OUR FATHER WHO KNOWS ALL THINGS PART 2

The second part of the thought of the king of Assyria continues in Isaiah chapter 10 verse 11 which says;

shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’”

The Assyrian king (representing Lucifer), having concluded that Jerusalem and Samaria were inferior to the nations he had already conquered due to their inferior idols and spiritual practices, said to himself that he would easily be able to deal with Jerusalem even as he had dealt with Samaria.

He was confident that he would be able to handle not only Jerusalem but the spiritual entity that backed up Jerusalem. He had conquered Samaria and their spirit overlords and felt the same would be true of Jerusalem.

Lucifer had made an error in the calculus. Jerusalem was under judgement by the Lord for inquity and the pursuit of false gods but there was a remnant in Jerusalem that the God of heaven and earth was interested in and as homely and dishevelled as they looked, the power of God was soon going to be directed at the enemies of God's people and Lucifer would recieve retalliatory blasts that would shatter what was left of his kingdom.

As verse 17 says;

The Light of Israel will become a fire,  their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers.

3

OUR FATHER WHO KNOWS ALL THINGS PART 1

Looking even more deeply into the first part the thought of the Assyrian king captured in the book of Isaiah chapter 10 verse 10, we consider the text which says this;

As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—

Using the agency of his instruments of control over nations, the Assyrian King (who represents the prince of rebellion named Lucifer),  gained dominance over the countries of the world.

These instruments are represented by 'hand' in the passage.

By his directive, his army of strategists, tacticians, agents, double agents and infantry soldiers successfully overran kingdom after kingdom.

By his estimation, the nations he had gained control over thus far were those that had greater spiritual investment and practice than the investment and practice in Jerusalem and Samaria which were the realms that had been given to and occupied by the children of Israel.

The king of Assyria had reached this conclusion by comparing the graven images that served as idols in the territories he had conquered with those he saw in Jerusalem and Samaria and he was persuaded that he could defeat the remain territories with ease due to their inferior spiritual technology.

We shall continue the thought as it continues through to verse 11 on July 24th 2024.

shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’

6

OUR FATHER HAS THE POWER TO BRING DOWN DARKNESS

The book of Obadiah verse 4 says this;

Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.

This verse identifies the mobility and the location of the king of Edom (who in this case, is standing in for Lucifer).

Having the ability to traverse through territory by soaring to great elevation and assigning to himself a dwelling place among the stars (these are metaphors of the highest ranking beings in the heavens), Lucifer, engulfed in the deception of pride, believed himself to be invincible as described in the verse preceding our verse of focus, verse 3;

The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’

We read here of how pride deceived Lucifer into being confident in his fortified position and strategy.

From his high vantage point in the fortress among the rocky crags, he could not see how anyone could challenge him.

Lucifer, for all his advantage and perception, did not seem to understand that the Sovereign God was higher than all and knew the inner thoughts of all beings in existence.

Obadiah verse 4 indicates that Lucifer's location will be traced and he will be brought down.

In the current milieu, the agents of darkness have entrenched themselves in the high places of the world and have set about executing a mission of domination to bring the entire globe under the direct control of the kingdom of Lucifer.

Unknown to them, it appears that like their commander, they don't know of the reach and power of the sovereign God.

They will be brought down prior to when Lucifer is brought down. Their fate of sitting in the gloom waiting for their master to be brought down into the realm of the dead is described in Isaiah chapter 14 verses 9 - 10;

The realm of the dead below is all astir to meet you at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you—all those who were leaders in the world; it makes them rise from their thrones—all those who were kings over the nations. They will all respond, they will say to you, “You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us.”

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER IN WHOSE ARMS I AM SECURE

From Psalm 141;

May my prayer like incense rise before Your throne

I lift my hands as a sacrifice to worship You alone (x2)

My eyes are fixed on you, Oh Sovereign Lord

Hear me when I call  

While I'm in the safety of Your arms

Never will I fall (X3)

2

Psalm 141

1 I call to you, Lord, come quickly to me;  hear me when I call to you.

2 May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

3 Set a guard over my mouth, Lord;  keep watch over the door of my lips.

4 Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers; do not let me eat their delicacies.

