DO PHRASES LIKE NO MAN SHALL ABIDE THERE OR IT
SHALL NEVER BE INHABITED TEACH ANNIHILATION?
Updated 9/22/09
We
read verses like:
Isaiah
13:19-20:
19
Ά And
20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it
be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent
there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
Jeremiah
22:6 For thus saith the LORD unto the
kings house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of
Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which
are not inhabited.
Jeremiah 49:18 As in the overthrow of Sodom
and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man
shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.
Jeremiah
50:40 As God overthrew Sodom and
Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall
no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
Zephaniah 2:5 Woe unto the
inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the
LORD is against you; O
First,
we notice the reference to
PLEASE SEE THE STUDY ON JUDE
7
In
the above verses and in some other verses we read phrases like no man shall abide
there or It shall never be
inhabited. We reason that if no man abides there or it shall never be
inhabited, then that must mean that the unsaved are annihilated. That they
cease to exist.
However,
the Biblical rule of 1 Corinthians 2:13 is that we must always see how God uses
various words and phrases in different parts of the Bible to make sure that we
are understanding them correctly.
We
read verses like Jeremiah 49:18 and Jeremiah 50:40 that speak of no inhabitant
or no man dwelling, and it may sound like annihilation. However, we must always
be careful in our Bible study and examine any verse that might have similar
language that can help us understand what God is teaching in the verse under
examination.
For
example we read about drink offerings and high places for worship in these and
other verses of Jeremiah:
Jeremiah
7:18 The children gather wood, and the
fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes
to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that
they may provoke me to anger.
Jeremiah
7:31 And they have built the high places
of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their
sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not,
neither came it into my heart.
Jeremiah
19:5 They have built also the high
places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto
Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into
my mind:
Jeremiah
19:13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and
the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet,
because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all
the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.
Since
the vast majority of churches do not make drink offerings unto other gods nor
do they have places of worship in the hills (high places), we could conclude
that these verses are not speaking of the churches during the Great
Tribulation.
However,
if we examine the book of Jeremiah carefully, remembering that Christ spoke in
parables and following the rule of 1 Corinthians 2:13 to compare Scripture with
Scripture, we learn that the book of Jeremiah is particularly talking about the
end of the church age.
If
we read Jeremiah 7:18, 31 & 19:5, 13 casually we can come up with a
non-Biblical conclusion. This also applies to Isaiah 13:19-20, Jeremiah 49:18,
50:40 and similar verses. We must always compare Scripture with Scripture to
come to truth about these verses or any verses.
Now,
lets go back to the original question:
How
are we to understand verses like Jeremiah 22:6, 49:18 & 50:4 which have
phrases like cities which are not inhabited, no man shall abide
there and nor shall any son of
man dwell therein?
Lets
start by looking at Isaiah 13:19-22. We read there:
19 Ά And
20 It
shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to
generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the
shepherds make their fold there.
21 But
wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of
doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
22 And
the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons
in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her
days shall not be prolonged.
In
Isaiah 13:19-22 we find some similar language to that which is in the verses
that we are studying.
In
verse 19 God talks about the overthrow of
Also,
in verse 20, we see that It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in
from generation to generation.
This
is very similar language to the verses that we are studying. Therefore, Isaiah
13:19-22 can help us understand verses with this kind of language.
This
language of verse 20 may seem to teach annihilation. If the place is not
inhabited and it is not dwelt in, then we would assume that all of the people
have been annihilated.
However,
we have to read on. Lets look again at verse 20 along with the next two
verses; 21 & 22. We read there:
20 It
shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to
generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the
shepherds make their fold there.
21 But
wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of
doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
22 And
the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons
in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her
days shall not be prolonged.
Verses
21 & 22 continue the description.
Notice
that the place of Isaiah 13:19-22 is not vacant.
There
are wild
beasts, doleful creatures, owls,
satyrs, and dragons in that place. We read the same future tense language of shall dwell there, shall cry and shall dance there.
Many
of the animals listed in Isaiah 13:21-22 were unclean animals. God uses unclean
animals to represent the unsaved.
It
argued that the unclean animals in Isaiah 13:21-22, 34:11-16 and Jeremiah 50:39
represent literal animals, rather than representing the unsaved.
