Isa. 63:1-6 Who is this who comes from Edom, With dyed garments from Bozrah, This

One who is glorious in His apparel, Traveling in the greatness of His strength? -- "I who

speak in righteousness, mighty to save." 2 Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments

like one who treads in the winepress? 3 "I have trodden the winepress alone, And from

the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger, And trampled

them in My fury; Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, And I have stained all My

robes. 4 For the day of vengeance is in My heart, And the year of My redeemed has

come. 5 I looked, but there was no one to help, And I wondered That there was no one to

uphold; Therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me; And My own fury, it sustained

Me. 6 I have trodden down the peoples in My anger, Made them drunk in My fury, And

brought down their strength to the earth." NKJV

Isa. 66:1-2 "Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that

you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? 2 For all those things My hand

has made, And all those things exist," Says the LORD. "But on this one will I look: On

him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word. NKJV

A. Isaiah is speaking of the end of the age when Jesus returns to judge the nations in

the power of His might. Hebrews 9:28 states that Christ came the first time for

the atoning of sin. The second time He will come with delivering power to judge

the nations and save His people.

of Jesus as the Judge who is treading the nations in the winepress of His fury. He

is reducing the strength of the proud and unresponsive to nothing.

C. In light of this picture of Jesus, Isaiah cries out in intercession for the restoration

of Israel. God responds that He will gather Israel to Himself, yet it will come

through a time of chastisement and great shaking on the earth. Isaiah ends with

God revealing His desire to set up a dwelling place among men and that those

who respond in two ways will receive this inheritance.

1. On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,

2. And who trembles at My word.

B. The prophets indicate that the time immediately prior to this restoration will

characterized by a massive move of God removing everything that hinders love

on planet earth. What He does on a small scale with the nation of Israel in

removing every hindrance as a Judge and pruning them, because of love, He is

going to do on a world-wide scale with all the nations of the earth.

C. Isa 26:9-11 With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit

within me I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, The

inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. 10 Let grace be shown to the

wicked, Yet he will not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness he will deal

unjustly, And will not behold the majesty of the LORD. 11 LORD, when Your

hand is lifted up, they will not see. But they will see and be ashamed For their

envy of people; Yes, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them. NKJV

1. Isaiah points out the purpose of His judgments are so that the inhabitants

of the earth will learn righteousness.

wicked do not respond. The wicked refuse to humble themselves and

learn righteousness. Only those who are contrite and who tremble at His

word learn righteousness.

D. God reveals in Hebrews 12 that in the last days He will once again shake heaven

and earth. At this hour of history He will shake the nations and remove

everything that hinders love.

Heb. 12:25-29 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not

escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if

we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the

earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the

earth, but also heaven." 27 Now this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of

those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things

which cannot be shaken may remain.

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us

have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly

fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire. NKJV

1. This scripture reveals that God is a jealous Lover who longs in

righteousness for redemption and to save as many as He can. His

strategy is to shake everything that can be shaken. Is 63:1 reminds us

2. So God, as He shakes the nations, He judges sin and kicks out all the

worlds false props. When His judgments touch the church, it is called

purifying and refining. When it touches the obstinately rebellious, it is

called wrath.

3. His desire is to bring as many of us into red-hot affection at the deepest

level with the utmost tenderness that He can. He will remove everything

which hinders love before the day of His return, for a equally yoked bride

is promised to Him. He wants us to be as radiant as possible on the day

cross. We will wear white on that day. And so He shakes everything that

can be shaken in order that only the Kingdom will remain, only that

which is born of love.

pre-quake tremors begin, Isaiah 66 calls out humble thyself in the sight of the

Lord and tremble at His Word. All the nations are in a serious transition on the

earth whether they know it or not and none are exempt. Rulership is changing

hands.

The sea cowers back. When He speaks, the stars stand up. He stretches

them forth like a curtain and names them all. He holds the seas in the

palm of His hand, and when He roars, the earth melts. When He comes

in all His brightness, Isaiah proclaims that the sun will ashamed and the

moon will be embarrassed.

2. God is coming and bringing with Him a fascinated trembling for those

who know Him. For the believer comes a fascinated trembling of the

beautiful, righteous God who is coming to make His home on planet

earth.

3. This is good news. And, it is bad news. It is sheer delight for those who

tremble now, and it is the worst horror imaginable for those who scorn

love. For the weak and immature that say yes to Him, it is beyond our

those who continually scorn love it is terror unimaginable. And for us, we

tremble at His beauty, His strength and power, and His gentleness. But

for the wicked it is horror unimaginable.

A. Daniel 5. Because beloved, Daniel 5 is an hour like today when, as Daniel 7

portrays, the winds of heaven are blowing on the great sea of the nations.

Transition is in the air, Cyrus the Great is on the move, and Babylon is falling.

Dan. 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of

in pride He is able to put down. NKJV

able to put down. Let me tell you, this history of humanity is the history of nations

who have jostled for power and in their pride have been left holding nothing.

