PRÉCIS ON A YEAR OF RECKONING: GRACE FOR THE REMNANT IN THE COMING DAYS OF FIRE

SCRIPTURE. “Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” – ISAIAH 43:19, AMPC

KEY TERM: “NEW THING!” ‘Chadash’ [חָדָשׁ]: “From a primitive root meaning ‘to renew, rebuild, or repair;’ therefore a fresh, new thing [never done before]; implies a new King, a new Gate, a new Song, a new Spirit, a new Court, a new Glory, or a new Sword; lately made, invented and introduced to our knowledge; not before known; renovated; repaired so as to recover the first state.”

QUOTATION. “For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await Another Voice. And to make an End is to make a Beginning.” – T.S. ELIOT, Little Gidding, 1942; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘I will do a new thing’ – Something that has not hitherto occurred, some unheard of and wonderful event, that shall far surpass all that He had formerly done. ‘Now it shall spring forth’ – It shall spring up as the grass does from the earth; or it shall bud forth like the opening leaves and flowers – a beautiful figure, denoting the manner in which the events of Divine Providence come to pass. ‘I will even make a way in the wilderness’ – In this part of the verse, the Prophet describes the anxious care which God would show in protecting His people, and providing for them in conducting them to their Native Land.” – ALBERT BARNES, Notes on the Old and New Testament, 1884; edited

DK. As with all of life and all truth, there are good days and bad days ahead. In these Last Days, however, the Bad Days shall surely outpace and out measure the Good Days. But the silver lining in that cloudy forecast is that God’s Protection and Provision shall be greatly multiplied for His Faithful Remnant in the times ahead.

His Clear Promise: “So [as the result of the Messiah’s intervention] they shall [reverently] fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him and put him to flight [for He will come like a rushing stream which the breath of the Lord drives].” – ISAIAH 59:19, AMPC

Mr. Barnes Writes: “The whole passage means that Yahweh would come to deliver His people, and to prostrate His foes with the impetuosity of a violent river compressed between narrow banks, and driven on by a mighty wind. True, therefore, as it is, that when a violent enemy assails the Church; when he comes in with error, with violence, and with allies, like a flood, Yahweh will rear a Standard against him, and the influences of the Spirit of God may be expected to interpose to arrest the evil.”

THE 80-20 RULE. A Concept or Principle that I have constructed to make the following point: When we are obedient to God, the load if you will for the execution of good works on His behalf falls primarily upon God’s Shoulders. Ours could surely not carry that load, burden, or ‘Cross,’ if you will (Luke 14:27). Yet God shall greatly increase His Grace and Power in and through us, as we push through some great trial or test of our faith (2 Corinthians 12:9).

That, my friends, is how The Book reads. Selah.