However,
God has put a number of clues in these 3 passages that indicate that these
animals cannot be literal animals, but rather, they must represent the
unsaved. For more information, please see the study: What do the birds of
Isaiah 34:10-17 represent?
WHAT DO THE BIRDS OF ISAIAH
34:10-17 REPRESENT?
For
the sake of space, we cannot include all of the material in the above study,
but we will include a few reasons why we can know that the birds of Isaiah
34:10-17, and similar passages, cannot be literal animals, but must be the
unsaved:
We
read in Isaiah 34:10-17:
10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the
smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie
waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
11 But the cormorant and the bittern shall
possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch
out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.
12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the
kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing.
13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces,
nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation
of dragons, and a court for owls.
14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet
with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the
screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.
15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and
lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be
gathered, every one with her mate.
16 Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and
read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it
hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.
17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his
hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from
generation to generation shall they dwell therein.
We
read in Isaiah 34:11-12 that these unclean birds are calling to nobles.
This Hebrew word translated nobles is used 12 other times in the Bible
and in every instance, it refers to either mankind or God Himself. It is never
used to refer to animals.
God
only uses this Hebrew word translated nobles to refer to mankind or God,
never to refer to animals.
God
is defining this Hebrew word, nobles, to represent either God or man.
Animals
do not talk to mankind or God. It is mankind that calls out to God or his
fellow man. When Gods wrath comes at Judgment Day, the unsaved will be calling
to God, the most noble, for mercy, but, sadly, they will not receive
it.
The
same is also true for the word prince.
1.
God has put the words nobles and princes in Isaiah 34:12. These words are
only used to refer to mankind or God. They are not used to refer to animals.
Animals dont call to mankind or to God. But, mankind does call out to his
fellow man or God. This shows that the unclean animals in verse 11 refer to
unsaved mankind.
We
read in Isaiah 34:14:
The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet
with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his
fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of
rest.
Two
phrases were underlined in this verse. Each of these phrases is only 1 Hebrew
word.
Because
Isaiah 34:10-17 talks about various animals, the KJV translators added the
phrase wild beasts two times, but this phrase is not in the Hebrew
text.
The
first Hebrew word refers to people of the desert. The desert that God has in
view is the lack of the waters of the Gospel. Unsaved mankind is in the desert
without the Gospel. He does not have the waters of the Gospel.
The
second Hebrew word is used more than 30 times in the Bible and is normally
translated isles or islands. This word is never used to speak
of animals. However, it is frequently used to refer to the peoples of the
world.
Here
are some sample verses with this Hebrew word translated wild beasts of the
island, but it should be translated islands:
Isaiah 41:1 Keep silence before me,
O islands <0339>; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then
let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.
Isaiah 41:5 The isles <0339> saw it, and feared; the ends
of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.
Isaiah 42:4 He shall not fail nor be
discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles <0339> shall wait for his law.
Isaiah 60:9 Surely the isles <0339> shall wait for me, and the ships of
Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with
them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because
he hath glorified thee.
When
we examine all of the uses of these two Hebrew words, which are underlined
in Isaiah 34:14 above, we find that they are never used to speak about animals.
Rather, they speak about mankind. God defines words by how He uses them.
Neither
of these two Hebrew words is ever used to refer to animals.
These
two Hebrew words are used to refer to mankind. The second Hebrew word is used
more than 30 times in the Bible to speak about mankind throughout the world,
throughout the islands or continents.
God
has put two Hebrew words in verse 14 that are never used to speak of animals.
They are used many times to speak of mankind. The KJV translators hid this
truth by adding the phrase wild beasts.
We
find these same two Hebrew words in the other passages that we are examining:
Isaiah 13:21 But wild
beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of
doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
Jeremiah
50:39 Therefore the wild beasts of
the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there,
and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever;
neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
We
want to make an important observation here:
It
is important that these Hebrew words are also found in Isaiah 13:21 and
Jeremiah 50:39 because it shows that the passages Isaiah 13:19-22 and Jeremiah
50:39-40 cannot be referring to literal animals because these two Hebrew words
are only used to refer to mankind. They are never used to refer to animals. Isaiah
13:19-22 and Jeremiah 50:39-40 are also speaking about mankind.
