OUR FATHER WHOSE GREAT AND TERRIBLE DAY DRAWS NEAR

Joel chapter 2 verse 11 says this;

The Lord thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty is the army that obeys his command.

The day of the Lord is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?

The spiritual forces of the Lord are being prepared and they will be mustered as the time approaches.

It will be a massive army that obeys the thunderous commands of the Lord; A mighty force indeed.

The great and terrible day of the Lord approaches and His army will be deployed at the sound of the trumpet in Zion.

Who will be able to endure it?

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO PAID DEARLY TO ACQUIRE OUR SALVATION  

John chapter 3 verse 14 says this;

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,

This verse is an excerpt from an inscrutable teaching that Jesus was giving to a visiting pharisee named Nicodemus.

Jesus had just told Nicodemus that a person could never see or experience the kingdom of God unless they were born again.

This perplexed Nicodemus. He asked how a person who was already old, could be born again from his mother's womb.

Jesus explained to him that he was thinking in  fleshly terms while Jesus was speaking to him in spiritual terms. To be born again meant that one had to be born of the Spirit.

The flabberghasted Nicodemus exclaimed, "How can these things be?"

Jesus responded to Nicodemus' incomprehension by asking him in verse 12, "I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?"  

The Lord then came to the centerpiece of His explanation by referencing Moses in the book of Numbers chapter 21. 

When the people of Israel were in the desert, they complained bitterly about the conditions they were enduring. The judgement for complaining against God was that their camp was invaded by poisonous snakes which bit the people and many of those who were bitten, died.

In response, the children of Israel repented for their complaining ways  to God and to Moses and God relented and provided reprieve for the snake bites.

Moses was told by God to lift a bronze serpent up on a pole so that those who had been bitten by snakes could look up at the bronze serpent and they would be healed from the venom.

The children of Israel, having complained against God, were judged and they encountered serpents which bit them and caused many of them to die. 

This harkened back to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden who encountered the serpent and by heeding the words of the serpent, ingested the serpent's venom of rebellion against God and they fell from God's grace and died spiritually.

For the children of Israel to survive the serpent bites, they needed to look to the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up in sight of the whole camp.

Jesus then gave the meaning of that historical metaphor. He said that He Himself, the Son of Man, would be lifted up in the sight of the whole world and we, the human race, all of whom have the venom of rebellion we received through Adam and Eve, could look to the One who was crucified and made sin for us and we would be healed from spiritual death by being born again in the Spirit.

The hope of all the ages was sitting with Nicodemus patiently explaining to him how the salvation of mankind from death was going to be obtained by His own crucifixion and each person who turned to Him, would not perish but gain everlasting life.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO WORKS ALL THINGS FOR OUR GOOD

Genesis chapter 42 verses 3 - 5 reads this way;

Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him. So Israel’s sons were among those who went to buy grain, for there was famine in the land of Canaan also.

This passage captures a detail within the broader story of Jacob's sons and their journey to Egypt to buy food when a great famine swept through the region.

When it became known that Egypt had food for sale, Jacob sent his sons there but he did not send Benjamin with them but held him back because he was afraid harm would come to him.

The thought of losing Benjamin was too much for Jacob to bear so he resisted sending him off with the rest of his sons.

Jacob had two sons by his wife Rachel whom he loved; Joseph and then Benjamin.

After the loss of Rachel while she was giving birth to Benjamin and the loss of Joseph while he was running a routine errand, Jacob must have felt that there was a vulnerability to danger on that side of his family and thus he feared that Benjamin would be singled out for harm while he harboured no such fear for the rest of his other sons.

He protected his son Benjamin as best he could but there were unknown forces in the wings that would  wrest Benjamin from his arms and expose Jacob to his worst fear and then to a surprise for the ages.

Let us always bless the Lord who causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8 verse 28).

Amen.

OUR FATHER FROM WHOM OUR INHERITANCE IS GAINED

Joshua chapter 19 verse 13, referring to the border that was drawn around the land given to the tribe of Zebulun, says this;

Then it continued eastward to Gath Hepher and Eth Kazin; it came out at Rimmon and turned toward Neah.

This verse is part of the point-to-point de-lineation of the allocation for Jacob's tenth son, Zebulun. This land was in the area south-west of the Sea of Galilee but inland from the Mediteranian Sea.

Thus far, the tribes of Judah, Joseph, Gad and Reuben had already been assigned their territories because Moses had allocated it to them  for their service to the Lord. 

The tribe of Levi, having been given the priesthood as their inheritance, were not assigned land but were given 48 towns in which to live and maintain their livestock. These towns were from among the towns that had already been given to the other tribes of Israel

The remaining tribes cast lots to determine the order of assignment of land and Benjamin, the last born son of Jacob, was picked first, Simeon was second and Zebulun was third.

