Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord! (5:18)
And to the other group, he says:


"Woe to those who are at ease in Zion..." (6:1)

Now here are two quite distinct views among the people. There were those whom we might call the pious hypocrites who first came under the judgment of God. "Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!" What does this mean? Well, you see, there were some people who were going about saying, "Oh, isn't this a terrible day. Oh, God is so hard. Things are so terrible." They were wringing their hands, appearing to be mourning, and going through all kinds of rituals and religious ceremonies and saying, "Oh, there is no hope for anything. Oh, if God would only come at last! Oh, would that the day of the Lord would come. Would that we could go home to be in heaven." Did you ever hear that? And the prophet thunders: "Woe to you that desire the day of the Lord."

Amos says, "Do you know what that day will be like? Do you have any idea what you are saying? Why," he says, "it is darkness, not light. It is as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or he went into the house and leaned a hand against the wall and a snake bit him. You talk about the day of the Lord. Why, you don't know what you are talking about! Woe to you." And God says,


"...I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your [religious activities] solemn assemblies...and burnt offerings...Take away from me the noise of your songs...the melody of your harps...But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowlng stream." (5:21-24)
Do we ever get away from this? God desires truth in the inward parts, in the center of life---not outward conformity. God sees through that sham and pretense without the slightest difficulty and it doesn't impress him when we go through religious activity. "Thou desirest truth in the inward being." (Ps. 51:6)

Well, then there was another group that said, "We are not concerned about these things. Let's eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. Let's have as good a time as we can and make the most of life; let's enjoy it to the full while we can." And the prophet says, "Woe to those who are at ease in Zion."

Amos asks, "How can you be so restful when the nation is so restless? How can you content yourselves with riches and wealth and the good things of life when people are lying in distress outside in the streets and judgment is taken away from your courts?" So there comes this powerful message:


Woe to those who lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the midst of the stall; who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp...(6:4, 5a)
...in the midst of the threatening judgment of God? These are the two extreme groups. As Amos goes on, he shows in a series of visions that were given to him that the nation is rapidly ripening for judgment.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/com...amp;Select.y=10

Is the date of the judgement more important than the reason...?

It's coming and l take no pleasure in it...nor did Amos as he doggedly reminded those he spoke to.

I see the table as representing this forum...probably many forums and churches...

The prophecies of Hosea and Amos go hand in hand...cause and affect. God is no respecter of persons whether people want to see it or not. He's laid everything out before us. If we act like Edom we will be treated like Edom.

Amos gives his prophecy concerning the day of the Lord and what it will be like:



This is a prophecy forum...all we've talked about here...Not everything and everybody is evil.... Amos spoke judgement for many but it turns to celebration for others...a new birth(day cake)... white like a wedding celebration...just waiting for the king to cut the cake...It turned to celebration because they turned when they heard the call and the words of the prophet.

But what's spoken in in all three of these books is warning. No one can ever say we weren't warned. And he's no respecter of persons...those that sow to the flesh will reap the rewards of the flesh... The united states of America and Israel included... BUT DON'T GLOAT OR BE HAPPY AND PROUD ABOUT IT BECAUSE GOD HAS HIS EYE ON YOU! Be heart broken and maybe he will have mercy on us yet.

Then the word AMOS gave way to a big, thick flat cake with beautiful white frosting, nicely decorated. The cake reminded me of a wedding cake due to its pure white color, but it was mostly flat like a birthday cake or one served where lots of people where expected, but it had a small square on top of it that was closer to one end, sort of like a little representation of a temple. Nevertheless, the cake was there as a part of a celebration. No one cut into it that I remember, but I do recall that many people, including myself, were glad to be there and see the cake. It seemed to be a happy occassion.

I didn't know whether to put this under interpreted or or not.
May be you can see more than l.

_______________________________________

This morning when l first woke l saw GAZA It had a double line above and below.(one wider than the other) I kept waiting for a word or something else to explain why l saw this but nothing came...?
Then l realized 'it was just what it was' a SIGN.

So this morning as l researched Gaza l was struck with the first 7 verses of Amos who was Prophesying to the whole region and to Gaza. I read what Steadman had to say and wondered if this is what God wanted me to know....

