Blessed Are The Barren

[veteran]

Our Lord Jesus while carrying His cross to be crucified looked among the crowds that followed and saw women weeping for Him. He then repeated an Old Testament metaphor to them that directly relates to end time events.

Luke 23:27-31
27 And there followed Him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented Him.
28 But Jesus turning unto them said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.
29 For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.'
30 Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us'; and to the hills, 'Cover us.'
31 For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?
(KJV)


Anyone think they can rightly interpret what our Lord Jesus said there just by itself?

If you are a 'workman' in all of God's Word, then you should know our Lord Jesus was quoting from Isaiah 54 with that "Blessed are the barren" metaphor. So it requires one to go back to the Old Testament Book of Isaiah and study it. If one treats the Old Testament Books like they're all past history, then it means to miss a lot of our Lord Jesus' teachings in The New Testament, same with quite a number of Messages by His Apostles also.


Isa 54:1-3
1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.
2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
(KJV)

Those Isaiah 54 verses are of a future time when Christ's Salvation will literally manifest upon this earth at the gathering of His Church to Jerusalem, of both believing Israel and Gentiles.

Our Lord connects this "Blessed are the barren" with yet another symbolic analogy of one who 'travails with child'. It too was originally a symbolic metaphor used in the Old Testament for anguish and sorrow because of God's coming judgments.

1Thes 5:1-7
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
(KJV)

Notice how Apostle Paul refers to the 'as travail upon a woman with child' metaphor for those in spiritual darkness as to the future event of Christ's second coming.


Jer 30:5-7
5 For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
(KJV)

There's the travail with child metaphor used upon 'men' in relation to the time of Jacob's trouble (i.e., great tribulation). With that example, one should well know that's being used in the spiritual sense for end of days events just prior to Christ's return.


Isa 13:6-9
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
(KJV)

There it is again, this time directly associated with the day of The LORD event that will end this present world. That's the day when Christ comes "as a thief in the night", as per Paul in 1 Thess.5 and Peter in 2 Pet.3:10.


By the Luke 23 example, it points out that our Lord Jesus wants us to understand these symbolic spiritual metaphors in relation to end time events. He put them in His Word to help us understand so as to remain spiritually sober watching for His second coming.

So, what is that "Blessed are the barren" and the travailing as a woman with child metaphors mean in relation to the end of days? Anyone want to try and tackle this?

 

[dismas]

Well, considering the rough times ahead, it seems fairly straightforward in a very personal way to me (as I don't have kids thankfully)- you won't have to watch your kids die.

Matthew 24: 19-25

19“But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!
20“But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.
21“For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22“Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him.
24“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25“Behold, I have told you in advance.

If there is a deeper spiritual meaning that you haven't already put in your post, I'm sure what that is.

I like this set of scriptures you've set up here, and I would like to add to them. And point out a very important and maybe common misconception.

As you wrote:

Isa 13:6-9
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
(KJV)

There it is again, this time directly associated with the day of The LORD event that will end this present world. That's the day when Christ comes "as a thief in the night", as per Paul in 1 Thess.5 and Peter in 2 Pet.3:10.

Technically, that is true, but not quite true. As we saw from the Matthew 24 verses above, the Great Tribulation happens and THEN the false Christs and prophets arise. It is my belief that this misconception is the very thing that allows the antichrist to take power - namely, people see the Great Tribulation and think that this is the day of the Lord, that Jesus is coming back right then. But that is not true.

This is why 2012 propaganda exists, to make people think it's the end of the world and then the god that shows up is antichrist.

There are 2 "day of the Lord" events, the Great Tribulation and Armageddon. In Revelations terms: Trumpets 1-4 & Bowl six/ Bowl 7. 2 abomination of desolation events that are the cause of the tribulation events/ day of the Lord events.

Matthew 24
15When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand

16Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

18Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

20But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

21For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Now let's compare that to Bowl 6 and 7:

Sixth Bowl: Euphrates Dried Up

12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
15 “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”
16 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.

They gather at Megiddo to battle antichrist and then Christ who returns to Jerusalem. The "idolatrous filth"/ shikkutz meshomem is the spirits of the demons.

Luke 21
20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.

Then in the 7th Bowl is the "2nd round" of the Great Tribulation/ Trumpets 1-4.

17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!”
18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.
19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.
20 Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.
21 From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds,[a] fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.

Here's Jeremiah 51:46
And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.

