OUR LORD PREPARES HIS ARMY

Isaiah chapter 13 verse 4, enigmatically says this;

Listen, a noise on the mountains,  like that of a great multitude!

Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations massing together!

The Lord Almighty is mustering an army for war.

This breath-taking passage describes a roaring noise coming from the mountains that sounds like a huge in-gathering taking place and this amassing of kingdoms and nations  is specified in the verse as the Lord mustering an army for war.

This event is mirrored in Joel chapter 2 verse 2 that details the day as dark and gloomy and like the rising sun cresting over mountains, a gigantic army appears the likes of which has never been and never will be again. The passage reads this way;

...a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness.

Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come.

This unprecedented army is presently being mustered by the Lord as the time of battle draws near. 

The Lord's people, who were far away, are being drawn close into the operations of the kingdom of God and are being trained in the ways of the Spirit. The accoutrements of battle are being distributed accordingly and those called into service are being trained in their roles by the Lord and His angels.

Bless the Lord who is the head of this army and for including us in its number.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO IS MIGHTIER THAN ALL

Isaiah  51 Verse 13 - 14 is a challenge from the Lord God to those who are His people.

God's people were being fearful of  those who were working to destroy them. They were terrified in the face of those who captured them and held them in custody and they cowered before those who threatened them with life sentences in prison and denied them food to eat.  The passage reads this way;

...  you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretches out the heaven, and who lays the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction?

For where is the wrath of the oppressor? The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread.

The Lord wants His people to remember that their oppressors are like mere grass especially when compared to the unfathomable power of  their creator who alone stretches out the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth.

The Lord, speaking to His people through His prophet, reminds them who their God is and that there is no power in heaven or on earth that is able to separate His people from Him. 

As Jesus said in John 10 verse 29,  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 

Bless our Lord whose might supersedes any force arrayed against those who trust in Him.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO RAISES UP PRINCES FOR HIS KINGDOM

Having done a study of Ezekiel chapter 19 verse 3 - 5, let us take a detailed look at Ezekiel chapter 19 verse 3. The verse goes like this;

She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater.

The "she" in this  metaphor is the lioness who represents the spiritual Israel. She was a formidable lioness among the other lions who represent the spiritual nations that surrounded Israel.

Verse 3 focuses on a specific and deliberate action that the lioness took to bring up one of her cubs such that he became a strong lion.

The cubs represent the princes of Israel that she had and the particular one she set apart became a strong lion. This  cub was a specific prince who was captured and taken down to Egypt in fetters as the subsequent scriptures reveal.

In training the prince in spiritual matters, he became skilled in the administration of the things of the spirit and also of the natural world. His skill gave him the ability to dominate the affairs of men and he was found to be one who knew the courses of men's lives and even the courses of nations.

This cub represents Joseph.

He was sold as a slave by his brothers and was taken to Egypt in fetters. From a slave, his skill and discernment caused him to successfully  navigate the hazards of Egypt and he ultimately rose up to rule over Egypt as one who knew the future and one who held the fate of men's lives in his hands.

Such are those who are chosen to be princes in the kingdom of God and empowered by Him to fulfill their destinies in this world.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO, IN JUDGEMENT,  IS MINDFUL OF THE POOR AND NEEDY

Isaiah chapter 14 verse 30 captures the words of the prophet Isaiah on behalf of the Lord about the fate of the Philistines after they had brought oppression and hardship on the Lord's people. This verse makes a distinction between poor Philistines and the elite of the Philistine society in prescribing how punishment is meted out.

 The scripture tells us that God's judgement will not fall upon the poorest people but rather will fall heavily on the members of the ruling families of the nations that oppress God's people. The verse reads this way;

The poorest of the poor will find pasture, and the needy will lie down in safety.

But your root I will destroy by famine; it will slay your survivors.

The acts of oppression against God's people will be brought to a halt but the perpetrators and beneficiaries of the oppression will be distinguished from the rest of the Philistine society and will suffer the brunt of the retribution for the nation's deeds.

