Ready for action

I make known the end from the beginning,

    from ancient times, what is still to come.

I say, “My purpose will stand,

    and I will do all that I please.”

From the east I summon a bird of prey;

    from a far-off land, a man to fulfil my purpose.

What I have said, that I will bring about;

    what I have planned, that I will do. Isaiah 46: 10 – 11

All through the book of Isaiah, God tells the people that he is in charge of history; that the events unfolding and about to unfold before their eyes are not random happenings or the plans of men. He makes plain that what is happening is at his instigation. The Assyrians were a terrifying people who took all before them and yet the Lord says he has summoned them. In fact in Isaiah 5: 26 he says he whistles for the nations to come and they do! The Israelites and all the surrounding nations would have thought that Assyrians were unassailable. They were the dominant nation and yet Isaiah foretells their downfall.

It is as if someone prophesies the downfall of USA today. It seems unbelievable but we live in unbelievable times. Who would have foreseen the overthrow of communism on the planet and the iron grip of the USSR broken over the countries of Eastern Europe and yet in happened in such a short time? Who would have thought that some of the Arab countries would see the overthrow of their seemingly entrenched leaders?

Yet these events have been foretold. In 1896 a scholar, from reading the Bible, foretold both the rise and fall of communism before any nation was communist and made reference to what turned out to the First World War (AGS Consulting website). One incredible prophecy was from the lady who in May 1997 told us: …  this shall be a sign, that there will be a day very soon when the whole nation will mourn. And the whole nation will put flowers in their cities.” At the time no one in UK knew what it meant but by September, its meaning was obvious. Princess Diana had been killed in a car crash and the nation was covered in flowers.

Jean Darnall’s prophecy for UK given at least 40 years ago of fires being lit from Scotland to Land’s End and into Europe seems very relevant now. God spoke to her about young people reaching out and of ordinary believers being used to evangelise with signs and wonders following. That is exactly what is happening at Cwmbran in Wales and other places right now. (These prophecies can be found at the Crossrhythms website).

However fascinating though the prophetic is, especially in hindsight as we see that which was foretold coming to pass, God does not tell us these things to entertain us. He first of all tells us so we can know He is God and in charge of world events. Secondly he wants all men to turn to him.

In Isaiah’s day the Jewish nation was backslidden and in idolatry. God wanted the people to return  to him, the only source of their personal and national security. It is the same today. God is still looking to see everyone saved and he wants the church prepared and ready for what he is doing. It is like he is shaking the church awake through the prophetic so they are ready for action when God moves mightily by His Spirit. The prophecy about Princess Diana went on to say: 

For I am at work in this nation and I will bring this nation to it's knees before me and they will know the joy of their salvation in the mighty risen Lord Jesus.… Therefore let the rivers of living water flow from within you and know that you will have many opportunities from this point to speak of my grace, to speak of my love, to see in action my Spirit at work. Know that I will be with you in that and you will see the miraculous.

That is what is happening in UK today. God foretells events so we can know he is God, know he is in control, turn to him and be ready for what He is going to do in our midst. Do not let us be the generation that missed it but the people who grasped the moment and ran with it.  God is on the move – let’s be prepared and ready. 

Be still and know that I am God

Be still, and know that I am God;
      I will be exalted among the nations,
      I will be exalted in the earth.  Psalm 46: 10

One of my favourite books of the Bible is Isaiah.  His gift of beautiful poetry and wonderful use of words is an inspiration. However Isaiah lived during some very troubled times in the kingdom of Judah and he must have experienced great highs and lows during his ministry.

The early chapters of Isaiah were written during the reign of King Ahaz, a wicked king of Judah who did not follow in the path of King David.  He reigned in the troubled times of the Assyrians whose total warfare of terror, destruction and deportation was both brutal and barbaric.  The surrounding nations of Syria or Aram and the northern kingdom of Israel suffered greatly at their hands. Indeed it was the Assyrians who took Israel into exile as God had promised because of their unfaithfulness to him.

These were truly terrible days and King Ahaz did all he could to appease the Assyrians but to no avail. Isaiah kept urging him to seek the Lord, turn back to him because only he could help. Instead King Ahaz closed the temple and set up his own altar which he had built modelled on one he had seen and liked in Damascus (II Kings 16).

Nevertheless, in the midst of all this, Isaiah prophesies one of his most famous and frequently read encouragements found in Isaiah 9. At Christmas we usually hear and read just Isaiah 9: 2, 6 – 7 because this is the most obvious prophecy about the Messiah but the first seven verses of the chapter taken together were indeed a source of great encouragement in the dark days of King Ahaz’s reign.

God promised through Isaiah that the northern lands of Zebulun, Naphtali and Galilee which had suffered terribly at the hands of the Assyrians would one day be greatly honoured. This of course was fulfilled during Jesus’ ministry there. God promised the people who were walking in the darkness of despair that a light will dawn, that the yoke of oppression will be broken and all the tools of warfare will be burnt.

This will happen because a child will be born, a royal child from the house of David who will rule with justice and righteousness for ever. ‘The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.’ God will make sure this happens and he has. He has sent his son Jesus who even now is reigning in glory and will one day return to the earth to establish his kingdom on earth for ever.

In the midst of despair and terror, God spoke words of life and hope to the Jewish people. God never left them even when they were eventually taken off into exile; he is indeed Immanuel God with us.

