Leave First Principles and Go On Unto Perfection

I have often wondered what Paul meant when he said ​"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection..." (Hebrew 6:1). I just could not wrap my mind around why we would be encouraged to leave the "principles of the doctrine of Christ." Most attempts to explain why, just did not seem reason enough for me. Especially when Christ defined His doctrine as baptism and repentance, and said anything more or less was not of Him, but of the devil (3 Nephi 11:39-40).

Q. But what is beyond repentance and baptism? Or more accurately asked: who are those who leaving behind the first principles and going on to perfection?

A. Those who are no longer under the law, but are under Grace, and desire to go on to perfection. There is both the condition, i.e., under Grace and the desire to receive all that the Father desires to give us, to receive more grace. 

This was a new dimension for me. It was as if I had crossed over into another state of reality. Could we actually begin the process of being exalted during our earthly life? Could we experience receiving grace for grace as opposed to just being in a state of grace? Could the process of being perfected by Christ actually begin now? Are there exalted states we could be born into before death, beyond being born of the water and of the spirit? Could we be further along the very lengthy process of becoming perfected when we leave this temporal existence? And if we refuse His grace will we be de-created and become less?

But didn't that process begin when we were born and then again being born of the water, and then again when we were born of the spirit? A scripture I have quoted many times has now become significantly more enlightening and meaningful to me. 

"And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters;

"And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God" (Mosiah 27:25-26 emphasis added).

I wrote a post about becoming His sons and daughters, which I discovered is an exalted state, a state whereby we are re-created by Christ as new creatures, just as Alma said. 

But Paul adds even more: 

"For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ..." (Ephesians 4:12-15 emphasis added).

Let's break this down and examine more closely what Paul is telling us.

The first verse could be read as saying that the work of the ministry is the perfecting of the saints, as in this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality of man. Christ described His saints as those who are desiring to move away from Babylon to begin the process of becoming perfected in Him. He tells us that we are in the process of being re-created by Christ, "for the edifying of the body of Christ," which is another way of saying we become the fruits of Christ. See Tim Merrill's personal Vision of The Tree of Life which adds even another dimension to becoming new creatures in Christ, His fruits, which adorn the Tree of Life.

We then see Christ as the perfect man and that we can become like Him, experiencing several of our own re-births through Him, which, Paul tells us, can begin now. His fulness can become our fulness, begotten by Him, being partakers of His glory (D&C 93:20-22). We grow up "into Him in all things."

An amazing fruit of repentance and partaking of His grace is that we are no longer children being tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men. When we become so, we are no longer deceived. We know the doctrine, are repenting, but are now moving on to perfection, becoming perfected by Him.

I gave examples of this in the Sons and Daughters post. Those who have gone beyond just believing to actually repenting, and then who have been exalted to Sons and Daughters of God, and are now moving toward perfection. They are becoming more like God, acquiring, through Grace, the attributes of God. And I want to emphasize that it is not by trying or striving to become like Christ! Only Christ, through His Grace, recreates us. 

A quote from this post will help you see more clearly what it means to become a Son or Daughter of God:

"Persons who receive grace for grace to ascend to the Sons-Daughters /Servants level, are primarily concerned with things beyond the forgiveness of their sins. By tending to the spiritual and material needs of others, they follow God's example, developing His attributes and character traits as they receive more grace.

They become examples of righteousness by serving as God's agents of 'deliverance' and 'salvation' to those who are still in need of deliverance. They are willing to be in the world to bring others out of the world. They are in the process of 'sanctifying' their lives in the service of God. God's will is becoming their will. God's Sons-Daughters/Servants, both now and in the endtime, are those who do/will fulfill the role of deliverers and saviors to God's people. These include all those who thrust in their sickles and reap, being concerned for the welfare of the soul for all mankind, and especially for the souls of their friends and family.

Those who make this transition in their lives completely change their thought processes. As they open themselves to the influence of God’s Spirit, God enlightens them to his truth, to things as they really are, different from their former, imperfect perception of the truth. They become aware of, and discard, fixed beliefs about themselves and others that have bound them to patterns of living below their potential. The gap between their beliefs and the truth is being eliminated."

Some may say it can't be that simple. But it is! However, it is also more difficult work, more worry, more sadness, but also more joy, just as you would expect the Lord's work to be. And we cannot pretend that the casual believer can perceive the things of God just as well as one who diligently searches God’s Word and lives it until it permeates his whole being.