5 Let a righteous man strike me-that is a kindness; let him rebuke me-that is oil on my head.

My head will not refuse it, for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.

6 Their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs, and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.

7 They will say, -As one plows and breaks up the earth, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.

8 But my eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign Lord; in you I take refuge-do not give me over to death.

9 Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers,  from the snares they have laid for me.

10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.

OUR FATHER WHO WILL BRING THE OPPRESSOR TO AN END

The book of Isaiah chapter 16 verse 4 says this;

Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer.”

The oppressor will come to an end,  and destruction will cease;  the aggressor will vanish from the land.

This verse is advice to the people of God to shelter the people who will be displaced by the brutal actions of the kingdom of darkness.

As calamity falls on the people of the world, God's people will be shielded by the Lord and they will be blessed  and the expectation described here is that the people of God should use their blessings to assist the victims of the destroyer because the destroyer will suddenly be truncated and will disappear.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER WHO COMFORTS HIS PEOPLE AFTER HIS JUDGEMENT VISITS THEM

The book of Isaiah chapter 11 12 verse 17 1 says this;

On that day you will say, “Praise the Lord! He was angry with me, but now he comforts me.

The people of God, in the face of a great calamity, are filled with consternation as their security and the economy collapses around them.

As they bow under the Lord's judgement, they suddenly find reprieve when the Lord's anger abates and He turns to comfort them.

In relief, they will praise their God and honor Him as He ministers to them and provides all that they have need of  during the complete failure of the economy.

It is during this period that the Lord's people are encouraged to valiantly help their neighbours using what they have been blessed with as described in Isaiah chapter 16 verse 4;

Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer.”

The oppressor will come to an end,  and destruction will cease;  the aggressor will vanish from the land.

God's people are assured that they can shelter their neighbours from the oppressor who had set upon the destruction of the world because the Lord would bring a sudden and complete remival of the aggressor.

In times of calamity, let us shield our neighbours using the provisions and protection with which we ourselves are blessed by our Father in heaven

Amen.

2

OUR FATHER IS WORTHY TO BE PRAISED

From Psalm 113

He lifts the poor from the ground

He gives the hungry what they need 

He settles empty homes with children

From the rising of the sun

To when it sets again

His glory shines above the heavens

Praise the Lord

Let His wonderous name be praised

Both now and forever

Exalt His holy name (x1) (x4)

2

New International Version

Psalm 113

1 Praise the Lord.[a]

Praise the Lord, you his servants;

    praise the name of the Lord.

2 Let the name of the Lord be praised,

    both now and forevermore.

3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,

    the name of the Lord is to be praised.

4 The Lord is exalted over all the nations,

    his glory above the heavens.

5 Who is like the Lord our God,

    the One who sits enthroned on high,

6 who stoops down to look

    on the heavens and the earth?

7 He raises the poor from the dust

    and lifts the needy from the ash heap;

8 he seats them with princes,

    with the princes of his people.

9 He settles the childless woman in her home

    as a happy mother of children.

Praise the Lord.

OUR FATHER WHOSE SPIRIT RESTS UPON THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST

The book of Isaiah chapter 11 verse 2 says this;

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, and might; the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

1

OUR FATHER RESPONDS TO PRIDE AND HAUTINESS WITH JUDGEMENT

Examining verse 12 of chapter 10 of the book of Isaiah, we read this;

When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes. 

The king of Assyria had failed to detect that Jerusalem was in the weakened condition it was because it was undergoing the punishment of judgement for failure to adhere to the Lord their God.

The prophet, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared that the Lord was at that time, executing judgement on Mount Zion and Jerusalem for their infidelities to God but when He was done, He would punish the King of Assyria for the pride and haughtiness with which he had looked upon God's people during their time of weakness.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO KNOWS THE THOUGHTS OF ALL BEINGS

Looking even deeper into verse 11 of Isaiah chapter 10, let us examine the text component by component.

shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’”

The king of Assyria, assessing his intention to gain control over Jerusalem ( God's people ),  measured Jerusalem and her spiritual cohesion to be on par with Samaria and since he had already subjugated Samaria, he felt confident that he would be able to bring Jerusalem under his total domination.