In the midst of our trials and difficulties, no matter their source, he will speak words of life and hope to us if we will be still and know He is God.

A holy nation

Now Daniel so distinguished himself amongst the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom Daniel 6:3

Daniel lived a holy life – a life separated from everything of the ungodly world that surrounded him and separated unto Almighty God. Daniel was taken into captivity with his three friends Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego from Judah to Babylon in 609 BC and Daniel died there in 534 BC. He served under many kings but from an early age he sought to be a man of God no matter what. It almost cost him his life but he would not be deterred.

Though Daniel lived a long and prayer filled life we only read about the high points. In the first six chapters of the book we hear about Daniel’s amazing gift of revelatory discernment to interpret signs and dreams. We hear of Daniel and his three friends’ uncompromising stand against the devil’s schemes which led the three friends into the fiery furnace and Daniel into the lion’s den.  God delivered these Godly young men from all of it.

In between these times though there are many years when we know nothing of what Daniel was doing other than he was a man of prayer and ‘exceptional qualities’. He was in administrative charge of large parts of the Babylonian and later the Persian Empire but he never held back from his prayer life despite his extremely responsible and demanding career.

 Daniel prayed Jeremiah’s prophecy of the Jewish nation being in exile for 70 years to fulfilment. Prophecy is amazing but just prophecy until it is prayed into being. Daniel fasted and prayed for the nation to be released according to the word given to Jeremiah. Gabriel was sent to instruct him (Daniel 9) and Daniel and his companions continued to pray and seek God until a mighty angel again came to strengthen him (Daniel 10: 18 – 19). These angels gave Daniel amazing revelations of what was to come which have subsequently been incredibly fulfilled.

Daniel’s life was a life of service and prayer. Through his prayers the Jewish nation returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple and it was a pagan king, Cyrus, who sent the Jews back and even paid for the work. He even returned the holy objects taken from the temple by Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel’s uncompromising life is such a source of huge encouragement for all of us. He determined to live for God from an early age no matter the cost. His amazing prayer life led him to be able to interpret dreams and signs at the highest level in the land. His exceptional qualities were used to serve in a pagan empire again at the highest level. He had the most amazing visions and dreams and all coming from a determination to live a holy life; a life separated to God and to his service.

Today our nations need as many Daniels as are willing to pay the price to be the shining lights that our countries are desperate for. Imagine Godly and God fearing men and women serving the nation at the highest levels and imagine a passionate church bringing the Kingdom of God to every area of our lands. It doesn’t take many to pray this into being but it does take determination. We are a holy people (I Peter 2: 9) – let’s live holy lives.

The Passover Sabbath

We do not know much about the Passover Sabbath (the Saturday) of that Easter week but we can glean something of what was happening from the Gospels. As evening drew near on Friday, Joseph of Arimethea went to Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body and Pilate granted it to him. Joseph took the body wrapped it in linen and placed it in a new tomb near to the site of the crucifixion. He then rolled a big stone in front of the tomb and went home. Some of the ladies watched all of this before also going home (Matthew 27: 57 – 61).

The Sabbath started at dusk on Friday and ran till dusk on Saturday. For 24 hours they all rested as commanded by the law. (Luke 23: 56). No one had any anticipation of Jesus’ rising from the dead. For all the disciples and the ladies this must have been a terrible day. If you have lost anyone dear to you for the first few days you can feel devastated. But for the disciples this was Jesus, the Messiah, that had been crucified like a common criminal and yet he had done nothing wrong.

Added to their intense grief must have been extreme bewilderment and anger especially aimed at the chief priests and leaders of the Jewish people. We know they were behind locked doors, fearful of the Jews (John 20: 19). I expect they had great difficulty eating anything on that Sabbath and the one word running round and round in their minds must have been ‘Why?’ Why did he die, why did he allow them to kill him, why had it happened? Why? Why? Why?  I wondered if anyone mentioned that Jesus had said he would be raised from the dead. There was certainly no expectation from anyone when the ladies went to anoint the bodies with spices on the first day of the week. All the disciples struggled to believe he had been raised even when they were told it by eye witnesses.

There was however one rather surprising group who remembered that Jesus had said he would be raised from the dead on the third day. In Matthew 27: 62 we read, the next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate, ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we remember that while he was alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ The only people who remembered what Jesus had said he would rise on the third day were the very people who had arranged to have him crucified. Now they were determined to make sure he stayed dead and no one could steal his body from the tomb and say he had risen.

It is amazing that the religious leaders went to Pilate on the Sabbath – it was prohibited by the law to do any work on the Sabbath and this must surely be classified as work, but they were so worried about a possible resurrection – real or fake – that they persuaded Pilate to seal and put a guard on the tomb. Again they missed the point that if someone is really raised from the dead, a stone over the door of the tomb – sealed or not – will not be an obstacle to the miracle.

The disciples were people just like you and me and yet they did not remember or recognise what God was doing even when he had clearly told them before hand what would happen. In the same way we may have forgotten or not understood some things that God has said to us in the past. Today let us encourage ourselves by re-visiting personal or church prophecies or Scriptures that we may have forgotten or have not yet come to pass. Let us ask God to open our eyes to what he is doing and bring fresh revelation to us to day so we will be ready and prepared for anything that may come in the days ahead.