OUR FATHER WHO RESPONDS TO THE DISTRESS OF HIS PEOPLE
Psalm18 verse 13 says this;
The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.
Psalm 18 verse 30 says this;
As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.
The Psalmist describes God's response when His own call out to Him in distress.
God moves under the guise of weather events, with lightening, wind, hail and cloud cover as his instruments. His thunder resounds from heaven.
All the Lord's ways are perfect and His word is flawless. Those who call upon His name and run to Him for refuge are shielded by Him.
As Psalm 18 verse 31 says;
For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God?
Amen.
OUR FATHER WHOSE JUDGEMENT IS FEARSOME
Isaiah chapter 33 verses 11 - 12 says this;
You conceive chaff, you give birth to straw; your breath is a fire that consumes you.
The peoples will be burned to ashes; like cut thornbushes they will be set ablaze.”
The prophet Isaiah describes the Lord God of Israel arising in judgement over the whole earth.
A strange pronouncement is made over the people where they will conceive chaff and give birth to straw and that their own breath will be a fire that will consume them.
This passage is mirrored in Mathew chapter 3 verses 11 - 12, in the words of John the Baptist, which say;
“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
The one of whom John speaks is Jesus and He is the one who will gather His wheat into the barn and the chaff, who are people produced by the work of His enemies to contaminate the wheat crop, are burned to ashes in an unquenchable fire.
Mathew chapter 12 verse 37, capturing words that the Lord Jesus spoke the religious leaders of His time, says this;
For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
This appears to mirror the phrase that reads "your breath is a fire that consumes you".
Fearsome is the day of the Lord's judgement.
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OUR FATHER WHOSE DAY OF JUDGMENT APPROACHES
The book of Joel chapter 3 verse 9 says this;
Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors!
Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.
This verse is an instruction from the Lord to His prophets to move among the nations and announce to His people to prepare for war and to stir up the warriors to move close the enemy and strike them.
Remembering that the Lord will be ruling his people while they are embedded in the midst of His enemies, this instruction is to go out among the nations to reach those who are the Lord's people and rouse them into a posture of combat.
With urgency, the people are strengthened, they are told to turn their implements of peacetime into weapons of war.
The day of judgement approaches rapidly with millions in the valley of decision as Joel chapter 3 verse 14 says;
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
Amen.
OUR FATHER WHO COUNSELS DISCRETION
Isaiah chapter 39 verse 4 says this;
The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”
“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”
King Hezekiah had been sick for a while but had eventually convalensed and a prince from Babylon sent some envoys with letters and a gift over his recovery.
Reciprocating to what he thought was a kind gesture, Hezekiah took the Babylonian envoys on a tour of his palace, the treasure house, the storehouses and the armories of Israel.
Isaiah the prophet heard of the visitors and went to the king and asked him what the men had said and where they had come from.
Hezekiah replied that they had come from Babylon to which Isaiah asked, "What did they see in your palace?"
Hezekiah answered that the guests had seen everything in his palace as well as all the treasures.
Isaiah the prophet then delivered the bad news telling king Hezekiah that there was a day coming where everything he had shown the Babylonian envoys would be carried off to Babylon along with the people of Israel some of whom would be Hezekiah's own descendants.
This was the terrible eventuallity that resulted from king Hezekiah's disclosure of Israel's treasures and resources.
When entrusted with the hidden matters of a kingdom, we must diligently restrain ourselves so as not to reveal them to a rival or antagonist even if they seem well meaning.
Amen.
OUR FATHER WHO FORMED US AND CHOSE US
Isaiah chapter 44 verses 1 - 2 says this;
“But now listen, Jacob, my servant, Israel, whom I have chosen.
This is what the Lord says— he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you:
Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
In this passage, Isaiah the prophet addresses the people of Israel as Jacob which the name of their forefather and these were the people whom the Lord had chosen.
Jacob himself can be understood to represent the believer because he was the offspring of God's promise to Abraham who was Isaac.
The words spoken to Jacob can thus be read to be addressed to us believers in Christ for we were chosen and then were born again into the promise.
The Lord promised that He will help us and that we should not be afraid for even when we are parched, the Lord will pour living water on us and it will flow out of us like rivers to supply and replenish all our people with life.
As Isaiah chapter 44 verses 3 - 4 says;
For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams.
Amen.
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