Tag: ruined

11.s. “The scatterer has come up against you.”

Nahum 2:1   The scatterer has come up against you. Man the ramparts; watch the road; dress for battle; collect all your strength. For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob as the majesty of Israel, for plunderers have plundered them and ruined their branches.

Jeremiah 51:20-23    “You are my hammer and weapon of war: with you I break nations in pieces; with you I destroy kingdoms;  with you I break in pieces the horse and his rider; with you I break in pieces the chariot and the charioteer;  with you I break in pieces man and woman; with you I break in pieces the old man and the youth; with you I break in pieces the young man and the young woman;  with you I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; with you I break in pieces the farmer and his team; with you I break in pieces governors and commanders.

2 Chronicles 25:8     But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? For God has power to help or to cast down.”

Jeremiah 46:9    Advance, O horses, and rage, O chariots! Let the warriors go out: men of Cush and Put who handle the shield, men of Lud, skilled in handling the bow. That day is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, to avenge himself on his foes.

Nahum proclaims the “Scatterer has come”.  God’s coming destruction of Nineveh was the inevitable justice of God.  It was not for the redemption of His people that was primary but the vindication and honor of God. History records numerous times where God has redeemed His people from Israel hating and God-defying nations.  If we look at this it seems as though as one head of the beast of this world is lopped off another reappears.  We see this in Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and other lesser nations of strength, power, and defiance of God and His people.  Prophecies in Daniel and Revelation speak of these major world powers and their destruction, yet another is coming.  There are many nations right now that defy God and His people, but Revelation speaks of “Babylon the Great” and it will be the last world power to arise and defy God and try to destroy His people.

The “Scatterer” has come against you!  Man your battle station, increase your watch, at to your security, get ready for battle, and summon all of your strength.  In this we see God giving clear warning that His justice is coming and calling out to the defiers to prepare for battle against Him.  They don’t stand a chance but their hearts and minds are confident from believing the lies of the Prince of this world, Satan.  They have relied in, trusted in, and believed in their own self-power, strength, and might. Their hearts and minds are hardened.  Self-sufficiency and self-reliance have totally replaced and need for or thought of the Creator of all there is, God.  We need to be mindful of the lies from Satan and not allow any self-sufficiency and self-reliance to take root in our hearts and minds.

83. They cried out to the Lord for help.

Judges 6:1  The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.

When the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of Midian, he sent them a prophet, who said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land. I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

The Israelites were told not to do something, specifically not to turn from God and become like the people in the land they were living in.  God gave them promises of blessings and warnings.  Blessings if they gave their whole heart to humbly serve, rely on, and obey Him.  Warnings/curses if they did not.  We can see what happens when God’s word is neglected and complacency is the norm.   Drifting, sliding, and falling away from the truth of God’s word occurs when our heart and mind are filled with more and more of cultural norms than God’s word.

Why is it that we must fall away and find ourselves in trouble before we realize how far we have drifted from God.  It is so easy to set aside His word and commitment to rely on Him and to obey Him.  At first, His word is set aside for just one day and then one day becomes a week, and soon neglect is the norm.  Reliance and obedience so easily fall in line with self-interests, wants and satisfaction.  We find ourselves in a trial or troubling circumstance and wonder where God is, only to be reminded that we had left Him to go our own way.

Intentionally stay in His word.  Covet it. Desire it, Learn from it. Cling to it. Seek to understand it.  Learn to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey Him.

Let them consider

“but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”

Psalms 107:43  Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.

 Psalms 28:5    Because they do not regard the works of the LORD or the work of his hands, he will tear them down and build them up no more.

 Psalms 64:9     Then all mankind fears; they tell what God has brought about and ponder what he has done.

 Isaiah 5:12     They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts, but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work of his hands.

 Jeremiah 9:12     Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?

 Daniel 10:12    Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.

 Hosea 14:9   Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.

 Psalms 50:23     The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”

 Ephesians 3:14  For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,   may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,  and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

There always seems to be a way man finds to avert focus on God.  When they do not focus on God, they stumble, their land is laid waste,  they are not built up, they are beat down, or they do not see His salvation.  On the other hand those who, ponder, discerns, set their heart to know and seek God, and consider what God has done, they are strengthened with power in their inner being.  They are grounded in His love.  They know Love that surpasses knowledge.  They see God’s salvation.  They humble themselves.  None of us are immune to getting sideways.  None of us are immune to Satan’s attacks.  None of us are immune to our sinful nature and it’s wants and desires.  Our battle is to keep these influences at bay with knowledge and understanding of God and His holiness.  Our hope can be found in no one else.  Our faith can be in no one else.  If his word is not in our daily lives we will surely loose our way.  Remember salvation is offered to all but it is not because we are worthy.  It is because we have come to a place where this world and all it has to offer, leaves us wanting and empty.  Do you want to find true purpose and satisfaction this side of eternity.  Seek God and you will find.  Knock and the door will be opened by God.