Loading summary
A
From the beautiful Missouri Ozarks, Greetings and welcome to the Gilbert House fellowship for Sunday, May 3, 2026. I'm Derek Gilbert.
B
I'm Sharon Gilbert. Welcome to our living room, everybody. We are so delighted that you've chosen to join us. I'm so scooting around here in my chair. I've been facing one direction, and because I've had a heating pad on my knee, and now it's just to the point where I don't want it anymore. So I'm turning around and here I am.
A
So now we say now we set the scene.
B
By the way, we have a window open here in the living room. So if you hear birdsong or the occasional battle of the birds, it truly
A
is a beautiful day. The sun is shining. The skies are clear. Not a chemtrail in the sky. And we've got. From where I'm sitting, and I've only got the little bit of opening through the. From the big red chair, the storm door there. But I'm seeing orioles, blue jays, finches. There's the peewee. And so as we go through the study today, you are likely to hear some birdsong. But we just thought that would add a little bit of joy to the study this morning because the orioles, their song is just beautiful.
B
It's so, so pretty. Occasionally hear the. Just chattering where they sort of disagree with. There's an oriole.
A
Yep. Because, yeah, there are two males there. And they were like, hey, get off the oranges. Sharon put orange halves out there in plates, which orioles love. They love oranges. They're also hitting on the hummingbird feeders out there on the fence.
B
And that. Which is why I put the oranges out. I was hoping that that would give the hummingbirds a fighting chance.
A
Y.
B
Because right now we normally have. Sometimes I'll put out as many as six hummingbird feeders at one time because we have that many hummingbirds. And I apologize if the traffic noises are distracting. But again, that's. It's either that or the birdsong. But it's such a beautiful day. But because we're having our two decks redone, we cannot put anything on the decks. And normally I put the hummingbird feeders on deck hooks. And so the hooks are gone. The decks are waiting to be restained. That won't be done until later this week. So in the meantime, they need a
A
few days where it's not raining and so that the wood actually dries out before they apply the stain.
B
Yeah. So all the hummingbird feeders are out on the fence hooks.
A
Yeah. But the orioles are getting up close to the door here and they are brave little birds. They don't intimidate easily.
B
Well, we have a peewee nest, an eastern wooded peewee nest on our front porch, the front deck. And it's so nice that David and Mitch took a look and we posted a picture of the brand new hatchling.
A
Oh yeah.
B
I mean they seriously had just hatched. And so both men decided, no, we're not going to move that nest. We'll just, you know, we'll stain the rest of the deck. But leave that little corner up there at the top in the eve alone.
A
Power wash around it.
B
Power wash around it. So I saw an eastern pee wee out there a few minutes ago staring down one of the Orioles get off my deck
A
like Harrison Ford and Air Force One, you know, get off my plane.
B
Very much like that.
A
But the orioles, again, they don't, they don't intimidate easily. So I've seen them fight blue jays. Yeah. And blue jays are much bigger, half again bigger than the Orioles. I, you know, I had always thought, you know, the Baltimore oriole, you're growing up in Chicago. Basically you see robins and pigeons. That's about it. So I thought, you know, what are these? Must be mythical birds because the orioles aren't real. But we must be on a migration pattern because they come through here every spring, sometimes in greater numbers. This year looks like one of those years where we're going to get a lot of them.
B
Yeah.
A
And they are absolutely spectacular. Just a reminder of God's incredible creation. And again, as you said this morning, it's an explosion of color out there between the Orioles and the Cardinals and the blue jays and the goldfinches. And we've got bluebird that shows up every now and then. We've got the, We've got several bluebirds
B
that show up and we also have the occasional indigo bunting which is gorgeous blue.
A
Yeah. Was it the red bellied woodpecker?
B
Oh yeah. They come around and then also the. We see red belly a lot. But occasionally you'll see the pileated woodpecker which looks like woody woodpecker.
A
Yeah. And was one of the pileated woodpeckers that alerted us to the fact that one of our junipers in the front yard had a massive carpenter ant infestation. Went out there one day. This was almost two years ago now when I was still able to walk grace and saw this mass massive scar on the side of the.
B
The tree about three inches wide. And probably, I don't know, six feet long.
A
Six feet long? Yeah.
B
It was very long, right?
A
Yeah. They'd been feeding on the ants, and sadly, that means your tree is basically on its last legs because it's so infested.
B
That tree is no more.
A
Yeah. Had to come down. The other juniper now looks great. But anyway, just. We're blessed to be in an area with a wide variety of birds and other animals. We've got, you know, possum and raccoon and coyotes out here. And from what we've seen, or read, rather, because of the presence of the wheel bug.
B
I saw one the other day.
A
Okay, that. That is sort of like the top of the insect food chain, which means we've got a healthy ecosystem here. So where we are very blessed to be in the midst of some just absolute beauty. It is green all over, as we had a fairly good rain this spring, so the trees are very green. Other parts of the Midwest and the Great Plains dealing with some drought conditions, sadly. But that is the way things go. You know, climate is not a constant. It changes. But here in southwest Missouri, we're just seeing absolute beauty here and just marveling in it and considering ourselves thankful to be able to appreciate it. And again, coming from a. For me, not having grown up in the country like you, I mean, seeing these colors out there, Orioles. There's a blue jay out on the fence line. I can see a couple of cardinals hopping along now, going over to the sunflower seeds. It's just. For me, this is Just. This is still new. We've been here 11 years, and for me, this is still like, a new thing every day.
B
And I think, honey, also, that as we age, we start to appreciate the world around us perhaps a little bit more.
A
I agree.
B
So those of you who are younger, who are listening to us, thank you for listening to us. But. And if you're a younger person who truly appreciates the world around you, then yay. You know that you're. You're. You're wise at a younger age.
A
Well, because you're looking up and you're seeing the world instead of staring at a screen.
B
Mm. I am hearing the traffic start to increase a bit out there, so if it gets too loud, I will just go ahead and close the window. But in the meantime, enjoy the. The beauty of the songbirds, and we'll open with prayer.
A
Yeah. Father, thank you for bringing us together over your word today as we return to the life and times of the prophet Isaiah. We are thankful that you have preserved his words for more than 2,700 years. It is amazing and sometimes almost unbelievable that these words have managed to survive the centuries. And yet, as you promised, not one jot or tittle, not one period or comma, would disappear from your word until the end of time. And Lord, as we study, we pray for your spirit to grant us wisdom, discernment, and a receptive heart that we would hear and learn that which you would have us know, adding nothing to your word and taking nothing away from it. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.
B
Amen. I could listen to that all day.
A
It is really amazing. And that's why, you know, even when it starts getting a little warmer outside, I ask you to leave the. We got one of those storm doors where we can. The upper panel will slide up and down, and when you slide it down, the screen moves into place automatically. It's really kind of a neat thing. And I like having it open even, you know, with traffic going by on the road out there periodically. Just to hear all of this, because, again, in Chicago, all I heard was because we lived half a block off a major. One of the major thoroughfares. Oh, I know buses and trucks and cars 24, seven. And now it's like, okay, car comes by every three, four minutes. Maybe in the summer when it's a really beautiful day and you get the motorcyclist out, you know, doing their rides. Because this road that we're on, which runs down to Branson, it extends out to the west and follows a ridge. And it's just absolutely gorgeous trees for miles. So, you know, I'll tolerate that just to hear the birds in between.
B
There's one section of this road, as you go towards the west, that it dips down into almost a canyon like, bit for a while. And it reminds me so much of the Ohio River Valley, where I grew up, right along the Ohio river and into Kentucky. I grew up in Madison, Indiana, which is sometimes called Little Kentucky Kentuckiana. Literally, you can see. Just take the bridge over and suddenly you're in not just hills, but you start to get into mountains pretty quickly. It's a gorgeous part of the world. And the Lord created great diversity, not only in wildlife, but in landscape around the world. And when you and I have traveled to Israel, we have seen landscapes that are entirely different. Yes, in isra, but also over and in parts of Jordan.
A
Oh, my goodness. And over there. Yeah.
B
This takes us into today's study, which, of course, is relative to what was going on in Judah. Is Yotam is reigning or Jotham is what it looks like in our English translations and how he. How he measured up.
A
Mm. And this to timestamp would be. The reign of yotham was roughly 750 BC to about 723 BC. So that gives you an idea of what time frame we're talking about here.
B
And we probably covered this. If you've been following this, read through. This is our second time through the Bible. Our second time through the Bible since 2014. We've been doing this almost every Sunday for a long, long time. This time we're going through much more slowly. We studied this in. Was it Second Kings? We previously had First Kings, but First and Second Kings, first and Second Chronicles cover a lot of the same historical events, but with slightly different emphases.
