Shun the beast; the Lord is gracious who hears our repentance and gives eternal life.

Isaiah 30:18-22

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

“Therefore, the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore, He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.” Isaiah 30:18

The whole chapter of 2 Peter 3 is well worth the read at this time, here is a two-verse excerpt, “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:8-9 Global warming is in the world today and is the Fourth Plague of Revelations 16:8-9, His promises are sure to happen, even if one day is as 1000 years and 1000 years as one day. The beast reigns on this earth for “42 months” and we are within those “42 months” today, as described in the post on Revelations 13:5-6.

Click for a list of fulfilled prophecies since the 1940’s and scroll towards the bottom of the page.

The patience of the Lord is gracious to us as He perpetually offers this promise to anyone, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 Our Lord Jesus Christ has been exalted as the One who atones for sin, so that He can have mercy on us, “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” Philippians 2:9–11

He is the God of justice, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” John 3:17-19

Blessed are all those who wait for Him.

Below is the whole chapter of 2 Peter 3;

Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), ² that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 

knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 

For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 

Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

“For the people will dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; You will weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; When He hears it, He will answer you.” Isaiah 30:19

The Lord hears our cry of repentance as we come to Him through Jesus Christ, and He is very gracious to us, and answers us when He hears us, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” Ephesians 1:7 He has prepared a home for us in the eternal New Jerusalem.

Those who live in Zion at Jerusalem are we who are born-again through Jesus Christ, and Zion at Jerusalem is described in this way, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant…” Hebrews 12:22-24

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There will be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” Revelations 21:4-5

“And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes will see your teachers. Your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.” Isaiah 30:20-21

The Israelites were under the bread of adversity and the water of affliction through the laws of Judaism. Christ Jesus came as the Bread and Water of Life, “And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst...If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit…” John 6:35, John 7:37-39

“But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter…For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” – Romans 7:6, Romans 8:2

The teachers of the Israelites habitually led them away from the word of God, and the Lord pushed those corrupt teachers into a corner. Like described in Matthew 23 when our Lord Jesus pushed the Pharisees and scribes into a corner because of their spiritual corruption. Since the coming of Jesus Christ, He is our teacher who gives us new life through our born-again experience. That experience is our teacher because our born-again experience is the Gospel of Jesus Christ written on our heart. The Holy Spirit makes that possible, and Jesus is the giver of the Holy Spirit, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you” John 14:26 The Lord God will never move we who share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, our born-again experience, into a corner away from Him.

We see the eyes of our teachers, which are those who believe in God the Creator, through Jesus Christ, in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Every person has a unique born-again experience, so by sharing that experience we have something to teach one another. Our fellow brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ encourage one another to walk on the narrow and difficult way leading to eternal life. With that, the Holy Spirit walks with us saying, “This is the way, walk in it.” Our brothers and sisters, living in the presence of the Holy Spirit, are those who are with us whenever we turn to the right hand or whenever we turn to the left.

Today, we may find it difficult to meet a born-again believer. That’s because, “All who dwell on the earth will worship the [beast], whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelations 13:8 They serve the beast that gives them what to say, do, think, and feel. Their intent is to drive the way of Jesus Christ into extinction, as described in Revelations chapter 12, “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.’” Revelation 12:17

“You will also defile the covering of your images of silver, and the ornament of your molded images of gold. You will throw them away as an unclean thing; You will say to them, “Get away!” Isaiah 30:22

To defile the covering of idols means to openly shun anything that is exalted above God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. We are to consider anything that is placed above our faith in Jesus Christ to be unclean, to throw them away, and say, “Get away!” The ornaments of those idols would be similar to outer appearances that build our esteem but does nothing to build us up as the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are to shun those ornaments and dedicate ourselves to the Holy Spirit, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Today, there is one that exalts self above God as it sits in the temple of God, our body, as if is God. The beast does that by the power over physiology to be able to set within people by giving them what to say, do, think, and feel. We are to shun that beast, like an unclean thing, and say, “Get away!” The beast we say, “Get away!” to is the one “…who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:4 Click for a post on that.

---

“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11