There's 2 rumors of wars, which is why they say, "Peace and safety"- in response to the rumors of wars, and then 2 sudden destructions fall upon them - the Great Tribulation and Bowl 7.

 

[veteran]

Well, considering the rough times ahead, it seems fairly straightforward in a very personal way to me (as I don't have kids thankfully)- you won't have to watch your kids die.

Matthew 24: 19-25

19“But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!
20“But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.
21“For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22“Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him.
24“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25“Behold, I have told you in advance.

If there is a deeper spiritual meaning that you haven't already put in your post, I'm sure what that is.

Concentrate just on the spiritual metaphor in Isaiah 54:1, and you'll quickly discover it cannot be applied in the flesh sense, but must be understood in the spiritual sense.

I like this set of scriptures you've set up here, and I would like to add to them. And point out a very important and maybe common misconception.

As you wrote:


Technically, that is true, but not quite true. As we saw from the Matthew 24 verses above, the Great Tribulation happens and THEN the false Christs and prophets arise. It is my belief that this misconception is the very thing that allows the antichrist to take power - namely, people see the Great Tribulation and think that this is the day of the Lord, that Jesus is coming back right then. But that is not true.

This is why 2012 propaganda exists, to make people think it's the end of the world and then the god that shows up is antichrist.

OK, this is getting off the subject of the thread, but I'll comment.

I've tried many ways to make this as short as possible, but I don't think it's possible to do, because it's about the very hingepoint of what the coming great tribulation is about.

A. In 1 Thess.5, Paul showed "the day of The Lord" will come "as a thief in the night." Christ said His coming will be "as a thief". Paul also showed in 1 Thess.5 those in darkness will be saying "Peace and safety" when a "sudden destruction" will come upon them. So that time of destruction, the day of The Lord, and Christ coming as a thief, are ALL linked to the same time.

B. So just 'when'... will that time of "Peace of safety" the deceived will be declaring actually be for?? That "sudden destruction" on the day of The Lord ends that time of "Peace of safety", so for what timing is that peace going to manifest? It will occur during... the coming "great tribulation" our Lord Jesus warned us about.

Many have misunderstood the coming "great tribulation" event. The Pre-trib rapture school especially teaches it as a time of utter chaos and doom, even as WWIII. That of course is just the opposite... of that "Peace and safety" Paul said the deceived will be declaring.

That "great tribulation" our Lord Jesus warned us of will affect two different groups, two different ways. For those in darkness like Paul said, those will be declaring a time of "Peace and safety." But for those who remain in Christ Jesus, waiting for His return later these will be persecuted for not getting on board with the deceived in that fake "Peace and safety".

That "Peace and safety" time for tribulation upon those in darkness is linked to what you said about the coming false one. We may expect conditions in today's world to keep getting worse and worse in prep for the coming false messiah to bring that time of fake "Peace and safety". We were warned about this also in Dan.11 with a false one coming to power using 'peace'. Like I said, that is just the opposite of what many preachers have been busy preaching of what the tribulation is going to be like. Yet that time of a fake "Peace and safety" is exactly what the Scripture is teaching.

For those who remain faithful waiting for Christ's return after... that fake "Peace and safety", these will be persecuted for refusing the coming false one.

So the sole "day of The Lord" event is linked with the time of Christ's coming "as a thief", and will END that time of fake "Peace and safety" with a "sudden destruction" upon those in darkness who travail with child (spiritually). This is why God through His OT prophets only mention a one-time "day of The LORD" also.


Isn't there anyone else who'd like to try the Isaiah 54:1 metaphor??

 

[veteran]

I see still, no one here understands the "Blessed are the barren" idea from God's Word.

 

[veteran]

Our Lord Jesus in Luke 23 and Apostle Paul in Galatians 4 used this blessed are the barren metaphor from Isaiah 54. It is a spiritual metaphor applied to 1) Christ's saints who remain faithful, and 2) to the Holy City New Jerusalem itself, as Rev.21 refers to New Jerusalem as a bride and The Lamb's wife. It is also applied by Paul in 2 Corinthians 11 to those in Christ Jesus as chaste virgins betrothed to one Husband (Christ).

So understanding this metaphor is of extreme importance, because it ties together all the spiritual metaphors about Christ's Church as a bride with chaste virgins, remaining in wait for the coming of our Husband (Jesus).


Isa 54:1-8
1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.

Try interpreting that in the literal sense, and it won't make sense. Those whose wombs are barren and desolate that don't go through labor pains in being with child, actually wind up having MORE children than the one who is married.

