OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO RESCUE US

The book of Isaiah chapter 50 verse 2 says this;

When I came, why was there no one? When I called, why was there no one to answer?

Was my arm too short to deliver you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you?

By a mere rebuke I dry up the sea, I turn rivers into a desert; their fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst.

This passage, preceded by a summation of the separation of mankind from our God because of our sins and transgressions, expresses the concern of the Lord Jesus when He arrived on earth to reconcile us to God, that He was not met by the  faith of the people expecting His salvation.

The Lord asked the people if they felt that His arm was too short to rescue them or that He was not strong enough to save them.

He assured them that He was indeed powerful enough to save them because at a mere word, He could instantly dry up the sea and the rivers.

He assured them, that He has the power to cover the whole of the heavens in darkness as it says in verse 3;

I clothe the heavens with darkness and make sackcloth its covering.”

This harkens to the book of Revelation chapter 6 where the sun is turn black like sackcloth.

The Lord Jesus, speaking in Luke chapter 18 verse 8 asks a similar question about when he arrives on earth for the second time;

I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

May He find faith in us.

Amen.

4

OUR FATHER WHOSE JUDGEMENT FALLS WHEN A THRESHOLD OF LAWLESSNESS IS REACHED

The book of Genesis chapter 19 verses 4- 5 says this;

 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 

 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”

This passage illustrates the condition of bondage and lawlessness that a society can degrade to. 

Visiting angel's had come to the the city and were being hosted by Abraham's nephew Lot. The whole population of men of the town, inflamed by a predatory spirit, hunted down the guests of Lot and demanded that they be made available to them to exploit.

To have a civil atmosphere that condones or encourages the rape of visitors is one that has reached close to the point of obliteration from the realm of the spirit.

Amen.

2

OUR FATHER WHO RESCUES HIS PEOPLE FROM THE OPPRESSORS BY MAKING THE  FUNTIONARIES OF THE REGIME INTO FOOLS

The book of Isaiah chapter 19 verses 12 -13 says this;

Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the Lord Almighty has planned against Egypt.

The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray.

In Egypt, hierarchies of advisors were in place to give counsel to the goverment to ensure that the power structure was maintained and to ensure that the existing political establishment was entrenched and stable.

With good advice, the kingdom could avoid pitfalls of unrest that could potentially emerge during times of natural and economic calamities.

However, Egypt happened to have chosen the Lord's own people to be their slaves and to oppress them into total submission.

The Lord, hearing their cry, began an endeavour to extricate His people out of the grip of the Egyptians.

This undertaking had many facets including the direct application of debilitating natural disasters to the land of Egypt ( famously known as the 10 plagues of Egypt ) which were designed to both weaken the kingdom's economy and resolve. They were also designed to humiliate the god's of Eypt by demonstrating that there was a higher authority than they in respect the natural phenomena that occurred in the kingdom of Egypt.

Besides these phenomena, other forms of pressure were applied to the kingdom and in this passage, we see the advisors of the Egypt being stripped of their wisdom and converted into fools.

The effect of this deprecation of the wise men of Egypt is that Egypt was unable to understand what was happening to their country and they could not predict what coming next and thus could not tell the nation what to prepare for.

Another effect of the absence of wise counsel was that the kingdom of Egypt was easily deceived by any rumour or notion that swept across the country from Memphis to Zoan. 

The people who were being counted on to guide the people correctly through the barrage of plagues, instead led the citizens of Egypt astray and as their condition  worsened, they were unable to do anything else but to relinquish their slaves and the children of Israel were released from bondage.

Amen.

2

OUR FATHER FROM WHOM SEPARATION RESULTS IN THE FAILURE OF EVEN THE BEST EFFORTS OF MEN

The book of Isaiah chapter 17 verse 10 ( purple ) says this;

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.

Continuing in chapter 17, we see that the people Israel had forgotten their God and their direct experience of the consequences of this is that their most careful efforts to bring forth a crop of grapes failed so that their hopes of being able get reprieve from the disease and pain that afflicted them using their wine, were dashed.

Those who undertook to oppress God's people and plunder what was theirs are met with a sudden terror and they are evicted from the territory. As verse Isaiah chapter 17 verse 14 concluded;

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.

Amen.

2

OUR FATHER WHO WILL RAISE A 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.

A day of judgement will fall on Israel and Damascus bringing an end to the era of military and political success in both Ephraim and Aram. 

However, there will be a remnant that will emerge from Aram that will be as great as Israel was at its height.

This remnant will look to their maker and will abandon all idols and the accoutrements of idol worship. They will sincerely turn to the Lord and in doing so, will show forth His  power and glory.

This passage points forward to a time when the remnant of gentiles will forsake their pagan practices and honor the God of Israel and their interactions with the God of Israel cause them to rise is glory equal to that of Israel when Israel was in harmony with their God.

Thank you Lord for making a way for the whole world to be saved and added into you kingdom

Amen.

12

OUR FATHER WHO FREES HIS PEOPLE FROM BONDAGE

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.

When rescuing His people from oppressive regimes as He did when saving the children of Israel from Egypt, the Lord uses multiple ways of weakening these regimes and this verse details one of them.

The functionaries of the regime are bathed in a spirit of dizziness which negates their sense of equilibrium and they stagger in confusion and directionlessness in all the activities that they are tasked with.

When the officials of the regime are in this state, the whole country careens from one political crisis to another and becomes increasingly unstable and debilitated. 

They can be likened to a drunkard staggering in his own vomit where inebriation removes all the sensibilities needed to escape even a small pool of vomit.

In this state, along with other pressures brought against them such as economic stagnation and the loss of logical guidance from their policy advisors, the regime loses its grip on the Lord's people who are then freed from bondage.

Amen.

12

OUR FATHER WHOSE JUDGEMENT WILL FALL ON THOSE WHO EXCLUSIVELY PREOCCUPY THEMSELVES WITH THE PURSUIT OF WEALTH 

(for May 25th 2024)

The book of Isaiah chapter 23 verses 1 - 2 says this;

A prophecy against Tyre: Wail, you ships of Tarshish! For Tyre is destroyed and left without house or harbor. From the land of Cyprus word has come to them.

Be silent, you people of the island and you merchants of Sidon, whom the seafarers have enriched.

The port cities of Tyre and Sidon, for their preoccupation with the pursuit of wealth and comfort, are judged and brought to ruin.

All their business partners such as the fortress of  Tarshish (thought to be near Gibraltar) and the traders of grain from Egypt who depended on these two porta for distribution are left stranded with  no reliable places left to sell their products.

Tyre and Sidon are faced with a judgement of 70 years of ruination such that they would be in the same condition as Babylon was after Assyria left it in shambles as verse 13 says;

Look at the land of the Babylonians, this people that is now of no account!

The Assyrians have made it a place for desert creatures; they raised up their siege towers, they stripped its fortresses bare and turned it into a ruin.

After their season of judgement is over, these two ports will have their fortunes revived to serve the purposes of the righteous people of God as verses 17 and 18 says;

At the end of seventy years, the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 

Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord; they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the Lord, for abundant food and fine clothes.

Amen.

4

OUR FATHER WHO DWELLS IN US

(May 25th 2024)

From Psalm 132

I will not rest

Sleep will not touch my eyes

Till You live in my heart

I will not rest

Sleep will not touch my eyes

Till Your Spirit dwells in my life

Lord welcome to Your resting place

I am clothed with Your righteousness

May Your faithful ones be blessed and sing for joy (x3)(x6)