The question he asked himself was if there was any reason why he would not be able to bring Jerusalem under his control.

Looking at Jerusalem, he saw their religious practices and spiritual influence to be indistinguishable from the practices and influence of her neighbours.

This led him to the wrong conclusion that his experience in overrunning Jerusalem would be the same as overrunning Samaria.

1

OUR FATHER KNOWS THE THOUGHTS OF ALL BEINGS PART 1

Isaiah chapter 10 verse 10 says this;

As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols,  kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—

This verse, relaying the reasoning that the king of Assyria conducted as he contemplated his assault on Jerusalem, qualitatively measured the cultural and spiritual development of the kingdoms he had already conquered and compared them to the level that Jerusalem had attained.

He concluded that Samaria and Jerusalem were at a lower standard of spiritual technology that his previous conquests and this led him to make the logical jump that he made in verse 11;

Shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’”

He became confident that he could handle Jerusalem with the same effort that he had handled Samaria.

4

OUR FATHER WHO JUDGES HIS PEOPLE BUT DEFENDS THE REMNANTS

Continuing with excavation of the book of Isaiah chapter 10, we now look at verse 11 which reads as follows;

shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’”

Here, the king of Assyria characterizes Jerusalem as having images (idols) and believed he could militarily  deal with Jerusalem as he dealt with Samaria and her idols.

He reasoned that other kingdoms that he had previously conquered were more skillful people who had designed and produced more impressive and fearsome idols than what Samaria and Jerusalem were able to produce. 

Verse 10 put it this way,

As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—

The way that these other kingdom's idols had excelled was that they had gained a strong hold over those who were under their jurisdiction and had dominated their territories in physical and spiritual terms.

And because of the programs that these kingdoms had committed themselves related to the obeissance towards their idols, their sway had exceeded that of Samaria and Jerusalem who had themselves diluted their own spiritual heritage of interactions with the living God of their forefathers and adopted idols.

The infidelity of Samaria and Jerusalem had brought them into the arena of judgement of their God and it was while they languished in this state that the king of Assyria surveyed them and plotted an opportunistic move against them.

Verse 12 tells us that this power grab by the Assyrian was a mistake;

 When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.

4

OUR FATHER WHO KNOWS THE THOUGHTS OF ALL

Revisiting the book of Isaiah chapter 10 verse 10 says this;

As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—

The verse 11 continues;

shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’”

These words are the thoughts of the king of Assyria as he assessed his plan to take over the realms of God's people.

The king of Assyria felt confident that he would have no issues taking over Jerusalem because their beliefs and practices were indistinguishable from those of the kingdoms he had already conquered.

When he saw that Jerusalem was subject to judgement like any other nation he felt that he could overrun the kingdom of God on earth with impunity. This haughtiness is what drew the judgement of God against him and his ultimate destruction.

Verse 12 says it like this;

When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER WHO JUDGES ALL 

Continuing on from the  book of Isaiah chapter 10 verse 14, we now look at a pivotal point in the narrative which says this;

Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it, or the saw boast against the one who uses it?

As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up, or a club brandish the one who is not wood!

The whole earth, having been subtly taken over by the king of Assyria, is now fully subjugated to the kingdom of darkness without the inhabitants even realizing that their sovereignty has been lost.

It is here that the objection of God to the whole enterprise of darkness is noted.

The king of Assyria had been set in his position to act as an agent of judgement against the Lord's people.

It was from this vantage point that the Assyrian saw an opportunity to pre-emptively make a grab at the whole world and gain total control of the planet so that his will would set the agenda for everything that occured on the earth.

However, the God of Israel questions the appropriation of the authority of directive by a mere instrument.

Mentioning four impliments as metaphors for the purposes to which Assyria was being employed, the Lord lists them as follows;

• Axes to topple kingdoms
• Saws to cut nations apart
• Rods to punish nations
• Clubs to unlease destruction on nations

These tools, deployed to bring various aspects of God's judgement to the nations, begin to see their role as an opportunity to disregard the intention of the one who wielded them and take entire control of the globe.

They bypass the intention of God and grab for the spoils.

