The Minor Prophets Speak to Today
The Angel of the Lord on a Red Horse
Listens and Speaks
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Instead of the thorn bush will grow the juniper,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the Lord’s renown,
for an everlasting sign,
that will endure forever.”
Isaiah 55:13 NIV
The ones God sends to patrol the earth, report to the angel of the Lord what they see. In this case, "The whole earth is at peace." They are satisfied and at ease with their beliefs and their lives. They remain unperturbed by the existence of the Lord in Heaven, the Lord of those who believe.
When the angel of the Lord receives these reports from the earth, he prays for God's children.
Shout This Message For All To Hear!
God's Love is Passionate and Strong.
Instead of the thorn bush will grow the juniper,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the Lord’s renown,
for an everlasting sign,
that will endure forever.”
Isaiah 55:13 NIV
We learn from Isaiah that God's declaration, God's setting his message among the myrtle trees, God's fufilling this message when his people are being snubbed, brutalized, or otherwise oppressed, is for the Renown of the Name of the Lord!
He will make his Lordship visible to his people today as he promised he would do then. God's treatment of his people creates an everlasting sign that, after its last fulfillment, will endure forever.
Do you ever wonder if the things that happen on this earth will be remembered on the New Earth and in the New Heaven after the present earth and the present heavens pass away? Here God sounds out a lasting, "Yes!" for at least some of them. And I suspect all of them.
Does this mean that when we, some of us, escape as if through fire, receiving heaven as our home but losing all the rewards he intended for us to earn down here, that that escape will be part of heaven's eternal memory about us? Our loss forever present and remembered? I think, yes. I think that is why he warns us of the judgment to come.
Do I believe we will carry eternal shame, eternal stigma? No! That does not ring true to grace or the glories of heaven. But other consequences - these may well influence our joys despite the loss of our sorrows.
Shout This Message For All To Hear!
The Ones God Sends To Patrol The Earth:
The ones God sends to patrol the earth, report to the angel of the Lord what they see. In this case, "The whole earth is at peace." They are satisfied and at ease with their beliefs and their lives. They remain unperturbed by the existence of the Lord in Heaven, the Lord of those who believe.
The unstated contrast is that God's people suffer under the mindset and actions of the world. The nations treat the true believers ill, even subjecting them to scoffing, loss of status, and at times violent death for the nations' pleasure.
The Angel of the Lord's Prayer Response:
When the angel of the Lord receives these reports from the earth, he prays for God's children.
Isn't it great to know angels are praying for us in heaven!
Isn't it overwhelming that the angel of the Lord asks the Lord of Heavens Armies to show mercy to us?
Even greater, the Lord speaks kind and comforting words to the angel who prays.
Shout This Message For All To Hear!
"God's Love is Passionate and Strong."
But the Lord is angry with the nations who are enjoying security and peace. They have inflicted harm on God's people way far beyond God's intention. For this the nations will be destroyed.
God has done it before! He will do it again!!
Beware not to cling to your nationalism more strongly than your citizenship in the Kingdom of God - on earth as it is in heaven.
Isaiah
55:13: “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead
of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD
for a name, for an everlasting sign [that] shall not be cut off.” - See
more at:
http://www.chaimbentorah.com/2014/01/word-study-myrtle/#sthash.Q2ATi5Ao.dpufv
Isaiah
55:13: “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead
of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD
for a name, for an everlasting sign [that] shall not be cut off.” - See
more at:
http://www.chaimbentorah.com/2014/01/word-study-myrtle/#sthash.Q2ATi5Ao.dpuf
Isaiah
55:13: “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead
of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD
for a name, for an everlasting sign [that] shall not be cut off.” - See
more at:
http://www.chaimbentorah.com/2014/01/word-study-myrtle/#sthash.Q2ATi5Ao.dpuf
Isaiah
55:13: “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead
of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD
for a name, for an everlasting sign [that] shall not be cut off.” - See
more at:
http://www.chaimbentorah.com/2014/01/word-study-myrtle/#sthash.Q2ATi5Ao.dpu
4-Horsemen Painting by Sharlene Lindskog-Osorio
The Myrtle Tree @www.chaimbentorah
The Myrtle Tree @www.chaimbentorah
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