I can see that as we begin to develop His attributes, everyone becomes our brother and sister. We want for them His mercy, more than for ourselves. We mourn for those who can't see and hear what we can see and hear. We rejoice with those who do! Like Alma, the rest of our lives are spent teaching His words, trying to bring others to Him. We are doing His work, that which we have seen Him do! But it is the hardest work there is. One reason is that we see and understand what happens to our brothers and sisters, our family, our friends, if they do not repent. As we move through this process we cannot stand the thought that someone may have to suffer even as He suffered if they do not repent. Because we have the Spirit of Revelation, we know. And because we have the Spirit of Prophecy, we can see clearly what is ahead for those who do not repent. And so we warn them, we nudge them, we give them historical examples. We implore them, invite them and caution them. We rejoice and mourn for them.

As Alma said, "I stood upon my feet, and did manifest unto the people that I had been born of God.

Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost" (Alma 37:23-24).

The divine powers and attributes God manifests through someone who has been sanctified, come from his growing assimilation of what are liberating and empowering truths--His words. It is an integral part of becoming, as His words become our words. His words are manifested in us.

If you want the easy way continue with your religious activities. Faith is the hardest of work according to Joseph Smith. It is pure mental exertion. "What are we to understand by a man’s working by faith? We answer–we understand that when a man works by faith he works by mental exertion instead of physical force. It is by words, instead of exerting his physical powers, with which every being works when he works by faith" (Lectures on Faith, Lecture 7, Verse 3).

And so I work using words. Not mine, but His, because I have obtained His words, and because I know that His words are more effective than anything else. But sometimes I feel like a major league baseball player trying to explain the intricacies of baseball to five year old T-Ball players. But the amazing thing is, a few of these T-Ballers really want to know. And because His Gospel is so simple, I can, as commanded, teach them to understand the doctrines of baptism and repentance, even before they reach the age of eight years!

I can relate to how the Sons of Mosiah felt: "Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble" (Mosiah 28:3).

But being perfected by Christ is not what is taught to us from the pulpit. Instead we are taught to 'strive' to be like him, to 'follow' His example, to 'love' as He loved, to 'keep' our covenants, always with the emphasis on us. And yet it is only through Him and His grace that we go on to perfection. And in this we deny the power of God to change us, and instead we rely on our own puny efforts to try to become like Him. We are like the Pharisee, and we can even use the same list as the Pharisee did, as we 'strive' to justify ourselves before God.

What needs to be changed is us, not our actions or our behaviors. We can, for example, quit doing a particular sinful deed, but what is not changed is our capacity to continue to commit that sinful deed. And only God can do that!

"To save a man from his sins, or from his awful, sinful and polluted state is the reason Christ was sent by His Father, sent to do the will of the Father. Christ did not come to just deliver us from the consequences of our sinful deeds, while yet our sinful nature remained. But men, loving their sins, pervert the word of God by saying that He came to save us from the punishment of our sins. This teaching has perverted and corrupted the teaching of His gospel. He did not come to just pay the price of our sinful deeds, but to pay the price of our awful, sinful and polluted state--to save us from our sins, from ourselves" (Saved From Our Sins).

For him, the eternal order is a perpetual-motion machine: it can tolerate no friction at all. Even one grain of sand - one lurking vice in one of the redeemed - given long enough, will find somewhere to lodge and something to rub on. And that damaged something, given another of the infinite eternities ties within eternity itself, will go off center and shake the next part loose. And then the next; and so straight on into what can only be the beginning of the end: the very limitlessness of the opportunity for mischief will eventually bring the whole works to a grinding halt. In other words to be in His presence there can be no grains of sand, only perfection, and only He can perfect us! 

The last words Moroni chose to write before His death were these:

• "Yea, come unto Christ, 
• and be perfected in him,
• and deny yourselves 
• of all ungodliness; 
• and if ye shall deny yourselves
• of all ungodliness, 
• and love God with all your
• might, mind and strength, 
• then is his grace 
• sufficient for you, 
• that by his grace 
• ye may be perfect in Christ; 
• and if by the grace of God 
• ye are perfect in Christ, 
• ye can in nowise 
• deny the power of God.
• And again, if ye 
• by the grace of God 
• are perfect in Christ, 
• and deny not his power, 
• then are ye sanctified 
• in Christ by the grace of God,
• through the shedding 
• of the blood of Christ, 
• which is in the covenant 
• of the Father unto 
• the remission of your sins, 
• that ye become holy, 
• without spot" (Moroni 10:32-33 emphasis  added).

