OUR LORD WHO CAN DEFEND HIS PEOPLE AGAINST FORMIDABLE FOES

Isaiah chapter 36 verse 13 says this;

Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!

Assyria had undertaken a military campaign against her neighbours and had successfully conquered them and now, having captured all the towns of Judah, was at Jerusalem to take control over Judah's capital city.

King Hezekiah had refused to capitulate to Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, so Sennacherib sent his field commander to try to talk Hezekiah into surrendering.

As the commander approached the city, Hezekiah sent out three emissaries to meet him.

The commander, speaking to the emissaries, was genuinely perplexed by the stance that Hezekiah was taking against Assyria. He could not see any resource that Hezekiah had that could possibly save him from the might of the Assyrian army.

He said to Judah's emmisaries that if Hezekiah was depending on Egypt, he should know that Egypt was an unreliable ally and would let him down like they had many others before.

The commander also asked, if Hezekiah was depending on the Lord their God to save them, was it not Hezekiah himself who took down all the high places and altars that belonged to him? How then could they call to the Lord and entreat Him to save them?

These statements were the first volley in the psychological war against the people of Jerusalem. Simply put, the commander told the people of Jerusalem these things: "Your ally is weak and will not come to help you" and "Your God has abandoned you for removing His altars and He will not save you".

The commander's understanding of what happened regarding the high places and altars in Israel under King Hezekiah was incorrect but his words would no doubt have had a disconcerting effect on those who did not know what Hezekiah's fight against the high places and altars in Israel was about.

The phychological assault being carried out in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem, continued:

The commander highlighted how pitiful the strength of Jerusalem was. He said, "Make a bargain with Assyria. We  will provide you with two thousand horses so that you can try to fight us together with your ally Egypt but even with our help, you could not even defeat our most junior officer".

The commander then changed tactics by  saying; "I am not attacking Jerusalem on my own volition. Your Lord is the one who commanded me to march against you and destroy your nation".

The emmisaries, sensing how much  these words were damaging the morale of the people of Jerusalem tried to persuade the commander to speak in Aramaic so that the Hebrew-speaking citizens could not understand what he was saying.

The commander refused and pressed further by addressing the people of Jerusalem who were sitting on the walls of the city listening to the conversation.

"Do not listen to your king Hezekiah for he is decieving you. Hezekiah cannot save you".

The commander then promised the people of Jerusalem that if they made peace with him and stopped resisting him, he would grant them the benefits described in Isaiah chapter 36 verse 16 - 17;

Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern, until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

This promise made by the commander of the Assyrian army sounds surprisingly like the promise made by Lord to the people of Israel in Micah chapter 4 verse 4 that goes like this;

But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.

This sounds like the scriptures that they were familiar with were being used against them to convince them that the Assyrian king had the same intention for them as their own God.

Finally, the commander held up the irresistable power of the Assyrian army as the reason to surrender. He told all the people who were listening that the gods of all the other nations whom the Assyrians had conquered were unable to help their people in the same way that the God of the people of Judah would be unable to help them against the Assyrians.

The people remained silent in response to this speech by the commander as Hezekiah had directed them.

Then the three emmisaries returned to report to Hezekiah with their clothes torn as a sign of their distress.

The Lord had been blasphemed by Assyria's field commander who was speaking on behalf of King Sennacherib and the Lord took a decision to fight on behalf of Judah and the Assyrian 185,000 man army was obliterated to a man overnight and Sennacherib escaped back to the city of Nineveh where he was ultimately killed by his own sons.

No matter  what words are spoken against us to discourage  and demoralize us,  we must remember the power of the Lord that supersedes any power assembled by kings and princes.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO REVIVES HIS TEMPLE 

Ezekiel the prophet had been in Babylon during the exile of Israel for about 14 years when he was lifted up in a spiritual vision and placed on a very high mountain where he could overlook a part of Israel that appeared like a city.

He was then taken down to the city where he encountered a man who looked like he was made of bronze and the man had a linen cord and a measuring rod and he started showing Ezekiel around and taking measurments of the buildings for Ezekiel to record.

Ezekiel chapter 40 verses 13 - 14 says this;

Then he measured the gateway from the top of the rear wall of one alcove to the top of the opposite one; the distance was twenty-five cubits from one parapet opening to the opposite one.  

He measured along the faces of the projecting walls all around the inside of the gateway—sixty cubits. The measurement was up to the portico facing the courtyard.

This passage records two measurements of some details of the temple that are exerpted from a broader and very detailed description of the metrics of a great temple that Ezekiel saw in his vision.  

Ezekiel's encounter with the man of bronze appearance is described like this;

He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. The man said to me, “Son of man, look carefully and listen closely and pay attention to everything I am going to show you for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the people of Israel everything you see.”

The man led Ezekiel through the whole building complex carefully measuring the rooms and walls and courtyards of the temple and he also explained to Ezekiel what some of the spaces were for.

These measurements that were given to and recorded by Ezekiel in chapter 40 to chapter 48 of the book of Ezekiel, are detailed enough to be used to recreate refined architectural models of the temple.

This spiritual temple alludes to the existence future temple of the Lord that will occupy the place in Jerusalem where the original temple stood when the new Jerusalem descends from heaven to the earth.

It could also be a representation of the temple in each believer that is mentioned in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 19 that says ;

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

The spaces and functions of the temple of our bodies may represent the spiritual allocations that our bodies can contain and fulfill in service of the Spirit of God in each believer.

Bless the Lord whose glory fills His temple.

Amen.