1. Gen. 4

years. Can you imagine, it says in Genesis 6 that the whole earth was

filled with violence and full of corruption? What is it like for humanity

to have a thousand years to perfect evil?

older, he knew he must begin his march to conquest. His body

breaking down and growing weak kept him from a certain amount of

evil. What would it have been like, if at the age of fifty, Hitler took

power and had 900 years more to perfect his plan for conquest.

to reduce our frame in weakness in order that we might not carry

through on the evil intents of our own heart.

D. Strength and pride are a dangerous combination. Strength gives pride the

opportunity to manifest itself. Latent in the heart of every man and woman is

something is wrong.

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2. Ps. 90:10-12 The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of

strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;

For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 11 Who knows the power of Your

anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. 12 So teach us to

number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. NKJV

message to a Roman general after a great victory.

E. God is committed to opposing the strength and pride of humanity.

Ex. 18:10-12 And Jethro said,"Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out

of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has

delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that

the LORD is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved

proudly, He was above them."

2 Sam. 22:28 You will save the humble people; But Your eyes are on the haughty,

that You may bring them down.

Job 40:8-14 "Would you indeed annul My judgment? Would you condemn Me

that you may be justified? 9 Have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with

a voice like His? 10 Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, And array

yourself with glory and beauty. 11 Disperse the rage of your wrath; Look on

everyone who is proud, and humble him. 12 Look on everyone who is proud, and

bring him low; Tread down the wicked in their place. 13 Hide them in the dust

together, Bind their faces in hidden darkness. 14 Then I will also confess to you

That your own right hand can save you.

Job 9:13 God will not withdraw His anger, The allies of the proud lie prostrate

beneath Him.

Ps. 9:16-20 The LORD is known by the judgment He executes; The wicked is

snared in the work of his own hands. 17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, And

all the nations that forget God. 18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten;

The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. 19 Arise, O LORD, do not let

man prevail; Let the nations be judged in Your sight. 20 Put them in fear, O

LORD, That the nations may know themselves to be but men.

Ps. 12:3-4 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, And the tongue that speaks

proud things, 4 Who have said, "With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our

own; Who is lord over us?"

Ps. 18:27 For You will save the humble people, But will bring down haughty

looks.

Ps. 31:23-24 Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints! For the LORD preserves

the faithful, And fully repays the proud person. 24 Be of good courage, And He

shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD.

Ps. 101:5 The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, Him I will not

endure.

Ps. 119:21 You rebuke the proud -- the cursed, Who stray from Your

commandments.

Prov. 6:16-17 These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to

Him: 17 A proud look, etc.

Prov. 15:25-26 The LORD will destroy the house of the proud, But He will

establish the boundary of the widow. 26 The thoughts of the wicked are an

abomination to the LORD, But the words of the pure are pleasant.

Prov. 16:5 Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Though they

join forces, none will go unpunished.

Prov. 16:18-19 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.

19 Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil with the

proud.

Isa. 2:17-19 The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, And the haughtiness of

men shall be brought low; The LORD alone will be exalted in that day, 18 But

the idols He shall utterly abolish. 19 They shall go into the holes of the rocks, And

into the caves of the earth, From the terror of the LORD And the glory of His

majesty, When He arises to shake the earth mightily.

Isa. 3:16-17 Moreover the LORD says: "Because the daughters of Zion are

haughty, And walk with outstretched necks And wanton eyes, Walking and

mincing as they go, Making a jingling with their feet, 17 Therefore the Lord will

strike with a scab The crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, And the LORD

will uncover their secret parts."

Isa. 5:15-16 People shall be brought down, Each man shall be humbled, And the

eyes of the lofty shall be humbled. 16 But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in

judgment, And God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness.

Isa. 10:12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has performed all His

work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, "I will punish the fruit of

the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks."

Isa. 10:33-34 Behold, the Lord, The LORD of hosts, Will lop off the bough with

terror; Those of high stature will be hewn down, And the haughty will be

humbled. 34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, And Lebanon

will fall by the Mighty One.

Isa. 13:11-13 "I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their

iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness

of the terrible. 12 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than

the golden wedge of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth

will move out of her place, In the wrath of the LORD of hosts And in the day of

His fierce anger.

Isa. 23:9 The LORD of hosts has purposed it, To bring to dishonor the pride of

all glory, To bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.

Isa. 24:21-23 It shall come to pass in that day That the LORD will punish on high

the host of exalted ones, And on the earth the kings of the earth. 22 They will be

gathered together, As prisoners are gathered in the pit, And will be shut up in the

prison; After many days they will be punished. 23 Then the moon will be

disgraced And the sun ashamed; For the LORD of hosts will reign On Mount

Zion and in Jerusalem And before His elders, gloriously.

Jer. 49:16 Your fierceness has deceived you, The pride of your heart, O you who

dwell in the clefts of the rock,Who hold the height of the hill! Though you make

your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there," says the LORD.