________________________________________

http://www.blueletterbible.org/tmp_dir/c/1...83188-2475.html

Ray Stedman
"Amos: God Doesn't Play Favorites .........Now, the nation evidently went on resisting the appeal of the prophet, so he addresses two particular messages to these people, aimed at the two extreme views among the people of Israel. They are almost contradictory views. First he says:

Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord! (5:18)
And to the other group, he says:


"Woe to those who are at ease in Zion..." (6:1)

Now here are two quite distinct views among the people. There were those whom we might call the pious hypocrites who first came under the judgment of God. "Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!" What does this mean? Well, you see, there were some people who were going about saying, "Oh, isn't this a terrible day. Oh, God is so hard. Things are so terrible." They were wringing their hands, appearing to be mourning, and going through all kinds of rituals and religious ceremonies and saying, "Oh, there is no hope for anything. Oh, if God would only come at last! Oh, would that the day of the Lord would come. Would that we could go home to be in heaven." Did you ever hear that? And the prophet thunders: "Woe to you that desire the day of the Lord."

Amos says, "Do you know what that day will be like? Do you have any idea what you are saying? Why," he says, "it is darkness, not light. It is as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or he went into the house and leaned a hand against the wall and a snake bit him. You talk about the day of the Lord. Why, you don't know what you are talking about! Woe to you." And God says,


"...I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your [religious activities] solemn assemblies...and burnt offerings...Take away from me the noise of your songs...the melody of your harps...But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowlng stream." (5:21-24)
Do we ever get away from this? God desires truth in the inward parts, in the center of life---not outward conformity. God sees through that sham and pretense without the slightest difficulty and it doesn't impress him when we go through religious activity. "Thou desirest truth in the inward being." (Ps. 51:6)

Well, then there was another group that said, "We are not concerned about these things. Let's eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. Let's have as good a time as we can and make the most of life; let's enjoy it to the full while we can." And the prophet says, "Woe to those who are at ease in Zion."

Amos asks, "How can you be so restful when the nation is so restless? How can you content yourselves with riches and wealth and the good things of life when people are lying in distress outside in the streets and judgment is taken away from your courts?" So there comes this powerful message:


Woe to those who lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the midst of the stall; who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp...(6:4, 5a)
...in the midst of the threatening judgment of God? These are the two extreme groups. As Amos goes on, he shows in a series of visions that were given to him that the nation is rapidly ripening for judgment.

At last there comes the final scene, almost always pictured by the prophets---a scene of beauty, peace, and glory. It reveals what God wants and, therefore, why God is angry at hypocrisy. Listen to these words:


In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old. (9:11)
Do you remember where that is quoted in the New Testament? In the first council at Jerusalem, in Acts 15, when they were wondering whether God would save the Gentiles without the law of Moses, James stood up and quoted this verse from Amos. "The prophets," he said, "have declared that Godis going to send his grace out to the Gentiles," and he quoted this verse. (Acts 15:15-18) God's word was that he would raise up the tabernacle or the booth of David which had fallen, and repair its breaches. That is a picture of the coming of Christ, representing the house of David. And in the raising up of the Lord Jesus, the word was to go out to all the peoples. God would bless the world through him,


"...that they may possess the remnant of Edom and and the nations [all the Gentiles] who are called by my name," says the Lord who does this. (9:12)
The comes this beautiful scene:


"Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and ed their fruit. I will plant them upon their land, and they shall never again be plucked up out of the land which I have given them," says the Lord your God. (9:13-15)
That is a picture, of course, of the millennial days when Israel shall at last be restored to the land, never to be removed again.

Now then, why is God so angry with this people? If cruelty makes him angry, it is because his heart is so set upon kindness toward man. If oppression stirs his wrath, it is because he wants men to live in love and peace. If pain inflicted upon others brings judgment from God, it is because his heart is set upon happiness and the well-being of humanity.

The message of this book is that God is relentless when he begins to deal with man. He will not make peace. He will not compromise. When he begins to deal with a nation, he insists on absolute values. When he begins to deal with an individual, he deals with absolute values. Just the fact that we are Christians does not mean that we escape the condemnation of the judgment of the Word of God in those areas where we are attempting to compromise. Just because we have been Christians for 40 years doesn't change the relentlessness of the Word of God as it searches and probes our hearts and lives. God doesn't change.