We
must keep in mind the Biblical rule that God defines words by how He uses them
in the Bible according to 1 Corinthians 2:13.
2.
By putting these two Hebrew words in Isaiah 34:14, and in Isaiah 13:19 and
Jeremiah 50:39, God is showing that these passages cannot be talking about
literal animals. Rather, God is directing that they are talking about unsaved
man, who are represented by unclean animals.
We
read in Isaiah 34:15-17:
15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and
lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be
gathered, every one with her mate.
16 Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and
read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for
my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.
17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his
hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from
generation to generation shall they dwell therein.
God
has put a two word Hebrew phrase in both verse 15 & 16. This phrase is not
translated very well, but it is shown underlined above.
The
reason that in verse 15 it says every one while in verse 16 it says none
because of the addition of the word not in verse 16.
However,
the key two word Hebrew phrase is the same in both verses. This is important
because God is tying the two verses together by using the same two word phrase
in the Hebrew language.
A
better translation of this Hebrew phrase is a woman of her evils.
Nevertheless,
the same two word Hebrew phrase occurs in both verse 15 and verse 16.
In
verse 15, God defines this Hebrew phrase as representing the animals listed in
verses 11 to 15.
Then,
in verse 16 and continuing into verse 17, God describes this two word Hebrew
phrase as an entity that will dwell under the wrath of God forevermore. The
Hebrew phrase translated for ever in verse 17 is the same phrase used
to describe the believers inheritance with God as forevermore in Genesis 13:15
and in other passages. This Hebrew phrase is always used to describe something
that is truly forevermore.
3.
Because this two word Hebrew phrase ties the unclean animals of verses 11 to 15
to the statements of dwelling forevermore, Isaiah 34:10-17 is teaching these
unclean animals will exist forevermore, like the believers will exist
forevermore. Literal animals do not exist forevermore, but mankind can exist
forevermore.
This
information is further developed in the Isaiah 34 section of the study of the
Biblical proofs of the eternal suffering of the unsaved. It contains a detailed
study on Isaiah 34.
PLEASE SEE THE STUDY OF
THE BIBLICAL PROOFS OF THE ETERNAL SUFFERING OF THE UNSAVED
Above
is only a summary of the Biblical reasons why the animals of Isaiah 34:10-17
cannot be literal animals, but rather they must represent the unsaved. For more
information on this question, please see the two studies cited above.
Lets
continue with our examination of Gods use of unclean animals to represent the
unsaved.
God
calls the churches and local congregations during the Great Tribulation
We
read about them in Revelation 18:2:
And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying,
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils,
and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful
bird.
Revelation
18:2 is talking about the churches and congregations during the Great
Tribulation. They are now called
God
says that they have become the habitation of devils, foul spirits, and unclean
and hate birds. These unclean animals identify with the unsaved.
Notice
that God says hateful bird.
Are
the birds hated by God?
No.
God does not hate birds. We dont read about that anywhere in the Bible.
However
in Romans 9:13, we read:
As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I
hated.
However,
the unsaved are under the hatred of God. That identifies with the phrase hateful
bird in Revelation 18:2, showing that God is using the unclean and
hateful bird to represent the unsaved.
This
phrase unclean and hateful bird cannot be talking about literal birds
because birds are not hated by God. But, Romans 9:13 and other passages
indicate that the unsaved are hated by God.
By
using the word unclean also in Revelation 18:2, God is tying back to
the unclean animals in Isaiah 13:20-21, 34:10-16 and Jeremiah 50:39, indicating
that unclean animals are used by God to represent the unsaved.
By
using the phrase unclean and hateful bird in Revelation 18:2, God is showing
that He defines the unsaved as unclean birds. The Bible teaches that unsaved
man is hated by God; not the animals. Revelation 18:2 helps us to understand
that the unclean animals of Isaiah 34:10-17 and other passages represent the
unsaved.
The
language of Revelation 18:2 identifies with the animals listed in Isaiah
13:21-22, Isaiah 34:10-17 and Jeremiah 50:39-40.
Now,
with the help of this background information, lets return to our examination
of Isaiah 13:19-22.
Lets
go back to Isaiah 13:19-22 and examine in more detail what God is teaching in
this passage.