Let us bless the Lord who shields us from oppressors and let us consider that He is mindful of the poor and weak even in the belligerent societies and He takes action to ensure that they have the provisions they need and can live in safety.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO KNOWS OUR FRAME

Ezekiel 4 verse 13 - 14 records an illuminating conversation between the prophet Ezekiel and the Lord, God of Israel.

 The Lord had instructed Ezekiel to enact a scene that symbolized how the sin of Israel was going to cause them to be exiled and as such, they would be forced to eat the defiled food of the gentile lands they are exiled to.

The Lord dictated to Ezekiel  how he was to make bread by baking it over fire that was fueled by human excrement. The passage that follows starts with the Lord explaining how the baking process would illustrate to the people of Israel the kind of defilement they would experience in exile.

The Lord said, “In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them.”

Then I said, “Not so, Sovereign Lord! I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead or torn by wild animals. No impure meat has ever entered my mouth.

Ezekiel, realizing that his enactment was going to involve cooking his food over burning human excrement, balked at the plan.

He, having kept ceremonial cleanliness all his life, was viscerally repulsed by the idea of having to eat unclean bread baked over human waste. He blurted out, " Not so, Sovereign Lord!"

His instinctive reaction was the same reaction that the people of Israel would experience when they discovered the unclean and defiled food they would have to eat while banished to foreign lands.  

The Lord, in His grace, compromised with Ezekiel and allowed him to use animal dung to fuel his baking. Ezekiel was able to stomach to new instruction.

Let us bless the Lord who know our frame and allows us to carry what we can bear.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO HAD TO SAVE US HIMSELF

Isaiah 59 verse 15 speaks of a period of time when truth was entirely absent from the land and those who kept themselves away from evil deeds were targeted for harassment. The scripture goes like this;

Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.

In this society, every venue of information and every interaction was based on deception. The society that prophet Isaiah was part of had fallen into moral decay so deeply that even an exhaustive search for truth yielded nothing.

Justice, righteousness and honesty were long gone and now truth itself had gone into hiding and the freedom that let people autonomously choose their own path of righteousness, was snuffed out.

When the Lord looked upon this state of affairs, He was displeased because there was no justice. Seeing that there was none to speak out for justice and righteousness, He undertook the role of saviour Himself.

As Isaiah 59 verse 16 says;

He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;

so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.

Bless the Lord who saw us in an unsalvageable position with no justice, righteousness, honesty, truth or freedom and undertook to be our salvation Himself.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO JUDGES FALSE PROPHETS

Ezekiel chapter 13 verse 9 is a stern rebuke to the prophets who trade in false visions and divinations. The scripture reads this way;

My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.

This verse reveals surprising aspects of the spiritual structure by which those in the spirit realm and men interact.

Firstly, there are men who claim to speak on behalf of the Lord but of those, some are false prophets and speak of fake visions out of their own imaginations claiming to speak for God.

Second, the verse tells of what will happen to those who speak falsely while saying that they do so on God's behalf.

Because speaking false visions leads God's people astray, doing so brings three terrible spiritual consequences. 

False prophets are excluded from the council of God's people which is an honoured position where some prophets of the Lord may speak into matters of administration of the Kingdom of God. An example of this is found in Zacharia chapter 3 verse 5 where prophet Zacharia speaks into the matter of a priest's reinstatement into service. A false prophet will never be permitted to do such things.

False prophets are also omitted from the listings of members of the kingdom of God and as such, are not recognized when they approach the throne of judgement. They may say, "‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’, but they will not be known.

Finally, false prophets are excluded from the promised land such that they remain in the wilderness outside the governance of God. 

These judgements are warnings that practicing false prophecy brings dire consequences because it not only derails the lives of those who engage in it but also those who listen to it and heed it.

Let us seek the Lord that we would follow His counsel only and that we would be silent rather than speak for Him falsely.

Amen.