The word of this prophet is that we are dealing with a God of righteousness and of unbending, inflexible zeal who will not compromise in any way, and yet, our God is a God of patience and of love. The marvelous undertone of this book, as through all the prophets, is that of the outpouring of the love of God's heart moving toward the well-being and the happiness of humanity, breaking out every now and then into beautiful forms of expression. Undergirding the whole book is the promise at last to bring Israel---and likewise all the people of God---into the day when man shall live in peace and joy, with blessings to fill the hearts of men. What a message of the impartiality of God's grace this is!"
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When l went back to check my email, my favorite news letter contained the following post:
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A Fire On the Wall of Gaza - By Beth Goodtree - Bgoodtree@aol.com

I am not a particularly observant person although I practice my religion to a small extent, keeping the Holy Days and trying to adhere to the teachings as best as my imperfect soul is able. I should have been born in the 'Show Me' state and not in Brooklyn, because I am always seeking tangible proof of things esoteric or religious.

Yet I find myself fascinated with the Bible and read it frequently looking for passages that relate to current events. Certainly the prophecy of the return of the Hebrew people to their homeland is one of them. But now we are in deeply troubled times regarding war over religion and over the Holy Land. So I turned to the Bible to see what it had to say. It seems it has a lot to say about events happening now and in the near future. Recently I came across the following, and it was like a jolt of electricity down my spine:

Amos 1:6 "Thus saith the LORD: For three transgressions of Gaza, yea, for four, I will not reverse it: because they carried away captive a whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom. 7: So will I send a fire on the wall of Gaza, and it shall devour the palaces thereof; 8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon; and I will turn My hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord GOD."

If I am reading this right, Gaza will be consumed in fire and the inhabitants -- the Arab Palestinians (as called by the ancient name 'Philistines') -- will be utterly destroyed.

Amos 1:6 evens mentions the number of times Gaza has been taken by usurpers. After having been stolen from them in ancient times, it was given back to the Jews by the Palestine Mandate. But Israel lost it through duplicity and war, and is about to lose it again -- a fourth time -- through even more duplicity.

What is even more interesting is the mention of a wall. As we all know, Israel is building a passive barrier -- a wall to prevent the genocidally-bent Arabs from murdering any more Jews. As to the palaces, it is well known that Yasser Arafat had a number of palatial residences, including his takeover of at least one ancient church for his personal use.

Looking at that phrase "...and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish," puts me in mind of the Amalekites. The Amalekites were always the sworn enemies of the Hebrew people, repeatedly attacking them and joining with anyone who wanted to destroy the Jews. They also were a nomadic people, mainly occupying southern Palestine. The Bible describes them as the epitome of evil and hatred, given to lying, thieving and murder. Already they're sounding more and more like those Arabs occupying Jewish Palestine today.

These Arabs lie about being 'Palestinian,' since there was never a country called 'Palestine,' and the majority of them came from Jordan and Egypt. In fact, I challenge a single one of them to show me a valid birth certificate, passport, marriage license or currency from the country of 'Palestine.'

These Arabs steal because they are trying to steal the land rightfully and legally given to the Jewish people by the Palestine Mandate, which was internationally endorsed and never abrogated. And as to murdering, their own polls show that the overwhelming majority of them approve of murdering Jews. Smells like modern-day Amalekites to me...

Meanwhile, here is what the Bible says regarding Amalek, leader of the Amalekites:

Exodus 17:14 "And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven."

Exodus17:16 "And he said: The hand upon the throne of the LORD: the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."

This seemed to be a prophetic statement. Later in Samuel we read that although the Hebrews were commanded to utterly destroy their tormentors -- the Amalekites -- they did not.

Samuel 15: 2 "Thus saith the LORD of hosts: I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt. 3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ---.'

Samuel 15:7 "And Saul smote the Amalekites, from Havilah as thou goest to Shur, that is in front of Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive..."

Here's where Israel's big trouble comes:

Samuel 15:9 "But Saul and the people spared Agag..."

