OUR FATHER WHO SAVES HIS REMNANT FROM THEIR ENEMIES

The book of Isaiah chapter 17 verses 11 - 14 says this (in purple text);

You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines, though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain.

Woe to the many nations that rage—they rage like the raging sea! Woe to the peoples who roar—they roar like the roaring of great waters!

Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale.

In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who plunder us.

This passage, in the context of a series of prophecies against the cities in the area of Israel, Isaiah records that Damascus will face destruction as will Aroer. The fortified city of Ephraim will be destroyed but there will be a remnant left in Aram that will have the same level of glory that Israel did.

Israel herself will be weakened, emaciated  and ransacked and all her agricultural efforts will fail and they will be subjected to diseases and incurable pain.

However, there will be a remnant left there as well that will turn to their maker and not regard the idols that had been set up in their land.

The remnant of the land, being blessed by God, will be under pressure from those around them who will rage against them with the roar of mighty waters. Those faithful to the Lord will be subject to plundering and looting by those who did not.

The Lord will bring upon the enemies of His people a rapid judgement that will strike them in the evening with terror and by morning, they will be gone.

As verse 14 says;

In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who plunder us.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE STANDARD IS JUSTICE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS

The book of Amos chapter 5 verses 6 - 7 says this;

Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire; it will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it.

There are those who turn justice into bitterness  and cast righteousness to the ground.

This passage, in the context of judgement being brought down on the people of Israel, counsels them to "Seek the Lord and live".

The Lord's kingdom is one of justice and righteousness and when justice is replaced with injustice and righteousness is repudiated, the judgement of an unquenchable fire will sweep through the land and will devour the civilization.

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OUR FATHER WHO JUDGES HIS PEOPLES ENEMIES

The book of Obadiah chapter 1 verse 9 says this;

Your warriors, Teman, will be terrified, and everyone in Esau’s mountains will be cut down in the slaughter.

Because of the violence that Esau did to Jacob, Edom is brought under judgement and it is so unprecedented that the warriors become terrified.

The hill country territory occupied by Esau's descendants will be overrun and the inhabitants will all be cut down.

This prophecy could be interpreted to reveal the struggle between Essau and Jacob in terms of the internal struggle between the flesh and the spirit that all believers experience.

If we take Esau and Jacob to metaphorically represent the flesh and the spirit respectively, this prophecy in Obadiah explains Jacob's (the spirit's) the ultimate victory over Esau (the flesh).

As verse 10 says;

“Because of the violence you did against your brother Jacob, Shame shall cover you [completely], And you shall be cut off forever.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO REQUIRES JUSTICE

The book of Amos chapter 5 verse 3 - 4 says this;

This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel: “Your city that marches out a thousand strong will have only a hundred left; your town that marches out a hundred strong will have only ten left.”

This is what the Lord says to Israel: “Seek me and live;

This passage, in the words of the Lord Himself to Israel, foretells of a decimation of the people where cities of a thousand soldiers are reduced to a hundred and towns of a hundred a reduced to 10.

With these terrible fates awaiting them, Israel is councelled to seek the Lord so that they might live.

Israel, while saying that the Lord was with them, were contravening righteousness is these ways;

• Turning justice to bitterness
• Defaming righteous conduct
• Unfair taxes on the straw of the poor
• Unfair taxes on the grain of the poor
• Oppression of the innocent
• Corruption of bribery
• Unfairness towards the poor in courts
• Worshiping enshrined political leaders
• Lifting up idols on pedestals
• Worshiping false gods

With these things happening in Israel, the Lord gives advice to them in verse 14;

Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO PROVIDES ASYLUM TO FLEEING REFUGEES

The book of Isaiah chapter 15 16 verses 11 - 14 2 - 5 says this;

Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.

“Make up your mind,” Moab says. “Render a decision. Make your shadow like night—at high noon.

Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees.

Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer.”

The oppressor will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land.

In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it—one from the house of David—one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.

Revisiting this passage where we looked at the Moabite women scrambling to cross the Arnon river and their desperate messages to Israel to grant asylum to the refugees from Moab, we expand the scope to include verse 5 which distinctly prophecies the emergence of the Messianic throne from the house of David and that it would be the throne that seeks justice and fasttracks  righteousness.

This throne would be established in love and faithfulness.

In the atmosphere of catastrophic ruin  and the frantic escape attempts described in the passage, the abrupt mention of the Messianic throne captures the context in which most people encounter the kingdom of God in their lives and formally place themselves under its dominion.

During a time of distress and displacement, we frantically seek salvation and it is in these times that the righteous throne of Christ reaches our attention and we  cry out for mercy to the One who represents life and hope when all seems lost.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO RENDERS HIS PEOPLE'S ENEMIES INOOPERATIVE

The book of Isaiah chapter 19 verse 14 says this;

The Lord has poured into them a spirit of dizziness; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.

Among the methods used to subdue the oppressors of God's people, the one indicated here is the discombobulation of the senses where the functionaries of the oppresive regime are rendered ineffectual by disorientation and dizziness. 

The regime's hands are weakened when her representatives are unable to maintain balance and become nauseated as though seasick. They slip and stagger in their own vomit and cannot regain a clear mind or strength.

With this and other methods, the Lord is then able to extricate his people from under the control of an oppresive regime and free His people.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSES JUDGEMENT CAN BE TARGETED TO EXEMPT THOSE HE FAVORS

The book of Amos chapter 4 verse 7 says this;

“I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another.

One field had rain; another had none and dried up.

This verse, in the context of multiple attempts by the Lord to persuade the people of Israel to return to him, speaks of the imposition of the hardship of drought on the people of Israel so thatt their crops failed and they would turn to God.

After they had seeded their fields and the crops were partially grown, rain was withheld and the plants would dry up but Israel did not return to their God.

A point that can be derived from this particular verse is that the Lord has the power to create a differentiated season of judgement where some towns are struck with drought while others recieve rain and even more granularly, some people's fields are subject to the drought while others are exempt.

Whereas phenomena such as drought are understood to generally afflict everyone in a region, this verse depicts the ability of God, in a time of judgement, to single out some communities for judgement and even single out individuals for judgement while others around them are exempted.

Amen

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OUR FATHER WHO REVEALS HIS PLANS TO HIS PROPHETS

The book of Amos chapter 3 verses 4 - 5 says this;

Does a lion roar in the thicket when it has no prey?

Does it growl in its den when it has caught nothing?

Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground when no bait is there?

Does a trap spring up from the ground if it has not caught anything?

This passage, as part of a declaration of judgement upon Israel, emphasises the concomitant results of particular circumstances;

•  A lion growls in its den when it has prey
• A bird is lured to a trap by bait
• A trap springs from the ground when tripped
• Hearts tremble when a trumpet sounds

These automatic associations are to be seen as parallels of the relationship between the Lord speaking and prophecies being uttered.

Whenever the Lord is about to undertake an action, the prophets are apprised of His plan and they harbour the witness of the Lord's intentions ahead of time.

As verse 7 says;

Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

Amen

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