OUR FATHER SAVES HIS PEOPLE FROM FALSE PROPHETS

Ezekiel chapter 13 verses 20 - 23  says this;

“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against your magic charms with which you ensnare people like birds and I will tear them from your arms; I will set free the people that you ensnare like birds. I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands, and they will no longer fall prey to your power. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 

Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies, when I had brought them no grief, and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives,  therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will save my people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

The prophet Ezekiel was instructed by the Lord to set his face against the daughters of his own people who had taken it upon themselves to talk like prophets out of their own imaginations.

These women had adopted the practice of divination along with a form of witchcraft that worked by sewing bands around the wrists and making veils for the heads of people of every stature to capture their souls.

With these spiritual instruments of control and manipulation, they prophaned the Lord to His people and then deceived those who could be deceived and caused them to bring about the deaths of the innocent and spare the lives of the guilty.

The Lord, through the prophet Ezekiel, declared His opposition to the practice of capturing the souls of people as though they were birds. 

The Lord declared that He would tear off the bands and veils that the women of Israel were using as charms against their fellow Israelites. Doing this would set the captured souls free from the bondage that was placed on them.

The Lord also declared that he would shut down the ability to see false visions and the practice of divination in their midst. They had been using these spiritual weapons to discourage the righteous by causing them guilt over things that the Lord did not condemn them for and they also released the wicked from guilt that would have caused them to turn from their wicked ways.

The Lord declared that He would intervene to save His people from the evil  practices that the daughters of Israel were practicing.

The singular power that the Lord has to traverse the realm of the spirit to cancel the workings of witchcraft in the defense of his people is a potent signal to those who practice it that the God of Israel is truly the mighty Lord over all things.

Bless the Lord who works to save His people from entrapment by witchcraft even when they don't know that they are ensnared and makes the diviners and witches to know that He is the Lord.

Amen.

OUR FATHER CAN GIVE US FAVOUR WITH MEN

Genesis chapter 39 verses 11 - 21 records the conflict that arose between Potiphar's wife and Potiphar's slave, Joseph. The passage reads this way;

Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside. She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside. 

When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed. When he heard that I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.”

 So she left his garment beside her until his master came home. Then she spoke to him with these words, “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me; and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.”

Now when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your slave did to me,” his anger burned.  

So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail. But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.

Potiphar's wife desired Joseph and entreated him to have a relationship with her  but he remained steadfast in his conviction that he would not violate his master's trust and refused even to the point of escaping her grasp by leaving his garment behind.

She, angered by his rebuffs, decided to falsely accuse Joseph of attacking her and used his garment that he had left in her hand as evidence of his attack.

She held on to her evidence until Joseph's master came home and she told him the story of Joseph's  attack against her.

Potiphar's anger burned and he took Joseph and put him in prison where the king's prisoners were confined and while he was in jail, the Lord gave him favour with the chief jailer.

At first pass, the story says that Potiphar's wife falsely accused Joseph of assaulting her and when Potiphar came home, he heard the accusation, burned with anger and threw Joseph in the maximum security prison to pay for the crime against his wife.

On the second pass, the story changes and a different narrative emerges from the text.

Potiphar, we must remember, was a powerful man in Egypt. He was the captain of Pharaoh's personal security team. This position put him in close contact with other officials involved in Pharaoh's personal and official service.

To be in this position of responsibility for the protection of Pharaoh's safety, Potiphar must have been skilled at gathering intelligence and also able to read body language and interprete the behaviour patterns in people. 

With these details about Potiphar in mind,  the narrative becomes more complex.

Potiphar returned home and his wife confronted him carrying evidence of Joseph's attack against her and she  practically accused her husband of bringing in a Hebrew slave to make sport of her.

The text then says that Potiphar's anger burned but it does not say against whom his anger was burning.

The text then says that Potiphar took Joseph and put him in prison where the king's prisoners are kept.  While in jail, the story continues with Joseph quickly gaining the same level  of  responsibility in prison that he had while working  for Potiphar.

This is interesting because it appears that Potiphar had deliberately placed Joseph in a prison at Pharaoh's palace where he had strong connections with the officials there. It also appears that Potiphar had commended Joseph to the chief jailer because Joseph was given authority to act as an administrator in the jail to assist with the orderly running of prison affairs.

So piecing together this new narrative, we get this.

Potiphar arrived home and was confronted by his wife's story of an assault against her by his slave, Joseph. 

Potiphar, reading the situation, quickly realised that the accusation was false. 

His wife said that Joseph had come to assault her and that she screamed and he left his garment behind and ran outside.

This implies that she must have waited until his garment was completely off before she began to scream in order for him to have left it behind. It seems a little askew to have an attacker completely disrobe before calling for help.

He also noticed that his wife was clinging  to Joseph's garment as evidence against him while Potiphar knew that if she had truly been assaulted, she would have eschewed contact with her attacker's clothing.

However, to preserve his prestige, Potiphar could not be seen to be taking the side of his slave against his own wife so he was compelled to 'imprison' his slave.

He took Joseph to a prison ran by his friend the chief jailer and asked him to keep Joseph there and advised him that he would find him useful in the administration of the prison.

This way, Potiphar could rightly announce to his wife and the chattering classes that his wife's attacker was in the super-max security prison but at the same time, Joseph could be favored and be in an environment where he could exercise his administrative talents.

That prison ultimately became the launching pad for Joseph's meteoric rise into the position of administrator over the whole country of Egypt answering only to Pharaoh himself.

