God Will Judge, Bless, and Punish

Isaiah Chapter 18 mainly describes how God punished Cush, which is today's Ethiopia. At that time, Cush was a very powerful nation, having controlled Egypt, which was its vassal state, and also a strong nation. Chapter 19 mainly describes how God punished Egypt, with a particularly interesting passage:

In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. (Isaiah 19:24-25)

Earlier, it wrote about how God punished Cush and Egypt, but later it writes about Egypt and Israel being blessed.

In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them. And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it. And the Lord shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them. (Isaiah 19:19-22)

This is because the Egyptians turned back to God. In fact, Chapter 20 summarizes the content of Chapters 18 and 19.

And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape? (Isaiah 20:6)

This passage speaks of the Assyrian Empire as a very brutal empire, whose invented punishments were unprecedented, never seen before or since, such as the extremely common practice of slow slicing. Assyria was a very brutal nation, but it was a tool used by God. The reason God used the Assyrian Empire was not because the Assyrian Empire was righteous before God, but because the people of Israel did evil before God. When the Israelites were in a situation where the Assyrian Empire was attacking Israel and the Kingdom of Judah, their natural reaction was to seek help. Who did the Israelites seek help from? They sought help from Cush and Egypt, that is, Cush and Egypt were what the Israelites looked to. In fact, what they were looking to was warned by the prophet Isaiah, when Israel and the Kingdom of Judah had not yet been destroyed, and Isaiah prophesied in his book, warning the Israelites not to turn to Cush or Egypt.

Later, there was a prophet born a hundred years later than Isaiah, named Jeremiah, who was taken captive to Egypt. How was Jeremiah taken captive to Egypt? Because when the Babylonian Empire conquered the Kingdom of Judah, the Israelites fled to Egypt and hoped that Egypt could help them, but later Egypt was also defeated by the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires.

Do Not Rely on Man, Rely on God

What concept is Isaiah conveying? It is not to rely on man, do not think that you will not be punished if you rely on man, in fact, even what you rely on will be punished. I summarize Chapters 18, 19, and 20, which is that we and what we look to will be judged by God. In fact, the entire Book of Isaiah speaks of judgment.

Brothers and sisters can start thinking about one thing: whether in the workplace or in life, we have the tendency to ask for help from others as soon as something goes wrong. Brothers and sisters should know that seeking is futile, and seeking is useless. You yourself are also under God's judgment, and you will find that the person you seek is also under God's control. Both those who trust in man and those who are trusted will be judged before God. Asking your parents will not have good results either, and I don't want everyone to misunderstand this. A characteristic of the Christian faith is that if you are familiar with the Bible, you will find that leaning against a wall will cause the wall to fall, and leaning against a tree will cause the tree to lean, and you cannot rely on anything, you can only rely on the Lord your God.

If you are a people of God, chosen by God, you will find that you cannot rely on anything. If you rely on money, the money will be gone; if you rely on people, people will die; if you rely on power, the power will be taken away, and you cannot rely on anything. In the end, you will summarize a lesson: you can only rely on God. You may think, does God want to morally bind us? I don't want everyone to misunderstand, in fact, God wants us to enter into His life. As servants of God, shepherding God's flock, sometimes the methods we adopt are not very friendly, but that is indeed love. Whether you are a servant of God or a leader used by God, you must know that leaning against a wall will cause the wall to fall, and leaning against a tree will cause the tree to lean, and you cannot rely on anything, you can only rely on the Lord your God.

No matter what kind of person, no one can escape such a spiritual law. The spiritual law is clearly written in the Book of Isaiah. The history of the Israelites records the history of God's chosen people relying on man and suffering punishment, and relying on God and living a blessed life. In fact, Isaiah lived in a period of time 600 or 700 years before Christ. Before that, from about 1500 years before Christ, in the time of Moses, 3500 years from now, we have clearly seen the work of God, to let you know that you can only trust in Him.

