OUR FATHER WHO ANSWERS THOSE WHO FAST ACCORDING TO RIGHTEOUSNESS

The book of Isaiah chapter 58 verses 4 - 7 says this;

Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves?

Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

This passage reprimands God's people for improperly handling the institution of fasting.

Whereas fasting provides a priority channel into the administration of heaven, there are ways to nullify the efficacy of fasting where we sustain an;

• atmosphere of contention
• atmosphere of strife
• atmosphere of violence

The rudiments of fasting (like humbling oneself, dressing in sackcloth and covering with ashes) are not supposed to be the only components of the practice.

Here, the Lord gives a full prescription of fasting beyond the basics;

• Mitigate the effects of injustice
• Remove entanglements of oppression
• Free the oppressed from their captors
• Destroy the strongholds of oppression
• Provide food for the hungry
• Provide shelter for the wanderers
• Provide clothing for them with no clothing
• Be attentive to the needs of our neighbours

Fasting that includes adherance to these provisos will garner the attention of the Lord and when we need Him and reach out to Him, He will respond as it says in verse 9;

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

Amen.

33

OUR FATHER WHO PREPARES HIS PEOPLE

The book of Isaiah chapter 13 verse 4 says this;

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 verse describes the tumult of the assembling together of the great army of the Lord Almighty to rise up against Babylon who was the enemy of God.

Preceded by a covert action to incapacitate the nobles and leaders of the kingdom of Babylon, those who have been prepared by the Lord are mustered together and this gathering is thunderously noisy.

This spiritual army is brought together from all over the earth. They are an international force comprised of those on earth and those in heaven as verse 5 says;

They come from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens—the Lord and the weapons of his wrath—to destroy the whole country.

Their target is the rebellious kingdom of Babylon whose ambition was the total usurpation of the earth in the service of godlessness but the day of reckoning approaches as verse 7 says;

Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.

2

OUR FATHER WHO KNOWS THE THOUGHTS AND INTENTIONS OF THE HEARTS OF ALL BEINGS

The book of Isaiah chapter 14 verse 13 says this;

NIV :

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.

AMP :

“But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven;

I will raise my throne above the stars of God;

I will sit on the mount of assembly In the remote parts of the north.

Revisiting this verse, having noted that the inner thoughts of the king of Babylon as he formulated his plan to fulfil his ambition were known and revealed in this passage, we see that he wants to ascend to heaven which implies that he is plotting his ascension from a position on earth.

He then decides that he would then need to gain dominance over the denizens of heaven called the stars of God.  

He then describes the topography of heaven that will serve as his headquarters once he has gained rulership in heaven.

In the next verse ( verse 14 ), the ultimate goal is revealed. From the highest point in heaven, the king of Babylon then intended to raise himself higher that the clouds of heaven so that he would then be in a position that would be equivalent to the God who is the creator of heaven and earth.

‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’

But having plotted these things in his heart, his plan is discovered and he is cast down to the pit as verse 15 says;

But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.

24

OUR FATHER WHOSE JUDGES HIS OWN PEOPLE FIRST

The book of Isaiah chapter 9 verse 11 says this;

But the Lord has strengthened Rezin’s foes against them and has spurred their enemies on.

This verse, speaking of God's people who in arrogance, plan how they would recover from judgement even better than they were before and in response, the Lord galvanizes the enemies of his people to bring greater judgement upon them but they do not return to God.

As verse 13 says;

Yet the people do not turn back to Him who struck them, Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts.

8

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO SAVE THE WORLD

The book of Isaiah chapter 9 verses 4 - 5 says this;

For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.

Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.

This passage prophetically looks ahead to the time when the reign of oppression over God's people by the kingdom of darkness will be brought to an end because the instruments of oppression (namely the yoke, the bar and the rod) will be destroyed.

The blood-soaked accoutrements of war like boots and uniforms will be burned up and eliminated.

The reason given for this dramatic change of fortune for God's people is that the great Son of God will arrive as described in Isaiah chapter 9 verses 6 - 7;

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.

He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.

The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

Amen.

6

OUR FATHER IS THE ULTIMATE JUDGE OVER ALL EXISTENCE

The book of Isaiah chapter 14 verse 19 says this;

But you are cast out of your tomb like a rejected branch; you are covered with the slain, with those pierced by the sword, those who descend to the stones of the pit.

Like a corpse trampled underfoot,

This verse speaks of the final resting place of the anti-christ.

Any semblance of dignity or noteworthiness will  be stripped away. His personal tomb will reject Him and he will suffer the fate of those he killed.

He will be thrown into a mass grave among the innumerable who have fallen with him.

The memory of him will be trampled and erased as he descends  to the very bottom of the pit and covered with the dead.

4

OUR FATHER WHOSE PEOPLE SHOULD CONCERN THEMSELVES WITH THE KINGDOM OF GOD

The book of Isaiah chapter 5 verse 9 says this; 

The Lord Almighty has declared in my hearing: “Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants.

This verse is speaking of the judgement that will descend upon the God's people whom He had carefully cultivated but who paid no heed to the Lord.

They concerned themselves with increasing their holdings and displacing everyone else out of the land.

As such, the great mansions they had built as monuments to themselves would lie desolate as judgement descends.

Amen.

4