The Lord can truly give His people favour with men.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO FIRST JUDGES HIS OWN BUT DEFENDS THEM AGAINST THEIR ENEMIES

Isaiah chapter 29 verses 3 - 5 contain the words of the Lord speaking to the town of  Ariel where king David once encamped. In the context of this chapter, this small town stands in for the city of David, Jerusalem or at a meta level, the people of Zion. The verses say this;

I will camp against you and encircle you, And I will hem you in with siege works, And I will raise fortifications against you.

Then you [Jerusalem] will be brought low, You will speak from the earth, And from the dust where you lie face down Your muffled words will come. Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the earth [like one produced by a medium], And your speech will whisper and squeak from the dust.

But the multitude of your enemies [that assault you] will become like fine dust, And the multitude of the tyrants like the chaff which blows away; And it will happen in an instant, suddenly [that your enemy is destroyed].

The Lord brings judgment on his own people first. He sets up camp against them and encircles them. He traps them with siege works and fortifications.

And Jerusalem is brought low. They are pressed face down into the soil and they whisper from the dust like a ghost from the ground. Jerusalem is judged and sentenced to be disciplined because they adopted an insincere religious tradition described in Isaiah chapter 29 verse 13 this way;

“Because this nation approaches [Me only] with their words And honors Me [only] with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me is a tradition that is learned by rote [without any regard for its meaning],

The Lord judges his own people for insincerity and indifference  but when the enemies of God's people try to take advantage of the situation to obliterate them  while they are still  reeling  from their discipline, they are pulverized into a fine dust and they are blown away. 

This will happen suddenly and the enemies of God's people will be suddenly destroyed.

Amen.

OUR FATHER DISPLINES THOSE HE LOVES

In 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verses 7 - 8, the Apostle Paul, writing to the church at Corinth, says this;

For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! 

The apostle Paul compares the lives of the believers at Corinth with the lives of the apostles. 

Whereas the believers in Corinth were rich, politically powerful, wise and strong, Paul describes the apostles as condemned prisoners who were put on parade as a public spectacle of weak, dishonorable fools and that they were brutally treated and left destitute.

Nevertheless, the apostles were still expected to model exemplary conduct even towards those who treated them so harshly.

The members of the church at Corinth, being the spiritual children of the apostles, were blessed abundantly and some had began to believe that the advantages they had were as a result of their own merit rather than the blessings that they had received from others and from the Lord.  

The Apostle Paul reprimanded them for boasting about their condition as though they had earned it rather than humbly acknowledging that they were recipients of spiritual blessings by the works of others.

Proverbs chapter 3 verse 11 says; 

My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, 

In matters of the spirit, it is wise to heed the discipline of those with spiritual authority over us such as our fathers in Christ for they can guide us away from spiritual errors and faults that can curtail our growth and maturity in the things of God.

Amen.

OUR FATHER IN WHOM WE MUST TRUST 

Isaiah chapter 7 verse 6 says this;

“Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.”

When Ahaz was king of Judah,  he got news that the kingdom of Aram under King Rezin had allied with the kingdom of Israel under King Pekah, son of Remaliah, against Judah.

Upon hearing this, he and his people were stunned to the core and were as when  the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind as it says in verse 2.

The Lord, speaking through Isaiah, first told Ahaz to be careful and calm. He told him not to fear because even though Rezin and Pekah were plotting to destroy Judah and divide it among themselves, they would not succeed.

The Lord, in verses 8 and 9, gave Ahaz a perspective of the threat against him that reads this way;

“‘It will not take place,  it will not happen, for the head of Aram is Damascus,  and the head of Damascus is only Rezin. 

Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people. The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.

When the kingdom of Judah faced an existential threat where even their own brother kingdom had allied against them, the Lord counselled the house of David to understand that the enemies rallying against them were temporal and limited in power.

The Lord charged Ahaz and the house of David to trust in God because if they could not have faith in the Lord when faced with such minor threats, they surely did not have the strength to stand.

As the end of  Isaiah chapter 7 verse 9 says;

If you will not believe [and trust in God and His message], be assured that you will not be established.”’”

Trust is the Lord.

Amen.

 GREAT

I CALL UPON YOU LORD MY HEART IS HUMBLE 

WHEN I THINK OF ALL THE THINGS THAT YOU'VE DONE

ALL THINGS THAT ARE CAME FROM YOU JESUS

AND FOR YOU ALL THINGS WERE BEGUN

GREAT, GREAT IS YOUR POWER

GREAT, GREAT IS YOUR HONOR

GREAT, GREAT IS YOUR RIGHTEOUS NAME

BRIGHT, BRIGHT IS YOUR GLORY

BRIGHT, BRIGHT AND SO HOLY

BRIGHT, BRIGHT AS A BURNING FLAME

OUR FATHER WHO HAS MEANS BEYOND OUR IMAGINATION

John chapter 6 verse 9 says this;

“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

As Jesus moved around the countryside,  the sick and injured were being miraculously healed and people were amazed at the signs and wonders they were witnessing.

Crowds began searching for Him because the people wanted to be near where the power of God was flowing.

One afternoon, the crowd found where Jesus and his disciples were and began moving towards them. 

Jesus asked the disciple Philip where they were going to get the food to feed the huge crowd that was approaching them.

Philip felt that  feeding the multitude was too big of an undertaking because of the high cost. He calculated that it would take half a years' wages just to give each person one bite of food.

Another disciple named Andrew, found a boy in the crowd who had five loaves of barley bread and two small fish. The boy was probably a street hawker trying to sell the food to the crowd.