A
Yeah, yeah. So Second Chronicles, Chapter 27. Yotham was 25 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. Now he only gets like nine verses. Yotham.
B
Yeah, I know.
A
Because he probably reigned as a co. Regent with his father Uzziah for part of his reign. And we see this hinted at in 26. 3, where Uzziah reigned for 52 years. So he lived a long. And so Yotham, probably towards the end of the life of Uzziah, he'd become a regent. Yeah. His mother's name was Yerushah, the daughter of Tzedak. And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh according to all that his father Uzziah had done, except he did not enter the temple of Yahweh. But the people still followed corrupt practices. He built the upper gate of the
B
house, but he went not into the temple of the Lord. He was not a high priest, therefore he should not have. Why is that verse, that little clause in there?
A
Well, that's a. That's a good question. The new English translators render it, he did not have the audacity to enter
B
the temple, which was my point, because I think other. Others had.
A
Other kings had done. Yeah.
B
I don't know if Uziah did.
A
Let's see. Yes, yes, he did. In chapter 26, which we read some
B
weeks ago, 10 years ago.
A
When he was strong, he grew proud. This is Uzziah 20, chapter 26, verse 16. When he was. He grew proud to his destruction, for he was unfaithful to Yahweh, his God, and entered the temple of Yahweh to burn incense at the altar of incense.
B
Well, that explains why it was tickling in my brain as to. This is an important clause.
A
Good to bring that up and stop and go back and revisit that. So he did all that his father Uzziah had done, except he did not enter the temple of Yahweh. But the people still followed corrupt practices. Now, verse three. He built the upper gate of the house of Yahweh and did much building on the wall of Ophel. Moreover, he built. And Ophel, by the way, comes from the same root word as a word used for the hemorrhoids, and we'll put that in air quotes. Suffered by the Philistines when they stole the Ark of the Covenant. Except it didn't really refer to hemorrhoids.
B
Yeah, yeah.
A
It's a euphemism. Basically, it means an area that is lifted up.
B
It's an archaeological. To this day.
A
Yes.
B
Area in Jerusalem located on the ridge between the City of David and the southern wall of the Temple Mount.
A
Yeah.
B
So if that gives you an idea, it means swelling or fortified hill.
A
Yeah. Again, euphemism. The Philistines were known to have a. To use phallic objects as votives, so.
B
As were the Romans.
A
Yes, the Romans and the Greeks, too. And the Philistines coming from the Aegean with the Greek connection, that. That would make sense. But. So, yeah, when they stole the Ark of the Covenant, God hit them where they.
B
Where they hurt.
A
Where they hurt, because that was their object of veneration.
B
Yeah, yeah, man. It would hurt regardless. One would think.
A
Yeah. So anyway. Oh, okay. Yeah. This is between the Temple and the Kidron Valley. So between the Temple and the Mount of Olives. All right, so now we know where that is. Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah and forts and towers on the wooded hills. He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. And the Ammonites gave him, that year 100 talents of silver and 10. That's a lot. That's like £7,500.
B
It doesn't say in the Septuagint. Does not say gave him that year. It says, gave him annually 800 talents
A
of silver and 10,000 cores of wheat. That's cors, which is a core, is about six bushels. So 60,000 bushels of wheat and 10,000 of barley. The Ammonites paid him the same amount in the second and third years. So Yotham became mighty because he ordered his ways. Rather, he ordered his ways before Yahweh, his God. Now, the rest of the Acts of Yotham and all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah this is not to be confused with first and second kings in our Bible. He was 25 years old when he began to reign. And he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. And Yotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And. And Ahaz, his son, reigned in his place.
B
You know, it's interesting. Verse 8 is omitted in the Septuagint. I don't know why.
A
Huh. Okay.
B
It's a repeat of how the chapter opens. So maybe that's why. I don't know. Okay, now we're going to move to Isaiah, chapter 10.
A
Yes.
B
And I have notes which begins with a word.
A
Whoa.
B
Oh, Isaiah. Pumpkin, we know you love that word.
A
Yeah. Whoa.
B
Yep. I. I want to really quickly just take. Just out of curiosity, I want to see something. Okay. I wanted to see the ending of ver. Of chapter nine.
A
Oh, okay.
B
Chapter nine. And again, chapter divisions were not in there. It. Chapter nine has. For to us a child is born.
A
Yeah, that's that.
B
And it ends with beginning of verse 19 of chapter 9, though. The wrath of Yahweh of hosts. The land through the wrath of the. Of Yahweh of hosts, the land is scorched and the people are like fuel for the fire. No one spares another. They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry. And they devour on the left, but are not satisfied. Each devours the flesh of his own arm. Manasseh devours Ephraim. Ephraim devours Manasseh. Together they are against Judah. For all this, his anger has not turned away. And his hand is stretched out still. And then we begin. Whoa. To those who decree iniquitous decrees, the writers who keep writing oppression, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, and that widows may be their spoil and that they may make the fatherless their prey. It moves from what is clearly the Lord's saying. All these things are going to be falling. Not just the north, but also Judah as well. Everybody's going to be against their brothers. And then in. What's chapter 10? Woe to those who are despoiling the Lord's people. So I have to ask the question. In chapter nine, all of the terrible things that are happening, these are, if I understand the way the Lord works correctly, and that's a big if. Sometimes he uses horrible events, sometimes wars, and sometimes he uses other nations like a hammer to get the attention of his people because his people have turned away to other gods. So he's going to allow those other gods to inflict punishment upon his own people, but it doesn't make him happy at all.
A
No, you've used the phrase a lot. And you use it in the red wing saga. Test and a trap. God allows these other nations, like reason of Aram, the northern kingdom of Israel, Ephraim and Manasseh, to bring punishment to the southern kingdom of Judah. But it does not make God happy. And he then, because those nations took the bait, as it were, to bring judgment against Judah, then turns judgment on them as well. And I think that's what we see at the end of chapter nine.
B
Well, at the very least, the humans involved, yes, But I think also the fallen realm are also parts of a test and a trap, and they are given early on. They were given the option of, you could just help mankind.
A
Right.
B
But no, I know you're going to take worship. Oh, Lord, we would never do that. Oh, yeah, you will. And of course, not only do they take worship, they use humans for their own devices, to expand their own territories, perhaps.
A
Yeah, yeah. And in fact, we're going to see God's judgment. You know, spoiler. Coming up here in a few verses against one of his instruments of judgment. Another one of his instruments of judgment.
B
So woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees and the writers who keep writing oppression. To turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey. What will you do on the day of punishment? Underlined that phrase. Day of punishment. In the ruin that will come from afar, to whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your wealth? Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. For all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. Day of punishment. Might that be also like the day of the Lord, or am I reading something into it?
A
Well, I don't think that is equivalent to the day of the Lord.
B
Well, the reason I'm thinking is because we're about to see this whole thing of woe to.
A
It says Assyria, but the Hebrew literally reads the day of visitation.
B
Oh, okay.
A
And that would be the day that God brings punishment on the oppressors of his people. Right, but not quite the same as the day of Yahweh when he comes to bring judgment on the whole world.
B
Okay, gotcha. Gotcha on that. But here's why I'm saying that. Hang in there with me. Verse 5. Woe to asshur. Yeah, which is what it actually says. So does it mean a nation or an entity?
A
Well, that's the question, isn't it? Ashur was the equivalent of. As I wrote in the Second Coming of Saturn, Ashur is a name that applies to three different things. First, the chief deity of the Assyrians, the equivalent of Enlil of the Babylonians and Sumerians, Elil of the Akkadians, El of the Canaanites, Milcom of the Ammonites. In other words, Molech Saturn of the Romans, Cronus of the Greeks, Dagon of the Philistines. Same entity under different names. It can also mean Assyria and it could also mean the capital city of Assyria. So you have to look at context. So woe to Asshur. It doesn't mean Assyria, the rod of my anger. It could very well, because the Assyrians within. See, we just read about the reign of Jotham, whose Reign ended in 723 BC. It was a year after that, in 722, when the Northern kingdom of Israel was finally destroyed and the capital city Samaria was captured by the Assyrians. So it could refer to Assyria, but it could also be Asher, the chief deity, who in Second Coming of Saturn, I argued, was Shemiyaza. Now, how does he affect things on the earth if he's locked up in the abyss, according to Peter and Jude. Minions, Followers. Yeah, and we'll get to that when we get down to verse 10.
B
At the very least, his children.
A
Yes.
B
The demons, the spirits of the Nephilim.
A
Right.
B
So if it's woe to Assyria, then it's one thing, but if it's woe to. Because the original actually says yes, assure. So it could be either one. So I'm going to read it both ways. Woe to Asshure, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hands is my fury.