Have mercy on us Oh God.

3

OUR FATHER WHO IS OUR ONLY HOPE

The book of Isaiah 10 verse 14 says this;

As one reaches into a nest, so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations; as people gather abandoned eggs, so I gathered all the countries; not one flapped a wing, or opened its mouth to chirp.’”

This verse, a continuance of the king of Assyria's thoughts, reveals what he felt the experience of usurping the whole world was akin to.

Having identified that the nest had no guardian, a person slips his hand serepticiously into a nest to take the eggs and similarly, the usurper, noticing the world systems were operating on a trust system, took advantage of their unguarded state and quietly funneled the wealth of nations to himself using pretexts that hid the scale of the theft and the recipient of the wealth.

Then, using the acquired wealth, encircled the globe gathering nation into his dominion like a person gathering abandoned eggs.

Any leaders who were potential opponents to the usurper, found themselves being tricked into taking actions that were then used to discredit them and render them powerless while their nations were quietly taken over by the king of Assyria.

All the world's countries fell into the hands of the anti-Christ and not a single nation fluttered a wing to resist and not a single nation chirped to warn of the methodical takeover by the totalitarian rule of the kingdom that is underway.

Such is the snare the people of the earth unknowingly walked into and even while trapped in the web of deception and being pressed on every side, they did not know that the earth had been ceded over the the enemy of their souls.

The only hope was an intervention by the Lord.

4

OUR FATHER WILL FRUSTRATE  THE PLANS OF THE KING OF ASSYRIA

The book of Isaiah chapter 10 verse 13 says this;

For he says: “‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding.

I removed the boundaries of nations,  I plundered their treasures;  like a mighty one I subdued their kings.

This verse reveals the thoughts of the king of Assyria as he surveyed his plans as they unfurled around the world.

He attributed his success to his personal strength and action.  He also attributed his success to his wisdom which he said was based on his own personal understanding.

The hallmarks of the Assyrian's plot to bring the whole world into subjugation to himself were these three strategies;

• The erasure of national borders and national identities to create amorphous populations with no sense of their own history or future
• Ransacking national treasuries using deception and collusion to weaken the nations and fund his conquests
• Bringing the kings of the earth under his control using tools of lawfare, fraud, usurpation, intimidation and spiritual attacks

All these action were carried out using subterfuge and the control of information so that most people were unable to discern that their nations have been taken over by the powers of darkness. 

As such, the Assyrian was able to claim in verse 14 that one by one he took the wealth of the nations and then took the nations into his hand and this was done so subtly that none was able to perceive and as such, no objections were made.

As one reaches into a nest, so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations; as people gather abandoned eggs, so I gathered all the countries; not one flapped a wing, or opened its mouth to chirp.’”

The Lord God Almighty will interrupt the scheme of the kingdom of darkness and the agents who serve to execute the plans of darkness on the nations of the world will be met with calamity from which they cannot escape;

Therefore, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors; under his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame.

The Lord is worth of all glory and honor and power forever.

Amen.

2

OUR FATHER WHOSE JUDGEMENT BEGINS IN HIS OWN HOUSE BUT ENDS IN THE HOUSE OF DARKNESS

The book of Isaiah chapter 10 verse 12 says this;

When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.

Continuing from verse 11 in yesterday's study,  we look at the prophetic promise that the Lord makes in verse 12.

Here, the king of Assyria forms an intention to opportunistically take advantage of the weakened state of Israel due to their ongoing judgement from the Lord.

The prophet Isaiah however, declares that when the Lord completes His work of judgement against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will then turn His attention to the king of Assyria and punish him for his arrogance and the look of haughtiness in his eyes.

This verse can be distilled to the following precepts;

• The Lord judges Mount Zion, the headquarters of His own Kingdom
• 1 Peter 4 verse 17: For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

• The Lord faithfully completes the work He has begun
• Philippians 1 verse 6; being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

• He judges and resists the proud and haughty
• James 4 verse 6; But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

This verse in Isaiah carrys three principals that are embedded in the writings of the new testament.

Amen.

