OUR LORD WHO RESTORES HIS PEOPLE FROM USURPERS AND PLUNDERERS

Ezekiel chapter 36 verses 4 - 5 says this;

therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord: This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and the deserted towns that have been plundered and ridiculed by the rest of the nations around you

—  this is what the Sovereign Lord says: In my burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, for with glee and with malice in their hearts they made my land their own possession so that they might plunder its pastureland.’

This passage is a prophecy spoken to the  mountains of Israel.  The mountains, which are the kingdoms whose foundations are the ancient heights of Israel, are given a solemn promise by the Lord that he will speak against the nations that have brought ruin to the towns and countrysides of Israel.

The nations who gleefully plundered and ridiculed the lands of Israel and took them for their own possession, will be zealously confronted by the Sovereign Lord.

The Lord will take action against those who over-run Israel and swears that he will invert Israel's plight so that those who plunder and ridicule Israel will themselves be plundered and ridiculed. As it says in verse 7;

Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I swear with uplifted hand that the nations around you will also suffer scorn.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO REVIVES HIS PEOPLE

Ezekiel chapter 37 verse 14 says this;

I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”

This verse concludes the famous passage in Ezekiel chapter 14 where the prophet wrote of his experience in the valley of dry bones.

In the Spirit, Ezekiel was taken to a valley littered with dry bones and the Lord commanded him to prophecy to the bones to be reconstituted into living bodies and that they would be revivified. 

Ezekiel did as he was commanded and the dry bones reassembled themselves and were covered with tissue and skin and then they were given breath and they arose to their feet - a vast army.

The Lord then explained the scene to Ezekiel telling him that the dry bones represented the people of Israel who had been in a state of hopelessness and despair as recorded in verse 11;

“Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’"

Proverbs 17 verse 22 echoes the condition they were in by saying;

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

The Lord, in His sovereignty, revived all the people who were dead and when they stood up, they were an army of men filled with the Spirit of God.

This is the vast army that the Lord mustered in  Isaiah chapter 13  verse 4 that appeared out of nowhere.

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 army is also described in Joel chapter 2 verse 2;

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 spiritual army is now being conscripted. The people of God who were dead are being revived and they are learning their places in the formations under the command of the Lord Almighty.

Pray and intercede always for these are the prerequisites to be joined to the army of the Lord.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO JUDGES THE REBELLIOUS 

Isaiah chapter 14 verses 9 - 10 is a prophecy about the collapse of the kingdom of darkness.  The plans and strategies to usurp the whole world and take the inheritance of the Lamb of God away from Him have been brought to an ignominious end.  

The lord of the kingdom of darkness has been defeated and captured to await judgement. The prophecy describes the arrival of the anti-christ into the abode of the dead and reads this way;

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.”

The departed leaders of the nations, who were led astray by the anti-christ and found themselves awaiting judgement for their collusion with him, are stirred up to receive him into the abode dead. They are astonished that he who deceived and subjugated them had been reduced to the same state of weakness that they were in.

Isaiah chapter 14 verse 12 - 15 reveals the reason that Satan's fall occured which culminated in his defeat and banishment to hell to await judgement along with those who heeded and followed Him.

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.”

This well-known passage in Isaiah describes how the prideful thoughts of a cherub led him to believe that he was entitled to ascend above the stars of heaven and gain mastery over creation and to make himself like the Most High.

For this, he was brought low and captured for judgement.

In contrast, the Lord Jesus Christ descended into hell after he was put to death on the cross where He was tried and tested and no fault was found in Him. He was thus made  strong  by the Spirit of God and defeated sin and death and rose out of hell in power triumphantly leading the first fruits of those He was to save.

Jesus, humble and selfless, then ascended to heaven and having given his life to redeem the people of the earth, was seated at the right hand of God the Father as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Jesus is now enthroned eternally over all things and from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

Bless our Lord who conquered sin and death and paid a costly ransom for our salvation. 

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO BRINGS JUDGEMENT ON THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS

Isaiah chapter 34 verses 9 to 11 speaks of the  retribution that is visited on the nations for the sake of Zion. The passage says this;

Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch, her dust into burning sulfur; her land will become blazing pitch!

It will not be quenched night or day; its smoke will rise forever.

From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever pass through it again.