But what other implications might there be, for example, for my friends and family, and especially for Annie? This is where we can become, again through Him, as one. When our wills are aligned with His, i.e., when we want for ourselves and others what He wants for us and them, then we can be perfected in Him as one. We can become His Sons and Daughters, new creatures together, and so much more as He re-creates us together. 

But I can also see that there may be some of my family who do not yet desire the same. My hope and my faith is that through His words they will desire the same.

I know what Timothy said is true. I am "nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto [I have] attained" (2 Timothy 4:6 emphasis added). 

And know I want to move on to the process of being perfected by Christ. I "take heed unto [my]self, and unto the doctrine, and continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee" (2 Timothy 4:16 emphasis added).

There is so much in me that needs to be changed, but now I see a way that all the ugly, the terrible, the evil, even the human goodness, can be replaced with His Goodness. And in this I rejoice! It is like He has opened to my view the pathway to His presence. I can now understand why Paul said we should leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ, and move onto perfection. Let us take His hand and hang on, while we spend our lives bringing as many as we possibly can, to Him.

Paul also taught us that to repent of transgression and receive a remission of sins through the atonement Jesus wrought on behalf of God’s children isn’t the same as going “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18), to be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29) until one comes “unto a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Messiah” (Ephesians 4:13; Colossians 1:28). Hopefully you can also see the difference and the pathway to becoming like Him.

As “there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars” (1 Corinthians 15:41), so the higher a person ascends, the greater the degree of glory.

To “follow” Jesus (Matthew 10:38; 16:24; 19:21) thus looks far beyond being “saved” to becoming even as he is (3 Nephi 27:27).

And how do we know? We can uncover many heavenly mysteries embedded in the scriptures we currently possess. Theological concepts such as higher and lower categories of souls, ascending and descending spiritual levels both in heaven and on earth, relationships before and beyond this life, multiple mortal states or eternal lives, the interconnectedness of time and eternity—all form implicit truths embedded in the scriptures. 

And think of the implications of ministering to those with less, and being ministered to by those with more, all in the name of, and with the love of God! 

Dialogue With God

This dialogue between us and God was written by Hugh Nibley. I have taken the liberty to make a few changes. 

We: Dear Father, whenever the end is scheduled to be, can't you give us an extension of time? 

He: Willingly. But tell me first, what will you do with it?

We: Well...ah...we will go on doing pretty much what we have been doing; after all, isn't that why we are asking for an extension?

He: And isn't that exactly why I want to end it soon--because you show no inclination to change? Why should I reverse the order of things so that you can go on doing the very things I want to put an end to?

We: But is what we are doing so terribly wrong? The church is growing. We spend time with our families. We attend our meetings and fulfill our religious duties. We are pursuing our careers and becoming self-reliant. Why shouldn't we go on doing the things our parents and grandparents did?

He: Haven't I made it clear enough to you what kind of greatness I expect of my offspring? Forget the statistics; you are capable of better things--your religious and daily activities don't impress me in the least.

We: But why should we quit when all we are doing is what each considers to be the best for himself and his family?

He: Because it is not you but I who decides what that shall be, and I have told you a hundred times what is best for you individually and collectively--and that is repentance, not matter who you are.

We: We find your inference objectionable, Sir -- quite unacceptable.

He: I know

But We Have The Book! - Impact of His Words!

For he who is unwilling to know how he may attain to life, and prefers to be in ignorance lest he thereby be made guilty, from this very fact is judged as if he knew and had knowledge. For he knew what it was that he was unwilling to hear; and the cunning obtained by the artifice of the serpent will avail him nothing for an excuse... (Clement of Rome, Chapter 18 emphasis added).

I have quoted D&C 10:67-70 several times in this blog to emphasize that only those who are repenting are of His church. When I wrote that President Benson also quoted these same verses to emphasize that being a member of His church is different than being a member of record of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a person asked for a citation, which I provided. I was struck with the thought that more often than not, we just don't take the Lord’s words at face value. Are we reluctant to believe unless we hear it from the pulpit? Are His words not enough to convince us? Isn’t this the definition of treating His words lightly? Is this an example of "...but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it" (Hebrews 4:2)?

