Daniel 12:4 -- [4] But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

 

The last fifty years has produced an unbelievable explosion of knowledge for man.  But the knowledge we have dramatically gained is like a drop in the ocean of God’s knowledge.  We have barely scratched the outer veneer of a depthless reservoir.  Yet, by our running “to and fro” on, in, and above this planet that God created, we have, in this “time of the end,” learned many things about the composition of earth, and the effects of other heavenly bodies upon it. We know that the outer surface of the earth’s surface actually floats on an underlying layer of molten rock known as magma.  When magma bursts forth on earth’s surface it is then called lava.  These plates of floating crust are called tectonic plates.  Some are gigantic in size, while others arevery small.  The largest, the Pacific Plate, consists of virtually the entire Pacific Ocean seafloor.  The plates rub together along their edges, and these zones of contact are called faults.  There are several different types of faults that exist along tectonic plate boundaries, but it is not the purpose of this Birth Pang to teach structural geology, so I will merely refer to these lines as “cracks” that weave their way erratically down through the earth’s crust, and eventually reach into the magma chambers below.  When this magma is suddenly released onto the surface, as a red-hot flowing liquid rock called lava, it flows and moves like blood released from within a wounded human.  Believers should not be particularly interested in what geologists call this red liquid in the earth, but they should be vitally interested in what God calls it in his word.  So, what does God call it?  In order to answer, let us see how God uses the word “dam” (pronounced “dawm”) in the Old Testament.  “Dam” is the Old Testament word translated as “blood” in the KJV.  Through Isaiah God tells us that he put a red liquid (dam) in his animal creations.

 

Isaiah 34:6 -- [6] The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.

 

In Leviticus the Lord informs us he put a red liquid (dam) in his feathered creations.

 

Leviticus 14:52 -- [52] And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet:

 

In Deuteronomy He advises us he put a red liquid (dam) in man.  

 

Deuteronomy 32:43 -- [43] Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.

 

Through His servant Moses, in Genesis and Deuteronomy, He instructs us that He put a red liquid (dam) in the grape.

 

Genesis 49:11 -- [11] Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:

 

Deut. 32:14 -- [14] Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.

 

Thus far, I have shown how God uses the word “dam,” which is translated as “blood.”  We have seen that He put it in His animal creation, His feathered creation, His human creation, and His botanical creation.  In each case it was found inside one of his creations.  Isaiah also identifies “dam” as being placed by God in the creation upon which his other creations dwell, that is, in His earth.  And he indicates that, just as when blood flows from a skin surface when it is ruptured, so will “dam” flow from the earth during the Tribulation Period, when it ruptures.

 

Isaiah 26:21 -- [21] For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

 

So you see that it is not the English word “blood” with which we should be dogmatic, but the Hebrew word “dam.”  Do not cry out: “When the Bible says blood, it means blood!”  Rather say: “When the Bible says “dam,” it means dam!”  But please do not yell that until you learn HOW the Holy Spirit used the Hebrew word “dam.”

 

I seriously doubt if there are a great number of believers who think that Isaiah was a lost man.  Most believe that Isaiah is one of the “dead in Christ” whose body will “rise first,” that is, before the saved who are physically alive at Christ’s coming.

 

I Thessalonians 4:16 -- [16] For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

 

I Corinthians 15:52 -- [52] In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

 

Now, realizing that Isaiah will be resurrected with all the dead in Christ, let’s look at what he wrote before Isaiah 26:21.

 

Isaiah 26:19-21 -- [19] Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. [20] Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. [21] For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

 

Verse 19 clearly teaches that Isaiah’s dead body, along with all the bodies of the dead in Christ, will arise from the dust of the earth.  “The dead” of “the earth” who are “cast out” have to be a part of the first resurrection. Why?  The next resurrection does not occur for more than a thousand years.  Therefore, this must be what is often identified as the first resurrection.

 

Now, read verse 20.  How can this be anything but a warning for the remnant of Israel to be in a protective mode during the indignation of the Tribulation Period upheavals?  Is the terror of the Lord not supposed to come upon the earth following the first resurrection?

 

Now, in concert with verses 19 and 20, read verse 21.  Is this not what we believe will occur after the rapture?  But who are “the slain” of verse 21?  If the earth no longer covers them, then they must be “the dead” which she cast out in verse 19.  They are the “dead in Christ,” the saved of all ages who died before Christ came.  Therefore, “her blood” and “her slain” are two different entities.  “Her blood” is the liquid rock that flows within her.

 

Since man has “run to and fro” on, under, and above the earth with surface and satellite laser and seismic probes, just as it was foretold by Daniel, man’s knowledge of the earth has increased at an amazing rate.  Since we now know what flows within the earth, many perplexing prophecies in Scripture can be rendered easy to understand, that is, if you will simply accept what all geologists call magma or lava, as being what God identifies as “haima” in the Greek, and as “dam” in Hebrew.  Both words may legitimately be interpreted as blood, any liquid that has a reddish tint, or any object the takes on a reddish color.  The color spectrum may range from pink to orange to Chinese red.  If there is a question in your mind concerning the rendering of the word translated as “blood” in the Book of Revelation, please consider this reference from volume one of Gerhard Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of Greek used in the New Testament: “In the language of apocalyptic, “haima” signifies the red color similar to blood which indicates eschatological terrors in the earth and heaven, such as hail and fire (Rev.8:7), the changing of water (Rev. 8:8), the coloring of the moon (Rev. 6:12), and the judgment of the nations (Rev. 14:20).” These verses do not refer to what we call “real” blood, but to any liquid that has a reddish color, or to any object that takes on a reddish tint.

Revelation 8:7,8 + 6:12 + 14:20

 

[7] The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. [8] And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; [12] And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; [20] And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.