Since my son died just over a week ago, I have deeply grieved and sorrowed and hurt. Yet many people, near and far, have offered me words of sympathy, support and love.

Lots of precious Scripture verses too have been shared with this sad Preacher. A good one-word goal of all their efforts … “encouragement,” my brothers and sisters in Christ wanted to uplift my heart!

And I say “Thank You.”

Then this morning, as we continue our study of the Second Coming of Jesus, specifically our perusal of the Millennium, I discover (or re-discover) this short Text:

“Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.” Isaiah 35:3-4

Now I know this is written to a suffering little nation called Israel. (We must view the Bible “in context.”) Yet I also have learned that the Bible (any Passage) has one interpretation, but (Hallelujah) can also have many applications!

“Strengthening weak hands and confirming feeble knees,” poetry from a Prophet’s inspired pen … are self-explanatory clauses. God is going to imbue confidence and fortitude to His people. Who have been tortured for years under the reign of a devil called anti-Christ. During the last half of the Tribulation, specifically.

“Fear not” … that too needs little elucidation, commentary.

God is able to remove fears! (I just looked and there are 63 different times the Bible blends the words “FEAR NOT!”)

The our Text includes a heartening promise … “Behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence.”

Wow, that’s speaking of the demise of all those armies (Zechariah 14:2) who have attacked Israel at the Battle of Armageddon! Antisemitism finally dies that day!

Then the “icing” on the cake … God says: “I will come and SAVE you.” Salvation, eternally so at that! (Paul also predicted this is Romans 11:26.)

A little bit out of context, I know, this verse. But I just can’t leave it out. Jesus speaking of Himself: “For the Son of man is come TO SEEK and TO SAVE that which was lost.” Luke 19:10, or is it out of place at all?

Point being this morning … I’ve quickly shared with you the interpretation (from a premillennial perspective) of our two verse Passage.

Now an application … to me personally, to me hurting, still grieving. (I hope I am not being selfish. And things are getting a little “better.”)

God can strengthen and confirm me?

Remove my fears (worries and apprehensions)?

Handle anyone opposing my goals of serving Jesus? Including the devil and his cohorts?

Come and save (deliver) me?

Yes, yes, yes!

“Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.” Blessed application indeed!

Romans 15:4 mentions “the comfort of the Scriptures.” I think I know what that means, one more time!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

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Isaiah 35 is a magnificent chapter.

Best I can tell, millennial from its first Line till its last!

It’s first two verses seem nearly poetic, word picturesque! “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.” Isaiah 35:1-2, King James Version.

The noun “wilderness” is “midbar” in Hebrew, translated “desert” 13 times in our Old Testament. And it is immediately “matched” (an example of literary “parallelism”) with the term “solitary place,” rendered as “dry” or “dry land” 9 times in Scripture. You immediately get the idea, the Holy Spirit being such a grand Author.

Seldom does the Bible associate “gladness” with “solitude or aridness. But here it clearly does! “Sus” in Hebrew does indicate a spirit of “rejoicing” (21 times) … but it is also the word for a “horse!” I suspect because horses “prance” and “dance” and “paw” often, being that exuberant for the race or battle or ride!

Why all this “gladness?”

The Lord has come!

Jesus, back to earth!

Deserts are not known for a lot of lush vegetation! (Ever heard of an “oasis?”) Very little rainfall too! But now …!

This hints at the fact that when Jesus rules on earth … even weather patterns will be “rectified, changed, healed!”

The dry “south” (“midbar” is translated “south” a few times, since that’s the general direction of the barren desert in relation to Israel) will trade its so-so reputation for that of glorious Lebanon (in Bible days) and the vibrancy of Carmel and Sharon!

This will be called a dramatic “reversal!”

And this once parched land will see “the Glory of our Lord!” Then another “parallelism,” will see “the excellency of our God!”

That’s Jesus, folks! (“Glorious, Excellent,” and a whole lot more!)