Samuel 15:10 "Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying: 11 'It repenteth Me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following Me, and hath not performed My commandments."

Samuel 15:18 "and the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said: Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. 19 Wherefore then didst thou not hearken to the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst that which was evil in the sight of the LORD?"

Apparently, in Exodus, God anticipates that King Saul will not follow his commandment to destroy every last Amalekite, for it says in Ex. 17:16 "the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."

However, in Amos it predicts "...and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord GOD."

It also predicts a wall around Gaza. And it just so happens that there is now a wall, or separation fence, around Gaza where there once was none.

It's sounding more and more that today's Arabs who erroneously call themselves 'Palestinian' are in for a hot time in the old town tonight, courtesy of God. __________________________________________________________________

I haven't drawn a conclusion to this except according to Amos the Palastinians are not the only ones in for a " hot time in the old town tonight."

An Unturned Cake
In verse 8, the northern kingdom of Israel is likened to a "cake not turned." The "cake" Hosea had in mind was not a birthday cake or a wedding cake. No, he was thinking of "flatbread" that is cooked on a griddle--like a pancake, or like pita, which is common in the Middle East today. We all know what a pancake is like if it's not turned over and is cooked on just one side! It's weak and gooey. It has no structural stability and it can't support itself. Do you see the illustration? Spiritually speaking, Israel was weak. Although the kingdom was quite strong politically and militarily at this time, the people were morally and spiritually weak. Their moral fiber and spiritual backbone were riddled with the fatal disease of idolatry. Many of them were involved in the immoral prostitution of the pagan fertility rites and many of them were offering pagan sacrifices to the foreign gods on the mountain high places. (See Hosea 4:11-14.) They were structurally weak, like an unturned cake.

What was true of Israel is true of many of God's people today. In financial security and secular accomplishments they may appear to be strong, but morally and spiritually many believers are weak and unstable. Many are half baked--like a "cake not turned." We all need to ask ourselves, "If the Lord were to use the illustration of a pancake to picture my life, or the life of my church or fellowship as a pile of panckes, how would it stack up? Is my church fellowship strong, well-balanced, attractive and nourishing, or weak, distorted, unstable and distasteful? Is my life a weak gooey mess? Am I spiritually stable, or am I riddled with the fatal diseases of our pagan culture? Am I habitually practicing righteousness or practicing sin?" (See 1 John 3:4 10.) God is looking for people who have moral backbone and spiritual stability. He's looking for people who don't wobble when confronted with spiritual compromise. He wants believers who can stand up under pressure, who won't cave in when they're faced with moral temptation. God is looking for representatives who have integrity, who are trustworthy, who are morally upright and who tell the truth without compromising. May our lives be characterized by moral and spiritual strength so that it cannot be said of us that we are like a "cake not turned."

http://www.growingchristians.org/dfgc/cakes-doves-bows.html

Isaiah 59 - The Reality Check


A. The sin God sees.

1. (1) The problem of God’s people: what the cause is not.

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.

a. Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save: God’s people wondered why God did not seem to rescue them from their trials. They wondered if perhaps God had diminished in strength - if His hand had become shortened. Isaiah the prophet assures them that this is not the case.


i. This touches on one of the greatest problems in practical theology: how can there be a God of love and all power when there is human suffering? If we loved someone and had the power to end their suffering, wouldn’t we do it? Isaiah addresses those who wondered if God wasn’t all powerful, and that is why their suffering continues.


ii. Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a remarkably wide-selling book titled When Bad Things Happen to Good People. It sold more than a half a million copies before going to paperback and was on the New York Times best-seller list for a whole year. The whole point of his book is to say God is all loving but not all powerful, that God is good, but not sovereign. So, when bad things happen to good people, it is because events are out of God’s control. Kushner advises his readers to “learn to love [God] and forgive him despite his limitations.” This certainly is not the God of the Bible, because the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save. Isaiah simply says, “Behold this. See this.”



b. Nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: Perhaps the problem isn’t that God lacks power. Perhaps He lacks knowledge of our problem, or interest in our problem. But this isn’t the situation at all, as Isaiah reminds us. God’s ear is not heavy. He can hear us just fine.



2. (2) The problem of God’s people: what the cause is.