4

OUR FATHER WHO PROTECTS THE REMNANT OF HIS PEOPLE

The book of Isaiah chapter 10 verse 11 says this;

shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’”

The king of Assyria, looking at the nations he was intending to conquer and dominate, assessed that Jerusalem would be brought under his dominion as easily as he brought Samaria under control.

Looking at the idols being venerated in Jerusalem, he concluded that the people of Jerusalem were of the same quality as the people of Samaria who worshipped similar idols.

What the king of Assyria apparently did not realise was that behind the scenes, he had been empowered by the God of Israel to bring judgement upon His own people partly because of theie penchant of forgetting their true God in order to  follow idols.

The king of Assyria did not allow for the fact that the God of Israel had a remnant of His people embedded in Jerusalem and that it was for the sake of these that that God would truncate the ambitions of the king of Assyria. As verse 12 says;

When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes. 

Amen.

4

 OUR FATHER WHO JUDGES THE JUDGES

The book of Isaiah chapter 10 verses 1 - 2 says this?

Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.

The Lord declares that imminent disaster is approaching the legal realm of the nation of Israel because of the injustice and opression that they had enacted into law.

The legislators and magistrates and administrators had undertaken to create a corrupt environment supported by unjust laws.

 They had issued decrees that overrode the intrinsic rights of the poor and they had set themselves up to be able to exploit the widows and the fatherless with impunity.

But even though the vulnerable members of society seemed defenceless, they had a defender who was stirred to anger because of the culture of corruption that had entrenched itself in the land. 

The Lord, confronting those who had enriched themselves at the expense of the voiceless in the land, says this in verses 3 - 4;

What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches?

Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain.Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.

Amen.

4

OUR FATHER WHO EXPLICITLY WARNS HIS PEOPLE OF COMING JUDGEMENT

Ezekiel chapter 4 verse 9 - 10 says this;

“Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side. 

 Weigh out twenty shekels of food to eat each day and eat it at set times. 

In this excerpt, the prophet Ezekiel was instructed to gather a mixture of grains in a sealable storage jar. These grains were to be used to make bread while he was enacting a military seige that was soon to befall Jerusalem. .

This supply of grain was to be evenly rationed out for his daily food supply during the period  of 390 days that he was lying on the ground  bearing the sin of Jerusalem.

These enactments that were carried in a very public area outside the city of Jerusalem,  were to warning to the people that these things would being symbolized by Ezekiel would occur when the city was besieged and the people carried off into exile. Below, the details of Ezekiel's enactments from the excerpt are linked to what they symbolized;

• Ezekiel was to lie on the ground and not move
• The people would be involuntarily restrained i
• 
  
• Gathering and mixing different grains
• The people would be carried to a strange land
• 
  
• Each day, Ezekiel was to have tiny allocations of food
• Their food would be tighly rationed 
• 
  
• Each day, Ezekiel would eat at set times
• Their schedules would be tightly controlled

These actions carried out by Ezekiel were a stern warning to Jerusalem to induce them to repent and change their ways.

Amen.

4

OUR FATHER WHO DEFENDS HIS REMNANT

The book of Isaiah 10 verse 9 says this;

‘Has not Kalno fared like Carchemish?

Is not Hamath like Arpad, and Samaria like Damascus?

This verse, containing words spoken by the king of Assyria, is an analytical comparison between the territories that he was invading.

To him, there was no distinction in how the territories would be able to resist his conquests.

He looked at the kingdoms and saw them all as worshippers of idols and that they were defenceless against him.

As verses 10 and 11 say, the king of Assyria's evaluation was that other kingdoms he had conquered had superior systems of religious iconography than those of Samaria and Jerusalem and so it followed that conquering those territories would be easily achievable as well.

As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’”

The king of Assyria left out an important factor when considering Jerusalem and that factor was that Jerusalem was under the Judgememt of God but there was still a remnant therein whose defender was the Lord and it was for their sake that the king of Assyria was going to be visited by the retribution of God as verses 24 and 25 say;

 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:

“My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians, who beat you with a rod and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did.

Very soon my anger against you will end and my wrath will be directed to their destruction.”

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE GLORY WILL  BE A SHIELD OVER HIS PEOPLE

The book of Isaiah chapter 4 verse 5 says this;

Then the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy.