If applied in the literal sense it would go against much of God's Word about the requirement of marriage before having children. It's not in the literal sense. It's given in the 'spiritual' sense about staying in Christ Jesus to the end, waiting for His coming instead of falling to worship another in His place. And once again, it is applied both to believers on Christ Jesus, and to the New Jerusalem as His bride...


Isa.54:2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

That is for after Christ's coming and our gathering to Him, with His Kingdom on earth established in the holy lands. The tents of His Salvation are to be enlarged to include the believing Gentiles. The place that will be enlarged are those lands around Jerusalem, its desolate cities becoming inhabited. So this is starting to point to the area of Jerusalem on earth also, and not just about His saints.


Isa.54:4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall He be called.

As long as Christ is away and not yet returned, and the Wedding still awaits, the area of Jerusalem is in widowhood. Why? Because that area on earth is where God has chosen out of all places for to dwell, forever. In Ezekiel 16, He gives a parable about His spiritual marriage to Jerusalem, comparing the city to its old possession under the Canaanites as Jebus in a harlot state, applied in the false idol worship sense.

This 'widowhood' idea applied to Jerusalem is the foundation of one of the metaphors Christ used in Rev.18:7 to point to the Babylon harlot which says, "I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow." It's one of the ways to know that Rev.17-18 is pointing to Jerusalem as the harlot city for the end of days prior to Christ's return.


Isa.54:6 For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
8 In a little wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.
(KJV)

Because the idea of a gathering is mentioned in that 7th verse, this is pointing also to Christ gathering of His faithful saints that remain faithful up to His return. This is where Apostle Paul would apply this in 2 Cor.11 that he wanted to present us to Christ as a "chaste virgin", for he espoused us to one Husband (Christ). It's because our true Husband is our Maker and Redeemer, "The God of the whole earth."


Isa 54:10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the LORD That hath mercy on thee.
11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
13 And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
(KJV)

Because of those stones with fair colours, and foundation laid with sapphires, windows of agates, and gates of carbuncles, etc., we know that's about the New Jerusalem per the end of Revelation, coming out of Heaven down to the earth where Jerusalem is today.

In Luke 23 our Lord Jesus repeated this blessed are the barren metaphor to those in Jerusalem who wept for Him while He was carrying His cross to be crucified. The day would come upon those when they themselves would say, "Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare...". It was to point to the shame of their later children in Jerusalem for being spiritually married in harlot worship to another, and being found spiritually with child in labor at Christ's return. It's the same idea for endtime Jerusalem also, not remaining in widowhood until Christ returns, but instead being found already married to another (the Antichrist) when Christ does return.

Thus, we as believers on Christ Jesus are to remain spiritually 'barren', not with child, and not married to another in false worship when Jesus does appear. We are to remain as "a chaste virgin" waiting for our True Husband Jesus Christ like Paul taught in 2 Corinthians 11.

This is why in Luke 21:23 Jesus said woe to those with child in the days when the vengeance of His wrath comes upon the earth. That wrath would be upon those found with child He said. He was pointing directly to this Isaiah 54 metaphor of those who are not found spiritually 'barren' and about Jerusalem not still being in widowhood, but already married to a stranger and sitting as a queen.

The whole subject of the metaphor is a warning for us to not fall away from Christ to bow in false worship to the coming false Messiah during the tribulation. It's also of how God sees the area of Jerusalem in a state of widowhood until His return for the marriage.


Gal 4:26-27
26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
(KJV)

There's Apostle Paul's usage of the Blessed are the barren metaphor from Isaiah 54. In his example, he applies it to the New Jerusalem that comes down to the earth. God applies these spiritual harlot, virgin, and marriage metaphors a lot through His Old Testament prophets like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, etc. That's why it's so important to have already studied this in the Old Testament first, because by the time we reach The New Testament Books, our Lord Jesus and His Apostles expects us to already know about it.

So how do you plan to remain up to the time of Christ's coming, a spiritual harlot found already married to another, and travailing in labor with child, or as a chaste virgin waiting on the Wedding with our True Husband Jesus Christ? That's the simple idea of why God gave this kind of metaphor, because it makes the issue of remaining faithful vs. being a harlot very easy to grasp in regards to the coming false one and false worship to the Wicked one instead. For one of God's people to fall away in false worship to another at the end, He treats that act of idolatry as being harlotry against Him. Not only does He apply that to His people, but also to end time Jerusalem.