But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.



a. But your iniquities have separated you from your God: The problem isn’t with God’s power, His knowledge, or His interest. The problem is with our iniquities. Sin has separated you from your God.



i. In what way does sin separate us from God? Sin does not necessarily separate us from the presence of God, because God is present everywhere (Psalm 139:7) and even Satan can have an audience with God (Job 1:6). Sin does not separate us from the love of God, because God loves sinners (Romans 5:8). But sin still does separate.



· Sin separates us from fellowship with God, because at least at the point of our sin, we no longer think alike with God.

· Sin separates us from the blessing of God, because at least at the point of our sin, we are not trusting God and relying on Him.

· Sin separates us from the some of the benefits of God’s love, even as the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) was still loved by the father, but didn’t enjoy the benefits of his love when he was in sin.

· Sin separates us, in some way, from the protection of God, because He will allow trials to come our way to correct us.



ii. How easy it is for us to blame our problems on everything except our iniquities! We will even blame God before seeing that the problem is with us! We will deny who God is before seeing that the problem is with us!



b. And your sins have hidden His face from you: This explains why God’s people no longer felt the face of the Lord shining on them (Numbers 6:25). It was their sins, not the inability of God to hear, or his lack of interest in hearing.



i. This helps us understand - at least in a small way - the cry of Jesus from the cross, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (Matthew 27:46). As Jesus stood in the place of guilty sinners, there was some way in which the face of God the Father was hidden from Him. Not in an ultimate, absolute sense; but in some way. But that was for our sins, not His own!



3. (3-8) A detailed description of the sins of God’s people.



For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for justice, nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; they conceive evil and bring forth iniquity. They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; he who eats of their eggs dies, and from that which is crushed a viper breaks out. Their webs will not become garments, nor will they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their ways; they have made themselves crooked paths; whoever takes that way shall not know peace.



a. Your hands are defiled with blood: They practiced and approved of violence and murder.



b. Your lips have spoken lies: They lied with ease and regularity.



c. No one calls for justice: They did not share God’s heart for what was fair and good; everyone simply thought in terms of their own good. Both justice and truth were distant concepts, and instead of justice there were empty words, instead of truth there were lies.



i. Motyer on empty words: “Isaiah is not describing but diagnosing. They may think they are acting sensibly but actually it is all nonsense.”



d. They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity, as if they were snakes giving birth to more evil serpents, bringing forth nothing but death (he who eats of their eggs dies) and more evil (from that which is crushed a viper breaks out).



i. Clarke on weave the spider’s web: “By their plots they weave nets, lay snares industriously, with great pains and artifice, whereby they may entangle and involve their poor neighbors in intricacies and perplexities, and so devour them, as the spider weaves her web to catch flies, and then to feed on them.” But their webs will never cover them before God; Their webs will not become garments, nor will they cover themselves with their works.



e. The act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil: Both hands and feet are given to sin. But it doesn’t end there; even their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity.



f. They have made themselves crooked paths; whoever takes that way shall not know peace: Their choice and the consequences are plain. Their crooked paths will never lead them into the way of peace, meaning peace in the full sense of shalom.

i. Paul quotes Isaiah 59:7-8 in Romans 3:15-17. He uses this passage, connected with other Old Testament passages, to demonstrate that man is a sinner from “head to toe.”



ii. In light of all this sin, it is amazing - absolutely amazing - that God’s people could still believe (as they did in Isaiah 59:1) that the problem was with God, and not them!



B. The effects of sin the people see.



1. (9-11) Because of their sin, darkness comes.



Therefore justice is far from us, nor does righteousness overtake us; we look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness! We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as at twilight; we are as dead men in desolate places. We all growl like bears, and moan sadly like doves; we look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.



a. Therefore justice is far from us, nor does righteousness overtake us: Because God’s people had no interest in justice, God did not bless them with it. Because God’s people did not care about righteousness, God did not bless them with it. This is the principle of Jesus stated in Matthew 13:12: whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.



b. We look for light, but there is darkness! Now, having given themselves over to darkness, when they want the light, it isn’t there. When you always have the light to go to, the darkness feels “fun.” It seems mysterious and adventurous. But when the light is taken away, we despair in the darkness.



