Where are the Jeremiahs and Isaiahs for Today?*

      We are to know the signs of the times. Jesus said that the generation that saw the signs that He had prophesied begin to come to pass, that generation would not pass away until all would be fulfilled (Mt. 24:33-34). The prophets of God wrote the Word of the LORD concerning the conditions that would prevail among God's people including those specific to the last days, and we see those same things today.

     Jeremiah wrote: "My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains...they have forgotten their resting place. All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers." (Jer. 50:6-7). People, including the Church, have forgotten the covenant. Shepherds in the Church are leading the sheep away by teaching against the Word of God. The Church disregards the resting place of the LORD which is represented in the Sabbath, which is also not observed. The enemy becomes bold and attacks, justifying himself in the fact that God's people have left His presence.

     Isaiah Ch. 5 speaks of the vineyard of the LORD, in this case Israel and Judah, that should have brought forth cultivated grapes but brought forth wild grapes instead even though the LORD had done all to make sure that His vineyard had perfect conditions. As a result of this, the LORD said, "And now ...I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: And I will lay it waste...and there shall come up briars and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it." (Isa. 5:1-6). When Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, briars and thorns replaced the bounty they had known in the Garden. Isaiah wrote that in Israel and Judah, the LORD looked for justice but found oppression, and instead of righteousness, He found a cry because of sin. The grasping for possessions in greed and the seeking of their own prosperity would instead produce lack (v. 7-10). They did not regard the work of the LORD nor the operation of His hands, and because of their lack of this knowledge, they would go into the captivity of their enemy. Also: "Therefore hell hath enlarged itself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled: But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness." (v. 13-16). Judgment begins in the house of the LORD. If we, His people, do not hold to the standard, all falls apart. Hell mentioned here by Isaiah is real. Hell was never meant for man, but for Satan and the rebellious angels, yet men who have turned away from the knowledge of the LORD in this same manner will also find themselves there.

     Isaiah also wrote of the wholesale commitment to sin that mocks the judgment of the LORD: "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!" (v. 18-21). Bribes caused the righteous to be treated unjustly in a nation where justice, mercy and humility, with which we are to walk with God, no longer existed in the land. We also live in a time where sin is celebrated and the righteous are condemned. The Ten Commandments and prayer have been removed from schools and public buildings. A truly God-fearing people has been replaced by a people who only pay lip service to the things of the LORD. Because of these unholy conditions, Isaiah said: "...they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them...For all his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." (v. 24-25). This is a call for 2 Chron. 7:14. It is a call for His people who are called by His name to humble themselves, pray, seek His face and turn from their wicked ways, in which case the LORD promises to hear from heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land. When the light has become darkened, God holds His people responsible.

     After this Word from the LORD, Isaiah saw a vision of the Lord seated on His exalted throne. The train of His robe filled the temple. As the holiness of the LORD surrounded Isaiah, he cried out "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." (Isa. 6:1-5). The LORD had a Word to be delivered to His people, and He asked: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" After having his iniquity removed, and his sin purged, Isaiah answered, "Here am I; send me." (v. 6-8). The LORD gave this message to Isaiah to bring to His people: "Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed." (v. 9-10). This was to last until the remnant of Israel was returned to the land which was ruined. We have seen that return in 1947-1948. Where are the Jeremiahs and Isaiahs of today? Jesus spoke this same prophecy of Isaiah's about the people of His time who did not receive the understanding of who He was as their Savior. It is the same today. The Lord desires something for the Church that we are missing.

     The LORD prophesied against the prophets who were bringing a false Word to the people that prevented them from seeking the LORD in repentance and subsequent healing: "Harken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. They say...Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you." (Jer. 23:16-17, see also Lam. 2:14). The LORD promised that a whirlwind of His anger, a grievous whirlwind, would fall upon the head of the wicked: "The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and until he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied." (v. 19-21). So many prophets are teaching about wealth, but these sinful problems within the people not about wealth. Jeremiah wrote that these things were to be for our understanding in the latter days, so we should consider them. The LORD is against the prophets that say they speak the Word of the LORD, when He hasn't spoken it. In the Church, we better make sure that when we say, "Thus saith the LORD," it is because the LORD has indeed said it.

     In the same way that the LORD brought the Word of judgment regarding His people through Jeremiah, He also brought the prophetic Word of healing and restoration: "Behold, I will bring it (this city) health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me, and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth...Again shall be heard in this place...The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever...In those days and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land...and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness." (Jer. 33:1-16, excerpt).

     If we confess, the LORD is faithful to forgive us and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. At the lowest point in Jerusalem's/Judah's history, when they are about to go into captivity, the LORD holds out a promise to them of the Branch of David, who is the Messiah/Christ. This promise stays alive because of God's covenant with Israel: "Thus saith the LORD; If you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne...Then I will cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant...for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them." (Jer. 33:19-26, excerpt).

     We have seen the promise kept in the birth of the Messiah/Christ Jesus, the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world, who is a descendant of David, and He will return to rule on David's throne as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Secular Israel and secular America, the only two nations on earth that claim the sovereignty of God over them, have failed to believe this prophetic promise, or have failed to walk in its fulfilment. However, God is not a man that He should lie, or a son of man that He should repent, and He will keep that prophetic promise.

     Where are the Jeremiahs and Isaiahs of today that will bring the true and powerful prophetic Word of the LORD to His people in these last days?

*Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, Jr.'s 7/28/24 message to the church. If you would like to hear the complete message, you can find it on Dr. Stevenson's Facebook page. To contact or support this ministry, or to request prayer, you can write to PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. To find out more about the Shroud of Turin, and to receive a free e-book now available in several languages, go to http://www.theshroudofturin.org/freebook.

Suggested Reading Homework:

Jer. Ch. 8 and Ch. 18

2 Chron. 6:14-40