We
read there:
19 Ά And
20 It
shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to
generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the
shepherds make their fold there.
21 But
wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be
full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance
there.
22 And
the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and
dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come,
and her days shall not be prolonged.
The
underlined phrases are those two Hebrew words that we examined earlier.
These Hebrew words are never used to speak about literal animals. Rather, they
signify people. The phrase wild beasts does not belong in the
translation.
One
observation is that God uses future tense verbs in Isaiah 13:21-22 to describe
the dwelling of these unclean animals, and of these two Hebrew words that
signify people.
We
read phrases like shall dwell, shall dance, and shall cry.
These are all verbs that have been properly translated in the future tense, and
they are verbs of consciousness. They cannot be applied to dust or bones.
Isaiah
13:21-22 uses verbs that are in the future tense and are verbs of conscious
action. They cannot apply to dust or bones, nor to activities in the past.
Now
we will look at an important question:
How
are we to understand Isaiah 13:19-22? There is an apparent conflict in this
passage:
On
the one hand, verse 20 says that
How
do we understand this?
Jeremiah
6:8 provides a starting point for understanding.
We
read in Jeremiah 6:8:
Be thou instructed, O
The
word inhabited is the same Hebrew
word in the phrase It shall never be inhabited <03427> in Isaiah 13:20.
So,
there is a connection between the inhabit of Isaiah 13:20 and of
Jeremiah 6:8.
In
Jeremiah 6:8 God is talking to
Jerusalem
in Jeremiah 6:8 and in many verses, represents the church people themselves,
not a church building nor a literal city of brick and stone. God is speaking to
and about people, not a physical, literal city.
In
Jeremiah 6:8 God is telling them that they have to repent and turn away from
their sin. They must be instructed in the truth of the Bible and they
must begin obeying God.
If
they do not repent and starting obeying the Bible, God will bring judgment. God
says that lest my soul depart from thee.
God says that He will abandon them.
What
happens when God departs from them?
We
read in the next part of Jeremiah 6:8 that lest I make thee desolate, a land not
inhabited.
When
God leaves the church people, they become desolate. Mankind is desolate without God indwelling and energizing him.
A
desert is desolate because it lacks water. Man without God is desolate because
he lacks Gods indwelling, guiding, energizing and blessings.
Jeremiah
6:8 declares that the church people themselves are the land.
In
Jeremiah 6:8, the land is not this physical earth. Rather, the people
themselves are the land. When God abandons the church people, they
become a desolate land.
Jeremiah
6:8 is not teaching the annihilation of the church people because it says that
God will make the church people themselves a land. If they are a land, then
they have existence.
Notice
the next key statement. God will make the unsaved church people themselves a land not inhabited.
The
unsaved church people become a land not inhabited by whom?
Jeremiah
6:8 tells us that God Himself will depart from them. God is the one that will
no longer inhabit them.
While
man is in this world, he is under great blessings from God. God cares for him
and is good to him in many ways (Matthew 5:45, Acts 14:17). Man is in God and
moves in God and has his being in God (Acts 17:28). This is true for unsaved
man also. God has not departed altogether from unsaved man yet.
However,
once Judgment Day comes, God completely departs from unsaved man, to
use the language of Jeremiah 6:8. God will make His unsaved corporate people,
and unsaved man in general, a land not inhabited, that is, not inhabited by God.
Jeremiah
6:8 helps us to understand how God uses the idea of not being inhabited. God
uses that to mean that God Himself is not inhabiting the unsaved anymore. At
Judgment Day, God completely forsakes the unsaved. They will be a land not
inhabited by God.
We
have to read the Bible very carefully to make sure that we understand correctly
what God is saying.
It
is easy to read a phrase like a land not inhabited and get a mental picture of the earth without any
person and think of annihilation, but that is not what God is saying in
Jeremiah 6:8.
God
is not saying that this earth is a land not inhabited. No, rather, God is saying to his corporate unsaved
people that I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
The
corporate unsaved people of God are the land. This is like the eternal
people of God in Revelation 21:2 that are called the holy city. A city
is also a land.
In
Jeremiah 6:8 God says that He will make His unsaved corporate people a land.
They do exist. But, God shall make them desolate, a land not inhabited. They will exist, but God will not inhabit them.