Another way of treating His words lightly is by ignoring His 'more' or 'nothing' rule. It is never static. You are either receiving a greater portion of His words, or you have hardened your heart, in which case you are "given the lesser portion of the word until (you) know nothing concerning his mysteries..." (Alma 12:10). Are you are passing or failing the test?

But why? What is it about the word 

of God that is so important? This is a recurring theme in this blog and it cannot be said or written too often--the word of God is truth, light, spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ!

Consider the source of His words:

They come from "He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth; Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made" (D&C 88:6-7 emphasis added).

I've quoted Hugh Nibley before saying that the Book of Mormon was not given to us to convince us, but to convict us. But convict us of what, I ask? Just being ignorant or being willfully ignorant?

Having been given the Book of Mormon can we ever have an excuse? Can we hold this precious book in our hands and yet remain clueless of its message to us--to you?

Consider this summary, all from God, keeping in mind that Christ taught only His Father's words (John 12:49-50).

1. What the word of God is.

His words are truth (D&C 84:45).

His words are light (ibid).

His words are His Spirit (ibid).

His words are Him!

He is the word!

His words are treasures.

The word of God is a two-edged sword.

Sword of truth is the word of God.

Word of God is intelligence or in other words, light and truth 

He is the word, is in the word and the word is in Christ. 

2. What the word of God does.

One word from the mouth of God strikes everything else as insignificant. 

We are judged by His words.

Without His words we abide in darkness.

His words divide us.

His words cut the chains of hell.

His words anger some and please others. 

His words take us beyond this vale of sorrow.

The word or rod of iron, is the weapon God uses to judge and make war.

His words unite us.

His words enlighten and awaken us.

His words reclaim us.

His words shine His light on us.

His words test us.

His words convey His anger, wrath and judgment. 

His words convey His love, mercy and joy.

His words are brought to our remembrance through the Holy Ghost.

His words lift us.

Nothing is more effective than the word of God.

His words lead us to the Tree of Life.

His words tell us all that we must do.

His words can become our words.

His words can be found in us.

Through His words we receive more or less.

Faith comes by hearing His words.

We are humbled because of His words.

Enoch spake forth the words of God and the people trembled.

We can hear His voice in His words.

The word of God nourishes us.

The desire to repent comes from hearing the word of God.

Without His words we remain ignorant and unaware.

One word from the mouth of God strikes everything else as insignificant.

We can only tell whether one is a true messenger of God by the message.

His words condemn us.

3. What are we to do with, or how do we respond to, the word of God.

Get in the way by His words.

Stay in the way through His words.

We either believe or do not believe His words.

We hear His words.

We hear His voice in His words.

We see by His words.

Understand His words with our hearts.

Humble ourselves because of His words.

We are to treasure up continually the words of life.

Feast upon the words of Christ.

First seek to obtain my word, then shall your tongue be loosed.

Hold fast to His words.

Search His words.

Enjoy His words of eternal life in this world.

Angels speak the words of Christ.

We can speak with tongue of angels.

We write His words.

We teach His words.

We expound upon His words.

Whoso read let him understand.

He who denies God's revelations has not read the scriptures.

Give heed unto the word of God.

Hearken unto my voice and believe.

Study His words.

And now, remember the words of him who is the life and light of the world, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God.

We plant His words in our hearts.

His words properly nourished, grow into a tree of knowledge, a tree of Life  whose fruit is most desirable.

Through His words we know our condition here and what is expedient for us.

His words are found in us.

His words are not to be treated lightly.

Those who speak with the tongue of angels speak the word of God.

If we believe the words of God, we believe Christ.

We are more likely to believe God's words if we are not compelled to believe, but just desire to know and believe.

If we truly humble ourselves because of the word, we will repent and find mercy.

God is merciful to those who believe on His name, and this is why He desires that we believe, "yea, even on his word."

We can come to know that they are true by experimenting on his words. 

More

The idea that we do not have to believe anything that is not true, and that we can know the truth for ourselves through God's word, is unique in world religions today.

We either believe Christ or we don't, and if we believe Christ, we will believe in Christ and repent and find mercy. 

Certainly by being enticed by one or the other (good or evil), we are putting ourselves in a better position to choose good, and the word is the catalyst to do so.

Alma asks. "I would ask if ye have read the scriptures? If ye have, how can ye disbelieve on the Son of God?"