A
The thing is, okay, the. The. The pronoun there is plural. So it is the staff in their hands.
B
No, no, no. Depends on the translation. If I was looking at it just a second ago, if you read it in the nasb, the New American Standard Bible, it is staff in whose hands? Because it says mate, which is staff, and yod, which is hands.
A
Yeah, the Greek Septuagint renders it there. So again, it is a plural pronoun.
B
Yep. Well, that's what I'm saying. But if it's whose, then it can be. Yeah, but then it goes on against a godless nation, I send him.
A
True.
B
Yes, which is why I think the NASB says, whose hands?
A
Okay, good. Point.
B
And against the people of my wrath, I command him to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. This is an example of what I. We were talking about a few minutes ago, that sometimes the surrounding nations are used as a hammer. In this one, it says, the rod to bring distress upon Israel, so that Israel would get the Lord's Yahweh's attention.
A
Yeah. And the pronouns change plural to singular in the Septuagint as well. I will send my anger against a lawless nation, and I will order my people to make spoils and plunder and to trample the cities and to make them into a cloud of dust, and. But he did not plan this way, and he has not considered this way.
B
And that's how. Verse 7. 7 is here.
A
Yeah.
B
But he does not so intend, and his heart does not so think. But in his heart to destroy and to cut off nations, not a few. For he says.
A
Yeah.
B
Are not my commanders all kings.
A
Right,
B
read that again. Are not all my commanders. Are not my commanders all kings. Okay, now you get it. Light bulb just went off.
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Commanders, Sarah, which means princes and kings is they. They render it here as malakim, but it can also be malachim. Okay, we're really deep into the second coming of Saturn territory here.
B
We are. Which is another reason that I think that this may be an already, but not yet.
A
Yeah. Ashur, again, as the equivalent of Saturn. Hence the title of that book, by the way, the Second coming of Saturn. If he is, in fact Shemiaza, the leader of that Genesis 6 rebellion, he will get out. Revelation 9, verse 11, as Apollyon Abaddon, the prince, or the king of the bottomless pit, or the angel of the bottomless pit, who was the king over the other entities in the pit, by the way, Derek. And again, forgive my voice. This is the autoimmune issue, and we'll talk about that in the old geezer, the OG report. At the end, we'll read verses 10 and 11, and then we can kind of go through all of this, because, again, I've got a whole chapter on this in the second.
B
I know you do, and this is why I wanted to make sure that your light bulb went off. Starting back in verse seven. He does not so intend, and his heart does not so think, but is in his heart to destroy mount of the Destroyer.
A
Yep.
B
And to cut off nations not a few.
A
Hashmid is the word, so it's not mashk. But.
B
For he says, are not my commanders. All kings. Is not Calno like Carchemish. Is not Hamat like Arpad, Is not Samaria like Damascus. As my hand. In other words, these are all mine, as my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria. Shall I not do to Samaria and her idols as I have done to Samaria? Sorry. Shall not I not do to Jerusalem and her idols as I have done to Samaria and her images?
A
Yeah. Okay, backing up just a little bit again to verse 8. Are not my commanders, my princes, all kings. The translation there of the word kings is based on the assumption that the word is melech, which means king. Yeah, but that assumes the vowels, because Hebrew, the ancient Hebrew, is a consonantal language. You have to assume you know what the vowels are. Melek, king, Moloch, meaning messenger angel. Molech, meaning the deity of the underworld. The Malakim were known in other ancient Near Eastern texts and were spirits in the underworld. Think Rephaim.
B
Followers of Molech.
A
Followers of Molech. Correct. They're mentioned in the Ugaritic text, but they're also mentioned at. Oh, gosh, Ebla.
B
Oh, yeah.
A
And I think there was a reference from another, possibly the marijuana. The text, the Mari was the name of a powerful Amorite city state on the Euphrates river near the modern border between Syria and Iraq. Very powerful, contemporary with Hammurabi. The great Hammurabi destroyed Mari. And there are references to the Malachim as underworld entities. Again, they would be the equivalent of Rephaim, the spirits of the giants. In other words, destroyed in the flood. So, yeah, I think I overlooked verse 8 while I was digging into verse 10 for the chapter titled Isaiah's Worthless Idols in the Second Coming of Saturn, which is chapter 12, by the way. If you got a copy of the book and we did a study on this a few weeks back, as we talked about this particular word, Elil, that Isaiah used for idols, worthless idols. And more than a century ago, a scholar by the name of A.T. clay, who was one of the first really prominent. What would they call them? Ancient Near Eastern scholars? Oh, antiquarians or Orientalists. Oh, well, back then, that was what they would have called it. Now we think Oriental, we think China, but back then, that referred to the ancient Near East. At Clay in 1907, offered a suggestion for the etymology that word Elil. He said it's probably to be found in the name of the Akkadian deity Elil. In other words, Enlil el Molech, Dagon etc. Etc. Etc. As I wrote in the book, scholars have now come to believe that the etymology of that deity, the Babylonian deity Enlil, rather than meaning en, lord lil Ether, you know, Lord of the ether cup, comes from Semitic illustration Elu, meaning God of gods. This entity who thought that he should establish his throne in the uttermost north. That's a spoiler for Isaiah 14. This then the El Alim referring to idols would refer to the minions of the demonic followers of the spirits of the giants destroyed in the flood who followed Elil Shemyaza, or word engendered by Shemyaza and his followers, his watcher colleagues. Asher was another name for this entity, which is why Sharon made a point of emphasizing that at the beginning of this chapter. And when we get to Isaiah 14, we'll also see a prophecy of the destruction of Ashur. And I wrote about that in the second coming of Saturn as well.
B
And it's one reason, again, chapter divisions were not in there originally. It was just a whole bunch of visions. It's one reason that I think it's important to see what's going on here. The Lord is testing a trap. He is allowing an offering. Okay, I'm going to open up the doors. I'm going to make it look like Israel's really in bad shape. Great time to come in and invade them. What are you going to do? Asherah says, well, and he starts to brag.
A
He does. And this is where I say I overlooked verse eight. And actually going back to the beginning of that section, because in the second coming of Saturn, I wrote the king of Assyria is speaking rather than Asshur is speaking.
B
No, I think it's Asher speaking. And that whole thing of yes, with verse 8. So as my hand.
A
Sorry, and he says, as my hand has reached the kingdom of the Elil, the kingdom of the idols, whose carved images are greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria.
B
Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols? He's bragging.
A
Yeah. Now that word there, Jerusalem and her idols, the idols there is a different word. It's Atsabe.
B
The point is, he's saying these other kingdoms were bigger, harder to take down. I took down them and their idols. In other words, I took down their gods.
A
Yeah. And shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols as I did to Samaria and her Elle? In other words, the spirits, the demonic spirits that the Sumerian or the northern kingdom were following.
B
This is theopolitics at large, because the
A
northern kingdom, dating back to the time of Jeroboam in the 10th century BC, who broke the kingdom away from the son of Solomon, had them following El, which is the Canaanite form of Ashur, Elil, Enlil, Molech, etc. Shemyaza, the one who led the rebellion that created the Elim, the demonic spirits of the giants in the first place. So I think that's why there's the distinction there between the words for idols of Jerusalem and the idols, the El Alim Samaria.
B
I think so, too. I'm just taking a really quick look at the original language on the next verse.
A
Yeah. So the scholars who are looking at this are looking at
B
it can be. It's both. And it's a dessert topping and a floret. The next verse. Because then it says verse 12. When the Lord it's. I don't know, there has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart. And it says in the English of the king of Assyria. But it's Melekashur.
A
Yes, in the Hebrew of King Ashur. Yeah.
B
And the boastful look in his eyes. For he says, by the strength of my hand, I have done it. And by my wisdom, for I have understanding, implying assure has none. I remove the boundaries of peoples and plunder their treasures. Like a bull, I bring down those who sit on thrones.
A
Yeah.
B
Again, the question is. For he says, he. Is that Yahweh Adonai, or is this what Assure is saying? For he says, I will bring down the arrogant heart and the most look any high in his eyes. Or he says, technically it should be the most. The closest previous noun in this case, it's Assure.
A
Yeah, the. That's how the Septuagint translators render it that way.
B
So more boasting.
A
Where was the reference? What. What verse? The reference to the bull.
B
That. That's the boasting part.
A
That's in verse 13.
B
That's in verse 13. Continues boasting when the Lord finishes a. When the Lord finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish this speech, the speech of the arrogant heart of king ashore and the boastful look in his eyes. For he says, this is the. More boasting From Ashur, verse 13. By the strength of my hand, I have done it. And by my wisdom, for I have understanding, I remove the boundaries of peoples and plunder their treasures. Like a bull, I bring down those who sit on thrones.