God
picks up this theme that the people themselves are the land in other
parts of the Bible.
Isaiah
62:4 helps us to see that God uses the word land at times to describe a group
of people.
We
read in Isaiah 62:1-5:
1 Ά For Zions sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalems
sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness,
and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
2 And the Gentiles shall
see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a
new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
3 Thou shalt also be a
crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy
God.
4 Thou shalt no more be
termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou
shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in
thee, and thy land shall be married.
5 For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so
shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the
bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.
Isaiah
62:1-5 describes Gods wonderful salvation program. Notice the last part of
verse 4. God says that thy land shall be married.
God
talks about a land being married.
Who
is married? A piece of ground?
No. The true believers are married to
the Lord Jesus.
The
true believers are married to the Lord Jesus. Here, the land
does not refer to a portion of the earth. A portion of the earth is not married.
Rather, the land refers to all of the true believers.
In
Isaiah 62:4 the land is all of the true believers. In Jeremiah 6:8, the
land is all of the unsaved in the churches.
Job
15:28 provides further help in understanding.
Job
15:20-35 describes the nature of unsaved man. We read in verse 28:
And he dwelleth in
desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth <03427>, which are ready to
become heaps.
Job
15:28 has the same Hebrew word translated inhabited that we find in Jeremiah 6:8.
Job
15:28 is talking about the unsaved. This verse seems like a contradiction
because it says that the unsaved dwelleth in desolate cities, and in
houses. Yet then it says that no man inhabiteth those same places.
However,
when we understand that the Lord Jesus is the important man that does not inhabit those cities, then everything fits together.
Job
15:28 says that the unsaved dwells in desolate cities and in houses and yet no man inhabiteth those places. There is no contradiction. The
important man, the Lord Jesus, does not inhabit. Christ has abandoned them.
So,
when we read verses that declare that no man shall abide there or It shall never be inhabited it does not mean
that the unsaved are annihilated. Rather, it can mean that God Himself is not
there.
We
might wonder about the word heaps
in Job 15:28. Does it teach annihilation?
This
Hebrew word signifies a pile of something. It is also translated wave,
as in an ocean wave. A wave is a heap or pile of water.
The
word does not have to mean a heap or pile of inanimate objects, like a
heap of corpses.
For
example, this same Hebrew word is translated wave in Ezekiel 26:3, and in
that verse it points to a wave of soldiers or nations that are coming
up to battle. We read there:
Therefore thus saith
the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many
nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves <01530> to come up.
From
Ezekiel 26:3 we see that this Hebrew word does not have to signify a heap or
pile of inanimate objects, like corpses. Rather, it can signify a wave of
soldiers or nations.
The
idea of a wave of soldiers can identify with the language of Revelation
19 that typifies Judgment Day as a final battle. In Revelation 19:3 the unsaved
are pictured as an army (or wave of soldiers) that are fighting against God.
Lets
go back to our study of how to understand phrases like no man shall abide
there or It shall never be
inhabited.
Lets
examine more verses that agree with the understanding that the unsaved people
themselves are the land and God is the one that does not inhabit them.
We
read in Jeremiah 49:33:
And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and
a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of
man dwell in it.
Hazor
is another city that also represents the unsaved. In Jeremiah 49, God talks
about His wrath against Hazor as well as some other cities.
Gods
wrath is against man because of his sin. Gods wrath is not against physical
cities of brick and mortar, nor is His wrath against a portion of land.
When
God talks about Hazor and these various cities, he is talking about the
unsaved people themselves.
Therefore,
when God talks about these various cities, God is talking about unsaved people.
God is not talking about physical cities of brick and mortar.
In
the Bible, God speaks to mankind about his relationship with God. Hazor is
another name that represents the unsaved.
We
read that Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons.
The
word dragons represents the unsaved. We see this same Hebrew word in
the following verses:
Deuteronomy 32:33 Their
wine is the poison of dragons <08577>, and the cruel venom of asps.
The poison of dragons in this verse is the wrong gospels
of the unsaved. The unsaved, and their leader satan, are represented by dragons
in this verse.