What kind of revelation does the fact that you can only trust in Him give us? People must know who they are. We know that we are human, and a basic principle of being human is that you need God. Even if Egypt is one of the most powerful nations, it also needs God. Assyria is the most powerful empire used by God, and it also needs God. The Israelites also need God, especially since they are God's chosen people. As it is written in the Bible, for those who seek God:

In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. (Isaiah 19:24-25)

Vessels of God

In fact, God is determined to bless us. If you can become what God uses, you are blessed. We see in Chapter 18 that God punished Cush. Cush was a powerful nation in that era, and then what happened?

Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled! (Isaiah 18:2)

In that time shall the present be brought unto the Lord of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion. (Isaiah 18:7)

Why do these people mention this name when punishing Cush, and who is the name mentioned? It is Assyria. This Assyrian Empire will come to punish Cush and is a vessel used by God. To what extent is Cush punished?

For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches. They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. (Isaiah 18:5-6)

That is to say, this place has become a desolate land. Vultures are eagles, a kind of vulture. The place where vultures gather is a place where corpses are everywhere, and it has become a place where wild animals live, that is, it is extremely ruined. Wasn't Cush a very strong nation, even able to control Egypt and establish a Cushite empire? In fact, none of this is useful, and God still makes it a desolate place. Later, those who punish Cush will offer this as a gift to the Lord, that is, the Cush they punished.

God's Righteous Judgment

Brothers and sisters must know for sure that you cannot rely on these people. If you rely on these, God will punish them through other people whom God uses. If we carefully study human history, you will find that in human history, there seems to be a line called God reigning in the kingdoms of mankind. We see Cush being punished and Egypt being punished.

And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts. And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up. And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither. The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more. The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish. Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded. (Isaiah 19:4-9)

When a country is judged and punished by God, it may not have committed a very serious problem, but only because of one thing, the Israelites look to them. The Israelites look to them, using human methods to solve their problems, and what they look to is the situation they see. We must be completely awake. If what we look to is man and not God, we will fall into a state of sorrow. If you don't believe it, try it and look to man, and you will fail.

The Identity of Christians is Very Noble

Speaking of this, I tell everyone that this is the situation:

Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do. (Isaiah 19:15)

Whether big or small, no matter what kind of person you are, noble or lowly, the work you do will not succeed. Why does the work you do not succeed? Because they are willing to lend their shoulders to the Israelites to lean on. We Christians must be careful, when you lean on others, you will make them miserable. If some of us are in business, you put your hope in your business, and then put your hope in the people who give you business, I tell you, disaster will come to that person. If that person does not know who he is, and he thinks he is helping you and can lend his shoulder to you to lean on, then he is miserable. Why is this so? This is the law established by God, don't ask me why. That is to say, Christians lean against a wall and the wall will fall, lean against a tree and the tree will lean. No matter what you rely on, you will ruin that thing, because you are too noble.

Why can't you worship the dead? (See Leviticus 21:1) In fact, there is nothing wrong with worshiping the dead. It doesn't matter if other people worship, but something will definitely happen after you worship, because you are too noble. You are a child of God, and the child of God can only worship God. Some people argue with God: Why do you want to do this? I can only tell you that He is God, and you are not qualified to ask Him that. When Paul wrote Romans, he told the Romans: Does God not have the right to do this? He is God, and He can do whatever He wants, and you are not qualified to ask. We must know that we are human, and the place where God stands is very high, and we cannot understand what He does, so we must listen to God's words and not ask why.

Different Levels, Different Perspectives

When communicating with some brothers and sisters, I felt that they could not understand what I was saying. Later, I told them: You are in your twenties, I am in my fifties. In terms of education, I am better educated than you. In terms of position, I am doing better than you. Some things, I can only tell you that this is how I see it. From my position, this is what I see. You are standing in your position, and you have your own views, but your position is too low, and you cannot see clearly. Actually, I am telling you: People often cannot see clearly, which is why people need to inherit from God.