Zebulun's inheritance included twelve towns and their villages.

Of these twelve towns, four of them were assigned to the priestly clan called the Merarites who descended from the Levitic priests.

Bless the Lord who allots us all a portion to inherit.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE GREAT DAY OF RECKONING APPROACHES

Genesis chapter 43 verses 9 - 12 starts with Judah speaking to his father Jacob. The passage reads this way;

 I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice.”

Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds. Take double the amount of silver with you, for you must return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake.

As Pharoah's dream had foreseen many years before, a severe famine gripped Egypt and all the surrounding countries.

It became known that Egypt had grain for sale so Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to bring back some food. Jacob kept his youngest son, Benjamin,  at home with him.

The brothers arrived in Egypt and were serepticiously recognized by Joseph their  brother.  Joseph pretended to believe they were spys and he questioned them about their family.

To verify that their account of their family was true, he ordered them to leave one of the brothers with him, go back home  and return with the youngest brother.

The brothers got back home and when the food they had purchased ran out, they needed to return to Egypt. They had to persuade Jacob to let them take Benjamin with them in order to get Simeon released as well as be able to get more food.

Jacob, still grieving the painful loss of his son  Joseph, was very reluctant to release his youngest son.

Judah, one of the older brothers, spoke up and guaranteed Benjamin's safety by taking full responsibility for his life.

Jacob resigned himself to grief and released Benjamin to go with the others back to Egypt and he supervised the collection of gifts to take back to Egypt; Balm, honey, spices, myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.

He also instructed his sons to take back double the amount of silver that had been secretly put in their bags when they left in case it had been a mistake that the silver was there. 

These were carefully considered gestures of goodwill to the man who had so many questions about his family. Jacob called upon his own deep understanding of how to appease people to prepare a gift for the Egyptian stranger that would yield the best chance of bringing his family home safely.

What was still unspoken up to this point was that the brothers were responsible for the loss of Joseph in the first place. 

They had left the deception of the sale of Joseph to slave traders intact unaware that the God of heaven and earth knows all things and that the long strands of history were being entwined so that everything would be revealed.

Psalm 14 verse 1 says;

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.

The brothers seem to have held the belief that there was no God  and that the erasure of a person from their family could be swept under the rug indefinitely. 

Our own godlessness  can lead us to be corrupted by doing vile deeds and having no good deeds registered in our lives.

A great day of reckoning approaches when all the unspoken things lingering in our lives will be spoken and revealed.

Lord have mercy on us all.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO EXPECTS US TO OCCUPY WHAT HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TO US

Joshua chapter 19 verse 3 lists 3  towns as part of the overall  list of 17 towns that were encompassed by the land that was allotted to the tribe of Simeon.

Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem,

The land allotted to Simeon was entirely within the area allotted to Judah.

The inheritance of the tribe of Simeon was etched out of the inheritance of Judah because Judah could not fully occupy the land they had been given and these three town along with the 14 other towns and their surrounding villages were towns that belonged to the tribe of Judah  but now fell to Simeon.

We must always strive to occupy the territory alloted to us so that it is not inherited by others who are more willing to utilize the area than  we are.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE GREAT SALVATION IS THE SON OF DAVID WHO IS ENTHRONED IN ZION

Isaiah chapter 16 verse 3 ( Amplified ) says this;

[Say to the ruler] “Give us advice, make a decision [for Moab, king of Judah]; Cast your shadow [over us] like night in the midst of noon; Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive [to his pursuer].

This passage captures a desperate plea from the Moabites to the King of Judah. 

Moab was undergoing a period of severe judgement that had caused their society to break apart and the Moabites were fleeing as refugees into foreign territories to escape the terror in their own country.  

 Women fleeing north from Moab had come to the Arnon river and were trying to cross it but were like fluttering or wandering birds unable to go forward or return.

The Moabites needed to be allowed to cross into Judah's lands where they could be hidden so that they could escape the destroyer. They  requested that they be given refuge in Judah until the oppression ended and the destruction ceased and the aggressor vanished from the land.

In the midst of the record of Moab's panicked call to the king of Judah for salvation, Isaiah prophesied the Mesianic throne in verse 5;

A throne will be established in lovingkindness, And One will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent (dynasty, family) of David; Judging and seeking justice And being prompt to do righteousness.

Even as Moab, in their time of distress,  appealed to the throne in Jerusalem, Isaiah projects  forward into the future and prophesied of when the whole world will appeal to the throne in Zion upon which the Son of David will sit.

Whereas Moab could only be partially helped by the king of Judah, the Lord Jesus, the Son of David, on the throne of Zion is the great salvation of all who call upon His name.

Amen.