The word dragons in Deuteronomy 32:33 cannot be talking about
literal animals. Animals do not have poisoned wine. Rather, it is talking
about unsaved man. It is unsaved man that has false gospels, wines, that are
poison. Animals do not bring the gospel.
We see the same Hebrew word translated dragons in Isaiah
34:13. We read there:
And thorns shall come up in her palaces,
nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation
of dragons <08577>, and a court for owls.
The unclean animals listed in Isaiah 34:13 and in the rest of
Isaiah 34 represent the unsaved. We saw this truth earlier in this study.
We read about dragons again in Isaiah 35:7-8:
7 And the parched ground
shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation
of dragons <08577>, where each lay, shall be grass
with reeds and rushes.
8 And an highway shall be
there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall
not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though
fools, shall not err therein.
The dragons in Isaiah 35:7 have to represent the unsaved.
God does not talk about the Gospel going to animals. In this verse, there is
hope of salvation.
We read two more verses with this same Hebrew word translated dragons.
Isaiah 43:20 The beast of
the field shall honour me, the dragons <08577> and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and
rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.
Jeremiah 9:11 And I will
make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons <08577>; and I will make the cities of
Isaiah
43:20 is talking about Gods salvation program. God is not talking about giving
water to animals. God is talking about giving the waters of the Gospel to
unsaved people represented in this verse by the beast of the field, dragons
and owls.
In
Jeremiah 9:11 the
When
God talks about
We
see an example in the New Testament in which
22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons,
the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
23 But he who was of the bondwoman was
born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
24 Which things are an allegory: for these are
the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage,
which is Agar.
25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and
answereth to
26 But
If
we study this passage carefully, we learn that the
Lets
look again at Jeremiah 49:33. We read there:
And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and
a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of
man dwell in it.
Hazor
is another city that represents the unsaved people themselves. They are a
dwelling for dragons, because the unsaved are represented by unclean
animals, like dragons. The dragons represent the unsaved
people themselves.
They
are a desolation because God is not there to bless and to save them.
Next,
we read that no man nor son of man shall abide there. Those
terms, man and son of man cannot refer to the unsaved,
because the unsaved, represented by the dragons, are there.
Also,
Hazor does not represent a piece of ground. It represents the unsaved
themselves. God is speaking to people.
Rather,
with the help of Jeremiah 6:8, we know that the terms man and son
of man refer to the Lord Jesus Christ.
The
Lord Jesus is the important man and son of man to which the Bible refers.
We
read two significant verses that talk about a key man that is
necessary:
Jeremiah
5:1 Run ye to and fro through the
streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places
thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment,
that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
Ezekiel
22:30 And I sought for a man among them,
that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land,
that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
The
critical man that is needed is described in 1 Timothy 2:5:
For there is one God, and one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
The
Lord Jesus is the important man according to 1 Timothy 2:5. Notice how
in that verse, God emphasizes that He is a man.
The
Lord Jesus is the important man to whom Jeremiah 5:1 and Ezekiel 22:30
refer.
When
we read verses like Jeremiah 49:33 that talk about Hazor in which shall no man abide
there, nor any son of man dwell in it.
The
name Hazor represents the unsaved people themselves, not a piece of
land. Yet, it says that in Hazor shall no man abide there, nor any son
of man dwell in it.
The
Biblical answer is that the Lord Jesus is the man that fits the phrase
shall
no man abide there.
This
agrees with Jeremiah 6:8 in which God says my soul depart from thee. If God departs from mankind, then the Lord
Jesus is the man to which this phrase shall no man abide
there refers.
The
Lord Jesus is also the son of man that does not abide with the unsaved at
Judgment Day.
We
read many times in the New Testament that the Lord Jesus is called the son
of man. At Judgment Day, the Lord Jesus is the son of man to
which this phrase nor any son of man dwell in it refers.
We
can understand this language better if we compare the Hebrew word translated
abide in Jeremiah 49:33 with its usage found in Jeremiah 6:8
The
word abide in Jeremiah 49:33 is the same Hebrew word inhabit
found in Jeremiah 6:8. When we put the two verses together, we can see the fit:
Jeremiah 6:8
Be thou instructed, O
Jeremiah 49:33 And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and
a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide <03427> there, nor any
son of man dwell in it.