He brought the boy to Jesus saying that he had five loaves and two fishes but he asked the question;  "...how far will they go among so many?” 

This is the question where most of us stop in our tracks pertaining the things of the kingdom of God.

-How far will they go among so many?

-How could I possibly make a difference when I   have so little?

-How can I encourage people when I have so   little courage myself?

-How can I pray for the sick when I barely can   muster enough faith for my own healing?

-How can the Lord use me in His kingdom when   I am so awkward and insignificant?

Between Philip's economic limitation and Andrew's quantitative limitation, there was no way to give the crowd anything to eat but Jesus instructed His disciples to get everyone to sit down on the grass. 

He  lifted the loaves and fishes up in thanksgiving and began distributing the food among the people and as they passed the bread and fish around, it multiplied over and over till all the people had eaten their fill and there were twelve baskets of food left over.

When dealing with matters of the kingdom of God, if we find limiting questions in our minds, we should deliberately put them aside and prepare to follow the Lord's instructions with the understanding that nothing is impossible with God and He has means of achieving things that are beyond our own considerations and understanding.

Bless the Lord whose power can supply all our needs and all the requirements for the work of the kingdom.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE JUDGEMENT IS INESCAPABLE FOR THE PROUD

Isaiah chapter 23 verses 4 - 6 says this;

Be ashamed, O Sidon [mother-city of Tyre, now like a widow bereaved of her children];

For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying, “I have neither labored nor given birth [to children]; I have neither brought up young men nor reared virgins.”

When the report reaches Egypt, They will be in agony at the report about Tyre.

Cross over to Tarshish [to seek safety as exiles]; Wail, O inhabitants of the coastland [of Tyre].

A settlement dating back to antiquity, Tyre was a dynamic port city on the Mediteranian coast with far-reaching influence over distant lands. 

She was an international grain market for the agricultural output of the Nile region giving  her statesmen and merchants a great deal of political and economic heft all around the Mediteranian.

Suddenly, judgment befell Tyre and her collapse sent shockwaves reverberating through every corner of the known world.

Egypt, who depended on Tyre to market their grain, is described as being in agony when they learn that Tyre has been utterly destroyed.

The ships of Tarshish who used Tyre as a major anchoring and loading port are distraught when they hear of the loss of the city.

As the calamities crash over her, refugees are advised to flee to the island of Cyprus for safety but even there, trouble would follow them.

Sidon, the mother-city of Tyre, faced with the destruction of the city, lamented the loss of her children who have fallen to judgment.

The 'stronghold of the sea' spoke of regret that she had never laboured nor given birth to children and had never undertaken to raise young men or women and as such, had no one to fill her streets and when her day of reckoning came, she was no more.

Such is the judgement of the Lord upon the once jubilant city that was prideful in her beauty and had revelled in the honour of men.

James chapter 4 verse 6 says;

But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.

Amen.

OUR FATHER MOVES QUIETLY TO ACHIEVE HIS PURPOSE

John chapter 7 verses 9 - 10 (Amp. Ver.) says this;

Having said these things to them, He stayed behind in Galilee.

But [afterward], when His brothers had gone up to the feast, He went up too, not publicly [with a caravan], but quietly [because He did not want to be noticed].

The Lord Jesus was facing threats against His  life from the authorities in Jerusalem and so he moved from place to place in the Galilee area and  stayed away from the areas around Jerusalem.

The Feast of Tabernacles was approaching when the people of Israel traditionally travelled down to gather in Jerusalem to participate in the festivities.

Jesus' brothers tried to provoke Him to go to Jerusalem to demonstrate His powers and learning in the prominent city so as to gain the fame that would establish Him as a public figure in the nation.

Jesus explained to His brothers that His time had not yet come meaning that going into Jerusalem would trigger an untimely arrest that was not propitious to the purposes of God.

However, after staying in Galilee till His brothers left for Jerusalem, Jesus, eschewing the main caravan of travelers, moved incognito southwards and quietly slipped into Jerusalem so that the authorities who were threatening His life  would not have advanced notice of His arrival or know His whereabouts.

The leaders in Jerusalem who sought to kill Him, searched but could not find Him and were only able to locate Him after He had taken a position in the temple and had begun teaching the crowd of people about the kingdom of God.

The leaders could do nothing to Him because the multitudes of people He was teaching were enthralled by Him.

The Lord boldly walked into the lion's den and the lion's mouths were stopped.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE JUDGMENT IS DIRE

Isaiah chapter 21 verses 3 - 5 says;

At this my body is racked with pain, pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor; I am staggered by what I hear, I am bewildered by what I see.

My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; the twilight I longed for has become a horror to me.

They set the tables, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink! Get up, you officers, oil the shields.

Isaiah the prophet is shown a dire vision of the impending judgement upon Babylon.

The scene is so terrifying that Isaiah's body is swept by wave after wave of pain like the birth pangs of a woman in labour.

What Isaiah hears and sees causes him to reel in shock by the frightening and bewildering events unfolding in the vision.

His heart goes into arrythmia and his limbs tremble.

 After witnessing the horror of the judgement on Babylon, Isaiah becomes deathly afraid of the twilight gloom that he used to cherish.

During the vision, Isaiah looks towards the defenders of Babylon but they, instead of taking action against the invaders, seem to be unaware of the imminent doom and are pre-occupied with setting up tables and laying down rugs for a meal.

Isaiah, in a panic, shouts to warn the officers like an entranced person yelling at a movie screen, "Get up you officers, oil the shields".