2. (12-15a) Confessing their sin and admitting their guilt.



For our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them: in transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.



a. Our sins testify against us . . . righteousness stands afar off: Now God’s people are in a better place. They have had their reality check, and see things as they are. No longer do they blame the “shortened hand” of God, or His “heavy ear.” They know it is because of their own sins that righteousness stands afar off.



C. The salvation and redemption the Lord sees.



1. (15b-16a) What the Lord saw.



Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor.



a. The Lord saw it, and it displeased Him, that there was no justice: The state of God’s people was no mystery to the Lord. They cried out in Isaiah 59:12-15a, stating how desperate their condition was - and the Lord knew it all along.



b. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: Not only was the state of God’s people bad; but no one among them took the lead in getting it right. Where was the man would lead the people in righteousness? He could not be found. Where was the intercessor who would plead God’s case to the people, and the people’s repentance to their God? No intercessor could be found.



2. (16b-19) What the Lord did.



Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him. For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, fury to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; the coastlands He will fully repay. So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.



a. Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him: God waited and waited for a disobedient Israel to turn to Him. He waited and waited for a man to lead them back to Him, or an intercessor to plead before Him. None arose; so the Lord did it Himself. If a man or an intercessor would have stepped forth, it would have saved Israel a lot of calamity. But the fact that no man, or no intercessor stepped forward didn’t derail God’s plan. He waited to work in partnership through a man. He waited to work through an intercessor. But God’s work would still go forth if none arose!



b. He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head: No man stepped forward to work with the Lord, so the Lord puts on his armor and goes forth to destroy His enemies, protect His people, and glorify His name!



i. Most people don’t pick up the connection between Isaiah 59:17-18 and Paul’s comments on our spiritual armor in Ephesians 5:10-17. In that passage, Paul calls that armor the whole armor of God, and it is God’s armor in the sense that it belongs to Him - after all, He uses it here in Isaiah 59:17-18 - and He allows us to use it to fight for Him.



ii. We may see a connection. If we don’t put on the armor of God and fight for Him, then eventually God will put it on Himself and fight for His glory. But God’s preference is to work in and through us, with us using His armor.



c. The end result will be wonderful: So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. In His ultimate victory - which He wants us to share in, but will accomplish with or without us - the glory of the Lord will be known and respected from east to west.



d. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. The enemies of the Lord will never triumph over Him. Even if they come in like a flood, and seem unstoppable, the Lord will lift up a battle-standard against him, and he will be stopped. God gives His people the glorious privilege of being more than conquerors (Romans 8:37), but will win it with or without us.



3. (20-21) What the Lord said.



“The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” says the Lord. “As for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”



a. The Redeemer will come to Zion: After speaking in the third-person through the prophet, now the Lord speaks in the first-person through the prophet. When He speaks, He declares: the Redeemer - the goel - will come to Zion.



i. The goel - sometimes translated kinsman-redeemer, here simply as Redeemer - had a specifically defined role in Israel’s family life. The kinsman-redeemer was responsible to buy a fellow Israelite out of slavery (Leviticus 25:48). He was responsible to be the “avenger of blood” to make sure the murderer of a family member answered to the crime (Numbers 35:19). He was responsible to buy back family land that had been forfeited (Leviticus 25:25). And he was responsible to carry on the family name by marrying a childless widow (Deuteronomy 25:5-10). In these, we see that the goel, the kinsman-redeemer, was responsible to safeguard the persons, the property, and the posterity of the family.



ii. When the New King James Version capitalizes Redeemer, it does so rightly - because our goel is Jesus Christ. He is our near kinsman because He has added perfect humanity to His deity. He is the one who buys us out of slavery. He is the one who avenges wrongs done to us. He protects our inheritance, and blesses and guards our posterity. This promise of the Lord in Isaiah 59:20 could be reworded, “I will send My Messiah, the Redeemer for all humanity, Jesus of Nazareth!”



b. Who does the Redeemer come to? To those who turn away from transgression. The goel only worked for those who asked for His services, and knew they needed Him.



