Isa. 64:11

11 Our holy [qodesh] and our beautiful [tiph'arah] house [bayith], where our fathers ['ab] praised [halal] thee, is burned up [sarephah] with fire ['esh]: and all our pleasant things [machmad] are laid waste [chorbah]. KJV-Interlinear

11 Our holy and beautiful house, Where our fathers praised Thee, Has been burned by fire; And all our precious things have become a ruin. NASB

A house is a place of dwelling. It is where a person is most at ease. He has privacy, security, time to relax and enjoy some isolation from the pressures of the world.

Here the house is of course the Temple. The Temple, which was built by Solomon, then destroyed, then rebuilt, then destroyed again.

But, a building made of wood and stone, does not last forever. Only the soul lives on forever.

A building of wood and stone cannot feel, think, or appreciate the good things of life. Only the soul can do that. But, the soul needs more than just existence in order to appreciate life. It needs truth, and that comes from God alone. God provides us with access to truth through Bible doctrine.

The one true house is the collective body of Bible doctrine, the spiritual life and so forth. The burning is a reference to the collective attack of the world against God, Christ, doctrine, the spiritual life and so forth.

What we have been studying applies to every individual who has, or will ever, live. But specifically, these verses apply to the last generation of human power. At the end of the Tribulation, humanity will have sunk to an all time low. Its lowest point, even lower than the degeneracy of Noah s day.

Back then, God destroyed humanity. But in the future, man will be bent on destroying himself.

These verses are the prayers of that last remnant of mature believers who will be reminding God, and who will be reminded themselves by Isaiah, that despite this lowest of point in human history, God will still keep His promises.

So as for you. No matter what you have done in your life. Even if you have been on drugs, been a murderer, a wife beater, a child molester, and liberal (ouch that s a bad one), or just a self-righteous jerk. There is still a chance for your life, so long as you are still here and breathing.

If you are alive, then God has a plan for your life. It won t be until you check out of this life, that, that plan ceases.

By the end of the Tribulation, the attack against God, against Christ, and against doctrine will have ventured to the point of trying to destroy all truth from the face of the planet.

This doctrine is a reference to the one and only Bible doctrine. Where our fathers, is a phrase specifically referring to the scriptures written by Moses and the prophets, and of course the New Testament. This distinguishes the scriptures from any and all other writings of religion.

There is only one faith, only one God, only one spiritual life. The many options that exist out there in the world are all false. Even indifference is not an option. Indifference is simply sticking ones head in the sand, and copping out on the world. Especially when there is so much evidence of an existence in this universe, which is greater than ones self.

2 Chron. 7:21

21 As for this house, which was exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, 'Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?' NASB

And we have already seen the astonishment of truth, when it looks at the place of spiritual rest, which we call Jerusalem, and finds it virtually uninhabited.

Of all of the human beings who will ever live in history, there will be very few who will actually pursue their spiritual life to its maximums. Why?

Most don t see the point of it all. Most are indifferent. Most are antagonistic against God or doctrine. Most reject God, Christ, or doctrine and invent their own truth. Which is a laugh since none of us have been around for all of eternity past, and we simply have not seen first hand, the history of our own human race, let alone the pre-historic history of the universe.

And so the productiveness of the spiritual life of humanity is a desolation.

But still, despite all of this, despite all of humanity s indifference or rejection of God, God still honors all of His promises.

Those folks in the Tribulation, those folks who will be surrounded by the most hateful population of humanity that the world has ever seen, those folks who will be surrounded by unimaginable death and destruction, will still have hope.

They won t cave in and give up. They will hold fast to their faith. That is all they will have.

Given all of that, will any of our lives be as bad off as theirs? No. Even if you have been in a concentration camp, even if you have been a slave and beaten daily, even if you are blonde (just had to get your attention), your life will never be as bad off as theirs. Those people of the Tribulation will listen to, and learn Bible doctrine, and they will grow up spiritually, when it should be virtually impossible to do that. Many will even starve because the world won t give or sell them food.

Their temptations to betray God will be so great, that their faith will be pushed to their ultimate limits.

You will never face that kind of test.

So, if you don t grow up in your spiritual life, given the relative peace that we enjoy in today s world, then what will be your excuse?

Now is the time to post a prayer.