The Fruit of Messiah’s Ministry

When the Jewish people were carried off by their enemies into exile, it looked as though God’s plan of salvation had failed. All that was left of Israel was a stump, but out of the stump came a Branch. And this Branch, our Messiah, Jesus Christ, has done wonderfully.

The Messiah comes with justice and righteousness for the poor. His Spirit yields wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. He brings peace and good times between former enemies. Children need not fear what they formerly feared when the knowledge of the Lord fills the earth as the waters cover the sea. The Messiah gathers His scattered Jewish people back to Israel. [1]

In that day, God’s people will praise Him for turning away His anger and comforting them. They will say, “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my defense; He has become my salvation.” With joy they will draw water from the wells of salvation. They will say, “Praise the Lord, call on His Name; make known among the nations what He has done, and proclaim and exalt His Name.” [2]

“Sing to the Lord, for His glorious deeds; let the whole world hear. Shout aloud and sing for joy for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.” [3]

[1] Isaiah 11:1-9
[2] Isaiah 12:1-4
[3] Isaiah 12:5-6

Unto Us A Child is Born

Amazing! God used pagans to purge His people of ungodliness. He compared Assyria to an ax, a saw, and a club in workman’s hand. Only a remnant of His people were saved in the day of His wrath against ungodliness. The remnant consists of those who trust in and obey the Lord. Many in Israel had betrayed and abandoned God. They were the weak links that caused the nation to fall.

The ungodly rejected God’s efforts to reform them. When God took down the brick walls of Samaria and Ephraim, they said we will rebuild them with dressed stone. When He took down their fig trees, they said we will replant them with cedar trees. They refused to acknowledge God and give Him glory. [1]

God used Assyria to destroy Samaria and Ephraim. God warned Judah’s political and religious leaders that the same was about to happen to them unless they repented and returned to Him. But Judah’s leaders persisted in abandoning God and leading those under their authority to do the same. They made unjust laws. They preyed on widows and robbed fatherless children. Eventually, they turned on one another and devoured one another. God used the cruel nation of Assyria to judge them, but later when Assyria became proud of its achievement, He turned His wrath against Assyria. [2]

Against the backdrop of impending judgment, the Lord proclaimed good news of salvation, and that from God. After years of darkness and distress, a great light would appear. A child would be born. A Son would be given. The government will be on His shoulders. His name is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end. He shall reign on David’s throne over the kingdom. He shall establish and uphold His throne with justice and righteousness forever. God’s zeal will accomplish this.

Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. The kingdoms of this world shall become His kingdoms. After centuries of disappointment in our leaders and in ourselves, Christ will come again. Those who believe shall be saved and inherit His kingdom that is full of righteousness, justice, and peace! [4]

[1] Isaiah 9:8-12
[2] Isaiah 9:13-21
[3] Isaiah 9:1-7
[4] Revelation 19:11-16

Christ is the Hope of Sin City

Jeremiah was conflicted with God’s people because God was conflicted with them. God wanted them to relinquish sinful ways. The four sins that God called them out for were idolatry, lying, thieving and sexual sin. Jeremiah opposed these sins because God opposed them. The hope of sinners to be saved from sin is the Savior Jesus Christ. Jeremiah avoided cynicism in regards to the circumstances of his city by trusting in the Lord’s promises to bring about changes that he could not bring.

Basically, Jeremiah urged the people of his city not to live autonomously from God. Not to resist promptings to draw near to God! He warned them that life never ends well for those who reject God’s help. God was confronting sin in their lives to save them from harm and bring them to a better life. He loved them. He wanted to save them, but they needed to cooperate with God.

Grief over being separated from God is good, but it is not complete unless it leads one to repentance… to say, “Okay, God, I am ready to forsake and renounce sinful ways, and to embrace Your ways. Please forgive me for my sins. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit so I can live life Your way.” God’s grace is about letting Him do for you what you could never do for yourself, namely transform into His image.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” [1]

“The battle in this world is not to succumb to denial, cynicism, or assimilation. Like Jeremiah, the only hope we have to cling to is that God will be with us.” [2]

Christ is the hope of sin-city. And how does the Heavenly Father reveal Jesus Messiah to us? He reveals Him to us via His Word and Holy Spirit. We draw strength and wisdom from Him as we Sabbath in Him. We are blessed to know and walk with God. God sings over us with gladness and loud rejoicing. We rest in His love. Sin-city is about despair, loneliness, and degradation. New life in Christ is about love, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit. [3] 

[1] 2 Corinthians 5:17
[2] The words about Jeremiah stem from my reading of Walter Brueggemann’s book, “Hopeful Imagination - Prophetic Voices in Exile,” copyright ©1986 by Fortress Press
[3] Zephaniah 3:17-19; Romans 14:17

Rejoicing While Waiting ~ Habakkuk’s Story

Habakkuk cried out to the Lord, “Violence!” Strife and conflict was abounding! He said to the Lord, “The law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.” [1]

The Lord’s response was. “I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor.” [2]

Facing trouble from within and without, Habakkuk resolves, “The righteous person will live by faith.” [3] Faith in God!