When you begin to carefully examine the Bible, you will discover an amazing truth in the Bible: Moses never asked God why He did things this way, and David never asked God why either. When God told Abraham to offer his only son Isaac, Abraham did not ask why. Are you not surprised? (See Genesis 22:2-3) Furthermore, some things revealed in the Bible are shocking. God said to Abraham: Your descendants will be enslaved in Egypt for four hundred years. (Genesis 15:13) After hearing these words, no one would want to accept them, but Abraham did not ask God: Why is this so? This is called faith.

Is this foolishness? No, trusting God is the beginning of wisdom. Fearing the Lord and trusting God is wisdom. Why is God said to be wisdom? Because my position is too low. Abraham, standing at such a high level, felt that his position was very low when speaking with God. Although he did not understand, he did what God said. The Bible says:

Just as the Lord commanded Moses, so he did. (Exodus 12:28)

If you look closely, when we are in a low position and ask why, even if we are told, we may not understand. In the church, some young brothers and sisters ask me about career planning. After I tell them, whether they listen or not is up to their own destiny. If you feel that you can see clearly, do not ask. If you do not understand, you must inherit from those who can see clearly. Our God sees very clearly. If you stand at God's height and look at problems, that is walking with God. If you stand in God's position to view problems, you will not ask why.

Actually, I have developed a habit in my work. As for why I do not change it, it is because I feel there is no need to change it. When I meet people, they often say: Pastor Liu, you should do this and that. Then I ask them, have you been a pastor? If you have not been a pastor, why should I do things the way you say? They say it is a suggestion for me. I tell them, forget it! This is my bad habit, please do not blame me, because at best, it is just a point of view. Let them practice it first, then come and tell me.

Seeing Clearly Who You Are

There are also some people who do not know who they are. The most important thing for a person is to know who they are. In God's presence, David said that he was at best like a beast in spirit before God, and God had mercy on him. If you think you are a king, very impressive, and that your throne was won by yourself, then God will take it away from you. Therefore, even when David's throne was overthrown and taken by his son, and he fled, he did not care, because he knew who he was. Some people, as they work, eventually forget who they are. Once brothers and sisters know who they are, your days of blessing will begin. Those brothers and sisters who give testimonies are precisely because they know who they are.

There are also some people, in the church, I minister to them. After I minister to them well, they forget who they are. Actually, they were originally mentally ill, people who were about to die. I cast out the demons from their bodies and saved them, but later they forgot and became unaware of who they were. They think they are very capable, and they tell me: Pastor, I am going out for two months to look at other churches, and then I will come back to find you. They think that when they come back, I will want them? Who do they think they are? I feel very sorry for these people. I myself would not do such a thing.

Throughout my life, I have hoped to know who I am. At best, I am a person who is going to die in this world, so I need to trust God. I am not God, I cannot control when I am born or when I die. Moreover, the level at which I stand is very low, so I trust in God's words, because there is nothing else I can trust. God stands at a very high position, and I do not ask why He does what He does. We must know that we are human, and always know that our level is really low, so we need to listen to God's words. This passage says:

In that day the Egyptians will be like women, trembling with fear at the uplifted hand that the Lord Almighty raises against them. And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified. (Isaiah 19:16-17)

Just because the people of Judah were leaning on his shoulder, the Egyptians lost their composure, mentioning the land of Judah filled them with fear. This is a serious punishment! As a spiritual Jew, a true Christian, we must learn a lesson: do not rely on anyone.

This is because of the purpose the Lord Almighty has against them. (See Isaiah 19:17)

You are God's chosen people, you must know that if you rely on anything other than God, that thing will be unlucky! So I am telling you, if you rely on your parents, be careful not to bring misfortune to your parents. What did Jesus say in the Bible?

Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:37)

When I first believed in the Lord, the first book I read was Matthew. Before, I never understood it. Jesus said to Peter, come follow me. And he followed! (Matthew 4:18-20) After reading it, I thought, what kind of magic did He use? It's like those kidnapper old men when I was a child, as if as soon as they touched someone, the person would follow them. But if you want to follow Jesus, you must follow like this, leave everything behind. After Peter followed Jesus, did he lack food or clothing? No. Because Jesus is God, our Jesus is the God who rose from the dead. Although He had not yet risen from the dead at that time, Peter began to follow Jesus in the flesh, so Peter's mother and wife did not suffer any disasters. If we do not know that everything is in God's control, it is a very serious matter. The Bible says this:

In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord near its border. It will be a sign and witness to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. (Isaiah 19:19-20)

Why did the Egyptians build an altar? Because they were disciplined by God! They finally knew their identity. What is the sign and witness for? It is the evidence that they were beaten and punished. Brothers and sisters, do not think that God's discipline and correction of you are not good things. It is to put a sign and witness on you, so that you can turn back to God and enter into blessing.

Recently, I have been pondering one thing, that is, what exactly is the center of the research and development of our church's 301 faith course? Brother HF said: Be sure to find tools, the 301 course is a tool for correcting people. I will introduce it to everyone when the time comes, this is a tool that can bless us. The most important thing to bless people is to let them know who they are. Why did I cast out the dragon spirit from Sister XF? Because I wanted her to know who she was. Why did I cast out the evil spirit from Sister SQ? Because I wanted her to know who she was. It is tantamount to dooming yourself when you do not know who you are.

In the past few days, I have been reflecting on myself: In fact, I made a mistake, and many people were corrupted by me. Why do I say they were corrupted by me? Because I did not dare to speak up or demand anything from them. So in the end, they fell into a state where they were spiritually corrupted and did not know who they were, thinking they were very capable. So brothers and sisters must know what the Bible says:

Because the Egyptians cried out to the Lord in the face of their oppressors, he sent them a savior and champion, and he will deliver them. So the Lord will be known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them. The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them, and they will turn to the Lord. He will respond to their pleas and heal them. (Isaiah 19:20-22)

Do you see? It turns out that when God strikes us and wants to punish us, it is to make us turn back to God. Some people, when struck, turn back to God; some people, when struck, curse God. Which kind of person do you want to be? The Egyptians turned back to God when they were struck. It says here:

In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing upon the earth. (Isaiah 19:23-25)

How can people be blessed? Share your testimony of being corrected with others, and you will bless others. Because Egypt is God's people, Assyria is the work of God's hands, and Israel is God's inheritance.

What God Desires Is Your Resolve

Everything related to God, whether it is His inheritance or His people, is blessed. Those who are close to God are blessed. When I think about these things, I think God is very interesting. God had Isaiah walk naked and barefoot for three years. If God asked me to walk barefoot and naked for three years today, I think it would be a bit difficult, but Isaiah did it! You must know that God is determined to bless people, because He does not care about the cost at all. If you are to be a prophet of God, and God wants you to do it, you must do it, walk barefoot and naked for three years. What kind of sign and wonder is this to be?

So the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared—to the shame of Egypt. Those who trusted in Cush and boasted about Egypt will be dismayed and put to shame. (Isaiah 20:4-5)

Do you see what kind of determination God has? He is determined to make people blessed people, to be a blessing to others. He said to bless the people on earth, and you will become blessed people. This is shocking to us, that God tells us one thing at all costs, to have Isaiah walk barefoot and naked for three years. If I were to create the 301 course or prepare the manuscript for Bible study naked for three years, I really could not do it. What God asked Isaiah to do is beyond our imagination. Do not complain to God when you see this, you must know that this is God's determination to punish people, God's determination to let people know 'who they are' through punishing them.

Once a person knows that he is just a human being and is willing to turn back to God, this is the beginning of blessed days. Thank the Lord!