Jeremiah
6:8 teaches that the unsaved themselves will be desolate, a land not
inhabited. God will depart
from them. Therefore, they will not be inhabited by God.
Then,
Jeremiah 49:33 picks up the theme using the same Hebrew word, now translated abide. Hazor represents the unsaved. Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons because God uses the unclean animals to represent
the unsaved. The unsaved are there. But, God is not there, as indicated in
Jeremiah 6:8. God is the man that shall not abide there,
using the same Hebrew word translated inhabit in Jeremiah 6:8. Christ
is the son of man that will not dwell
in the unsaved, represented by Hazor.
Now
we can understand what Jeremiah 49:33 is teaching. Namely, that once God casts
away the unsaved, represented by Hazor in this verse, God Himself is the man or son of man that will not abide with the unsaved. At Judgment
Day, God will completely abandon the unsaved.
Jeremiah
17:5-6 teaches the same truth. We read there:
5 Ά Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the
man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth
from the LORD.
6 For
he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh;
but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land
and not inhabited <03427>.
Jeremiah
17:5-6 is talking about an unsaved person.
In
verse 6 the word heath is
translated destitute in Psalm 102:17.
Those that remain unsaved are like the destitute in the
desert. They do not have the waters
of the Gospel.
Verse
6 continues to say that the unsaved shall inhabit the parched places. That is, the unsaved shall inhabit places where
there is no Gospel. The salt land again
refers to a place under the wrath of God.
Notice
the last part of verse 6. It says and not inhabited. Verse 6 seems like a contradiction. How could
someone inhabit a place that is not inhabited?
Verse
6 seems a contradiction until we factor in what Jeremiah 6:8 and other verses
teach. The unsaved will inhabit the lake of fire, a parched place, without the gospel that is not inhabited by God.
The
Hebrew word in the phrase not inhabited
is the same Hebrew word that we find in Jeremiah 6:8 that refers to the fact
that God will not inhabit the
dwelling of the unsaved. God will completely abandon the unsaved at Judgment
Day.
Now
we can understand the confusing language in Jeremiah 22:6.
We
read there:
For thus saith the LORD unto the kings house of
The
language of Jeremiah 22:6 can also seem to be a little confusing, but with the
help of Jeremiah 6:8 and related passages, we can understand it correctly.
In
this verse, God is talking to people. God is talking to the church people
during the Great Tribulation.
God
says that He will make them, the unsaved people themselves, a
wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited. We have to
remember that God is talking to people and not to a physical, literal city of
brick and mortar.
In
Jeremiah 22:6 God is not talking to a literal city of brick and mortar, nor is
God talking to church buildings. God is talking to people and saying that they
will be a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.
With
the help of verses like Jeremiah 6:8 we can understand Jeremiah 22:6. God is
saying that the unsaved people themselves will be a wilderness. They
will be without the Gospel. They will be cities which are not
inhabited by God.
Actually,
the word are is not in the Hebrew text. A more accurate translation is
surely I will make thee a wilderness, cities not inhabited.
Those
that remain unsaved, will be cast away from God. They will not be inhabited
by God.
In
this world, all mankind is in God and under Gods blessings (Matthew 5:45, Acts
14:17, 17:28). In that sense, God inhabits them. Also, throughout the
church age, God inhabited the churches in the person of the Holy
Spirit that was working in the midst of the congregations.
However,
at Judgment Day, the unsaved will be completely desolate without the Gospel and
are no longer under any blessing or presence of God. They will be cities not
inhabited by God.
Lets
examine another verse that helps us in this study.
We
read in Jeremiah
51:37:
And
We
see similar language in Jeremiah 51:37 as we saw in other verses. A quick
reading of the phrase without an inhabitant might cause us to think that God is describing a physical city or a
world in which everyone has been annihilated and now it is empty.
However,
we must read the Bible carefully, comparing Scripture with Scripture.
We
read that
We
saw other verses with this same Hebrew word translated dragons and found that this word represents the unsaved.
With
the help of Jeremiah 6:8 we found that God is the one to which the phrase without an inhabitant refers. Christ has left all of the churches and will
finally abandon all of unsaved mankind at Judgment Day.
At
Judgment Day, God will completely forsake the unsaved.