The effort is to no avail and Babylon succumbs to its destroyers.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO DEFEATS THE OPPRESSOR

Isaiah chapter 19 verse 3 says this;

The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists.

The Egyptians, who unjustly enslaved the children of Israel in the land of Egypt, were a foreshadowing and a type of oppressor of the people of God in a time to come.

The children of Israel, who through Joseph brought blessing and prestige to Egypt, found themselves being oppressed and tormented by the Egyptians.

The Lord, hearing the outcry of His people, called Moses to come to Egypt and liberate the children of Israel from bondage by visiting calamity after calamity upon Egypt until they lost heart and released their grip on the children of Israel.

Likewise, the kings and princes of this world will cooperate with the gods of this world to establish their rulership over the whole earth and to bring oppression and torment to the people of God.

However, the Lord himself will suddenly appear riding on a swift cloud to the realm of Egypt and He will visit calamity upon calamity upon the oppresive Egyptian regime.

He will cause them to fight among themselves, their resources will dry up, their economic clout will be erased and their leaders and strategists will speak only foolishness and lead the whole kingdom into disaster.

The Egyptians will thus lose heart and be totally  discouraged as the Lord brings their plans to nothing.

In their desperation, the Egyptians will consult with mediums and spiritists trying to get ahead of the supernatural forces that they know are bringing down the kingdom of darkness around them.

This will have no effect as Egypt descends into abject failure and its people are gripped with dibilitating fear.

Just as some Egyptians followed the children of Israel out of Egypt when they were freed, some people associated with the global kingdom of Egypt that tried to usurp the whole earth for darkness will repent and return to the Lord and the Lord will restore them to himself.

As it says in Isaiah chapter 19 verse 25;

The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO REQUIRES A SINCERE HEART 

Ezekiel chapter 14 verses 7 - 9 says this;

 “‘When any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing in Israel separate themselves from me and set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet to inquire of me, I the Lord will answer them myself. I will set my face against them and make them an example and a byword. I will remove them from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

 “‘And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the Lord have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel.

This passage records the Lord's  response when the elders of Israel came to the prophet Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord.

When the elders arrived, the Lord gave Ezekiel a word of knowledge regarding the things that were in their hearts.

They were harbouring idolatry and wicked stumbling blocks were before their faces and as such, the Lord instituted a principal regarding those who inquire of God through His prophets.

If any Israelite or foreigner dwelling in the country,  separated themselves from the Lord and regarded idols and wicked stumbling blocks  and then came in that condition to ask for the Lord's council on a matter, the Lord would reject them and remove them from among His people as an example and a warning to others.

Further to that, if any prophet who was inquired of by such people was induced to utter a prophecy, they would themselves incur the judgement of destruction from among the Lord's people.

We must always approach the Lord with  sincere and humble hearts that are repentant of sin and have no regard for idols. 

As Psalm 51 verse 17 says;  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO RESTORES THE CONTRITE

Isaiah chapter 57 verse 3 says this;

“But you—come here, you children of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!

The prophet Isaiah records the words of the Lord about a generation of the people of Israel who had strayed from adhering to their God and had gone after other gods.

Their  parents had also gone astray into the worship of foreign gods and had descended into adultery and prostitution and now this generation had devolved further into mocking of the things of God.

They now practiced unbridled lust as well as child sacrifices and they worshiped idols made of stone that  they had collected from ravines.

They marked their homes with symbols of loyalty to pagan gods and sacrificed to them. 

Still, Lord will restore the those who are contrite before the Lord. As Isaiah, in chapter 57 verse 15 wrote;

For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy:

“I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

However, for the ones who pridefully refuse to abandon wickedness, Isaiah writes in chapter 57 verse 21;

“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO HEARS THE HUMBLE

Isaiah chapter 15 verse 4 says this;

Heshbon and Elealeh also cry out, Their voice is heard all the way to Jahaz; Therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud; His soul trembles within him.

This verse records a detail of the judgement that befell Moab. 

The towns of Heshbon and Elealeh, when  struck by attackers, responded with cries that could be heard all the way to an area called Jahaz.

In response to the terrifying shouts coming from the towns, the soldiers of Moab themselves cried out in fear and their souls trembled.

All their training and defence plans were rendered obsolete in the face of the scale of destruction that came upon their country.

The strength of the once proud and arrogant Moab faded away and was brought to nothing. As Isaiah chapter 16 verse 14 says;

But now the LORD speaks, saying, "Within three years, as a hired man would count them, the glory of Moab will be degraded along with all his great population, and his remnant will be very small and impotent."

Such will be the fate of the proud nations upon whom the judgement of the Lord falls.

Let us humble ourselves before the Lord and pray so that the Lord may hear from heaven and forgive our sin and heal our broken land.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO UNDERTAKES TO FREE HIS PEOPLE

Isaiah chapter 52 verses 4 - 5 says this;

For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “At first my people went down to Egypt to live; lately, Assyria has oppressed them.

“And now what do I have here?” declares the Lord. “For my people have been taken away for nothing, and those who rule them mock, ” declares the Lord.

“And all day long my name is constantly  blasphemed.

In this passage, the Lord recounts the oppression that His people suffered at the hands of the Egyptians and then at the hands of the Assyrians.

Then the  Lord asks, "And now what do I have here?" 

His people have been displaced for no reason and they are subjugated and mocked. Their God is constantly being blasphemed. 

In their state of weakness while under the foot of the oppressor, the Lord intervenes to redeem His people.

