Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his LOVE and his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
Yes My Friends, that’s the wonderful God we worship! He showed Israel His favour in the days of their troubles. ‘In all their affliction he was afflicted.’ Isaiah’s referring to the time when Judges ruled Israel, after Jair died, before Jephthah came to power. In between, ‘the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth…and forsook the Lord and served him not.’ No wonder ‘the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon.’ (Jud.10:6-7) Consequently they were oppressed, victimized and sore distressed. Then, as they were wont to do, when the consequences of their folly came upon them, they turned and called upon the Lord for deliverance. But the Lord turned them away. ‘Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of tribulation.’ (Jud.10:14) Doesn’t all of this sound familiar Friends? Isn’t it what we do too, both as individuals and nations? Do our own thing, seeking the pleasures of the world, with nary a thought of the Lord or His statutes? But when everything crash and we find ourselves in hot water, we quick to run to the Lord and plead, ‘Help me Lord! Help me please!’ But what do we really expect eh? We can’t be really annoyed if His reaction to our insincere plea is one of rejection. He’s not there just to save us when we arrogantly get ourselves in trouble. He’s our Maker, Our God. We’re expected to be faithful, not play musical gods, and like the Israelites only find true religion, begging and pleading for another chance, when it suits our selfish purposes. ‘And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the Lord: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.’ (Jud.10:16) Yes people, that’s our God! Even in His displeasure, He still feels badly when we disobey and suffer the hurtful consequences. Why? Because of His magnanimous nature, and His unconditional LOVE for us. ‘And the angel of the Lord saved them.’ This refers to when the Israelites were leaving Egypt; ‘And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.’ (Ex.13:21) However Pharaoh’s army came up behind them in hot pursuit, and as usual, the spineless Israelites whined and complained to poor Moses about how they should have stayed in Egypt. And Moses gave them that speech of monumental faith. ‘Fear ye not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.’ (Ex.14:13-14) Then the Lord gave Moses instructions on parting the Red Sea. ‘And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them.’ (Ex.14:19) What a mighty God! Praise His Holy Name! Sing Hallelujah! Yes Friends, that was probably the first smoke screen, for that move effectively blocked the Israelites from the view of the Egyptians and gave them time to prepare to cross the Red Sea. So, ‘in his love and his pity he redeemed them.’ This deals with the Lord’s desire to keep His people separate from the heathens. As Moses told them: ‘For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth… because the Lord LOVED you, and because he would keep the oath which he hath sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen…’ (Deut.7:6,8) There again Friends we see the faithfulness of our God. He promised their fathers to take them out of slavery and lead them to the promised land, and He did just that. However, implied in most of God’s edicts, is usually a part for us to play. The Lord led them to the promised land, they were then expected to go in and fight for it. Other people dwelt there, so it couldn’t just fall in their lap. But because of a sad lack of backbone and belly, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years, until all the old timers, except Caleb and Joshua died. Notwithstanding that, ‘he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.’ On their journey, at Mt. Sinai, the Lord instructed Moses to say to them, ‘Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine.’ (Ex.19:4-5) Oh people, that offer still stands today! If we believe in His Son Jesus, and follow faithfully in His footsteps, then we become special. And it truly amazes me that after the Lord did so much for the Israelites, supernaturally to boot, they had the gall, I say stupidity, to turn against Him. ‘But they rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy and he fought against them.’ (Is.63:10) Oh Friends, please, please let’s not be so foolish. The last thing we need is God as our enemy. We need Him as our Friend, ally, and Saviour. He’s the mightiest of the mighty, so how can we ever hope to defeat Him eh? From day one He’s proven His faithfulness by keeping every promise He’s made. Let’s not foolishly turn away from Him because we want to run to the bright lights, the lustful desires of the world and their inanimate idols. It’s not worth it my brethren. We already have the strongest and most faithful ally in the universe, the One True God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is the great Creator and the great Provider. We need no one or nothing else. He is sufficient to meet all our needs, we just need to honour and obey Him. I implore us to remember that; to write it in our hearts, souls and minds, for nothing else will stand us in good stead like that. Much LOVE!…all He asks is…to worship, glorify and obey Him..
