The Dead Stirred Up

“Sheol from below is excited over you, to meet you at your coming. It stirs up the dead for you, all the chief of the earth. It has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.  All of them shall speak and say to you, Are you also as weak as we?  Have you become like us?  Your arrogance is brought down to Sheol, and the noise of your lutes. The maggot is spread under you, and the worms cover you.  How you are fallen from the heavens, O shining one, son of the morning!  How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!  For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of the Mighty God; I will also sit on the mount of the appointed assembly, in the recesses of the north.  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.  Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the recesses of the Pit.  Those who see you shall stare at you and consider diligently, saying, Is this the man who made the earth to tremble; who shook kingdoms; who made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed its cities; who did not open the house for his prisoners?”  Isaiah 14:9-17

 

Now this is interesting indeed and something that very few people ever hear about.  Just a little more thought into the following verse:

 

“So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who leads the whole world astray; he was cast out onto the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”  Revelation 12:9

 

This is serious business and not only are the far vast majority of people on the broad path to destruction, but this also includes all of the kings of the nations.

 

Is this the kings of the nations since the beginning of time?  I wonder and suspect that it probably is.  For Jesus never denied that Satan (Ephesians 2:2) couldn’t hand over the power of the kingdoms to whomever he wanted to.

 

“Again, the devil takes Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he says to Him, All these things I will give to You if You will fall down and do homage to me.  Then Jesus said to him, Go away, Satan! For it has been written, You shall do homage to the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.”  Matthew 4:8-10

 

The reality is people ought to sit back and consider the scale and magnitude of this dilemma that the whole world is led astray by Satan.  Not only does that mean that all of those who die without Christ (part of those being led astray) are doomed to Hell for all eternity, but this means that when the Rapture happens that the far mass majority of people are going to be left behind even the kings of the earth having been deceived.

 

Could it be that these kings of the earth are not necessarily ignorant with who they are dealing with, that is Satan, but they are not worried about it due to some sort of deal made with Hell that it will not keep them there???  The Bible does say the following:

 

“And your covenant with death shall be covered over, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand; when the overwhelming scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trampled down by it.”  Isaiah 28:18

 

Then there is also evidence that during the Tribulation these leaders are going to make a run for it, I would assume that this would be during the same timeframe as the following:

 

“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, 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!  For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”  Revelation 6:15-17

 

Of interest are the following verses that seem to suggest perhaps an outer space quest or rather deep under the sea…very interesting.

 

“Your dreadfulness has deceived you, and the pride of your heart, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill. Though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there, says Jehovah.”  Jeremiah 49:16

 

“The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock; whose dwelling is high, saying in your heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?  Though you rise as high as the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, I will bring you down from there, declares Jehovah.”  Obadiah 1:3-4

 

“Even if they dig through into Sheol, from there My hand will take them. And if they ascend up to the heavens, from there I will bring them down.  And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out from there. Even if they hide from My eyes in the bottom of the sea, from there I will command the serpent, and he will bite them.”  Amos 9:2-3

 

There is no certainty for exactly what the kings of the earth will try to do and what preciously will take place during those days, God knows and when it happens, it will be known.  What we can say for sure is that the world is being led astray right now, the whole world.  As far as the ultimate fate of the kings of the earth the Bible does say:

 

“And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of the heavens, Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of commanders, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.  And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.  And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he led astray those who received the mark of the beast and those who did homage to his image. These two were cast alive into the Lake of Fire burning with brimstone.  And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded out of the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.”  Revelation 19:17-21

 

Now consider the following passage of the Bible carefully and diligently consider these things in your heart.

 

First consider Jesus words regarding those who truly become Saved and those who do not…

 

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many entering in through it. Because narrow is the gate and distressing is the way which leads unto life, and there are few who find it.”  Matthew 7:13-14

 

Now consider the apostasy and the times that we live in…

 

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, unyielding, slanderers, without self-control, savage, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away.  For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning, but never able to come to the full true knowledge of the truth.  But as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so do these also oppose the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.”  2nd Timothy 3:1-9

 

As well as…

 

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own lusts, desiring to hear pleasant things, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to myths.”  2nd Timothy 4:3-4

 

Now these particular passages have been on my mind for around 20 years straight and I never forget about them, as well as the following, for this is the timeframe that I believe that we live in and we should all be diligently seeking the Lord with all of our heart (Mark 12:30).

 

“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot.  So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.  Because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing; and do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked; I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.  Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.  To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”  Revelation 3:14-22

 

Now a whole study could be done on this passage alone, in fact several studies, but for the sake of this Bible study, let’s focus on verse 21.

 

“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”

 

Now when we consider that the whole world is led astray at the beginning of the Tribulation for we know the number of those truly Saved are few (Luke 18:8), look at what is offered to ‘him who overcomes’.

 

What?  This — Jesus will ‘grant to sit with’ Him on His throne!!!

 

So recently I had some correspondence with someone who reads these articles and they had stated about one day meeting very soon, around the Throne.  Well certainly the average so-called Believer that you would talk to wouldn’t probably recognize that tidbit there, certainly it is something and I am assuming this person who emailed has recognized this.

 

The reality is when you look at the apostasy, the false Christians, mix in the narrow way verses the broad way, look at how the whole world is led astray, compare most churches to the Bible and look at the zeal or rather lack of zeal regarding most who confess to be Believers THEN take Jesus’s words about overcoming and sitting on the throne, believing that we are in the final days of the last days prior to the “time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7) and you got a real recipe for a very sobering reality of the seriousness of the situation that the world finds itself in today, as well as the seriousness of serving a living God (Hebrews 9:14; 3:12).

 

There is nothing difficult about walking with Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3), about truly being Saved (John 14:6; Revelation 4:1).  No, just as Christ gave His life for us (1 John 3:16), we now make Him our focus (1 Corinthians 2:2), doing His good will (Romans 12:2).

 

“Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted Word, which has the power to save your souls.  But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets of what sort he was.  But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in his deeds.  If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but beguiles his own heart, this one’s religion is vain.  Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”  Jacob (James) 1:21-27

 

Amen!

 

P.S. I have a good friend who is a pastor from Colombia.  His zeal is honorable and should be motivating, excuse the translation issues from a recent email correspondence:

***BEGIN PASTE***  As a result of what is happening in the Middle East, it is a call for reflection for those of us who are preaching the gospel to souls who do not believe, to remain firm in its promise.  May He himself perfect us, establish us, strengthen us and establish us. To him be the glory forever.  We are scheduled to begin this November a new work (church) here in -*********MASKED********-, Colombia. For now we are looking for a place to rent. And all the evangelism material with the new direction. We pray that there will be much fruit in this place. Since there is no church that preaches with fire and truth the gospel of Jesus Christ. Time played us like an enemy, but we pray that the Lord gives us wisdom to use it for his glory. ***END PASTE***

… “for I know your willingness, about which I exult of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal has stirred up the majority.”  2nd Corinthians 9:2