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Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
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Commentary & Explanation
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Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
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CHAPTER 28
Woe to the drunkards of Ephraim!—Revelation comes line upon line, and
precept upon precept—Christ, the sure foundation, is promised.
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1 WOE to the crown of pride, to
the adrunkards of bEphraim, whose
glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of
cthe fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one,
which as a atempest of hail and a destroying
bstorm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast
down to the earth with the hand.
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3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:
4 And the glorious beauty, which is on the head
of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the
ahasty fruit before the summer; which when he that
looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.
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5 ¶ In athat day shall the
LORD of hosts be for a crown of bglory, and for a diadem of
beautya, unto the residue
[remnant] of his people,
6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in
judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the
gatea.
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5a In that day shall the LORD of hosts be
for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty The Crown of Glory
is unto those who take upon themselves the Name of the Lord as his sons and
daughters in the gospel. And they do this by obeying the commandments of God,
the Doctrine of Christ, which calls all men unto him to repent and be baptised
in his name, unto that gospel ordinance birth which bind them his in accord to
that baptismal covenant. Then they are crown as his children and as they live
to obey him, they will so be glorified with him in his kingdom. This is not
so much a temporal but that spiritual glory in becoming a member of God's City
or Kingdom.
6a strength to them that turn the battle
to the gate In terms of a temporal battle over a city it is often
at the city's gate where the battle is determined. But in terms of that city
and crown of glory of the LORD the city is the kingdom of God and the gate is
that baptism which is required for authorized entrance into the city. In the
last days the battle is over the souls of men and winning them unto the
waters of baptism unto the Lord that they might be brought into the kingdom
of God. And thus the 'strength' to them that battle is to they who are calling
men unto repentance and unto the waters of baptism unto Christ that they might
be brought to and enter the 'gate' unto the glory of the Lord. Of course this
battle can be more fully described including the 'false gates' which seem to
lead men into the city of Christ but in truth lead them by disception unto a
false sense of security while the true gate and the entrance thereunto does but
pass them by.
Now those who do not grasp that the Old and New Testaments do relate and are of
that same being, Jehovah being Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ being Jehovah, or
the ancient law overshadowing Christ's Doctrine do not readily see that the
'gate' is the entrance of baptism into that city beyond this earth and they
contrive there 'modern' uninspired translations to but thwart the simple
understanding that the 'gate' wherein the battle does turn is to the gate of
entrance into his kingdom, that gospel battle for the souls of men which can
be entered only upon the entrance of baptism of water and spirit (John 3:3).
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7 ¶ But athey also have
berred through cwine, and through strong
drink are out of the way; the priest and the dprophet have
erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of
the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in
judgment.
8 For all tables are full of vomit and
afilthiness, so that there is no place clean.
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9 Whom shall he teach aknowledge?
and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are
bweaned from the cmilk, and drawn
from the breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept,
aprecept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here
a little, and there a little:
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11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept
upon precept, aprecept upon precept; line upon line, line
upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and
bfall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
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14 ¶ Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with
death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing
ascourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for
we have made lies our brefuge, and under falsehood have we
hid ourselves:
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16 ¶ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I
lay in Zion for a afoundation a bstone, a
tried stone, a precious ccorner stone, a sure
foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
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18 ¶ And ayour covenant with
death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand;
when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden
down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
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20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
21 For the LORD shall rise up as in
amount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley
of bGibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and
bring to pass his act, his strange act.
22 Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands
be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a
aconsumption, even determined upon the whole earth.
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23 ¶ Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.
24 Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?
25 When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?
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26 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.
27 For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
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28 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.
29 This also acometh forth from the
LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in
working.
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