The desert owl and screech owl will possess it; the great owl and the raven will nest there.

God will stretch out over Edom the measuring line of chaos and the plumb line of desolation. 

Edom, representing the coalition of nations who aligned with the kingdom of darkness against Zion, is fearsomely  judged.

Her streams of water  that used to bring life and refreshing, are turned into streams of burning tar and the acrid smoke of sulphur and bitumen rise and fill the atmosphere making the whole land a toxic, uninhabitable wasteland.

The land is forsaken and abandoned so that only unclean birds (evil spirits) could dwell there.

The devastation of this judgement is so complete that the conditions in the aftermath are described with the same terms ( chaos and desolation ) that are used to outline the primordial conditions at creation which Genesis chapter 1 verse 2 says this way;

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, 

This passage in Isaiah chapter 34  also mirrors the book of Revelation chapter  14 verse  11 with the  description of  smoke rising up forever. The passage in Revelation reads this way;

And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”

The judgement against the kingdom of darkness and those who align with darkness is dreadful and eternal. The finality of the destruction is marked by the eternal columns of smoke rising from the scorched landscape.

Let us be sincerely grateful to our Lord who has given us the power to believe in the gospel of His salvation that saved us from the judgement reserved for the princes of darkness.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO INTERVENES TO REDEEM US FROM OPPRESSION

Isaiah chapter 19 verse 13 reads this way;

The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray.

In the time of Moses, when Egypt oppressed the children of Israel as slaves, the Lord intervened to redeem His people out of Egypt. He confounded the wise men and leaders of the land so that the whole nation was led astray. The Egytians, faced with the unrelenting pressure from the Lord, lost heart and released Israel from slavery.

The time now approaches when the Egypt that oppressed the children of Israel will represent the emerging oppressors of the Lord's people around the world.

The agenda of the powers of darkness is to erase the people of God and  strip even the memory of God from the face of the earth. 

But, as the Lord did to the Egyptians on the Nile, the Lord will confound the wise men of the modern  oppressor such that they all become gullible fools and in that state, lead the whole strategy of darkness astray.

The next verse (Isaiah 19 verse 14), graphically illustrates the condition of the oppressor after the Lord deals with them.

The Lord has poured into them a spirit of dizziness; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.

The Great God of Israel renders the enemies of His people unable to function rationally and their plans and ambitions collapse.

Bless the Lord who intervenes to redeem us from oppression.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO INTERCEPTS DANGER ON OUR BEHALF

Genesis chapter 31 verse 28 are words spoken to Jacob by his father-in-law, Laban.

Leading up to this point, Jacob, having lived with his in-laws for 20 years, began to sense some menace towards him from them and decided to make a run back to his own family. 

He packed his wives and children up and fled  but when Laban learned of the escape, he gathered his relatives and pursued them and after 7 days, caught up with them. 

Laban, having chased down his own daughters and grandchildren, was angry and was probably prepared to unleash some vengeance on Jacob.

Instead, when Laban was face to face with Jacob, he questioned him but did not harm him even though he had the power to do so. Laban said that the God of Jacob's father visited him in a dream and cautioned him to be careful not to say anything good or bad to Jacob. 

The dream may have saved Jacob's life that day. Laban, to his credit, heeded the warning in the dream and carefully worded his confrontation with Jacob saying things like;

You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. You have done a foolish thing. 

The Lord,  in a last minute intervention, saved Jacob from Laban's wrath and Jacob was able to proceed to the land of his own family where the amazing story of redemption resumed its course through history.

Bless the Lord who works all things together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO IS OUR SURE FOUNDATION

Ezekiel 39 verse 4 records the Lord's words to Gog, chief prince of Meshek and Tubal.

On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals.

This stern warning to a chief  prince in the spiritual realm is about the Lord rising up against them for moving against His people.

On the mountains of Israel, the Lord will bring the chief prince down along with his army and the nations he had formed alliances with.

They will be brought to such utter destruction that vultures and wild animals will partake in the cleanup of the battlefield.

The time of this battle approaches as alliances of darkness align  nations against God's people.

The Lord is mighty to save and the attempt by the kingdom of darkness to erase the Lord's inheritance will be met by our strong fortress on the mountains of Israel.

Let us bless the Lord who scatters his enemies and is our rock and our sure foundation.

Amen.