The people who endure to the end and remain in Christ and whose names are recorded among the living (their names are found in the book of life), will  assemble on Mount Zion.

Here, the glory of God will manifest as a cloud by day and a flaming fire by night. This will form a shield over everything in Zion.

This the blessing upon God's people who emerge from the entrapment set by the kingdom of darkness and are assembled in Zion.

Amen.

2

OUR FATHER WHOSE NAME IS HIGHLY EXALTED

The book of Isaiah chapter 12 verse 4 says this;

In that day you will say: “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.

In the day that the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the people and the kingdom of darkness will be brought down and its strongholds destroyed, in that day, chapter 12 tells us that the Lord's people will make known to the whole world what the Lord has done and that His name is exalted.

In that day when the Lord frees His people from the fowler's snare with which the kingdom of darkness had entrapped us, we will praise the Lord for if it were not for His intervention, we would have been hopelessly entangled.

Praise the Lord.

Amen.

Amen.

4

OUR FATHER WHO KNOWS THE HEARTS OF ALL BEINGS

Verse 3 in the book of Obadiah says this;

The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’

This verse diagnoses the cause of the delusion that had misled Lucifer. 

Pride in his heart had given him a false sense of invulnerability and he had surveyed the inhabitants of heaven and decided that there was no one strong enough to dethrone him from the heights to which he planned to ascend.

He had moved his residence away from the areas relegated for him up to the mountain terrain high above the other residential areas of heaven and from this elevated location, he aspired to go even higher above the clouds of heaven.

Isaiah chapter 14 verses 13 and 14 reveals the progression of Lucider's ambitious plan this way;

You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God;

I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.

 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

Lucifer had calculated that he could incrementally take higher and higher ground and ultimately end up at a level that was equivalent to where God was.

Unknown to Lucifer, the Lord knew what was in his heart and Lucifer was cast out of heaven.

4

OUR FATHER'S SALVATION COMES FROM ZION

Psalm 14

The LORD looks down from heaven
To see if any
Understand that their salvation
Comes from Zion


God is present with the righteous
Those who seek Him will find refuge
Let Jacob be glad and Israel rejoice

OUR FATHER WHO PUSHES BACK AGAINST THE OVEREACH OF THE POWERS OF DARKNESS

The book of Isaiah chapter 10 and verse 10,  quoting the Assyrian king plotting his scheme to  destroy the Lord's people in Jerusalem as he did to pagan Samaria,  says this;

As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—

Verse 11 continues;

shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’”

This overstep by the king of Assyria invoked the Lord's anger against him as verse 12 says;

When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.

Even more broadly viewed, the overreach of the Assyrian involved a global power grab that erased national identities and orchestrated massive wealth transfers from the nations to himself. This maneuver was done with such subtle deception that no one objected. Verses 13 and 14 puts it this way;

For he says: “‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their kings.

As one reaches into a nest, so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations; as people gather abandoned eggs, so I gathered all the countries; not one flapped a wing, or opened its mouth to chirp.’”

However, in verse 15, the Lord rhetorically asks if a mere impliment can set the agenda of the user;

Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it, or the saw boast against the one who uses it? As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up, or a club brandish the one who is not wood!

The Lord will respond to the king of Assyria's presumption with destruction by fire and the displays of splendor and power that the Assyrian sets up with be utterly ruined. Verses 16 and 17 sats it like this;

Therefore, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors; under his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame.

The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers.

Resources and administrative heirarchies erected by the Assyrian with be destroyed leaving a tiny remainder of his former reach and influence. Verses 18 and 19 renders it like this;

The splendor of his forests and fertile fields  it will completely destroy, as when a sick person wastes away.

And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few that a child could write them down.

Amen.

2

OUR FATHER DECLARES WOE UPON THOSE WHO INTEND ON DESTROYING HIS PEOPLE AND  THE NATION OF THE EARTH

The book of Isaiah 10 chapter verse 5 says this;

“Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath!

This verse reveals that the kingdom of darkness is an impliment that the Lord allows to run roughshod over the people of the earth whose conduct becomes unbearable ( including those who are His people ) and thus the Lord determines to release judgement over them.

