is Satan,
the old serpent, the accuser of the brethren, the adversary. He is
the enemy of Israel. He has tried in the past to hurt and to destroy
the nation of destiny. He knows the purposes of God concerning Israel
better than many a learned doctor of divinity, and therefore, he has
opposed that people and opposes them still. His opposition has been
mostly through nations. How much could be said on this topic! The end
of this age will reveal the enemy of Israel, the adversary, as never
before in the history of the world. There is to be war in heaven;
Michael and his angels going forth to war with the dragon; and the
dragon warred, and his angels, and they prevailed not, neither was
their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast
down, the old Serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the
Deceiver of the whole world, he was cast down to the earth and his
angels were cast down with him. (Rev. xii: 7-9.) His wrath will be
directed against Israel and Jerusalem. It is the time of which Daniel
spoke. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince
which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a
time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to
that same time. (Daniel xii: 1.) Once more Satan will try to destroy
the people, but the Lord shall rebuke him. Israel will be again, as
so often before, like a brand plucked out of the fire. So it has been
in the past. Way back when Israel was in Egypt and God was about to
send the deliverer, He called Moses from out of the burning
bush--Israel's true type, burning, but never consumed. Oh, how the
fire of persecution and adversity has been raging, but again and
again the hand of God snatched the burning brand out of the fire at
the right moment. The Lord who hath chosen Jerusalem will rebuke
Satan. This has not yet come. The coming Lord will commission an
angel out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in
his hand. And he will lay hold on the dragon--the old Serpent which
is the Devil and Satan--and bind him for a thousand years, and cast
him into the abyss and shut it and seal it over him. (Rev. xx: 1, 2.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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