Based on Isaiah 25 (New King James Version)
“O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. For You have made a city a ruin, a fortified city a ruin, a palace of foreigners to be a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. Therefore the strong people will glorify You; the city of the terrible nations will fear You. For You have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; for the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. You will reduce the noise of aliens as heat in a dry place; as heat in the shadow of a cloud, the song of the terrible ones will be diminished. And in this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of well-refined wines on the lees. And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day: ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.’ For on this mountain the hand of the Lord will rest, and Moab shall be trampled down under Him, as straw is trampled down for the refuse heap. And He will spread out His hands in their midst as a swimmer reaches out to swim, and He will bring down their pride together with the trickery of their hands. The fortress of the high fort of your walls He will bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, down to the dust.”
Those of us that understand the Scriptures as a whole, and also use some sort of common sense, know that this world as it is today is not perfect, nor will it be either. The Bible teaches us that this world is full of problems and challenges, and that those of us that truly follow the Lord will have affliction on this earth. This place will never be perfect, nor will it be free from problems because of sin. This is not heaven, nor paradise, nor anything that resembles those things. Therefore, we should not put our hope in this place.
To be able to understand the subject a bit more, and to see the Bible’s perspective, the Lord Himself taught us the following: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21. Why did He say that? Because this place, this earth, is a temporary place. As it is also written: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18.
So, the following question may come up, and especially if a person has clung on to the things written in the Bible to justify believing a doctrine of prosperity and perfect health, that if God did great things before for those that followed Him faithfully, why would He not do the same now? And the answer and first clarification is that something happened between the time the law was in effect and grace was manifested. Christ changed everything, and for an eternal glory, opening like that the door directly towards eternity, the dispensation of God’s grace. Before Christ died and was resurrected from among the dead, the law was still in effect, and under the law, no one could be justified, as it is written: “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:19-20. Before Christ, there was no salvation because there was no justification. So then, if there was no justification, there was no access to heaven. Therefore, no one before Christ was able to enter heaven. That is why Abraham’s bosom existed, which the Lord Himself revealed, where all of those that were faithful to the Lord and kept God’s law went. Abraham’s bosom was a paradise that existed adjacent to hell or Sheol. David wrote many times about this Sheol. So then, everyone prior to Christ went to hell, but the difference was between this paradise for the faithful and the place of torment for those that were not found faithful to God.
The second clarification is that everything in the Old Testament were previews of the eternal. God revealed in some way things before as signs of what was going to occur eternally, when the fulfillment of all things would occur. In other words, all of the earthly victories and prosperities that were made possible before were signs of the eternal that is to come, that would be experienced by those that are faithful to the Lord. What we saw both in the tabernacle and the temple were foretellings of what would be fulfilled in the Messiah, in Jesus. What we read today may have occurred in a limited way to God’s people on earth, but they are just previews of eternal coming events. So then, we need to be careful on how things that were written before are applied with the idea that they become real on earth now.
Now, another question may arise, “Will God not do anything in our favor while here on earth?” And the answer is yes and no, but everything is subject to His will and purpose, and this is difficult to accept if you use your human knowledge and your carnal senses to see things. First of all, within this point, we cannot overlook the great and eternal triumph we have through Christ, which consists of the eternal salvation of our souls. There is no more Abraham’s bosom. When Christ was resurrected, God’s purpose was fulfilled and the greatest miracle occurred, that all of those that were waiting for the coming of the Messiah in Sheol or in Abraham’s bosom were taken to heaven, to the eternal reward. When we think carnally, we underestimate God’s great miracle, salvation. Secondly, God can do whatever He wants. But, He does everything always being subject to a purpose, to a why, and that purpose and why is to reveal that He is God, and that there is salvation only in Him, that He is the only hope. Christ did the miracles He did to precisely demonstrate that He is God. The apostles and disciples through the Holy Spirit also received these gifts as a sign to demonstrate the same, and God can reveal His power on this temporary world today (like He did with me when I converted to Him) through us His servants to give an opportunity for someone or a group of people to see that He is God, and that there is only hope in Him. Everything has as an end to demonstrate God, to give hope for salvation, and for the edification of the church of Christ.
In summary, incredible things will be fulfilled in those of us that have remained faithful until the last moment of our lives, those of us that truly love Him. “But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’” 1 Corinthians 2:9. Have you placed your hope on the temporary or on the eternal triumph? Lord bless! John