OUR FATHER MAKES A WAY FOR US EVEN THROUGH GREAT PERIL 

Genesis chapter 39 verses 10 - 12, describe the hazard that Joseph was in when he was serving in his master's house. 

His master's wife had been putting pressure on Joseph to begin a relationship with her but Joseph resisted her approaches. On this particular day, she finally got a hold of his cloak and decided to use it as evidence to falsely accuse Joseph of assaulting her as an act of spite against him. The passage reads this way;

And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

This incident reveals the dangerous situation that Joseph was in. He knew he could not acquiesce to his master's wife but to escape her, he had to leave his cloak behind and in doing so, was then subjected to false accusations.

Joseph had shown his faith in God by saying that to agree to her demands would be a sin against God as recorded in verse 9;

My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 

Thus his obedience to God put him in great peril that could have cost him his life but ultimately, his obedience to God made a way for him to go from being a household slave to being the prime minister of Egypt.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE CALLINGS DEMAND RIGOROUS PURSUIT TO FULFILL

1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 3 says this;

This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me.

Paul's apostleship was being judged by others and he made a defence of himself in this chapter.

To start, Paul laid out the credentials that qualified him to be accepted as an Apostle. He was free, he had seen the Lord Jesus and he had people who had grown in faith through him who were the seal of his apostleship.

Paul asserted that further to that, he and his preaching companion, Barnabas, had not only conducted themselves as apostles in every way but had  in fact, surpassed the standards of apostleship by relinquishing their rights for the sake of the gospel. 

They had forfeited food and drink that was rightly due them for the sake of the gospel. They had also lived and traveled as bachelors to simplify their outreach.

They worked with their hands to supply their own needs rather than depend on those they preached to for their livelihood to ensure that there would be no hindrance to the preaching of the gospel.

Paul eloquently defended his apostleship and in doing so, showed us the demanding rigor of accurately fulfilling the requirements of the office which was entrusted to him by the Lord.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO SHATTERED THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS

Isaiah chapter (29x) 30 verse 31 says this;

The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria; with his rod he will strike them down.

Assyria, a power that brought oppression to God's people, will be blown apart by the voice of the Lord. With the power of the Lord's authoritative decree, the Assyrian kingdom will be torn down and repeated blows of judgement against Assyria will be to the music of timbrels and harps as people celebrate the Lord's victory.

Isaiah 30 verse 15 says this;

“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength,

The salvation of God's people is rooted in repentance and rest. They gain their strength in quietness and trust but some of God's people will react to oppression by trying to fight in their own strength and when they fail, they will cry to the Lord and the Lord will have compassion and restore them and bind up their wounds.

Bless the Lord who will care for His people and will, by His might and power, completely disassemble the power structures of darkness.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO GIVES WARNING THROUGH HIS PROPHETS

Ezekiel chapter 4 verse 11 says this;

Also measure out a sixth of a hin of water and drink it at set times.

Chapter 4 of the book of Ezekiel records the commands that the Lord gave to Ezekiel to enact a siege against the city of Jerusalem in symbolic gestures in the sight of the people.

Ezekiel was instructed to take a block  of clay, draw Jerusalem on it and then mount a siege against the representation of Jerusalem. He was to erect ramps, build encampments against it and deploy battering rams around it.

Ezekiel was then instructed to lie on his left side in front of the model city for 390 days to bear the sins of Israel which were for 390 years.

After that was completed, he then was to lie on his right side for 40 days to bear the sin of Judah which were for 40 years.

The Lord then instructed Ezekiel to prepare the food and drink he was to consume during the enactment of the seige of Jerusalem. He was to measure out rations of grains and lentils of 230 grams a day to represent the hunger that the people in Jerusalem would experience under siege.

For water, he was to measure out about a sixth of a liter of water for each day. This tiny ration of water per day was to represent the thirst that the people of Jerusalem would experience under the approaching siege.

The Lord commanded that Ezekiel's elaborate enactment be in full view of everyone so that everyone would have fair warning of the upcoming judgement.

Amen.

OUR FATHER PREPARES FOR THE WEDDING OF HIS SON (2)

Our study of the book of the Song of Songs continues with verses 11 - 13.

They start with the man promising to make earrings of precious metal for his beloved.  She responds by calling the object of her affection a king. She recalls how her fragrance wafted across the table to capture his attention.

The passage reads this way;

We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver.

While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.

My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.

The woman, having captured the attention of her beloved with her fragrance, says that, to her, he was like a bundle of myrrh on her bosom.

Myrrh is a fragrant plant resin harvested for perfume and medicine and it was used in large quantities to wrap Jesus' body for burial after His crucifixion.

As such, this reference to myrrh by the bride, associates the king, who is her beloved,  with Jesus.

The Lord Jesus is the king in chapter 1 of the Song of songs.

He loves His bride and will make precious jewelry to adorn her and she adores her bridegroom and her sacrificial life in His honor is the perfume that reaches His table and gains her His attention.

Amen.

OUR FATHER PREPARES FOR THE WEDDING OF HIS SON

The book of the Song of Songs chapter 1 verses 9 - 10 says this;

I liken you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.

Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,  your neck with strings of jewels.

The first chapter of the book of Song of Songs is a conversation between a man and a woman with some interjections from friends who are listening in.

The two conversants are attracted to each other and describe each other in glowing terms of beauty, fragrances, adoration, precious articles and love.

Among these exchanges is the passage found in verses 9 and 10 which is spoken by the man to the woman telling her how attractive she is to him.

With the term of endearment, 'darling', he compares her to a mare among the chariot horses of Pharaoh.

The chariot horses of the king of Egypt would have been splendidly arrayed and trained to move with grace and aplomb even under pressure.

The man, by invoking the sight of Pharaoh's  horses, was praising the woman for being regal and poised and striking to look at.

He comments on the beauty of her cheeks that are accented by earrings and her neck by jeweled necklaces.

This is the attraction of the beauty of the woman to the man or a bride to her bridegroom.

The church, being the bride of Christ, is to rise in beauty, poise, aplomb and the fragrance of praise and sacrifice as she prepares for the return of her Bridegroom.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO WILL LAY WASTE THE STRONGHOLDS OF DARKNESS

Isaiah chapter 34 verse 15 says this;

The owl will nest there and lay eggs,  she will hatch them, and care for her young under the shadow of her wings; there also the falcons will gather, each with its mate.

This passage describes the natural activity of wildlife taking over the ruins of the kingdoms of darkness that will have been judged by the Lord and laid waste.

When the armies of this world mount up against the Lord, He will respond in anger.

The spiritual cities controlled by the kingdom of darkness and the earthly cities that they overlay will be torn down and left as smouldering rubble in the face of the anger of the Lord.

The strongholds and citadels of darkness will be destroyed so that there is nothing left of their kingdoms and the princes thereof will vanish.

The abandoned wasteland will experience a revival of nature as jackles and hyenas and wild goats traverse the land and find homes and places of rest.

Owls build nests, lay eggs and raise their young. Falcons gather and form pair bonds in the vacated land.

The Lord establishes His order in the land and His Spirit gathers and allots to those whom he has assigned an inheritance forever.

Amen.