Yes My Friends, that’s the wonderful God we worship! He showed Israel His favour in the days of their troubles. ‘In all their affliction he was afflicted.’ Isaiah’s referring to the time when Judges ruled Israel, after Jair died, before Jephthah came to power. In between, ‘the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth…and forsook the Lord and served him not.’ No wonder ‘the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon.’ (Jud.10:6-7) Consequently they were oppressed, victimized and sore distressed. Then, as they were wont to do, when the consequences of their folly came upon them, they turned and called upon the Lord for deliverance. But the Lord turned them away. ‘Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of tribulation.’ (Jud.10:14) Doesn’t all of this sound familiar Friends? Isn’t it what we do too, both as individuals and nations? Do our own thing, seeking the pleasures of the world, with nary a thought of the Lord or His statutes? But when everything crash and we find ourselves in hot water, we quick to run to the Lord and plead, ‘Help me Lord! Help me please!’ But what do we really expect eh? We can’t be really annoyed if His reaction to our insincere plea is one of rejection. He’s not there just to save us when we arrogantly get ourselves in trouble. He’s our Maker, Our God. We’re expected to be faithful, not play musical gods, and like the Israelites only find true religion, begging and pleading for another chance, when it suits our selfish purposes. ‘And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the Lord: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.’ (Jud.10:16) Yes people, that’s our God! Even in His displeasure, He still feels badly when we disobey and suffer the hurtful consequences. Why? Because of His magnanimous nature, and His unconditional LOVE for us. ‘And the angel of the Lord saved them.’ This refers to when the Israelites were leaving Egypt; ‘And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.’ (Ex.13:21) However Pharaoh’s army came up behind them in hot pursuit, and as usual, the spineless Israelites whined and complained to poor Moses about how they should have stayed in Egypt. And Moses gave them that speech of monumental faith. ‘Fear ye not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.’ (Ex.14:13-14) Then the Lord gave Moses instructions on parting the Red Sea. ‘And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them.’ (Ex.14:19) What a mighty God! Praise His Holy Name! Sing Hallelujah! Yes Friends, that was probably the first smoke screen, for that move effectively blocked the Israelites from the view of the Egyptians and gave them time to prepare to cross the Red Sea. So, ‘in his love and his pity he redeemed them.’ This deals with the Lord’s desire to keep His people separate from the heathens. As Moses told them: ‘For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth… because the Lord LOVED you, and because he would keep the oath which he hath sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen…’ (Deut.7:6,8) There again Friends we see the faithfulness of our God. He promised their fathers to take them out of slavery and lead them to the promised land, and He did just that. However, implied in most of God’s edicts, is usually a part for us to play. The Lord led them to the promised land, they were then expected to go in and fight for it. Other people dwelt there, so it couldn’t just fall in their lap. But because of a sad lack of backbone and belly, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years, until all the old timers, except Caleb and Joshua died. Notwithstanding that, ‘he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.’ On their journey, at Mt. Sinai, the Lord instructed Moses to say to them, ‘Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine.’ (Ex.19:4-5) Oh people, that offer still stands today! If we believe in His Son Jesus, and follow faithfully in His footsteps, then we become special. And it truly amazes me that after the Lord did so much for the Israelites, supernaturally to boot, they had the gall, I say stupidity, to turn against Him. ‘But they rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy and he fought against them.’ (Is.63:10) Oh Friends, please, please let’s not be so foolish. The last thing we need is God as our enemy. We need Him as our Friend, ally, and Saviour. He’s the mightiest of the mighty, so how can we ever hope to defeat Him eh? From day one He’s proven His faithfulness by keeping every promise He’s made. Let’s not foolishly turn away from Him because we want to run to the bright lights, the lustful desires of the world and their inanimate idols. It’s not worth it my brethren. We already have the strongest and most faithful ally in the universe, the One True God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is the great Creator and the great Provider. We need no one or nothing else. He is sufficient to meet all our needs, we just need to honour and obey Him. I implore us to remember that; to write it in our hearts, souls and minds, for nothing else will stand us in good stead like that. Much LOVE!…all He asks is…to worship, glorify and obey Him..
SCRIP-BITS 