Isaiah writes in verse 1, "Awake, awake, Zion, clothe yourself with strength! Put on your garments of splendor, Jerusalem, the holy city."

He cajoles the people of Zion to rise in strength and in the splendor of the One who has saved them.

As he declares the coming salvation, Isaiah writes about how welcome the news of this gift of God's salvation shall be to those who receive it in verse 7,  "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"

Isaiah, in verse 14, foresees that the high cost of our salvation will be paid for by a person who will be disfigured and marred beyond recognition. The verse says it this way;

Just as there were many who were appalled at him -- his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness-

Because so many were appalled at Him, the saviour earned the right bring his influence  to bear on many nations and lead His people  out of darkness and into His marvelous light.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE GREAT POWER OVERSHADOWS THE WORK OF THE OPPRESSOR

Isaiah chapter 51 verse 13 compares the limitations of men in verse 12 with the overwhelming  power of God.  

The verse asks, is the feeble power of men so intimidating;

that you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretches out the heavens and who lays the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction?

For where is the wrath of the oppressor?

When faced with the present and overt power of our human oppressors, who are but grass after all as verse 12 says, our perception of the  Lord's power is sometimes skewed and we forget that everything that exists came from Him. 

The vastness of space and the structures of mass and gravity are His handiwork. 

We understand that the Lord is great in power but still we live in fear of what mere men can do to us if they turn against us.

Isaiah chapter 51 verses 14 -15 assures us that the prisons of men cannot hold us nor can their restrictions cause us to lack bread.

The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread. For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord Almighty is his name.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO GAVE HIS ONLY SON

Isaiah chapter 50 verse 7 says this;

Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.

John chapter 3 verse 1 says this;

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.

Nicodemus, was a pharisee and a teacher of Israel  and a member of a secretive conclave within the ruling council that was curious about the teachings of Jesus.

This group within the council had reasoned that Jesus must have been sent from God because He would not have been able perform such astounding miracles otherwise and so they were not willing to disregard Jesus as the rest of the ruling council had.

The conclave sent Nicodemus to ask questions of the Lord about what He was teaching.

Jesus anticipated the question that was coming and immediately cut to the chase saying;

“Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

The un-asked question to Jesus was this: "The kingdom that you say that you are representing, how can we verify it so we can incorporate it in our teaching?"

Jesus' response was simply this: "The kingdom of God is beyond the reach of any person who is not born again."

Nicodemus was flustered. "How can a person be born again?", he asked. 

Jesus told him not to think in terms of the physical realm but rather in terms of the spiritual realm.

Being born again, Jesus told him, was not a repetition of emerging from a mother's womb but rather,  having ones' spirit, that was dead in sin,  come to life.

Jesus, in explaining to Nicodemus how one could be born again, spoke these famous words;

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The Son of God was given by God as a sacrifice whose death on a cross would be the payment for our sins and the ransom to free us from the kingdom of darkness and death.

This payment to cover sin could be appropriated by any person by simply believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Once our sins were covered, our spirits would come to life and we would be born again. 

Once born again, the kingdom of God would be become perceptible and could then be verified in experience and  in scripture and one could thus incorporate such teachings in theology.

Up to that point in time, the price had not been paid for the sins of mankind. The Lord Jesus was still going from place to place teaching the good news of the kingdom of God and healing the sick.

Jesus was soon going to undertake the journey to the cross and Isaiah the prophet wrote the Lord's inner monologue as He braced Himself for the horrific experience of paying the penalty for all the sins of the human race by dying on the cross. 

Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO RESTORES HIS PEOPLE

Isaiah chapter 49 verse 17 says this;

Your children hasten back, and those who laid you waste depart from you.

In this verse, the Lord is speaking to His people telling them that he will restore them after a time of affliction and destruction.

Even though His people of Zion will think that the Lord has forsaken them, saying in verse 14;

“The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.”;

The Lord cannot forget His people. He has engraved them on the palms of His hands. 

Isaiah chapter 49 verse 18 fills in the details of the beginning of the return of God's people;

Lift up your eyes and look around; all your children gather and come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the Lord, “you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride.

The Lord's church will see all her children returning to her whom she thought were lost and they shall be her adornment as that of a bride.

Those who devastated and left her in ruins, will depart and be far away from her.

This is the restoration of the Lord's people for which a rapturous celebration will break out as foretold in Isaiah 49 verse 13;

Shout for joy, you heavens;  rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! 

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE SALVATION IS PROVIDED ONLY THROUGH THE POWER OF THE CROSS

The Apostle Paul, writing in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 17, says this;

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Paul had become aware that believers in the Corinthian church were being divided by claims of following one leader in the church over the next. Some were saying that they followed Apollos and others were saying they followed Christ and others yet, said they followed Cephas while others claimed to  follow Paul.

In refuting the validity of these divisive arguments, Paul asked the Corinthians if Christ was divided or if Paul died for them. He pressed them further by asking if any of them were baptized into his name.

Paul wrote that he was grateful that he  did not baptize many people because if people were adopting positions of loyalty based on who baptized them, he would have had many people wrongly claiming to be baptized in the name of Paul.

He then said that he was not sent by the Lord to baptize but instead, to  preach the gospel. And in preaching the gospel, he said he did not come with wisdom and eloquence but rather with simplicity of speech so that  the message of the cross was not emptied of its power.

As Paul explained in the next verse down, verse 18;

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

The gospel, unadorned by the wisdom and the eloquence of men, carries its own power of God unto salvation.