However, the Lord declares woe upon the kingdom of darkness for their own evil conduct as well as the evil of  planning to overplay their hand in order to completely destroy as many nations as they can. Isaiah chapter 10 verses 6 - 7 says;

I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder,  and to trample them down like mud in the streets. But this is not what he intends,  this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations.

4

OUR FATHER REVEALS THE  ASPIRATIONS AND THE FALL OF LUCIFER

Obadiah verse 3 - 4 says this;

The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’

Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.

This passage, exerpted out of a book that is generally about the judgement that was to be brought against Edom for treacherous conduct, seems to veer out of a natural narrative and into a spiritual narrative.

Though the subject matter is Edom, the words echo the words of Isaiah chapter 14 which, in a similar way, is speaking of the king of Babylon before veering into a spiritual narrative.

In both cases, the hidden subject is the Lucifer who was deceived by pride, aspired to ascend to the high places and make a nest among the stars but He is identified and cast fown

Isaiah in chapter 14 verses 12 - 15, writes it this way;

How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn!

You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!

You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God;

I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.

I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.

The two witnesses to this testimony describe the aspiration of Lucifer to ascend to the pinnacles of authority in heaven and to be like God.

They also describe how the power of God shall bring him down.

Whereas Obadiah emphasizes the pride in Lucifer's heart that made him feel invulnerable, Isaiah emphasizes the self-will that lead Lucifer to aspire to the ambitious ascendancy that caused him to fall.

Amen.

8 

OUR FATHER WHO WILL JUDGE THE UNJUST LEGISLATORS AND UNJUST EXECUTIVES AND UNJUST JUDGES OF ISRAEL

The book of Isaiah chapter 10 verse 1 says this;

Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees,

And Isaiah chapter 10 verse 2 continues this way;

to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.

The preface to our verse of interest warns of disaster that will be aimed towards those in authority over jurisdictions who ;

• Fashion legislation that was unjust
• Crush people by issuing oppresive decrees

Our verse continues listing the activities that will draw calamities of judgement;

• Depriving the poor of their rights
• Withholding justice from God's people who are victimized
• Targeting widows for exploitation
• Robbing  the fatherless of their means

These details of the judgements that would fall on those making and enforcing unjust laws in Israel are the last of the four targeted judgements aimed at Israel.

Each if the four infractions and their judgements are anticeded by the phrase;

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised

The three preceding targets and their judgements are;

• Instigation:   Pride and willfulness 
• Judgement: Invasion by neighbours

• Instigation:   Deception and false doctrine
• Judgement: Removal of leadership

• Instigation :  Wicked conduct
• Judgement: Civil war and abject shortages

These are the systematically applied judgements that were aimed at purging Israel of ungodliness and in the end, as verse 21 says, a remnant will remain;

A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.

Amen

7

OUR FATHER WHO IS OUR HELP AND SHIELD

Psalm 115 verse 9 says this;

All you Israelites, trust in the Lord

  —he is their help and shield.

House of Aaron, trust in the Lord

  —he is their help and shield.

You who fear him, trust in the Lord

  —he is their help and shield.

This passage is a section out of a larger poem (or song) extolling the glory of the Lord and contrasting Him who is present and active with the idols of all the other nations who are blind, deaf, mute, numb and motionless.

Starting with verse 9, the Israelites in general are encouraged to trust in God for He is their help and shield.

Verse 10 then narrows the intended listeners down to the House of Aaron which was the priestly house which served the Lord directly in His tabernacle and temple and encourages them to trust God who is their help and shield.

Verse 11 then narrows the target audience even further to those closest to God and they are described as those who fear the Lord. They are encouraged to trust in the Lord for He is their help and shield.

This progression from the general to the specific is echoed in verses 12 and 13 where the blessing of God is promised to the people of Israel and then to a narrower group which is the house of Aaron and then finally to a group whose credentials are measure within their hearts; those who fear the Lord. In their case, an added caveat indicates that those who fear the Lord will be blessed whether they are small or great.

The Lord remembers us and will bless us: He will bless his people Israel, he will bless the house of Aaron, he will bless those who fear the Lord— small and great alike.

Amen.

8