20Come, my people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, Until the indignation is past. 21For behold, the LORD comes out of His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; The earth will also disclose her blood, And will no more cover her slain. (Isaiah 26:20-21)
When President Museveni was urging Ugandans to stay home as a preventive measure against COVID-19, he cited Isaiah 26:20 above. (By the way, it definitely was not a Muslim who gave him that Scripture like he said; a Christian did).
Now, recently when I came upon that verse as I read the book of Isaiah, it dawned on me that Jesus was actually ‘quoting’ Isaiah 26:20 when He said, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3). Isaiah went on to explain why Jesus will come to receive and take us into the heavenly chambers: 21For behold, the LORD comes out of His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; The earth will also disclose her blood, And will no more cover her slain. (Isaiah 26:21). This is the same thing John saw: “I looked when He opened the sixth seal . . . the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Revelation 6:12-17).
The point I want to make with this is that in order to understand the Bible, in this case the New Testament (NT), we must read and have understanding of the Old Testament (OT). Right there in the OT, Isaiah prophesied the rapture which Jesus and John talked about hundreds of years later. This Isaiah-Jesus-John example is one of the many evidences I use to tell people that there is little that is taught in the NT that is not in the OT. Almost everything that Jesus taught can actually be found in the OT.
Even the epistles of the apostles have the OT as the basis. The apostles did not have any other Scriptures to base their writings on other than the OT. In fact, when they set out to put pen to paper, they never knew that God would add their writings to the Scriptures. They were simply writing commentaries, so to say, on the OT in light of the coming of the long awaited Messiah, Jesus.
Therefore, if we are to really understand the NT we must know the OT because it is the basis. Otherwise, we are bound to misinterpret Jesus and the NT writers. For example, the people who, like I did, hold the false pre-tribulation doctrine say that the rapture is a mystery that was never revealed by God in the OT. These people have most probably never emulated our President Museveni by reading Isaiah 26:20-21. Isaiah in the OT saw the rapture when the saints will be taken into heavenly chambers until the Lord’s punishment on the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity has ended. This is exactly what Jesus in the NT was referring to when He said that He will come again and take us to where He is – heaven. John actually saw the inhabitants of the earth mourning because of the punishment that was coming with Him that was on the throne. Matthew compliments John with what Jesus taught elsewhere that that punishment or indignation of earth’s inhabitants will take place after the great tribulation and after the saints have been raptured to their heavenly chambers (Matthew 24:29-31).
It is rightly said by many that the OT is the NT concealed and the NT is the OT concealed. For that reason, if we are to understand the NT, we must know the OT. Therefore my sisters and brothers, be wise like our President and study the OT. If I have not convinced you, God might use a Muslim to do so.
God bless you.