It was for this reason that Paul, in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 2 says;

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

In his  service to the Lord Jesus among the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul, inspite of knowing a great many things about Christ and His Kingdom, resolved to know only the Lord Jesus and the message of the cross so that the people of Corinth would benefit from the undiluted power of the gospel.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO TEACHES AND DISCIPLINES US

Proverbs chapter 13 verse 1 says this;

 A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not respond to rebukes.

The Lord Jesus was the quintessential example of a wise son who heeded His Father's instruction. As Jesus Himself explained in John chapter 5 verse 19;

“I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself [of His own accord], unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever things the Father does, the Son [in His turn] also does in the same way.

Jesus heeded His Father's instructions so that all things that people saw him do were the things that He saw His father doing.

This fidelity to His Father also applied to the things Jesus said as it says in John chapter 12 verse 49;

For I did not speak from Myself, but the Father Himself, having sent Me, gave Me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak.

The wisdom of listening to the instructions of one's father  is contrasted with the inability to heed correction. 

Whereas a wise son will carefully follow the instructions of his father, an unwise son not only does not listen to his father's instruction but when he acts on his own and does what is wrong, he refuses to respond to reprimands.

Such a one is labeled a mocker whose end is destruction.

Psalm chapter 1 verses 20 - 27 says this as a caution to heed wisdom and respond to rebukes lest we mock wisdom, and we are overrun by calamity and become laughingstocks ourselves.

Out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square; on top of the wall she cries out, at the city gate she makes her speech:

“How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?

Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings. 

But since you refuse to listen when I call and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand, since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you; I will mock when calamity overtakes you—when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE GREAT AND TERRIBLE DAY DRAWS NEAR

Joel chapter 2 verse 11 says this;

The Lord thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty is the army that obeys his command.

The day of the Lord is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?

The spiritual forces of the Lord are being prepared and they will be mustered as the time approaches.

It will be a massive army that obeys the thunderous commands of the Lord; A mighty force indeed.

The great and terrible day of the Lord approaches and His army will be deployed at the sound of the trumpet in Zion.

Who will be able to endure it?

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO PAID DEARLY TO ACQUIRE OUR SALVATION  

John chapter 3 verse 14 says this;

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,

This verse is an excerpt from an inscrutable teaching that Jesus was giving to a visiting pharisee named Nicodemus.

Jesus had just told Nicodemus that a person could never see or experience the kingdom of God unless they were born again.

This perplexed Nicodemus. He asked how a person who was already old, could be born again from his mother's womb.

Jesus explained to him that he was thinking in  fleshly terms while Jesus was speaking to him in spiritual terms. To be born again meant that one had to be born of the Spirit.

The flabberghasted Nicodemus exclaimed, "How can these things be?"

Jesus responded to Nicodemus' incomprehension by asking him in verse 12, "I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?"  

The Lord then came to the centerpiece of His explanation by referencing Moses in the book of Numbers chapter 21. 

When the people of Israel were in the desert, they complained bitterly about the conditions they were enduring. The judgement for complaining against God was that their camp was invaded by poisonous snakes which bit the people and many of those who were bitten, died.

In response, the children of Israel repented for their complaining ways  to God and to Moses and God relented and provided reprieve for the snake bites.

Moses was told by God to lift a bronze serpent up on a pole so that those who had been bitten by snakes could look up at the bronze serpent and they would be healed from the venom.

The children of Israel, having complained against God, were judged and they encountered serpents which bit them and caused many of them to die. 

This harkened back to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden who encountered the serpent and by heeding the words of the serpent, ingested the serpent's venom of rebellion against God and they fell from God's grace and died spiritually.

For the children of Israel to survive the serpent bites, they needed to look to the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up in sight of the whole camp.

Jesus then gave the meaning of that historical metaphor. He said that He Himself, the Son of Man, would be lifted up in the sight of the whole world and we, the human race, all of whom have the venom of rebellion we received through Adam and Eve, could look to the One who was crucified and made sin for us and we would be healed from spiritual death by being born again in the Spirit.

The hope of all the ages was sitting with Nicodemus patiently explaining to him how the salvation of mankind from death was going to be obtained by His own crucifixion and each person who turned to Him, would not perish but gain everlasting life.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO WORKS ALL THINGS FOR OUR GOOD

Genesis chapter 42 verses 3 - 5 reads this way;

Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him. So Israel’s sons were among those who went to buy grain, for there was famine in the land of Canaan also.

This passage captures a detail within the broader story of Jacob's sons and their journey to Egypt to buy food when a great famine swept through the region.

When it became known that Egypt had food for sale, Jacob sent his sons there but he did not send Benjamin with them but held him back because he was afraid harm would come to him.

The thought of losing Benjamin was too much for Jacob to bear so he resisted sending him off with the rest of his sons.

Jacob had two sons by his wife Rachel whom he loved; Joseph and then Benjamin.

After the loss of Rachel while she was giving birth to Benjamin and the loss of Joseph while he was running a routine errand, Jacob must have felt that there was a vulnerability to danger on that side of his family and thus he feared that Benjamin would be singled out for harm while he harboured no such fear for the rest of his other sons.

He protected his son Benjamin as best he could but there were unknown forces in the wings that would  wrest Benjamin from his arms and expose Jacob to his worst fear and then to a surprise for the ages.

Let us always bless the Lord who causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8 verse 28).

Amen.