And if they do plant and nourish the word by their faith "it will become a tree, springing up in you unto everlasting life."

"And it came to pass that after they had found out the minds of all the people, those who were in favor of the words which had been spoken by Alma and his brethren were cast out of the land."

"For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it."

Live by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

We don't just ignore but we rebel against the word of God.

We should not leave the word of God and serve tables.

Word of God does not abide in you.

The words of God shall be fulfilled.

Some are slain for the word of God.

All but those armed with His words will be deceived.

"How great the importance to make these things known to the inhabitants of the earth" (why?) "that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah...." 

Can you say that you know good from evil because you have been instructed sufficiently? 

To those that hear the word of God and believe the word of God, they are to also teach the word of God. 

The word of God is the instrument used by the Lord to cause men to repent and turn to Him. 

It is the exactness of His words that is sharper than a two-edged that will divide the righteous from the wicked.

Another way of saying the above is that God's words must be used, like musical notes, with exactness, not watered down, not transfigured, not mingled with the precepts of men. 

And finally these words to conlude this post:

"And the whole world lieth in sin, and groaneth under darkness and under the bondage of sin. 

And by this you may know they are under the bondage of sin, because they come not unto me. 

For whoso cometh not unto me is under the bondage of sin. 

And whoso receiveth not my voice is not acquainted with my voice, and is not of me. 

And by this you may know the righteous from the wicked, and that the whole world groaneth under sin and darkness even now.

Verily, verily, I say unto you who now hear my words, which are my voice, blessed are ye inasmuch as you receive these things..." (D&C 84:49-53; 60).

When Nephi prophecies that there will be a great division among the people, it will be because of His words, those that believe them on one hand, and those who do not, on the other, which is the precise meaning of the parable of the 10 virgins: "For they that are wise and have received the truth (His words), and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived--verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day." (D&C 45:56-57 emphasis added). 

"And I know that they will be preserved; for there are great things written upon them, out of which my people and their brethren shall be judged at the great and last day, according to the word of God which is written" (Words of Mormon 1:11 emphasis added).

Yes, we have the Book!

"What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants,* it is the same" (D&C 1:38 emphasis added).

*Anyone who teaches His words including those who have thrust in their sickles to reap, those armed with the word of God because they have obtained His words.

Assyria in Isaiah's Prophecy

If Egypt is Isaiah's endtime America, then who is Isaiah’s endtime Assyria? Could it be Russia, China or even an alliance of nations?

If Isaiah predicts what happens at the end of the world based on what happened in his own day or soon thereafter, who is the end-time equivalent of ancient Assyria—a militaristic world power from the North whose expansionist aims in that day put other nations of the world in fear of it?

God does not obey the words of Isaiah and orchestrate world events to suit Isaiah’s manner of prophesying. Rather, in his vision of the end from the beginning, Isaiah saw that history repeats itself—that “what has been [in the past], it is what shall be” (Ecclesiastes 1:9; 3 Nephi 23:3), as discussed before. By establishing historical precedents, God creates scriptural patterns that act as a guide to what he will do in the future, particularly at the end, when the world counts down to destruction.

In other words, the past, as Isaiah depicts it, typifies what will happen again. There will arise a new Assyrian type of world power whose king figure, like his predecessor, conquers the world. He too commits genocide on a world scale, destroys much of humanity, lays the earth waste, and seeks to destroy the people of God (only those who are repenting) . That end-time version of ancient Assyria, however, merely acts as God’s instrument of punishing those who fail to repent of evil after having been warned, i.e., the wicked punishing the wicked.

Assyria, moreover, doesn’t act alone in its evil designs to rule the world. Like its predecessor, it forms an alliance of wicked nations—an “axis of evil”—to help it conquer all nations. Sparking God’s retribution upon the world is the unrepentant condition of His own people. When the last bastion of righteousness falls, God intervenes and empowers the Assyrian alliance against them and all nations. But after the wicked have destroyed the wicked, Assyria itself falls and is subdued.

The Isaiah verses quoted here are from Gileadi's Isaiah Translation. I have also linked the KJV Isaiah chapters for your reference.

When the leaders of the people of Ephraim mock, God warns of his imminent retribution:

Isaiah 28:21–22

Jehovah will rise up as he did on Mount Perazim, and be stirred to anger, as in the Valley of Gibeon—to perform his act, his unwonted act, and do his work, his bizarre work.