In
Jeremiah 51:37, God Himself is the one to whom the phrase without an inhabitant refers. God does not inhabit the unsaved at
Judgment Day, but collectively they have become a dwellingplace for
dragons, because they, the
unsaved people, themselves, are dragons.
Lets
look more at Jeremiah 50:40
We
obtain help in understanding Jeremiah 50:40 when we look at the previous verse,
verse 39.
We
read in Jeremiah 50:39-40:
39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with
the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall
dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be
dwelt in from generation to generation.
40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the
neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide
there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
Someone
can read verse 40 and conclude that the unsaved are annihilated, since no man
abides there nor dwells there.
But,
when we see how God uses those phrases in Jeremiah 6:8, Job 15:28 and other
verses, we see that God means that the important man, the Lord Jesus,
does not abide nor dwell there.
That
agrees with the previous verse, verse 39 which talks about the unclean animals
that shall dwell therein. Those unclean animals represent the unsaved.
They shall dwell there. They shall dwell under the wrath of God, but the
important man, the Lord Jesus Christ, will not dwell there.
We read a significant verse in Jeremiah 44:22 that relates to this
topic.
We
read there:
So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the
evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have
committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a
curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.
Again
we see the phrase without an inhabitant which ties into the other
verses with a similar phrase.
However,
lets consider the last part of the verse which says as at this day.
Notice
that God is saying telling His unsaved corporate people that they are already
a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as
at this day.
In
fact the verb tense of the phrase therefore is your land refers to
something that already has occurred. For example the same verb tense, exact
same spelling is used in these verses:
Genesis
11:30 But Sarai was barren; she had
no child.
Exodus
8:18 And the magicians did so with their
enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice
upon man, and upon beast.
Numbers
31:16 Behold, these caused the children
of
Judges
14:20 But Samsons wife was given
to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.
In
Jeremiah 44:22 God is not saying that in the future they will be this way. No,
rather, God is saying that right now, during the Great Tribulation, they are already
a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant
Each
of these three words, desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse already
apply to the corporate people of God during the Great Tribulation.
When
God abandoned the local congregations at the start of the Great Tribulation,
they became a desolation. God was not blessing the Bible as it was
proclaimed and no one was becoming saved. When God is not blessing His Word to
people, there is desolation.
The
Hebrew word translated astonishment in Jeremiah 44:22 is also
translated desolation and is used in the following verses:
2 Kings 22:19
Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the
LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the
inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation <08047> and a curse, and
hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith
the LORD.
2 Chronicles 30:7 And be not ye like your fathers, and like
your brethren, which trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who
therefore gave them up to desolation <08047>, as ye see.
Psalms 46:8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, what
desolations <08047> he hath made in the earth.
We
see from the above verses how the unsaved are already a desolation
without God blessing the Gospel in them.
The
word curse applies to all of the unsaved. Until salvation, we are
under the curse of God because of our sins.
With
the phrase therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a
curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day, God is telling us that His
unsaved people are already without an inhabitant. We have learned that
God is the inhabitant that they are without.
When
we examine the phrase desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse we
learn that it already applies to the unsaved corporate people of God in
our day. That agrees with the phrase as at this day. In the same way,
those in the local congregations are already without an inhabitant
because God has left the local congregations at the beginning of the Great
Tribulation in 1988.
This
phrase does not signify annihilation. With the help of other verses, we see
that it indicates that God is not inhabiting them. God is not there to
bless them.
Jeremiah
44:22 also helps us to understand the phrases no man shall abide
there or It shall never be
inhabited. These phrases are teaching that it is God, who is the man that
shall not abide with the unsaved. It is God that shall never inhabit the
unsaved at Judgment Day.
We
have seen a number of verses where God has taught us how to understand phrases
like no man shall abide there and It shall never be inhabited.
A
careful study has shown that when God talks about a land in which no man shall abide there or It shall never be inhabited, God is talking
about the people themselves as the land which shall never be inhabited by
God. The Lord Jesus is the man that shall not abide there. God uses this
complex language to teach that Gods judgment upon the unsaved includes the
fact that He abandons them.
Therefore
phrases like no man shall abide there or It shall never be inhabited do not teach
annihilation. Rather, they teach that God will abandon the unsaved at Judgment
Day.