Devotion 784

Satan and his cohort will be bound in the bottomless pit. Hell was never meant for men and women. God has prepared heaven for man and woman in His image, but unbelief is what keeps us  from heaven. Unbelief of the word of God.

God makes everything new.

Isaiah writes,

Let's read:

Isaiah 24:1-3 "Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. [2] And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. [3] The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word."

 The earth will be emptied. God will take the believer, the one who has placed their faith in His word, and the unbeliever will remain with Satan, bound for the darkness of hell.

We continue our reading:

Isaiah 24:4-5 "The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. [5] The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant."

The first blood covenant with Adam was broken in the Garden of Eden. God established a second covenant, an everlasting covenant, through the second Adam, but men and women refuse to enter into this covenant. They refuse to heed the word of God. They remain in unbelief. This is what has defiled the earth. This is why the earth needs a makeover.

At the time of Noah, the same unbelief reigned on the earth, and God had to destroy and start it all over.

Genesis 6:5-8 "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. [6] And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. [7] And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. [8] But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.."

Those who place their faith in the Word of God, Jesus Christ, the second Adam, will find grace in the eyes of the Lord.

We continue our reading:

Isaiah 24:6-18 "Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. [7] The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh. [8] The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. [9] They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. [10] The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in. [11] There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. [12] In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction. [13] When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done. [14] They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea. [15] Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea. [16] From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously. [17] Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. [18] And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake."

Thunderings and earthquakes. There would be no place to hide, just like the time of Noah's flood. There was no place for men to hide, but in the ark, they looked for the ark, and it was too late.

Today, the ark is the blood of the second Adam, becoming one with Christ in His life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and now His presence, in the Person of the Holy Spirit, dwelling in you. This is the escape route that God has provided. We enter the Ark by turning on our light off faith.

We conclude our reading:

Isaiah 24:19-23 "The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. [20] The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. [21] And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. [22] And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. [23] Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously."

The sun shall be ashamed to give its light. The moon will have no light to reflect. A day of darkness, a day of separation, based on one thing: the word of God. The believer is separated unto God. The unbeliever to the darkness of hell.

Be separated unto God. BELIEVE and confess Jesus Christ, the second Adam, as we have revealed Him from the first Adam. There is one place of refuge, and that is, in Christ!