God indicated to Habakkuk that woes were coming to...
“...Him who makes himself wealthy by extortion!”
“...Him who builds his house by unjust gain.”
“... Him who builds a city with bloodshed and injustice!”
“...Him who makes neighbors drunk to gaze on their naked bodies!”
“...Him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’ [worships idols] [4]

Habakkuk finds hope in the Lord. “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” “The Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.” [5]

The tables will soon be turned. “Lord, I have heard of Your fame; I stand in awe of Your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known...” [6]

Habakkuk ends his book with a song of faith unto God: “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails, and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” [7]

Habakkuk rejoiced while waiting. He metaphorically kept the umbrella close by while praying for rain. He handed his prayer of faith over to the director of music to make it into a song. [8]

So, let us bring out the musical instruments and write songs of faith in God. Let us praise God in the face of adversity. Praise Him joyfully. Celebrate the coming victory in advance!

[1] Habakkuk 1:2-4
[2] Habakkuk 1:1:6-7
[3] Habakkuk 2:4
[4] Habakkuk 2:6, 9, 12, 15, 19
[5] Habakkuk 2:14, 20
[6] Habakkuk 3:2
[7] Habakkuk 3:17-18
[8] Habakkuk 3:19

The Burden of the Lord

“The burden against Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.” [1]

A prophetic burden is a message of weighty importance producing sorrow or grief. [2]

The burden that God shared with Nahum was to tell the Ninevites to repent lest they perish. The metaphor God uses to describe the Ninevites is of a pride of lions. They teamed up as lions to hunt, capture, and consume prey. They literally ate good people for lunch.

“Where now is the lions’ den, the place where they fed their young, where the lion and lioness went, and the cubs, with nothing to fear? The lion killed enough for his cubs and strangled the prey for his mate, filling his lairs with the kill and his dens with the prey.” [3]

“Behold, I am against you... the voice of your messengers shall be heard no more.” “Nineveh enjoyed its status as a power-center of the world and gloried in the fact that the voice of her messengers commanded attention in palaces all over the world. That day would come to an end under the judgment of God.” [4]

I once heard Dr. James Waller speak on the topic of genocide. A common factor to all genocide events is the dehumanization of one group of people by another group of people.

Consolee Nishimwe survived the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. She is the author of the book ‘Tested to the Limit’ in which she narrates her personal story. “Life in Rwanda before the genocide was beautiful. I was fortunate to have good parents and a great family. I had a happy childhood.” The turning point in her country came when the Hutus started using social media to characterize Tutsis as “cockroaches.” Then, the genocide occurred. In one hundred days, about 800,000 people were slaughtered by Hutu extremists. They targeted Tutsis, as well as their political opponents. [5]

Currently, the following people groups are on genocide alert: The Kurds, Christians, Druze, Shi’a Muslims, the Yazidi in Iraq. The Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China. The people of Nagorno-Karabakh in the Armenian Republic. Christians in Nigeria by Boko Haram an Islamist terrorist group. [6]

The Lord shared His burden with Nahum. To walk with Jesus is to participate in caring for people via praying, preaching, and providing for them. They need both spiritual and physical attention.

​The Apostle Paul’s burden was for Christian churches. He wrote, “Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” [7]

Our Lord Jesus has shared His ministry to widows, orphans, and to foreigners with me. Such ministries are both challenging and fulfilling. “Thank You Lord Jesus for sharing Your burdens with me and others and allowing us to be Your hands and feet to them. Blessed be Your Name!”

[1] Nahum 1:1
[2] Enduring Word Commentary
[3] Nahum 2:11-12
[4] Nahum 2:13 & Enduring Word Commentary
[5] bbc.com/news/world-africa-54877202 & 26875506
[6] genocidewatch.com/countries-at-risk
[7] 2 Corinthians 11:28

Giving Ill-Gotten Gains to the Lord

“Many nations are gathered against you. They say, ‘Let her be defiled, let our eyes gloat over Zion!’ But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand His plan. He who gathers them like sheaves to the threshing floor. ‘Rise and thresh, Daughter Zion, for I will give you horns of iron; I will give you hooves of bronze, and you will break to pieces many nations. You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord, their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.’” [1]

“God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.” [2]

When many nations gathered against God’s people to defile them and gloat over them, the Lord intervened. He gave His people horns of iron and hooves of bronze to break them in pieces. They gave the ill-gotten gain of their enemies to the Lord.

Praise the Lord!

[1] Micah 4:11-13
[2] 1 Corinthians 1:27

Love Your Enemies

There once a man who sat between his hatred for his enemies and the Lord’s love for them. He hated being God’s messenger of love for them.

God called a gourd plant to grow up and provide shade for the man. He was relieved. Then, God called a worm to destroy the shade plant. Then, God called a hot east wind to scorch the man. He was so angry. Why was he more angry about a dying plant than he was about a dying people?

God wanted him to know that loving whom the Lord loves is a good investment. His enemies lacked discernment. God wanted to save them. His enemies repented and turned to the Lord. [1]

“’Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?’ says the Lord God, ‘and not that he should turn from his ways and live?’” [2]

[1] Jonah 4
[2] Ezekiel 18:23