A
And the reference to bull there is interesting because of the identification of Asshur as El, who was referred to as bull El by the Canaanites. And Kronos, the Greek equivalent, whose name derives from the word. The Semitic word, not Greek, the Semitic word for horns.
B
Yeah, yeah. Like a bull. I bring down those who sit thrones. My hand has found, like a nest, the wealth of the peoples. And as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken, so I have gathered all the earth. That's a pretty big brag for someone. And there was none that moved a wing or opened the mouth or chirped.
A
Septuagint reads at the beginning of verse 14 and I will shake inhabited cities. Which is very interesting because if the Jewish translators were rendering derived the Greek word polis, cities from the Hebrew word Irim, which can also mean watchers.
B
Yeah, I know that. But in other places, Septuagint has put cities for put giants. Fill the earth with cities or fill the earth with giants. The Septuagint has rendered Irene Irim as giants, not as cities. That verse where it says, lest they rise and fill the earth with cities in the Septuagint says, lest they rise and fill the earth with giants or watchers. It's one of the other.
A
I think that's how we translated it. I don't think that was.
B
Maybe. But yes, Irem and Irene are very close. One is Aramaic, the other one is Hebrew.
A
Yeah, fill the land with war is how they render that in the Septuagint.
B
But I think it's a different part of the Old Testament is what I'm talking about. Not in Isaiah 10.
A
Isaiah 14 is where.
B
Oh, okay.
A
Anyway, but I understand what you're saying is that that word doesn't always mean cities.
B
I thought we'd actually seen a translation where it was done. Anyway, we digress. Let me just read 14 again. My hand has found. Again, assure bragging. My hand has found, like a nest, the wealth of the peoples. And as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken, so I have gathered all the earth. And there was none that moved a wing or opened the mouth or chirped.
A
And as the oriole chirps outside, it's interesting that he said we'll remove nations boundaries because God is the one who said he established the boundaries.
B
I know this is bragging saying I'm bigger than you.
A
I'm going to undo what you did after the Tower of Babel, which by the way, was an effort by the people to try to reconnect with me in the abyss.
B
Well, exactly. But, but think about this. That like a bull I bring down Those who sit on thrones. Yeah. You could say these are the leaders, the. The monarchs of various nations that you're bringing down. But it might also refer to the divine assembly.
A
Yeah. Yes.
B
Verse 15. Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it? Or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it, as if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood? Therefore the Lord Yahweh of hosts. This is God talking now, right. Will send wasting sickness among his assures stout warriors. And under his glory a burning will be kindled like the burning of fire. The light of Israel will become a fire, and his holy one, capital H, capital O, a flame. And it will burn and devour his thorns and briars. In one day, the glory of his forest and his fruitful land, Yahweh will destroy both soul and body. And it will be as when a sick man wastes away, the remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child shall write them down. But in that day, the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel. In truth, a remnant will return.
A
Yeah.
B
The remnant of Jacob to the mighty God. For though.
A
Sorry, I was going to say. And this reference in that day or on that day, this now does reference.
B
I think this whole day of Yahweh chapter is already. But not yet.
A
Yeah, I agree, I agree. Because when we get further in. And again, spoiler for Isaiah 14 in the Lucifer chapter, this all relates to that same entity. Yeah, sure.
B
The so called Lucifer chapter.
A
Right, so called, yeah.
B
Beginning again in verse 20. In that day, the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them. In other words, on a shore, but will lean on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel. In truth, a remnant will return the remnant of Jacob to the mighty God. For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness for the Lord, Yahweh of hosts will make a full end as decreed in the midst of all the earth. Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh of hosts, O my people who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you, as the Egyptians, Egyptians did. For in a very little while my fury will come to an end. And my anger will be directed to their destruction. And Yahweh of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Horeb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt.
A
Yeah. There's a reference to Egypt in verse 24. Do not be frightened, my people who dwell in Zion of the Assyrians. For he will strike you with a rod, for I'm bringing a blow against you to see a way of Egypt.
B
Well, it does reference Egyptians.
A
Okay. Lift up the staff as the Egyptians did.
B
Okay.
A
Yeah.
B
So sorry.
A
So my brain cramped and I.
B
It's difficult when you're silent and you're trying to follow the Septuagint, and yet
A
it's not quite the same yet.
B
Yeah, It's. It's a bit different. What I find interesting in verse 26. And Yahweh of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Horeb. Mount Horeb.
A
Yeah. Here it reads, and God will rise up against them according to the blow of Midian in a place of oppression.
B
And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt. It's these miracles. The Lord is going. Well, I think what he may be saying here is, I'm going to bring miracles that are going to outdo miracles, things that you just have read about in your testaments, in your. In your Bible. Going to do it again, and it's going to astonish the world, and it's going to be a big show against Ashur and his buddies. Verse 27. And in that day, his burden will depart from your shoulder and his yoke from your neck. And the yoke will be broken because of the fat. Now, alternate. Apparently that word that's translated, the fat, is a tough one to translate. It's uncertain.
A
Septuagint renders it, the yoke will be destroyed from your shoulders.
B
Yeah. Well, verse 28. He has come to Ayat. And he has passed through Mikron and Mikmash. He stores his baggage. Interesting. They have crossed over the pass at Geva. They have lot. They lodge for the night. Rama trembles. Gibeah of Saul has fled. Cry aloud, O daughter of Galim. Give attention. Oh, lakha. Lashai. Sorry. Lashai Lai Shah. Sorry. Laisha. Is in flight. These are all areas.
A
Yeah. Regions was the city of Jeremiah.
B
Madmana is in flight. The inhabitants. Inhabitants of Gavim flee for safety. This very day he will halt at Nov in Obama. He will shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. He.
A
Yeah, yeah.
B
Behold the Lord Yahweh of hosts will lop the boughs with terrifying power. The great in height will be hewn down and the lofty will be brought low. He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe, and Lebanon will fall by the majestic one.
A
Oh, the majestic one. That's capitalized in the esv.
B
It is capitalized here as well.
A
It is adir, which is a term that was found in the Ugaritic texts, referring to a group of underworld deities, underworld spirits. So here I think they're probably the translators probably assume the majestic one refers to God, but Lebanon is always sort of a code word for Bashan. And the supernatural forces that gathered around Mount Hermon and the Adarim are mentioned in Ezekiel 32 in the context of the mighty chiefs who are in the midst of Sheol.
B
I get that. However, the preceding verse, behold, the Lord Yahweh of hosts will lop the boughs with terrifying power, referring to trees. And the next one, he'll cut down the thickets of the forest with an ax. So this is still Yahweh.
A
Yeah.
B
And Lebanon will fall by the majestic one. Now, if the preposition there is not by but with because by, the majestic one can either be caused by or along with.
A
Yeah. Again, it's another difficult phrase to translate. The new English translators explain that they just kind of lop off the end of that verse just to save the trouble. Mighty Lebanon will fall. But the translator's notes read and this is why we like looking at the net Bible notes, which you can find@netbible.org the Hebrew text has in Lebanon by as a mighty one will fall. The translation above takes the preposition bet prefixed to mighty one is indicating identity. Lebanon, comma, as a mighty one, comma, will fall. In this case, mighty one describes Lebanon. But in Ezekiel 17:23, Zechariah 11:2, the adjective is used of Lebanon's cedars.
B
Yes, Ms. Saji, in that verse in that day in the Septuagint in the Burnton, it says, and the lofty ones shall fall by the sword. And the Lebanus, the Lebanons shall fall with his lofty ones. So it's not by, it's with.
A
Yeah, and that's what I'm getting at here with the that phrase Adarim and the fact that it's in the Ugaritic texts referring to these entities of the underworld.
B
And that's. I'm agreeing with you. Which is why I was saying just because the word is capitalized does not mean it's necessarily referring to the Almighty God.
A
Right.
B
But it may be referring to another entity in this case. That's why I'm saying the preposition by might mean with.
A
Yeah. In fact, I had looked this up while we were sitting on panel with Micah Van Huss.
B
Oh, yeah.
A
At Skywatch TV earlier this week.
B
Yeah.
A
Yeah.
B
Making that face. Because he looked kind of sad when you told him he didn't quite have the. The address of the verse. Yeah, he was completely correct because he has a memory like a steel trap.
A
He does.
B
And the fact that he made a teeny error. Yeah.
A
He mentioned 1st Kings 19 as he was talking about the incident with Ahab being sent into battle. It was actually 1st Kings 22, beginning in verse 19. So anyway. But yeah, the. The phrase Adirim or Adir here referenced. Was it. How did they.