Just like when on earth the first time, everywhere He went dead people came to life … His second time on earth, everywhere He goes dead acreage begins to thrive!

Oh, the sheer Power of our Creator/Redeemer!

Paul was right, “By Him (Jesus) all things consist.” (Colossians 1:17) Literally meaning “all things hold together, exist, prosper, function rightly!” In Greek “sunistao.”

Wow!

When Jesus returns to earth …

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

So much in the Bible about the Millennium, yet I still imagine “the half has not yet been told!” (As an overwhelmed Queen of Sheba once said to King Solomon.)

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What a lovely Text today.

“And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” Isaiah 32:2

Sure sounds good.

Safety, security, comfort, all needs satisfied!

But Who is this “man?”

I say, based on the previous verse … Isaiah 32:1 … that it is the Lord! (“Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment,”as in King Jesus.)

If I am right in holding this old-fashioned, fundamental (literalist) view … the “he” in verse 2 above identifies with the “king” of verse 1. “King” is the antecedent of “he.”

Hence Jesus will be a “hiding place!” (In Hebrew a place of “withdrawal, secrecy, filled with love!”)

Jesus will also be a “covert.” (Meaning “shelter, protector, covering.”)

Talk about being “in Christ,” just Old Testament style!

Then suddenly, it looks like our verse almost “mixes metaphors.”

Jesus becomes a “River!” Let me re-word that, “rivers of water,” plural! In a previously “dry” place! (Does this remind you in any way of John 7:38-39? “Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man THIRST, let him come unto me, and DRINK. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow RIVERS of living water. But this spake he of the SPIRIT, which they that believe on him should receive.”)

So the Holy Spirit is compared to “Rivers.” And now today so is our Lord Jesus! (The Holy Spirit is also our Comforter, “Parakletos.” Then later we learn … so is Jesus. Specifically He is our “Advocate,” but still “Parakletos” in Greek!)

Wow!

Then, back to our Text, (Jesus is) as a “shadow,” that is cast by a “great rock.” (I’d say the “Rock of Ages!”) In a “weary land,” a place of extreme weakness.

Let’s read it yet again: “And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”

These last two Descriptors (“Rivers of waters” and a Protecting “Shadow in a weary land”) sound like Psalm 23, in reality! (You know … “Still Waters” and the “Valley of the Shadow, and His comforting Rod and Staff.”) This is Jesus our Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd of the sheep! (As in 1 Peter 5:4 … “And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.”)

I believe this is the Millennial Jesus, folks.

They nowadays talk about the “Jesus of faith” and the “Jesus of history” and the “Probable Jesus.” I only know the Jesus of the Bible, the One introduced to me by the Holy Spirit of God when He saved my lost soul from Hell! The One Who lives in my heart! Jesus the Son of God!

Also the One Who is coming again, to rule and reign on this earth for a “thousand years.” Looks like from our Text a thousand “peaceful, restful” years!

One more thing today.

What do the “wind” and the “tempest” and the “dry place” and the “weary land” represent in our Verse?

Remember Jesus has just returned, interrupted the war of Armageddon and defeated (slain) the antichrist … snatching a battered Jewish remnant from sure destruction! People who have suffered indescribably from the Dragon, the Devil, Satan himself.

Those horrid Tribulational conditions surely are the “wind and tempest and aridness and fatigue” from which Jesus delivers them!

By the way, as a present day Christian Jesus has delivered me too! He is my “Hiding Place” and “Covert” and “River” and “Rock!” No longer do my sins torment me, because of Him! Nor the storms of life overcome me! Nor my needs define me!

Hallelujah!

“Behold the Man!”

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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Isaiah the Prophet, as I’m sure I’ve said earlier, says more about the Millennium than any other Bible Writer. And today’s Lesson is no exception.

Watch: “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.” Isaiah 32:1

When did Israel have any king, including David, of whom it could be truthfully said that he totally reigned in righteousness?

I can answer that.

Never!

Not yet!

Even David (usually considered the apex of Israeli Monarchy) sinned and fought and lied and proved Jeremiah 17:9. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

Wow!

