Hi there. That's me and Gracie!
I continue to be pointed towards chapters in Isaiah, and one of them is Isaiah 7-8 where Judah is threatened by an alliance between Israel's northern kingdom on Syria that seeks to come against Judah and Jerusalem. I am not sure yet if Jerusalem was a part of Judah, but Isaiah comes to assure Ahaz, King of Judah, that their evil conspiracy against Jerusalem will not come to pass (Isaiah 7:7). Isaiah even offers a sign to show that this evil plan will not happen, and that is that a child will be born who prefigures Jesus Christ, the last days Messiah who will also rescue the Jews from another "Assyrian" (Antichrist) on some future day. There is one condition: that is Ahaz must BELIEVE the Lord. He is faced with a choice: trust the Assyrian, a worldly power, or trust God's promise? Ahaz must trust God's promise through the prophet in order to be saved, and if he will not, the plans will come to pass:
Study notes (ESB) says that these two "firebrands", King of Syria and the Northern Kingdom of Isael, planned to overtake Jerusalem and install their own king because Satan wanted to foil God's plan to bring forth a Messiah to rein on the throne of David. This took place 200 years before the Babylonian captivity of the Israelites (both kingdoms). The overarching theme is that Satan doesn't want God's dwelling place with and in man, through Christ, to come to pass. In other words, he doesn't want God's redemptive plan to come to pass.
Nothing has changed, and we are now in the last great push, like Pharoh increasing the workload on the Hebrews because God was about to bust them out of captivity; Satan will try one last time to overthrow God's redemptive purposes, and as always, Satan's plans will serve to invertedly bring forth God's kingdom. God always boomerangs the plans of Satan, so that his greatest evil conspiracies serve only to further God's kindness and goodness-but only for those who trust Him and wait for Him.
So, "Do not fear what the people fear, do not call a conspiracy what they call a conspiracy" but rather, sanctify the Lord and trust Him to save you. Isaiah said that he will not walk in the ways of his people, full of mixture, compromise, and idolatry (trust in things other than God).
If you don't trust God, you will be overthrown. If you trust the "Assyrian", you will not stand. Faith looks to the Unseen God, and waits. Unbelief runs to worldly powers, strength and wisdom for help, but it will not save us.
This is a now word. May we have ears to hear it. Trusting God always feels like you are free falling.
The call in these passages is to wait for God. The divine call is to trust in God alone, and to turn from every worldly power that proposes to rescue God's people. If we discern the hour, the season of antichrist's brief reign (3.5 years), and Christ's soon return to overthrow that kingdom (Dan 7 and 12, Matt 24)...in fact, in that hour of his dark reign, in that selfsame hour Christ returns... and read the prophesies, we will understand that the church undergoes great trial, betrayal, and persecution as Christ did before he rose from the grave. His greatest hour of temptation was right before His greatest overthrow of darkness; and so it is with us. Above all, guard your heart! Ephesians 6, take every single thought captive, watch over your affections and emotions and fear and pray with every fiber of your being and we will overcome the beast, his number, and his name. It's all about overcoming the beast through faith in Christ's blood and our testimony. In other words, overcome the world. But I digress.
There are many verses to substantiate these truths, and I will try to post them in my next blog, but the essential message is that God comes as a refining fire and that the righteous will face severe trials that serve to purify us. This is the tale as old as time, only it intensifies right before the end.
Going on...
Jesus has gone before us. Jesus trusted his very soul in the hands of His father, not striking out against his enemies, not calling upon legions of angels, which he rightfully could do. He obeyed unto death. He committed Himself to God. He looked to God. He waited for God. HE DID NOT FIGHT. Let me say that one more time: He did not fight...for he that uses the sword will die by the sword, and he that leads into captivity, into captivity he will go says Revelation.
We need to come out of the subtle teachings that have infiltrated the church that say this: America was a blessed nation. America is God's idea. Men had to fight for America, so we have to fight to keep it. The first true may be true, but the conclusion is blatantly false. Always, Satan mixes 99% truth with 1%lies.
I ask you, is this the gospel? Is this what the Holy Spirit is saying through His word?
Isaiah 8:8
"And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck: and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel:"
"For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying Say you not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear you their fear, nor be afraid."
Notes in Expositor's Study Bible:
"The idea of the verse is that the majority of the people favored an alliance with Assyria and, therefore, would accuse Isaiah and others of treason who did not support this cause, but in effect proclaimed trust in the Lord."
It is easy to see this happening in our current environment. The fear of "Assyria" an evil force that seeks to destroy the United States and the people of God is causing most to look to man to save them from the conspiracy, but perhaps that Lord would say to us what he said to his people through Isaiah? Do not fear what they fear, but sanctify the Lord by fearing Him alone, and trusting Him to fulfill His word to us.
"Sanctify the LORD of Hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread."
Notes:
"God is "sanctified" by being trusted. These who feared Rezin of Syria and Pekah of Samaria, despite God's assurances that their designs should fail, did not believe in Him, and so did not sanctify Him."
I dreamt of this verse as well:
"Behold, I and the children whom they LORD has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion."
Those children are Mahershalalhashbaz meaning, "plunder speeds, spoil hastens" and Shearjashub, meaning "a remnant shall return."
In context, these verses are about events taking place in Israel, or soon to take place, that were fulfilled, and also future events concerning the end of days, Israel's salvation, and Christ's return to earth.
I have felt directed to these passages many times since 2020, first with the 7.7 quake that rattled Miami an hour or so after Trump and Bibi announced the completion of the UAE deal on January 29, 2020 and heard "7.7 quake points to Isaiah 7:7) which reads:
"Thus says the Lord God, it shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass." meaning that the plans of Syrai and Israel (northern kingdom) against Judah would not succeed.
These were plans to take over Jerusalem? The UAE was fundamentally a plan to divide Israel.
Commentary notes on these passages as I am still trying to understand what the Holy Spirit may be saying in our own day. I am posting these here to prayerfully consider as only the Lord can interpret scripture to his children as we search it out. What a gift that He is inside of us to illuminate the hearts of those who seek Him with a pure heart...and seek diligently, not halfheartedly. This means only three thigns are needed to be taught of God: a pure heart, faith in God to teach, and diligence. We all can do that!
Isaiah 7 teaches us about the transformative power of faith and trust in God's promises, even in the face of immense fear and uncertainty. The prophecy of Immanuel serves as an enduring sign of God's presence and intervention in human history. Like Ahaz, we may face situations that cause fear and doubt, but the lesson here is to trust God's word, acknowledging His sovereignty.
As Ahaz reigns over Judah, kings Rezin of Syria and Pekah of Israel unite to wage war against Jerusalem, causing fear and panic. However, they could not overpower it.
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