B
That was in the original when I read from the esv.
A
Yeah. What was the verse? There was a majestic one.
B
Okay. Yeah.
A
In the dictionary. Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, it's under the entry titled Noble ones in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the adjective adir is used in describing Yahweh in certain places. Exodus 15:11, 1st Samuel 4, 8, etc. A few other verses. And also persons of things of more than normal stature or strength, like the sea, the mighty sieges of Lebanon, mighty people. That would be the reference in Ezekiel 32:18, with daughters of majestic nations, daughters of Adirim, going down to the world below. And then it moves into the section about the. The mighty chiefs or the. The mighty Nephilim in the midst of Sheol.
B
Or the imagery here of the mighty cedars of Lebanon.
A
Right. In the ancient Ugaritic legend of Akhat. That's a son of a king who was killed on the orders of the war goddess.
B
Internet Aqat, in case you want to look it up.
A
Mentioned together with the king fulfilling his usual duties, they reside on the threshing floor, the portal between this world and next. According to the rephaim text KTU 1.20, 1.21, 1.22. This is also the terminus of the invoked spirits of the deified royal ancestors called Rephaim. In a Phoenician inscription on a sarcophagus from the Persian period, 3rd, 4th, 5th centuries A.D. the adjective adir is used for OG, known from Joshua 12:4 as the last of the Rephaim. In this Phoenician inscription. He also appears to be worshiped as a chthonic or underworld deity. This chthonic aspect is present in Psalm 16, referring to the saints who are in the earth, or the holy ones. This expression stands in poetic parallelism with the noble ones who only have delight in themselves. We talked about that when we went through Psalm 16. So these noble ones are probably to be sought in the netherworld as well. With regard to this interpretation of the Hebrew text, there are still many unsolved problems, but we can safely assume that trust in Yahweh is Contrasted here, Psalm 16, with the hope of help of powers from the underworld. So here in Isaiah 10, Lebanon will fall with the Hati with the Majestic One or Majestic Ones. This is a reference to relatively unknown underworld spirits, which would be. Makes sense in context with this whole chapter, where earlier on you've got to ask. Sure. Are not my commanders all Malachim, underworld entities. So, yeah, there's more in here. And I missed this when I wrote Second Coming of Saturn because I was king of Assyria instead of Ashur.
B
Points for me. Yeah, because I'll give the Holy Spirit
A
credit if it's even later on, because when I got into Isaiah 14 and writing about that chapter, Ashur King of the God Gate, or Lucifer King of the God Gate, I think it's the chapter title, which, by the way, you can get on our substack account, the whole book, Second Coming of Saturn is out there now on.
B
Out there in the Wild.
A
Yeah, it's out there on the wild. So you can go through if you want to go through. Read the articles. You can go through all, all of this stuff@gilberthouse.substack.com we're currently going through our book the Gates of Hell. But yeah, Malachim as opposed to Melakim and a reference to God and a polemic against this entity, Asshur and his minions, the Elilim, the idols.
B
So, yeah, his minions don't look like the minions in and Despicable me.
A
No, not nearly as cute.
B
No, no, his minions are disgusting.
A
Yeah.
B
And we call them demons. And they are. They're not to be sneezed at. Let's just put it that way. No, I. I know that Mike. The late Mike Kaiser once referred to the difference between a Watcher Class angel and a demon. Sort of the fallen daddy and the child. The offspring.
A
Yeah.
B
As almost like a puppy compared to the Watcher class. But look, these are puppies with big teeth.
A
And we are with them. Yeah, we are much less powerful Than the demons. We cannot cast out demons with our own power.
B
No, it's only through Jesus Christ. Even when Michael had an argument with Satan, he didn't say, I cast you out. I want what? No, no. The Lord rebuke you.
A
The Lord rebuke you.
B
Yeah. And. And the Lord himself used scripture against Satan, so be careful.
A
Yeah.
B
Okay. Now it's up to you.
A
Well, we're already at one hour, so we're gonna have to move on to chapter 11 next time.
B
We're not going to get to 14.
A
Oh, well, we were only going to get 11 and 12 this week. That was the schedule. But, yeah, I knew once I saw chapter 10 coming up.
B
Yeah. When I heard you talk about 14, I thought, is that on the schedule today?
A
No, no, no, no. Chapter four.
B
We have a friend who. Who just. We won't say her name, but we love her so much, she'll look at you. And she is someone who can get anything done and knows everybody. And when you ask her a question that seems like a really legit one, she goes, oh, pumpkin.
A
Well, why can't we do that? Oh, pumpkin. Yeah. Oh, my sweet summer child.
B
I know, I know. Well, we are going to have communion.
A
Yes.
B
And then after we have that, we'll have the og. The old geezer report, and then we'll pray.
A
Yeah. And do you.
B
If we have time to do a question, we can.
A
Yeah, I think we got a good question we can address here fairly quickly. One of the things that's most interesting about the practice of communion, as Jesus shared that with his disciples the night before his death, is that it was a reversal of the ritual that had been practiced for more than 2,000 years by his day by the Amorites, the Canaanites, who surrounded ancient Israel, where they believed they had to feed what they thought were their deceased ancestors, actually demons. And because if they didn't, they would cease to exist in the afterlife. It's a system of slavery that still binds people around the world today. They feel that they are obligated to leave offerings for their ancestors or feed their ancestors, because otherwise the deceased ancestors will make their lives living hell. Well, Jesus turned that on its head. And Paul shared that again with the church at Corinth in 1st Corinthians 11, beginning in verse 23. For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way. Also, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Amen.
B
Proclaim it to the body of believers around us, but also to the fallen realm. It is a reminder that you're still dead and you're going to stay dead and you are never going to win this war because it's already been won.
A
Yeah, it was a reversal in that instead of feeding the dead, and we'll put that in air quotes, because that's not really what happens to keep them alive in the afterlife. Christ, who died in the flesh but alive in the spirit, keeps us alive for all eternity. And all we're doing is remembering that event and celebrating that event.
B
And that's why transubstantiation doesn't exist. Yeah, it's not required. When the Lord said, this is my body, this is my blood, he wasn't saying, every time you do this, it's going to magically turn into something that is part of me. No, it was one and done. He. He gave himself on the cross for us. And this is just a way of remembering that event. But I think it's not only for us so that we remember it as a body of Christ, but again, fallen realm. It's like in Psalm 23, where the Lord uses language through David's inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to picture our shepherd taking us as our shepherd, as our risen Savior, into the valley of the shadow of death. And demonstrating that idea, prepares a table before me, which is like the. The. The tables, the dolmens. Dolmen means table that are in that whole area around Galilee, north of the Galilee, where the Lord spent most of his ministry. Ministry sometimes casting out demons who were, you know, frankly, in the tombs in some cases. And he prepares that table, that dolmen, because it's where these sacrifices took place. Many of these dolmens have cup marks on them where a drink offering was poured out. And the Lord prepares a table. And what's he do? He anoints our head with oil, which means that we are part of the family. It's an honorary. Here's almost the representation of. You are a version of me. The Anointed one is his title. And then he prepares a cup which is overflowing. In other words, it never has to be refilled. Yeah, Ever. It's one and done. And the fallen realm really Hate that.
A
It is. Fascinating the more we understand about the pagan world around ancient Israel and see how God is reversed again and again. As Mike Heiser wrote, reversing Hermon, it's like, oh, so it's not just overcoming that, it's just. And we see again and again how those rituals were reversed. With Elijah and Mount Carmel and the pouring out of the drink, offering, the yarid, the communion, of course, the Lord's Supper. Oh, gosh, baptism. Yes, baptism. Many of those things that took place in Jesus ministry were reversals of what. What had been practiced by pagans for thousands of years.
B
There are things that we take for granted, like baptism and communion, that are very important when it comes to reminding the fallen realm that they have been defeated. And we. Sorry, but we are chosen. You're not. And you gave up your position. You watch your angels who decided to Rebel. In Genesis 6, you left your first estate, which means you were intended to be part of the divine assembly in heaven, and you chose to have your own infernal assembly here on earth.
A
Chose badly.
B
Chose badly.
A
Chose poorly.
B
Yes. To behave differently will not help you now. But it's remarkable to me how often we have an opportunity to poke them in the eye, just the way Jesus did. He gave us that authority. We are his imagers on earth. And, you know, you're going to be talking with the boys, as we call them, you're going to be talking with the iron and myth guys later today, and you're going to be talking about the portrayal of vampires in film and television. And one of the things you and I discussed was this desire of the fallen realm, not only to the demons, to have habitation again, to have flesh upon them again, but also just to consume flesh.
A
Yeah.