Others say Israel’s Goodness peaked during the administration of Solomon, David’s Son. Yet … “And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart from God.” 1 Kings 11:14

Study Hezekiah too, and Josiah and any of the others.

Yet in the future … “Behold, a KING shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.”

Yes, King Jesus!

“Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
does its successive journeys run;
his kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
till moons shall wax and wane no more.”

Hallelujah!

The defining word for Jesus’ Kingdom, “RIGHTEOUSNESS!”

“Tzsedeq,” my quaint spelling/pronunciation, means that which is “straight” (not crooked) in the Eyes of God! Never deviating from God’s Perfect Standard!

Even Jesus’ “helpers” during the Millennium (The Disciples? Those of us who are saved?) will “rule” (word meaning “to act as a prince, to govern”) in “judgment.” Meaning equity, to guide state affairs with “no partiality!”Justice that can’t be bought!

We shall not murder unborn babies to get their heathen mother’s votes! (Just one example.)

What a wonderful time it’s going to be, the Millennium!

Isaiah 9:7 agrees: “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.”

“Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature,
O Thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
Thou, my soul’s glory, joy and crown.”

“Beautiful Savior! Lord of all the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
Now and forevermore be Thine.”

Yes, Hallelujah!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

An even more thrilling Lesson tomorrow (in my opinion anyway) … come study with us again!

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Not only will JESUS literally return to earth (“And HIS feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east.” Zechariah 14:1) … and not only will multitudes then be SAVED, BORN AGAIN (“Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and HE WILL SAVE US: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his SALVATION.” Isaiah 25:9) … but also the earth itself will be abundantly blessed!

Even to the point that animal life will be impacted! (One of our upcoming Lessons … “The WOLF also shall dwell with the LAMB, and the LEOPARD shall lie down with the KID; and the CALF and the YOUNG LION and the FATLING together; and a little child shall lead them.” Isaiah 11:6) Yes, “physical” blessings too!

And today’s Text Verse, Isaiah 30:23 (not very well known, not often studied) hints at these physical (geographical) blessings.

“Then shall He give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.” Isaiah 30:23, King James Version

Look at the key words. The Lord “shall give rain.” That’s important in the Near East (including Israel) … but this divinely “controlled climate” is world-wide, I believe.

And this “rain” is targeting the “seed” of the ground … which will cause a bumper crop of wheat (or barley or rye) with which to make “bread!” Recall please the “famine” that will engulf planet earth under the antichrists’ reign of terror! (“A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny.” Revelation 6:6, a whole day’s wages to buy a handful of flour!)

Then Isaiah gives us a two word description of farming success during the Millennium … “fat” and “plenteous!” Self-explanatory, I think. But the former literally meaning “vigorous” and the latter meaning “stout, robust!”

Then the Holy Spirit gives us one more trait of the agricultural blessings of that coming Epoch … “In that day shall thy cattle feed in LARGE PASTURES.” Plenty of land! (Probably The CENTRAL issue in Israel today!) And apparently plenty of “cattle” to graze on that land! “CATTLE” feeding prodigiously, with the verb “feed” being cognate to the Hebrew noun “shepherd!” Yes, the “Chief Shepherd” will have returned! Not only to care for his “people sheep” but also for their “animal sheep” and livestock!

The Apostle Peter so promised: “And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a …” 1 Peter 5:5, no telling what all will be “received,” in total!

Wow!

I’ve enjoyed sharing this “thought” with you today. The Website here (these cumulative) Lessons have been building since 2002! This whole on-line endeavor was the idea of my older son Joel, a God-called preacher and Pastor himself. Joel unexpectedly went home to be with the Lord last Wednesday. But his influence will herein live on, the Lord willing. At least until his Dad is called home too!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Unless the Lord chooses to answer this prayer, the last request in the whole Bible: “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22:20

No more death!

Revelation 21:4 … “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be NO MORE DEATH, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

Hallelujah!

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