When the last thread was posted, I couldn't reply because Is. 57:1 & 2 came to mind and I was fearful to post it, thinking some would think I wasn't praying for Art to recover, but I've been praying for whatever is best for Art and for HIS Glory.
I'll post it now.
Isa 57:1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
Isa 57:2 He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.
John Gill's exposition on these verses ....
"Isa 57:1 - The righteous perisheth, The Targum is, "and no man lays my fear to heart;'' or on his heart; whereas such providences should lead men to fear the Lord, and seek to him, and serve him, as it did David, Psa_12:1,
and merciful men are taken away; or "gathered" (c); out of the world, to their own people, to heaven; these are such who obtain mercy of the Lord, and show mercy to others, holy good men: the former character may respect the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, this his grace implanted in them, discovered by acts of mercy and goodness; for one and the same persons are intended:
none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come; that there are evil times coming, great calamities, and sore judgments upon men; and therefore these righteous ones are gathered out of the world, and are gathered home, and safely housed in heaven, that they may escape the evil coming upon a wicked generation; and who yet have no thought about it, nor are they led to observe it as they might, from the removal of good men out of the world; see [b]2Ki_22:20[/b].
(b) הצדיק אבד, απωλετο, Sept. (c) נאספים "colliguntur", V. L. Munster, Piscator, Cocceius; "congregantur", Pagninus."
Matthew Henry says ...
Isa 57:1-2 -
"The prophet, in the close of the foregoing chapter, had condemned the watchmen for their ignorance and sottishness; here he shows the general stupidity and senselessness of the people likewise. No wonder they were inconsiderate when their watchmen were so, who should have awakened them to consideration. We may observe here,
I. The providence of God removing good men apace out of this world. The righteous, as to this world, perish; they are gone and their place knows them no more. Piety exempts none from the arrests of death, nay, in persecuting times, the most righteous are most exposed to the violences of bloody men. The first that died died a martyr. Righteousness delivers from the sting of death, but not from the stroke of it. They are said to perish because they are utterly removed from us, and to express the great loss which this world sustains by the removal of them, not that their death is their undoing, but it often proves an undoing to the places where they lived and were useful. Nay, even merciful men are taken away, those good men that are distinguished from the righteous, for whom some would even dare to die, Rom_5:7. Those are often removed that could be worst spared; the fruitful trees are cut down by death and the barren left still to cumber the ground. Merciful men are often taken away by the hands of men's malice. Many good works they have done, and for some of them they are stoned. Before the captivity in 'Babylon' perhaps there was a more than ordinary mortality of good men, so that there were scarcely any left, Jer_5:1. The godly ceased, and the faithful failed, Psa_12:1.
II. The careless world slighting these providences, and disregarding them: No man lays it to heart, none considers it. There are very few that lament it as a public loss, very few that take notice of it as a public warning. The death of good men is a thing to be laid to heart and considered more than common deaths. Serious enquiries ought to be made, wherefore God contends with us, what good lessons are to be learned by such providences, what we may do to help to make up the breach and to fill up the room of those that are removed. God is justly displeased when such events are not laid to heart, when the voice of the rod is not heard nor the intentions of it answered, much more when it is rejoiced in, as the slaying of the witnesses is, Rev_11:10. Some of God's choicest blessings to mankind, being thus easily parted with, are really undervalued; and it is an evidence of very great incogitancy. Little children, when they are little, least lament the death of their parents, because they know not what a loss it is to them.
III. The happiness of the righteous in their removal.
1. They are taken away from the evil to come, then when it is just coming, (1.) In compassion to them, that they may not see the evil ([b]2Ki_22:20[/b]), nor share in it, nor be in temptation by it. When the deluge is coming they are called into the ark, and have a hiding-place and rest in heaven when there was none for them under heaven. (2.) In wrath to the world, to punish them for all the injuries they have done to the righteous and merciful ones; those are taken away that stood in the gap to turn away the judgments of God, and then what can be expected but a deluge of them? It is a sign that God intends war when he calls home his ambassadors.
2. They go to be easy out of the reach of that evil. The righteous man, who while he lived walked in his uprightness, when he dies enters into peace and rests in his bed. Note, (1.) Death is gain, and rest, and bliss, to those only who walked in their uprightness, and who, when they die, can appeal to God concerning it, as Hezekiah (2Ki_20:3). Now, Lord, remember it.
(2.) Those that practised uprightness, and persevered in it to the end, shall find it well with them when they die. Their souls then enter into peace, into the world of peace, where peace is in perfection and where there is no trouble. Enter thou into the joy of the Lord. Their bodies rest in their beds. Note, The grave is a bed of rest to all the Lord's people; there they rest from all their labours, [b]Rev_14:13[/b] [i]And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.[/i]
And the more weary they were the more welcome will that rest be to them, Job_3:17. This bed is made in the darkness, but that makes it the more quiet; it is a bed out of which they shall rise refreshed in the morning ...." [end quotes]
The number 11 in the Bible is related to judgment. {Occultists form there own numerology.}
Can we see that maybe the Righteous may be going Home because of the judgment coming ? I've had several "too young to go" friends die unexpectedly in the last few years.
Will still be praying for Art to receive what only The LORD knows best. I'm sure he must be praying that too inside. We pray with him and for his family and all the lives he's touched.