OUR FATHER FROM WHOM OUR INHERITANCE IS GAINED

Joshua chapter 19 verse 13, referring to the border that was drawn around the land given to the tribe of Zebulun, says this;

Then it continued eastward to Gath Hepher and Eth Kazin; it came out at Rimmon and turned toward Neah.

This verse is part of the point-to-point de-lineation of the allocation for Jacob's tenth son, Zebulun. This land was in the area south-west of the Sea of Galilee but inland from the Mediteranian Sea.

Thus far, the tribes of Judah, Joseph, Gad and Reuben had already been assigned their territories because Moses had allocated it to them  for their service to the Lord. 

The tribe of Levi, having been given the priesthood as their inheritance, were not assigned land but were given 48 towns in which to live and maintain their livestock. These towns were from among the towns that had already been given to the other tribes of Israel

The remaining tribes cast lots to determine the order of assignment of land and Benjamin, the last born son of Jacob, was picked first, Simeon was second and Zebulun was third.

Zebulun's inheritance included twelve towns and their villages.

Of these twelve towns, four of them were assigned to the priestly clan called the Merarites who descended from the Levitic priests.

Bless the Lord who allots us all a portion to inherit.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE GREAT DAY OF RECKONING APPROACHES

Genesis chapter 43 verses 9 - 12 starts with Judah speaking to his father Jacob. The passage reads this way;

 I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice.”

Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds. Take double the amount of silver with you, for you must return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake.

As Pharoah's dream had foreseen many years before, a severe famine gripped Egypt and all the surrounding countries.

It became known that Egypt had grain for sale so Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to bring back some food. Jacob kept his youngest son, Benjamin,  at home with him.

The brothers arrived in Egypt and were serepticiously recognized by Joseph their  brother.  Joseph pretended to believe they were spys and he questioned them about their family.

To verify that their account of their family was true, he ordered them to leave one of the brothers with him, go back home  and return with the youngest brother.

The brothers got back home and when the food they had purchased ran out, they needed to return to Egypt. They had to persuade Jacob to let them take Benjamin with them in order to get Simeon released as well as be able to get more food.

Jacob, still grieving the painful loss of his son  Joseph, was very reluctant to release his youngest son.

Judah, one of the older brothers, spoke up and guaranteed Benjamin's safety by taking full responsibility for his life.

Jacob resigned himself to grief and released Benjamin to go with the others back to Egypt and he supervised the collection of gifts to take back to Egypt; Balm, honey, spices, myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.

He also instructed his sons to take back double the amount of silver that had been secretly put in their bags when they left in case it had been a mistake that the silver was there. 

These were carefully considered gestures of goodwill to the man who had so many questions about his family. Jacob called upon his own deep understanding of how to appease people to prepare a gift for the Egyptian stranger that would yield the best chance of bringing his family home safely.

What was still unspoken up to this point was that the brothers were responsible for the loss of Joseph in the first place. 

They had left the deception of the sale of Joseph to slave traders intact unaware that the God of heaven and earth knows all things and that the long strands of history were being entwined so that everything would be revealed.

Psalm 14 verse 1 says;

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.

The brothers seem to have held the belief that there was no God  and that the erasure of a person from their family could be swept under the rug indefinitely. 

Our own godlessness  can lead us to be corrupted by doing vile deeds and having no good deeds registered in our lives.

A great day of reckoning approaches when all the unspoken things lingering in our lives will be spoken and revealed.

Lord have mercy on us all.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO EXPECTS US TO OCCUPY WHAT HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TO US

Joshua chapter 19 verse 3 lists 3  towns as part of the overall  list of 17 towns that were encompassed by the land that was allotted to the tribe of Simeon.

Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem,

The land allotted to Simeon was entirely within the area allotted to Judah.

The inheritance of the tribe of Simeon was etched out of the inheritance of Judah because Judah could not fully occupy the land they had been given and these three town along with the 14 other towns and their surrounding villages were towns that belonged to the tribe of Judah  but now fell to Simeon.

We must always strive to occupy the territory alloted to us so that it is not inherited by others who are more willing to utilize the area than  we are.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE GREAT SALVATION IS THE SON OF DAVID WHO IS ENTHRONED IN ZION

Isaiah chapter 16 verse 3 ( Amplified ) says this;

[Say to the ruler] “Give us advice, make a decision [for Moab, king of Judah]; Cast your shadow [over us] like night in the midst of noon; Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive [to his pursuer].

This passage captures a desperate plea from the Moabites to the King of Judah. 

Moab was undergoing a period of severe judgement that had caused their society to break apart and the Moabites were fleeing as refugees into foreign territories to escape the terror in their own country.  

 Women fleeing north from Moab had come to the Arnon river and were trying to cross it but were like fluttering or wandering birds unable to go forward or return.

The Moabites needed to be allowed to cross into Judah's lands where they could be hidden so that they could escape the destroyer. They  requested that they be given refuge in Judah until the oppression ended and the destruction ceased and the aggressor vanished from the land.

In the midst of the record of Moab's panicked call to the king of Judah for salvation, Isaiah prophesied the Mesianic throne in verse 5;

A throne will be established in lovingkindness, And One will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent (dynasty, family) of David; Judging and seeking justice And being prompt to do righteousness.

Even as Moab, in their time of distress,  appealed to the throne in Jerusalem, Isaiah projects  forward into the future and prophesied of when the whole world will appeal to the throne in Zion upon which the Son of David will sit.

Whereas Moab could only be partially helped by the king of Judah, the Lord Jesus, the Son of David, on the throne of Zion is the great salvation of all who call upon His name.

Amen.