B
Because it's as if they need to be filled up. It's the reverse of everything we're doing, you know, one and done with the Lord. They have to constantly, you know, fill their engine again.
A
Right, right. In the same way that the monthly ritual had to be performed. Yeah.
B
As if they get power from it. Or at the very least.
A
Well, yeah. Especially because they're consuming what was supposed to never be shed, which is human blood.
B
The blood is the life. And so they. I believe that they convince humans in some cases, to do the work for them. Golly. I would really just love to have some, you know, sweet, sweet human blood. Would you mind going and sinking your teeth into so and so over there?
A
It's. We have the idea that they don't actually exist, vampires, but most people don't. Believe demons exist either. Now, if you're listening to this program, you're probably in the minority who agree with us that, yeah, demons are a real, real thing. And vampirism as it exists is one manifestation of demon possession.
B
Yep.
A
Because of that innate hunger for.
B
Yeah, the life. I'm. I'm looking forward to hearing Dr. Cowbell's version of this. Judd Burton.
A
Yeah.
B
Because this is right in his wheelhouse.
A
Yeah. He actually teaches this through his Instagram Institute of Biblical Anthropology. So if you are interested in learning more about
B
werewolves, vampires,
A
kind of semi jokingly called monsterology, but it's really demonology and angelology. Judd teaches this and you can actually get certificates for learning this. Our good friend Vicky Joy Anderson is actually studying for a PhD level degree under Jud. And so she's going through the Hebrew and the Greek as well as, you know, some of these other things. But if you're interested in learning how these legends about, you know, werewolves, vampires, zombies, things like that, you know, demons and their origins going all the way back to Mesopotamia. We talked about vampires in one of the iron and myth episodes and there's a reference to, in the book of Isaiah that we'll get to at some point. A reference to the leech never being satisfied. The word rendered leech in English is actually a word from Sumerian, I believe, or Akkadian, one or the other that refers to a vampire. It's just that the modern translators didn't know what to make of it and they didn't want to put vampire in the Bible, so. So they translated as leech, but, you know, blood sucking creature. Okay, well, there you go. Lilith, who is a mythical or say legendary. Hello, Mr. Oriole Creature, night demon from ancient Mesopotamia is mentioned in Isaiah. Isaiah's got a lot of fascinating stuff. Loan words from Akkadian and Egyptian. And again, the reference to Ashur that we get here in chapter 10 we will also see again in Isaiah, chapter 14 and the prophecy of Asshur's destruction on the mountains of Israel.
B
By the way, speaking of iron myth, I just want to get this in before I forget. You know how I am. There are brand new T shirts available. Brand new style of iron and myth T shirts. The logo has been altered and I love the new logo. The. The old one I like too, but this one is representative of the four of you.
A
Yeah. As crusading knights, the. What do they call the. The halberds. Not the halberds, the. The hassocks.
B
Oh, the tunics.
A
The tunics sort of look like the tunics that were worn by the Knights Templar. And we're not talking about the conspiracy theory. Knights Templar, they found the Holy Grail. They buried their treasure at Oak island or whatever.
B
No, they were across the street.
A
Right. The historical Knights templar in the 11th and 12th centuries who defended Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land, making the transit from the port at Jaffa to Jerusalem because they were being, well, killed, tortured and worse.
B
They were looking after Christians in the Holy Land. Exactly.
A
So anyway, yeah, I thought that was kind of an interesting depiction of us. And props to our friend Kevin Trotman for the theme music for the opening of Iron and Myth. Oh, it's wonderful because that inspired the opening video, you know, the little 30 second introduction for the program.
B
Yep. Yeah. We use AI for things like that because Derek and I don't have this massive budget for a major production studio,
A
so it's hiring actual horsemen who can dress up in armor.
B
Yeah, we. We do have horses in the area. We could get those little horses from Whispering Ponies Ranch.
A
Get little kids to ride them. Yeah. But it, I think, is rather inspiring. I thought it was very, very. I mean, just the music made it very easy to just see the whole thing in my head and then to generate the prompts for AI but that has led to the new T shirts, which you can get@gilberthouse.org store. Follow the link there.
B
It goes to Kenny and Gidget's store. They make these and they. Any profit made on the T shirt is kept by them. So that they. And we just said, look, we don't need any of it. Just you make them and you get this. These instruments into the hands of your very deserving students who cannot afford to buy a drum set or a new guitar or perhaps piano. So Kenny C, by the way, has been. He's had a few health issues. So please pray for him this week that whatever is going on, that the doctors figured out and fix it, or that the Lord just intervenes and says, I got this, and takes over. Which leads us to the. Oh, gee, the old Giza report. So if you find this boring, then, you know, we skip ahead to the closing prayer. Skip ahead to the closing prayer. But if. If you do find this interesting so that you know exactly how to pray for us, then we appreciate your listening.
A
Yeah. This week, when to several specialists, Pulmonology,
B
the week of many doctors.
A
Yeah. And pulmonology was, you know, clear. Said lungs sound clear. I am still dealing, as you can tell. I have to stop occasionally and take a deep breath. I deal with mild copd It's a mild form of emphysema which was detected on the CT scan from a year ago. December. December that really began to manifest the summer of 24. Unknown etiology at this point, because I didn't grow up with my parents. Smoking didn't work. Ever with anybody who smoked?
B
No. Not around asbestos or anything?
A
Yeah. The radio stations I worked at, the engineers were really fussy about that because it really messed with the equipment. So. No. So the cause. Don't know, honestly. Just don't know. So it's. It slowed me down a little bit because even though in terms of muscle mass right now, I probably in better shape than I've ever been in my life, but I just can't get the oxygen to get the muscles to do what they need to do, so.
B
And your nerves.
A
Yeah. And then, of course, the neurological issues. Cardiology was good, said I don't need to come back for a year. That's good. Podiatry, Fine. But neurology, a week ago Friday, they did some blood work and the blood test came back with. They tested one particular. Ran one particular type of test called spep, which looks for abnormal proteins in the blood. And one that came back as a positive hit is a monoclonal antibody called IgA, immunoglobulin A lambda. That has a couple of three possible causes. Number one, which is the most common, is MGUS, which is monoclonal gammopathy of unknown source. Which means everything's fine. We just need to monitor you. However, because I've got these other neurological symptoms. That's probably not what it is. Number two could indicate a myeloma, which is a blood cancer of some sort.
B
But that usually means something in the bone marrow.
A
Something in the bone marrow. And I would probably be feeling some pretty.
B
If you had actual bone cancer, you would have a lot of pain.
A
Right. Which I don't.
B
But because blood components are made in the bone marrow, there's some copy machine in your bone marrow that's cranking out a whole bunch of. Have badly folded proteins.
A
Yeah.
B
And that's causing issues.
A
Yeah. So that is probably not. So it's probably not myeloma. But of course, when they, you know, you get a note from your doctor saying, hey, we referred you to the hematology oncology clinic. Of course, oncology refers to the big C. Medicine of cancer. Yeah, that. That's like, oh, well, what's that? The third possibility. And this is something that the neurologists, nurse practitioner who ordered the blood work mentioned. And this is something that you very early on in the research for these symptoms. You know, why are my nerves and my hands and my feet going numb? Something called al. Amyloiditis.
B
Amyloidosis.
A
Amyloidosis, yeah. Which is again, these abnormal proteins sort of clumping onto nerves and causing the nerve damage. And that is actually good news because that is treatable. And so hopefully these symptoms could be reversed, but at the very least, slowed if not stopped.
B
Yeah.
A
And that would be. That would be great. If I could get just the full function back in my fingers. That would be great.
B
Yeah. Al amyloidosis presents with a very similar set of symptoms as cidp, which is how you've been.
A
Right.
B
The assumption was that was your diagnosis. So I am so happy that your neurologist decided to order extra tests to see if perhaps it's this other thing.
A
Yeah. And again, it's a nurse practitioner.
B
I know.
A
So, you know, God bless you.
B
Those NPs are right on it.
A
Yeah. In fact, it was the nurse practitioner for my primary care physician who ordered the vascular testing in October of 24, thinking that maybe my neurological issues in my feet, the neuropathy was being caused by a blood flow issue. Turned out that wasn't the case, but it did discover the aneurysm.
B
Well, shout out to all the NPs out there because you, ladies and gentlemen, you are now the frontline caregivers in many practices, not just primary care physician offices, but even specialist offices. Because everybody's really busy.
A
Yeah, absolutely.
