OUR FATHER WHO IS AWESOME
From Psalm 47;
Clap your hands all you nations
Shout to God with cries of joy
He reigns from His righteous throne
He is awesome in power
God has ascended amid the shouts of joy
Amid the sound of trumpets did He rise
He is the King of all the earth
Sing to Him a psalm of praise
For the Lord is greatly exalted
The kings of the nations gather before Him
He gives an inheritance to all He loves
For the whole earth belongs to Him
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OUR FATHER WHO SET A TIME FOR EVERY CONTRAST TO OCCUR IN CREATION
The book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verses 4 - 5, says this;
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
This passage is an excerpt from the widely known listing of contrasting events under the sun for which seasons and times were set.
When the Lord took the strip of time out of eternity and programmed it to be the theater where the lives of men would play out, the parameters were set to allow for a full range of responses and demands upon men to occur.
Life for men on earth is thus experienced as the ups and downs where situations change and we are placed under varying stressors and graces over the course of our lives.
In the changing scenarios, circumstances bring grief and sorrow that cause men to weep while other periods of relief and celebrabration bring occasion for laughter.
Some times are tragic and we mourn while other times align to be hopeful and we dance in lightness of heart.
These ranges of experience test the hearts of men and measure their capacities and resilience.
Other times test our judgement and disernment. There are situations where scattering stones is the correct thing to do while other times are best served by gathering them. To percieve the difference and act accordingly reveals the faculties of tactical judgement we have developed.
There are situations that arise where interpersonal judgement is needed. There are times when we need to embrace and times when embracing is inappropriate. The interactions we have with others are measured in how we interprete the occasions and how we then calibrate our personal conduct.
Amen.
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OUR FATHER WHO JUDGEMENT OF THE NATIONS IS INESCAPABLE
The book of Isaiah chapter 15 verses 9 - 10 verse 9 and chapter 16 verse 1 says this;
(15-9) The waters of Dimon are full of blood, but I will bring still more upon Dimon—a lion upon the fugitives of Moab and upon those who remain in the land.
(16-1) Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela, across the desert, to the mount of Daughter Zion.
This passage describes the harsh judgement that will fall upon the people Moab where even though the waters are full blood, more judgement is brought upon them. A devouring lion is released upon them who are escaping as refugees from Moab and upon the those who opted to remain in the their land.
As the great destruction falls upon them, they are advised to send a tribute offering of lambs to ruler of land to the country of Zion.
In this time of desperation, their prayers to their own gods on the high places avail nothing and their only hope is in the intervention by the king of Zion.
They ask the neighboring nation of Zion to give shelter to the refugees from Moab and to conceal them from the destroyer. Nevertheless, their judgement leaves them devastated and feeble.
As Isaiah chapter 16 verse 14 says;
But now the Lord says: “Within three years, as a servant bound by contract would count them, Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble.”
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OUR FATHER WHO GAVE THE MESSIAH TO BE A COVENANT FOR THE PEOPLE
The book of Isaiah chapter 49 verse 9 says this;
to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’ “They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill.
This verse, speaking of the promised Messiah, declares that He was given to be a covenant for the people whose role would include restoring the land, reassigning the desolate inheritances, releasing the captives and liberating those in darkness.
The result of the ministry of the promised One would result in the people, likened to a flock of sheep, finding plentiful pasture along the roads on every barren hill.
They would lack nothing and be protected as verse 10 says;
They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.
He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.
Psalm 23 verses 1 and 2 mirrors this scenario almost exactly but from the point of view of the sheep;
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul;
Amen.
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OUR FATHER WHO TEARS DOWN THE WORKS OF FALSE PROPHETS
The book of Ezekiel chapter 13 verse 11 says this;
therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth.
This verse, a prophetic word to the false prophets in Israel whose spiritual guardianship over the nation of Israel was flimsy but who had disguised their flimsy defences as robust defenses by covering up their lack of substance with false assurances, warned them that their weak defenses would be destroyed by the Lord who would use rain, hailstones and violent winds to bring the false edifice down.
In their role as the prophets of Israel, the men should have been steadfast in their pursuit of the truth but instead were declaring visions that they did not see and prophesying peace that was not coming.
As a result, Israel's defences were weak and left them vulnerable and this brought the judgement of the Lord on the false prophets themselves and on their false works.
Amen.
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OUR FATHER WHO IS OUR HELP IN TIME OF DANGER
Psalm 53 54 verse 9 3 says this;
Arrogant foes are attacking me; ruthless people are trying to kill me—people without regard for God.
This verse is referencing the people who were hunting David at the behest of King Saul.
David was in hiding and even though he had been chosen to be the king of Israel by the Lord, Saul was still ruling the kingdom and had undertaken to kill David.
David described those who sought kill him as arrogant, ruthless and godless.
Inspite of having the full power of the government being brought to bear against him, David trusted in the Lord for his safety saying in verse 4;
Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.
Amen.
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OUR FATHER WHO WILL PROTECT THE REMNANT
The book of Isaiah chapter 17 verse 3 says this;
The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites,” declares the Lord Almighty.
This verse speaks of the dissolution of the both the kingdom of Syria (Aram) and the kingdom of Israel ( Ephraim ).
Their glory will depart and their cities will be left in ruins.
Only a remnant will exist in the land and that remnant will regard and honor the Lord their God and they will ignore the infrastructure that existed in the land to serve the worship of idols.
This remnant will see tumult as the nations roar against them but their enemies will be suddenly disappear.
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OUR FATHER WHO REACHES TO SAVE US FROM SIN BY SENDING A REDEEMER
The book of Isaiah chapter 59 verses 4 - 5 says this;
No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
This passage captures one of the ways that the evil in the hearts of mankind manifests as injustice and how wicked practices are inducted into the lives of people.
In sinful societies, no one pursues true justice and no one makes honest and accurate cases.
Deception and fallacies are the tools used to manipulate the status quo to instigate trouble and crisis' and introduce demonic and destructive policies.
The concepts of wickedness are brought in disguised as innocuous ideas that seem wholesome and fair but once these cultures are adopted and people are entangled in them, they hatch into venomous snakes and they fatally afflict anyone who ingests them.
This is but one of the techniques by which our societies are dragged away from God and brought under the subjugation of the realm of darkness.
To redeem mankind from this darkness, a saviour had to be sent. The Lord Jesus Himself took action to save us.
Amen.
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