Syria is a Sign and Wonder to the Nations
Greetings in the Lord!
The word for this week is from Isaiah 16. I know this passage well, as the Lord spoke it many times earlier about Syria--she is the "Moab" that is being overrun just like in chapter 16. The passage recommends to the fleeing Moabites to "send lambs as tribute" to be better received in the lands where they are trying to flee to, even to Israel, the land that they have acted so arrogantly to over the centuries. So it is with the Syrians. In fact, it is and was their hatred--especially of Israel--that has opened the door for the gates of hell to prevail against them. Even when I lived there, the Lord would often give me words of warning for them about their continual arrogant hatred of Israel. Their prideful hostility was vile in the Lord's eyes. "Your hatred only hurts you," I would say, but they would quickly begin to justify their hatred with rationales and handed-down logic. Their behavior and justifications had been used for so long they called it culture! "It's just the way we live," they would end the conversation.
This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. But now the Lord says: "Within three years, as a servant would count them, Moab's splendor and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble."
Well, that's not a very positive outlook, yet that is exactly where we are in the word the Lord began back in 2011. For three years, the conflict progressed from localized protests to outright civil war and proxy war for the major leading countries of the region and beyond. Now we have seen the fulfillment of the last part: Syrian refugees are being despised all over the world; no country wants them, not even the Gulf States who have been passionately participating in the removal of Assad!
You know, when you see an event that is literally impacting in way or another the nations of the world, you have to begin to ask yourself, "What is really going on here?" for chances are, it is a sign and a wonder of the Lord; a very significant message to all who have a heart for understanding.
For twenty years I lived and worked in nations that were full of hostile iniquity and whose ways opposed the Lord's ways, mainly because they had long ago decided to follow false gods and were reaping all of the curses for doing so, which are listed in Deuteronomy 28. Even in places like Saudi Arabia, people forget that the Arabian peninsula was filled with Christians for 200 years!
"All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees He gave you. They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever. Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you." Deuteronomy 28:45-48.
So, we return to examine Syria--although the Church first began using the name "Christian" in their ancient city of Antioch, somewhere along the line they reverted to other gods and thus began widespread animosity towards God Almighty till the point where it was just "cultural" to do so. But I have a lot of compassion for them! It is easy to forget; it is easy to turn away and do your own thing; it is easy to believe the lies of false teachers and follow them by taking up the names of other gods not realizing the curses you are bringing upon yourself for doing so!
Luckily, chapter 30 of Deuteronomy we see God's redemptive plan for everyone who chooses to return to His ways. Renewal of His covenant promises for obedience are for every repentant heart!
"When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where He scattered you....He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you may love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live." Deuteronomy 30:1-6
There are many blessings for following the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! The Lord desires to bless, not curse; His desire is to prosper His children, to help them grow in wisdom and favor and He did this by giving us His Son Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. All of God's promises are yes and amen--eternal life through Jesus the Christ for those who choose Him.
So shake off that anti-christ spirit that came into your life when you said yes to false religion, witchcraft, and corrupt living and choose life in Jesus Christ. Humble yourself to the scorn that God has allowed to come against you worldwide to draw you back to Him; humble yourself and ask God to free you from the lying leviathan spirit that came with the worship of false gods. Humble yourself and choose eternal life in Jesus Christ. Syria is a sign and wonder to the whole world--like a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah--that those who persist in their sins and false religion will suffer all the curses listed in His word, but if you repent and return to God Almighty and live according to His ways, you will be blessed abundantly!
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
The word for this week is from Isaiah 16. I know this passage well, as the Lord spoke it many times earlier about Syria--she is the "Moab" that is being overrun just like in chapter 16. The passage recommends to the fleeing Moabites to "send lambs as tribute" to be better received in the lands where they are trying to flee to, even to Israel, the land that they have acted so arrogantly to over the centuries. So it is with the Syrians. In fact, it is and was their hatred--especially of Israel--that has opened the door for the gates of hell to prevail against them. Even when I lived there, the Lord would often give me words of warning for them about their continual arrogant hatred of Israel. Their prideful hostility was vile in the Lord's eyes. "Your hatred only hurts you," I would say, but they would quickly begin to justify their hatred with rationales and handed-down logic. Their behavior and justifications had been used for so long they called it culture! "It's just the way we live," they would end the conversation.
This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. But now the Lord says: "Within three years, as a servant would count them, Moab's splendor and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble."
Well, that's not a very positive outlook, yet that is exactly where we are in the word the Lord began back in 2011. For three years, the conflict progressed from localized protests to outright civil war and proxy war for the major leading countries of the region and beyond. Now we have seen the fulfillment of the last part: Syrian refugees are being despised all over the world; no country wants them, not even the Gulf States who have been passionately participating in the removal of Assad!
You know, when you see an event that is literally impacting in way or another the nations of the world, you have to begin to ask yourself, "What is really going on here?" for chances are, it is a sign and a wonder of the Lord; a very significant message to all who have a heart for understanding.
For twenty years I lived and worked in nations that were full of hostile iniquity and whose ways opposed the Lord's ways, mainly because they had long ago decided to follow false gods and were reaping all of the curses for doing so, which are listed in Deuteronomy 28. Even in places like Saudi Arabia, people forget that the Arabian peninsula was filled with Christians for 200 years!
"All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees He gave you. They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever. Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you." Deuteronomy 28:45-48.
So, we return to examine Syria--although the Church first began using the name "Christian" in their ancient city of Antioch, somewhere along the line they reverted to other gods and thus began widespread animosity towards God Almighty till the point where it was just "cultural" to do so. But I have a lot of compassion for them! It is easy to forget; it is easy to turn away and do your own thing; it is easy to believe the lies of false teachers and follow them by taking up the names of other gods not realizing the curses you are bringing upon yourself for doing so!
Luckily, chapter 30 of Deuteronomy we see God's redemptive plan for everyone who chooses to return to His ways. Renewal of His covenant promises for obedience are for every repentant heart!
"When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where He scattered you....He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you may love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live." Deuteronomy 30:1-6
There are many blessings for following the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! The Lord desires to bless, not curse; His desire is to prosper His children, to help them grow in wisdom and favor and He did this by giving us His Son Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. All of God's promises are yes and amen--eternal life through Jesus the Christ for those who choose Him.
So shake off that anti-christ spirit that came into your life when you said yes to false religion, witchcraft, and corrupt living and choose life in Jesus Christ. Humble yourself to the scorn that God has allowed to come against you worldwide to draw you back to Him; humble yourself and ask God to free you from the lying leviathan spirit that came with the worship of false gods. Humble yourself and choose eternal life in Jesus Christ. Syria is a sign and wonder to the whole world--like a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah--that those who persist in their sins and false religion will suffer all the curses listed in His word, but if you repent and return to God Almighty and live according to His ways, you will be blessed abundantly!
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
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