B
And because it's less. Less. Oh, I don't know, what's the word? I want to say you make less money as a physician these days than it was say, 40 years ago, that there are fewer people going to. Into medicine. Yeah, it's a long haul, it's a lot of money. And unless you can get a someone to or something like the military to underwrite your education, you just have difficulty paying it back. And you can go through for six to eight years just to become a pcp, a primary care physician frontline. Beyond that, you have to go multiple more years and fellowships and all sorts of internships and externships, and it's just not feasible for most individuals. That's assuming you've got the desire to be a doctor in the first place. So nurses go into nursing because they're very compassionate and they are very empathetic and they're not going into it for the money because there's not a whole lot of money in nursing. But those who say, you know what, I'm going to continue my Education and become a nurse practitioner. Shout out to you guys, thank you.
A
Because I would say the nurse practitioner who ordered the vascular testing very likely saved my life.
B
Oh, I think so too.
A
The aneurysm was not close to bursting, but we wouldn't have known it was there because there's no symptoms.
B
Silent killer, that's the thing. And we would have had to get you into or within an hour, probably to save your life. And we live an hour away from Springfield.
A
Yeah. It would have been a real tough call. The vascular surgeon said it would have been about a 50, 50 shot of me even making it to the hospital.
B
Yeah.
A
So thankfully that was the case. Tuesday, have an appointment with the hematology oncology clinic and they will do more blood work to try to zero in on this. And we'll know more on Tuesday as to what we're exactly dealing with. But the amyloidosis may also.
B
If that's what it is.
A
Yeah, yeah. If that's what it is. May also explain the copd.
B
Yeah. Because it could. It can affect a lot of different systems, not just the nerves. So we'll find out. The Lord knows what it is. The Lord knows how it's going to be treated. And he has you in his mighty hands.
A
Yeah. And what's interesting and I've. You've been following us for a while. You know that our home is on the market and we do have a contingent contract on the home with a wonderful couple. Yeah, wonderful couple who feel called to the Ozarks. In fact shared that with with us as we had met them previously, actually long before our home was on the market. And we won't go into too many details here, but let's just say we
B
don't have their permission to give long
A
series of what appear to be disconnected events that look like they're all fitting together for a specific purpose.
B
And this is a couple that will make use of the barn for the purpose to which it was in. For which as it was intended.
A
Kingdom work.
B
Kingdom work, exactly. So you guys who helped us build barn better, you built it for us and it looks like you may have also built it for others. So the Lord has always known all of these things would happen. So it's in his wonderful hands. Did you want to really quickly answer question.
A
Got a quick question and this is one that can be answered quickly. This is from Leon, who is someone who's asked questions periodically and comes up with some good ones.
B
Well, thanks, Leon.
A
Leon, I have a quick question for Derek. But. But feel free to weigh in on this as well, in the millennium after the return of Christ and he rules the world. And this is of course a reference to Revelation chapter 20, where we get into the thousand year reign. Satan is bound for a thousand years and thrown into the pit, has it shut and sealed over him so that he might not deceive the nations any longer. There are those who believe sacrifices will resume at the temple in Jerusalem. Doesn't that conflict with the entire New Testament or am I missing something? Simple answer. Yes, it does.
B
Well, it does seem to conflict with it. I don't know if these are. And then you can weigh in on this since you were actually addressed. I don't know if it specifically says sacrifices as we understand them are going to be returning. But what we do see is that once a year, I think it is, that all the nations of the world are required to come into Jerusalem and pay some sort of homage.
A
Right.
B
You know, you bow the knee or whatever, and if you don't, you're not going to get any rain.
A
Yeah, and that's, that's in the, that's in the Old Testament. I forget where exactly that is. Is that Zechariah, where that's prophesied?
B
I don't know.
A
But Daniel, perhaps I can look for it.
B
I close my iPad, that I can anyway.
A
But the bottom line is the reference to the thousand year millennial reign is not in the Old Testament. So it's only looking at Revelation 20. And there is no reference, mention in Revelation 20 of the restarting of the sacrifices. The sacrifices will be started again during that final seven year period called the time of Jacob's trouble or the Great Tribulation because the Antichrist will put a stop to the sacrifices and seek to change the times and the seasons. But in Revelation 20, there's nothing in there about the restarting of the sacrifices. So those who think that the sacrificial system will start up again in Revelation 20 during that thousand year reign, I'm not sure where they're getting that, but it's certainly not in the New Testament, which is where we as Christians derive our understanding of what's going to be in the future.
B
If any of the peoples of the earth who do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the king, the Lord, Yahweh Almighty, they will have no rain. That is in Zechariah 14, 17.
A
Okay, I was right.
B
Zechariah very well.
A
But it doesn't say sacrifice. It just says go up to worship.
B
Just go up to worship. Exactly.
A
So yeah, Leon, you're correct. It does conflict with the entire New Testament. And those who believe the sacrifices will restart. Not sure where they're getting it, but it's not. It's not from Scripture.
B
Yeah, I'm looking at the context there. In fact, there are things in 14 that seem to mirror some of the language that we just read this morning. In Isaiah, the whole land shall be turned into a plane from Geva to Ramon, south of Jerusalem. It gets into specific places, you know, like we read in Isaiah this morning. And. And then everyone who survives of all the nations who have come down against Jerusalem, shall go out up year by year to worship the King Yahweh of Hosts and to keep the Feast of Booths. This is what I wanted to find. I knew it was specific. And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King Yahweh of hosts, there will be no rain on them. And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain. There shall be the plague of. With which Yahweh afflicts. The nations that do not go up to keep the feast of Booths. There shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations who do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. Sometimes in the Old Testament, Egypt sort of represents the nations. So naming it out, just saying, okay, Egypt, I'm looking at you, but I'm also looking at everybody else. The Feast of Booths is a time when everybody will come up and perhaps they will be intense and, you know, whatever happens to be driven or ridden or perhaps horses pulling carts, we don't know. Because I think in the tribulation period that the whole Earth is going to be sort of driven back to the Stone Age. I think the Internet will be gone, all the satellites will be gone. I think so much stuff is going to happen that it'll be starting from scratch practically.
A
So lots of farming, which was kind of the original design.
B
Yeah.
A
So good question, Leon. Thank you for bringing that up. And I will respond to that also in the. On the. The app and the conversations section, if you've got the mobile app, Gilberthouse.org app you can ask questions of Sharon me. You can post thoughts about any of these studies or programs. And it's a very, very active group. Every time I go in there, there's, you know, whole mess of new things to follow and respond to. And we truly appreciate that. But most especially the most active is always the prayer request section.
B
And, you know, I think. I think that's how it should be.
A
Yeah.
B
We as a body of Christ, we need to minister to one another and pray for one another. The ministry of that of ministering to one another is more than just praying for one another. It's speaking psalms to one another. Sing to one another psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So thank you. For those of you who are in the app. If again you are not part of the. The group there and you want to take part in these discussions online in sort of a self contained group that is, I should say offline.
B
Yeah.
A
Because these are not posted online anywhere. You can do that by just downloading the app to your smartphone or tablet. Gilberthouse.org app.
B
Yep. And this is through a Christian company, Subsplash. Shout out to them if you are part of a ministry or a church that would love to have your own app. Subsplash does it for you. They started out doing churches.
A
Right.
B
And they don't charge an arm and a leg.
A
No. It's actually pretty affordable. And as part of the package then you also get the Roku Apple tv, Amazon Fire tv, Google tv, Android TV apps so people can watch video content. So if you're recording your pastor's sermons on video already, you can put those out there on your app and then distribute the app through, well around the world, basically.
B
Yeah. It's a wonderful way to reach out beyond your choir.
A
But the conversations section can be set up for individual Bible study groups, special group just for the elders so they can communicate with one, with another. Things like that. We use it a little differently, just different topics for the various programs that we've had out there. And you know, one for announcements coming from us. And again, the prayer request section, which is the most active group in the conversations section, by the way. Wonderful.
B
Do want to quickly mention that if you have rented content from our USCREEN account, then you need to watch it in the next few days. But if you have. Have purchased something there. Yeah, they've been. Derek has changed it so you can now download it.
A
Yeah.
B
And you can keep it locally at your house. Whatever you want to do with it, it's yours. We just ask that you don't edit it again and alter it.
A
Right.
B
But we are doing this because Derek and I, we. We feel that paying 200amonth to use screen for the rel. We don't talk about it very much
A
so we probably should have pushed it more.
B
But we kind of feel like it's not the best use of the Lord's money. We consider what you guys give us to be his Money.
A
Right.
B
We weren't trying to be good stewards of that. So we. We're just kind of going to end that relationship. Yeah, you screen's great, but, you know,
A
too much money at the end of May, that'll go away. May 31st, we will be shutting down our streaming video site, Gilberthouse.org video but all of those video, all that video content will be moved over to YouTube and possibly to Rumble as well. We've got a Rumble channel that we just have never really used, but we're gonna make all that available for free. And again, that's really what this is all about. I mean, we set up the streaming video site because people said, hey, you guys got these DVDs, but I don't have a DVD player anymore. Who's got DVD players? Who's got. Got Blu Ray players? Everything is streaming.