Jer. 50:29-32 "Call together the archers against Babylon. All you who bend the

bow, encamp against it all around; Let none of them escape. Repay her according

to her work; According to all she has done, do to her; For she has been proud

against the LORD, Against the Holy One of Israel. 30 Therefore her young men

shall fall in the streets, And all her men of war shall be cut off in that day," says

the LORD. 31 "Behold, I am against you, O most haughty one!" says the Lord

GOD of hosts; "For your day has come, The time that I will punish you. 32 The

most proud shall stumble and fall, And no one will raise him up; I will kindle a

fire in his cities, And it will devour all around him."

Ezek. 16:49-50 Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her

daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she

strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty and

committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit.

Amos 6:8 The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself, The LORD God of hosts says: "I

abhor the pride of Jacob, And hate his palaces; Therefore I will deliver up the city

And all that is in it."

Obad. 2-4 "Behold, I will make you small among the nations; You shall be greatly

despised. 3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, You who dwell in the clefts

of the rock,Whose habitation is high; You who say in your heart, 'Who will bring

e down to the ground?' 4 Though you ascend as high as the eagle, And though you

set your nest among the stars, From there I will bring you down," says the LORD.

Zeph. 2:10-11 This they shall have for their pride, Because they have reproached

and made arrogant threats Against the people of the LORD of hosts. 11 The

LORD will be awesome to them, For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the

earth; People shall worship Him, Each one from his place, Indeed all the shores of

the nations.

Mal. 4:1-3 "For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the

proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming

shall burn them up, "Says the LORD of hosts, "That will leave them neither root

nor branch. 2 But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise

With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed

calves. 3 You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of

your feet On the day that I do this, "Says the LORD of hosts.

Luke 1:50-55 And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to

generation. 51 He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in

the imagination of their hearts. 52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones,

And exalted the lowly. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich

He has sent away empty. 54 He has helped His servant Israel

Rom. 11:19-23 You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be

grafted in." 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand

by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural

branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and

severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you

continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if

they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them

in again.

1 Tim. 6:17-19 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be

haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly

all things to enjoy.

2 Tim. 3:1-6 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For

men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers,

disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers,

without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty,

lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but

denying its power. And from such people turn away!

James 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud,

But gives grace to the humble."

1 Peter 5:5-7 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders.

Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for

"God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." 6 Therefore humble

yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7

casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves

the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world -- the

lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life -- is not of the Father but

is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who

does the will of God abides forever.

B. Cyrus is knocking at the door of Babylon. Babylon manifests the depths of her

pride. Babylon was thought of as the impenetrable city. Its wall could not be

overcome, and stored food could last the city for years.

C. You cannot miss the hour of visitation when grace and mercy is offered

1. Jeremiah and Zedekiah

2. Jesus and Jerusalem

3. Zeph. 2:1-3 Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O

undesirable nation, 2 Before the decree is issued, Or the day passes like

chaff, Before the LORD's fierce anger comes upon you, Before the day of

the LORD's anger comes upon you! 3 Seek the LORD, all you meek of

the earth, Who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek

humility. It may be that you will be hidden In the day of the LORD's

anger. NKJV

D. Unlike Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar refuses to humble himself, trusting in his

own strength, and throws a great feast.

Ps. 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in man. NKJV

A. Belshazzar is the picture of the unrepentant king who mocks God. Daniel 7 and 8

forms the picture of the coming King, the little horn who will exalt himself above

all that is called God.

B. The Holy Temple Articles are summoned to be brought forth during the height of

the drinking fest. Belshazzar mocks the Living God by using sacred religious

articles to display the power of the Babylonian gods. Just as the mighty gods of

Babylon overtook Jerusalem’s God, they will also overcome the gods of Cyrus.

D. Belshazzar Trembles Exceedingly. There are two kinds of trembling. First, there

is the trembling of humility that is birthed in fascination with God. We tremble at

His beauty, His might, and His kindness. Second, there is the trembling of the

repentance, but they tremble because God is still holy. When He manifests His

Holy Presence near wickedness, wicked things tremble.

E. Magicians are called.

A. The Queen Mother tells her son about Daniel.

Dan. 5:10-12 The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came to

the banquet hall. The queen spoke, saying, "O king, live forever! Do not let your

this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called, and he

will give the interpretation." NKJV

B. Belshazzar is still unrepentant.

C. Daniel refuses any gifts and position.

D. Daniel Rebukes the King.

little horn in both of his visions.

3. Interpretation:

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

26 This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered

your kingdom, and finished it; 27 TEKEL: You have been weighed in the

balances, and found wanting; 28 PERES: Your kingdom has been divided,

and given to the Medes and Persians." NKJV

A. II Thessalonians 1-2

B. Rev. 13

C. Rev. 16:12-16