OUR LORD WHO MITIGATES UNFAIRNESS AGAINST US

Genesis chapter 31 verses 9 - 10 says this;

So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.

“In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. 

This chapter contains the words of Jacob to his wives Leah and Rachel as he explained to them why he wanted to leave their father's household and go back to his own household.

In this particular passage, Jacob was illustrating that the crisis was triggered when he started  prospering while his wive's father was losing wealth.

Whenever his father-in-law said that the speckled goats would be Jacob's wages, the flock would give birth to speckled goats and whenever his father-in-law said that streaked goats would be his wages, the flock began producing streaked goats abundantly.

It was this pattern that helped Jacob see that the Lord was helping him prosper.

In Genesis 31 verses 11 - 12, an angel in a dream clarified this for Jacob.

The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’ And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.

This favour on Jacob was predicated by his father-in-law's unfairness towards him and the Lord intervened on his behalf to prosper him inspite of the unfairness he was enduring. This favour ended up becoming so evident that animosity against Jacob began to fester in the hearts of his in-laws.

Bless our lord who helps us overcome injustice.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO AVENGES HIS PEOPLE

Joel chapter 3 verses 4 - 5 records the words of the Lord against the kingdoms who had raided  and enslaved His people;

 “Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done 

For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.

This passage is aimed at Tyre, Sidon  and the areas of Philistia and to the spiritual kingdoms  over-shadowing them.

These kingdoms had dared to raid the Lord's people and take the Lord's silver and gold and his treasures to put them in their own temples. They then sold God's people into slavery.

What these kingdoms had done to the people of Israel, the Lord said He would do to them. 

As Joel chapter 3 verses 7 - 8 says;

“See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done. I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away.” The Lord has spoken.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHOSE ENEMIES ARE COMPLETELY DEFEATED

In the book of Ezekiel chapter 39, the Lord instructs Ezekiel to invite every kind of bird and wild animal to assemble on the mountains of Israel for there would be a feast of the armies of the powers of darkness. The mighty men and princes and all their horses would be slain and would be given as food to all the scavengers. Ezekiel chapter 39 verse 19 says this;

At the sacrifice I am preparing for you, you will eat fat till you are glutted and drink blood till you are drunk. 

This verse records a pointed warning against the army of darkness who attacked the Lord's people. As powerful as these forces are, they will be crushed and their remains will be a bounty for birds and wild animals to eat. 

Such is the fate of the spiritual rulers and powers who will mount an assault against the Lord's people.

Amen.

 OUR LORD IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SAVE

Isaiah chapter  43 verse 10 is a rare meta  declaration by the Lord God giving  an unequivocal statement about His own unique place as  the only and eternal God. In this passage, speaking to His people, the Lord says this;

“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.

From the perspective of an omniscient God, to categorically declare that there is no other who existed before Him or after Him would have to be the  definitive statement of facts. In the eternal timeline from eternity past and eternity future, there exists no other God.

 Another meta declaration is found in Isaiah chapter 44 verse 8;

You are my witnesses. Is there any god besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”

Here, the Lord God rhetorically  asks if there is any god besides Himself and He declares again that he does not know of any such being in any spatial location  or dimension.

This all encompassing statement of the Lord's uniqueness leads us to conclude that He is our only possible saviour. Isaiah chapter 43 verse 11 says this;

I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior.

The declaration by the Lord that there is no saviour apart from Him is equally definitive.

This is why the apostle Peter proclaimed this about the Lord Jesus Christ in Acts chapter 4 verse 12;

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Amen.

Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/

OUR LORD WHO GIVES CLEAR WARNINGS OF DANGER

Ezekiel chapter 4 verses 3 - 5 says this;

Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the people of Israel.

 “Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel.

Having already instructed Ezekiel to make a small scale  model  of Jerusalem, the Lord told Ezekiel to create a miniturized  siege against the city complete with siege works, battering rams, ramps and encampments. The Lord then directed Ezekiel to  take an iron pan and place it between the city and himself to enact the siege.

The passage then records that the Lord instructed Ezekiel to lie on the ground  on his left side facing the model of Jerusalem  and to take the sin of Israel onto himself for 390 days which was one day for each year of their sin.

 Ezekiel chapter 4 verse 6 then records Ezekiel being instructed to lie down on his right side but this time, it would be to bear the sin of Judah for 40 days with a day for each year of Judah's sin. The verse reads this way;

“After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year.

For a total of 430 days, Ezekiel was to lie facing the scale model of Jerusalem bearing the sin of Israel and of Judah.

This way, the unmistakable message of the impending siege was communicated to the people of Israel and Judah warning of the dreadful conditions that would befall them when the food and water supplies were cut off.

The Lord warned his people with graphic depictions of imminent danger so that they could be prepared.

Amen.

 OUR LORD WHO SIGNALS HIS FORCES INTO ACTION

Isaiah chapter 13 verses 1 - 3 reads this way;

A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw: Raise a banner on a bare hilltop,  shout to them; beckon to them to enter the gates of the nobles. 

I have commanded those I prepared for battle; I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath—those who rejoice in my triumph.

Isaiah watched the prophetic scene unfold capturing it vividly in this chapter. 

Babylon, the future world system, is quiety being besieged but she is not aware of the mounting danger.

What is underway is that the Lord's warriors are being prepared and positioned to topple the power structures of Babylon.

When all is set, a signal banner, which is a silent signal, is lifted up on a prominent high point. A shout goes forth commanding the Lord's special task forces to enter the gates of the headquaters of the kingdom of Babylon.

This sudden and precisely timed incursion into the nerve centers of the Babylonian hierarchy is the beginning of the end of Babylon's world system.

This initial move then makes way for the Lord's massive army to begin operations, this time signalled by a loud trumpet in Zion. The stealth operation is over and the overt invasion begins.

Joel chapter 2 verse 2 says this;

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.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO GIVES WARNING THROUGH HIS PROPHETS.

Ezekiel chapter 12 verses 12 -13 says this;

“The prince among them will put his things on his shoulder at dusk and leave, and a hole will be dug in the wall for him to go through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land. I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylonia, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, and there he will die.

This passage describes the meaning of the actions that the Lord told Ezekiel the prophet to take. Ezekiel was to pack his belongings in the sight of all the people to represent that he was going into exile. He was then to dig a hole in the perimeter wall with his hands and leave with his belongings through the hole in the wall with his face covered so that he could not see the land as he left.

This somber prophetic object lesson was to be a message to the prince of Jerusalem and all the Israelites who were in the city. The prince was going to have his things put on his shoulders and he would leave through a hole on the wall and he would not see the land as he left to go to Babylonia where he would die.

Ezekiel enacted the exile scene in the sight of all the people as a sign to them of what would happen to them. Surprisingly, the people of Israel were indifferent to what Ezekiel was doing and did not ask him what it meant.

The Lord, seeing that the people of Israel did not ask, told Ezekiel to say to the people that what he was doing would happen to them and that they would be going into captivity.

Ezekiel chapter 12 verse 11 reads like this; 

 Say to them, ‘I am a sign to you.’ “As I have done, so it will be done to them. They will go into exile as captives.

Even when the people ignored the warning message, the Lord instructed Ezekiel to explain to people what it meant so that they were adequately warned.

As it says in Amos chapter 3 verse 7; Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

Amen.