B
I live in Denmark, and it's going to cost me more than the cost of the item to have it ship it.
A
Right. So we're just going to make it all available at no charge on YouTube and. And. Or Rumble.
B
Is that an oriole being angry?
A
Yeah. Oreo squawking at another oriole. Get off my. Get off my porch. So that will happen by the end of May, and the videos will be moved over to YouTube during the month of May. But. But again, as Sharon said, if you purchased unlimited access to, say, one of our travelog videos or teaching series, please go ahead and download those over the next couple of weeks so that you've got access to those going forward. We're going to give you a month to get those so that you're not suddenly one day trying to go back and watch something that you purchased and then find that it's through the website.
B
Exactly. Because if we just took it away without telling you, it'd be like sneaking in your house and stealing your DVD.
A
Exactly. Yeah. Now you got to buy DVD.
B
Oh, speaking of DVDs, we've got a couple of conferences coming up. One in Ohio for the Go there for conference with the Spaldings, and it's at Neil Peterson's amazing church there in Brookville, Ohio. That's in July. In August, we're going to be in Springfield for the Hear the Watchman remnant rising 2.0 conference. Derek and I get to drive to that. So we're going to take a whole bunch of product with us and it's going to be deeply discounted.
A
Right.
B
Because we do need to either have moved by then and we'll just put it in a footlocker. Or something somewhere, lock box. Or we will. Or we will have not moved by then. And we'll just want to go ahead and empty that little corner of the
A
barn out one at one way or the other. We're going to need to downsize that product. So. Yeah, that'll be in the Springfield conference, which is August 7th through 9th. The go there for conference July 24th and 25th.
B
By the way, the Springfield Conference. If you use the promo code Gilbert20. Gilbert20, you're going to save $2020 on
A
the in person registration.
B
In person registration. There will be streaming, but there. That doesn't apply to the streaming purchase or to the VIP tickets, I don't think.
A
Correct. Yeah, just the in person registration. The Israel tour, We're still scheduled October 11th through 23rd with an optional three day extension to Jordan. I saw that the Prophecy Watchers, our friends at Prophecy Watchers have rescheduled their tour, which was supposed to be in March to October, late October following ours.
B
Yeah.
A
So they apparently feel comfortable that October would be a good time. We have not moved our dates yet. We're going to talk with the Lipkins this week about that and see what their feelings are.
B
Yeah.
A
Ben Gurion Airport is operating fully. There are no restrictions at Ben Gurion right now. But as Iran has not been very pliable when it comes to negotiating over the opening of the Hormuz Strait, we will have to see what happens.
B
In fact, I think their ceasefire is just about up.
A
Yeah. President Trump has made it clear if they're not going to. If they're not going to deal, they're going to have to, you know.
B
Yep. Everything, it's on like Donkey Kong.
A
Right. There are still airlines, even though the airport in Tel Aviv is open, that just are not flying to Tel Aviv.
B
Right.
A
And have said that they are not planning to fly until late August, early September. So again, we need to factor that into the ability to get there. Right now the only airline that is consistently flying into Tel Aviv is ll and ticket prices are crazy because people don't have any options.
B
Yeah. If it looks like we need to reschedule it, we will not cancel it. We will just reschedule it for next spring.
A
Yeah. And we will of course let you know our website, gilbert house.orgtravel for information on the upcoming tour. So close with a word of prayer. Father, thank you. Thank you for opening your word to us and for allowing us these last 10 years to devote our time to full time. Just digging into your word and peeling back the layers of meaning beyond the English Translation so that we can see have a better idea of what the prophet Isaiah meant. We look forward to that day when we can meet him face to face in glory and find out how far wrong we were from what he intended. But to learn from him and from Zechariah and from you directly, Lord, what a joy that will be. But until then, Father, we just ask your Spirit to grant us wisdom and discernment so that we may come as close as we can in these flawed mortal bodies to what yout intended, what yout meant for us to know in youn Word. And Father, as we go from here, may we be a blessing to those around us, especially those who do not yet know you. May we reflect the light of your love rather than being drawn into anger through pointless arguments on social media. Father, My weakness, Lord, may we spend each day making the most of the time that you have granted us and the gifts with which you've blessed us to minister to those around us, both through encouragement, through physical help. And Lord, again, just through turning aside anger with a kind word. Father, we pray for our elected officials. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We pray for peace worldwide, Lord, knowing that in this fallen world, true peace will not come until you return at the head of your heavenly army. Until that day, or until the day you call us home, Father, we pray for the strength and the courage to continue running the race and speaking boldly, the hope that we have in you. We thank you for this day. We pray for your blessing on it, Father, and we give thanks in Jesus name. Amen.
B
Amen. I mentioned earlier that you were going to be speaking with the guys from Iron Myth. There is no VFTB tonight though, is there?
A
Correct? No, no, because of the schedule this past week between doctoring and contractors in the house. Did not have time to get one done this week.
B
No, that's totally understandable, honey. I mean, why aren't you working non stop? Why do you ever sleep?
A
Next week though, will be fascinating. Our good friend Ron Silberman, who was one of our tour guides, a Messianic Jew, lives in Tel Aviv, one of our tour guides in 2023, who's. The Conversation that led us to become good friends opened with Ron asking me after my presentation about the Nephilim and the megalithic sites in the Golan Heights. What kind of Christians are you?
B
Well, he knows now and I think he gets a lot of it. He's quoted Derek in some of his articles.
A
He's a reporter for All Israel News, which is Joel Rosenberg's news operation out of Jerusalem on archeology in the Bible. And he mentioned us in his report on the baptismal site of Jesus.
B
Yeah.
A
So that was very nice.
B
I know Ron.
A
We met him at Shiloh last year and the year before in Tel Aviv when we were there at Hostage Square. And he's coming to the United States to speak in June. And so if you've got a church anywhere in, say, the mid south of the Ozarks, because he'll be here in the Ozarks in the first week of June and here through the month of June, he'll be speaking near Oklahoma City, I think Bartlesville, Oklahoma, June 7. I'm not sure of the church, but Ron is very intelligent, excellent tour guide, and as a messianic Jew living in Israel, can speak to the condition of Christians living in Israel, which is a very important topic right now.
B
It is. And he's just a wonderful man.
A
Yeah.
B
So I'm glad that you're going to have a chance to talk to him.
A
Yeah. He'll be next next Sunday night. But until then, and upcoming this week, of course, the Way Back Wednesday and Throwback Thursday episodes from our archives. So don't.
B
They are indeed. And also tomorrow is May 4th.
A
Oh, yes.
B
And so not exactly a Star wars reference. Actually a Book of Daniel reference.
A
Yes.
B
To the fourth man in the Fire. May the real fourth be with you tomorrow.
A
Amen. I'm Derek Gilbert.
B
I'm Sharon Gilbert. We love you very, very much. God bless you. Bye bye, everybody.
A
Thank you for joining us. We post a new Bible study each Sunday morning. Subscribe to the podcast and explore the archives online@gilberthouse.org.
Gilbert House Fellowship
Episode: "Judgment on Assur"
Hosts: Derek and Sharon Gilbert
Date: May 3, 2026
In this episode, Derek and Sharon Gilbert dive into a verse-by-verse study of 2 Chronicles 27 and Isaiah 10, exploring the historical context and deeper theological meanings, especially regarding God’s judgment on Assyria (“Assur/Ashur”) and its supernatural implications. Drawing on years of both biblical and ancient Near Eastern research, the Gilberts focus on spiritual warfare, end-times theology, biblical reversals of pagan beliefs, and the constant relevance of Israel’s history to Christian life today.
Their discussion weaves together personal anecdotes, linguistic analysis, and contemporary spiritual applications with a characteristic mixture of warmth, humor, and scholarly depth.
Memorable Quote:
"Ashur is a name that applies to three different things ... the chief deity of the Assyrians ... the equivalent of Enlil, El ... Molech, Saturn ... Dagon ... so you have to look at context."
— Derek (24:10)
If you missed the episode, expect a richly layered exploration of Isaiah 10’s “Judgment on Assur”—not just as history, but as a prophetic touchpoint for spiritual warfare and end-times hope. The Gilberts’ distinctive blend of research, Bible study, and down-to-earth storytelling makes profound theological connections feel personal, urgent, and even fun.
Skip to the segments above for a detailed look at biblical text, or let it play end-to-end for the full experience of scriptural insight, laughter, and encouragement.