Now therefore scoff not, lest your bonds grow severe, for I have heard utter destruction decreed by my Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, upon the whole earth.

Isaiah specially prophecies that the Lord’s latter-day people will fail to heed His voice and repent, so He will speak unto them with a foreign tongue (a pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance):

Isaiah 28:7-11

These too have indulged in wine and are giddy with strong drink: priests and prophets have gone astray through liquor.

They are intoxicated with wine (self deception) and stagger because of strong drink; they err as seers, they blunder in their decisions.

For all tables are filled with vomit; no spot is without excrement.

Whom shall he give instruction? Whom shall he enlighten with revelation? Weanlings weaned from milk, those just taken from the breast?

For it is but line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept; a trifle here, a trifle there.

Therefore, by incomprehensible speech and a strange tongue must he speak to these people.

God gathers together a wonderful army to cleanse the earth and humanity of wickedness:

Isaiah 13:4–5

Hark! A tumult on the mountains, as of a vast multitude. Hark! An uproar among kingdoms, as of nations assembling: Jehovah of Hosts is marshaling an army for war.

They come from a distant land beyond the horizon—Jehovah and the instruments of his wrath—to cause destruction throughout the earth.

The nation of “Egypt”—a codename of America—sends emissaries to forestall disaster:

Isaiah 18:1–2

Woe to the land of buzzing wings beyond the rivers of Cush, which sends emissaries by sea, in swift craft across the water!

[They say,] Go speedily, you messengers!

Go to a people perpetually on the move, a nation dreaded far and wide, a people continually infringing, whose rivers have annexed their lands.

Unlike the people of God in their corrupt state, the Assyrian army is highly disciplined:

Isaiah 5:26–29

He raises an ensign to distant nations and summons them from beyond the horizon.

Forthwith they come, swiftly and speedily.

Not one of them grows weary, nor does any stumble; they do not drowse or fall asleep.

Their waist-belts come not loose nor their sandal thongs undone.

Their arrows are sharp; all their bows are strung.

The tread of their warhorses resembles flint; their chariot wheels revolve like a whirlwind.

They have the roar of a lion; they are aroused like young lions: growling, they seize the prey, and escape, and none comes to the rescue.

God encourages the righteous of his people who seek refuge in Zion to rely upon him:

Isaiah 10:24–25

Therefore, thus says my Lord, Jehovah of Hosts:

O my people who inhabit Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians, though they strike you with the rod or raise their staff over you, as did the Egyptians.

For my anger will very soon come to an end; my wrath will become their undoing.

God will overthrow the Assyrian alliance with his whip and staff, his end-time servant:

Isaiah 10:26–27

Jehovah of Hosts will raise the whip against them, as when he struck the Midianites at the Rock of Oreb.

His staff is over the Sea, and he will lift it over them as he did to the Egyptians.

In that day their burdens shall be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke [removed] from your neck: the yoke [that wore away your fatness] shall by fatness wear away.

The Assyrian alliance meets a similar fate to what it sought to bring upon other nations:

Isaiah 14:21

Prepare for the massacre of their sons, in consequence of their fathers’ deeds, lest they rise up again and take possession of the world, and fill the face of the earth with cities.

The Assyrian alliance, once resembling an unstoppable tsunami, dries up and blows away:

Isaiah 17:12–14

Woe to the many peoples in an uproar, who rage like the raging of the seas—tumultuous nations, in commotion like the turbulence of mighty waters!

Nations may roar like the roaring of great waters, but when he rebukes them they will flee far away; they will be driven before the wind like chaff on the mountains, or as whirling [dust] in a storm.

At evening time shall be the catastrophe and before morning they shall be no more.

This is the lot of those who plunder us, the fate of those who despoil us.

The nation of Assyria, once aggressive and expansionist, ultimately brings tribute to Zion:

Isaiah 18:7

At that time shall tribute be brought to Jehovah of Hosts from a nation perpetually on the move, from a nation dreaded far and wide, a people continually infringing, whose rivers have annexed their lands, to the place of the name of Jehovah of Hosts: Mount Zion.

There is a reason that Christ said that 'great are the words of Isaiah,' and commanded that we should search them diligently. Why? So that we will be prepared, repent, and warn others.

See America in Isaiah's Prophecy 

Where will you be on Isaiah’s ladder when these events take place?