c. My Spirit who is upon you, and My words . . . shall not depart from your mouth . . . from this time and forevermore: The covenant God makes with His people promises an abiding Spirit and an enduring word. God accomplishes His purpose in people and through all creation through both the Spirit and the word.
http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/2359.htm
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Then the promise in Ps. 91
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God showed me a farmer with a pitch fork lifting a pile of straw and throwing it over his shoulder...Underneath l saw all the yellowed struggling plants that had been straining to reach the light.
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Turn and ask...

http://www.keyway.ca/htm2006/20060819.htm

There is an interesting teaching at the above web site called: A Greater and More Perfect Tabernacle

Seems to go along with your dream gr82bsaved

Also wanted to add that Miki is correct in saying the restuarant refers to the forum. A resturant is a place where we go to be fed. All those that you could not see that were talking about different things are those of us who visit the forum. Also the board that was held up in the first part of your dream I believe is a sign as in the following scripture.
Jdg 6:17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.
just some thoughts to share....

Hi His Love Abides,
Thanks so much for the link! I saw this picture from the web site that you referenced:



Believe it or not, the sides of the cake in my dream looked exactly like the tabernacle on the web page! The rest of the cake was exactly the same dimensions (only it was a cake obviously!). The Noly of Holies at the back of the tabernacle was on top of the cake, which would be obvious as well. It was truly symbolic of a tabernacle, that is for sure.

I was just amazed at the pattern on the outside of white walls of the tabernacle in the painting. The pattern was the same, even though i have not seen that picture before (I have seen similar pictures, though).

Thanks again!

Blessings to you all in the name of the HOLY KING OF GLORY, JESUS CHRIST!

Todd

Hi All,

During the early morning hours of Thursday, March 22 2007, I had an interesting dream. It was short, but packed with meaning. Here it is:

I was sitting at a wooden table, one that looked like any other. Around me were many people; I did not recognize anyone in particular, but each person there was familiar in some way.

(They are familiar because they are brothers and sisters in the Lord)



There was a lot of talking going on. People standing around the table, behind me, sitting at the table, all were talking about many different things. I don't know what anyone was saying, since there was so many things being said. It was like being in a restaurant.

I believe that the Lord wants you to listen only to Him, and not to the opinions of man. Too many opinions are around you (and us) that we listen to and its confusing. We have to listen to the Word alone.




Then, I looked up to my left, from where I was sitting at the table, and there was a board that appeared that simply said "HOSEA". i then looked at the table, and I saw the word "AMOS" over the table. This happened three times in a row.

Three times in a row. times=years. Years could be thousands, or in this case three thousand years. We are in the morning of the third day. All three these books speak of judgement, tribulation, that is coming upon the world. Hosea is to do with the whore, who points to leaving the true Word.
In Amos the sentence "for three transgressions" appears a lot of times.Also like your "three times in a row"



Then the word AMOS gave way to a big, thick flat cake with beautiful white frosting, nicely decorated. The cake reminded me of a wedding cake due to its pure white color, but it was mostly flat like a birthday cake or one served where lots of people where expected, but it had a small square on top of it that was closer to one end, sort of like a little representation of a temple. Nevertheless, the cake was there as a part of a celebration. No one cut into it that I remember, but I do recall that many people, including myself, were glad to be there and see the cake. It seemed to be a happy occassion.

During the tribulation, there is a wedding feast. The white cake , like a wedding cake. Very white, because it has to do with the righteousness of God that has been given to His saints.Lots of people are expected. The small square temple is another sign that it is the temple (us) that is there at the feast.It will be a "happy occasion" although it is taking place in the tribulation, because the hand of God is over His elect.

Psa 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil;my cup runneth over.

After I woke up, I could not help but think about the dream. Then the word "OBADIAH" kept playing over and over again in my head. It lasted nearly all day, and into the next morning.

I have read those three books again to get the meaning behind that combination. I think that the dream may be foretelling of a judgement that will occur during an anniversary. This June is the 40th anniversary of the six day war. I was reminded of that because of what the cake looked like as well.

Any ideas?

Thanks, and blessings to you all in the name of the MOST HIGH, JESUS CHRIST

Hi His Love Abides,
Thanks so much for the link! I saw this picture from the web site that you referenced:



Believe it or not, the sides of the cake in my dream looked exactly like the tabernacle on the web page! The rest of the cake was exactly the same dimensions (only it was a cake obviously!). The Noly of Holies at the back of the tabernacle was on top of the cake, which would be obvious as well. It was truly symbolic of a tabernacle, that is for sure.

I was just amazed at the pattern on the outside of white walls of the tabernacle in the painting. The pattern was the same, even though i have not seen that picture before (I have seen similar pictures, though).

Thanks again!

Blessings to you all in the name of the HOLY KING OF GLORY, JESUS CHRIST!

Todd

EAT...and you won't be hungry.

One of the things l've found with age and experience is that the truth of Christ is available to all.
There are no excuses...teacher blaming went out the door for me years ago...for God revealed his son to me personally. I was a lowly bruised sheep but my master came looking and found me. When l leaned fully into him he began to reveal the core of truth to me.

Listen people...the same truth is available to you. Eat the word...it will fill you up. Babies suck naturally. No one teaches them....So taste and see that the Lord is good!

Hi All,

During the early morning hours of Thursday, March 22 2007, I had an interesting dream. It was short, but packed with meaning. Here it is:

I was sitting at a wooden table, one that looked like any other. Around me were many people; I did not recognize anyone in particular, but each person there was familiar in some way.

There was a lot of talking going on. People standing around the table, behind me, sitting at the table, all were talking about many different things. I don't know what anyone was saying, since there was so many things being said. It was like being in a restaurant. Then, I looked up to my left, from where I was sitting at the table, and there was a board that appeared that simply said "HOSEA". i then looked at the table, and I saw the word "AMOS" over the table. This happened three times in a row. Then the word AMOS gave way to a big, thick flat cake with beautiful white frosting, nicely decorated. The cake reminded me of a wedding cake due to its pure white color, but it was mostly flat like a birthday cake or one served where lots of people where expected, but it had a small square on top of it that was closer to one end, sort of like a little representation of a temple. Nevertheless, the cake was there as a part of a celebration. No one cut into it that I remember, but I do recall that many people, including myself, were glad to be there and see the cake. It seemed to be a happy occassion.

After I woke up, I could not help but think about the dream. Then the word "OBADIAH" kept playing over and over again in my head. It lasted nearly all day, and into the next morning.

I have read those three books again to get the meaning behind that combination. I think that the dream may be foretelling of a judgement that will occur during an anniversary. This June is the 40th anniversary of the six day war. I was reminded of that because of what the cake looked like as well.

Any ideas?

Thanks, and blessings to you all in the name of the MOST HIGH, JESUS CHRIST

Half Eye Pancake Half Eye reading glasses that fold flat as a pancake.

Or maybe l could stretch it with this;



These are Called flip glasses....

We might hear those Gestapo boots but l can also hear the sound of those flip flops...

Act 12:8 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.

This is a prophecy forum...all we've talked about here...Not everything and everybody is evil.... Amos spoke judgement for many but it turns to celebration for others...a new birth(day cake)... white like a wedding celebration...just waiting for the king to cut the cake...It turned to celebration because they turned when they heard the call and the words of the prophet.

Hosea 7:8 Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.

Not turned doesn't mean they won't turn. Flipping the cake on the griddle makes a sound. Hence the word Flap...When l was researching this l came across these glasses called flapjacks and l knew the Lord wanted to say something. and it's already been said but he's saying it again. When Jacob turns...Or better said...When God turns Jacob...he will in a sense, be born again..

Todd...I had an odd experiance late this summer. I don't know if you read the post or not but it was the conclusion to the dream "The Wave" I don't know where it is right now so will have to find the link.

But after my trip to the redwoods and return on 9/11...because of trusting the Lords voice l was able to get on a boat with my sisters to scatter my Dad's ashes..His name was Jay also called Jacob...My Dad came to the Lord before his death so it was a true celebratin for me. The day after returning from the red woods we went on a boat called "At Last" We were celebrating my fathers death and rebirth and My "older Sisters" birthday. We sat around a table and had a small cake. so strange...celebrating the two together. I don't have much time now but will elaborate later.

The sound of flip flopping flapjacks is the sound of turning...being given eyes to see. The celebration "at last"!