Revelation 1:7 Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him. Even so. Amen.
Isaiah 7:7 Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.
History is filled with accounts of despots – rulers who exercised absolute power over their subjects and terrorized those who crossed their path. They were deluded to think that they had the final word in every situation; but alas, they were often proven wrong. Something always happened that would remind them that they were finite and feeble humans. Only God has the final word. When He says, “It shall not stand…”, we can bank on it.
When Rezin king of Syria and Pekah king of Israel with their confederate forces planned to invade and destroy Jerusalem, there was great panic in Judah. This combined army was formidable enough to destroy entire Judah and make an end of the rule of David’s lineage. To Rezin and Pekah, it was a done deal, but God said, “It shall not stand.” This was His message to even an ungodly Ahaz, king of Judah, who was already greatly worried by the news of the invasion.
God still “brings the counsel of the heathen to naught” (Psalm 33:10). Powerful, wicked and crafty people may perfect their plot against His people, but rest assured that “it shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.” It is vain for anyone or group to think that they can work against the will of God or work without His will and succeed (Lamentations 3:37).
The world in which we live is full of intrigues, oppression, wickedness and threats from Satan and his demonic and human agents. Very often, they target people who have a covenant relationship with God. If you are one of such blessed people and the enemy is posing a threat against you, let God’s words of assurance settle your nerves; “it shall not stand”. The details of how it will be done are not yours but God’s. Just take it to Him in prayer.
*THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:* The enemy has not the final word, God does.
Luke 1:31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
To add to Mary’s intense anxiousness and confusion, Mary is being told she is the chosen vessel for the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. Mary is going to be the promised sign.
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
A couple of word studies on His name. In the Hebrew of Isaiah 7, Immanuel means: with us is God.
The New Testament Greek name is Ἰησοῦς/Iésous. The Greek name is translated from the Hebrew Yehoshua or Yeshua which means “Yahweh saves” or “Yahweh is salvation”.
In English, we call Him Jesus or Joshua.
Behold… The English translation of ἰδού/idou does not grab the intensity of the term in the Greek. This is an imperative verb. Look! See! Gabriel is attempting to further gain Mary’s attention.
…you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
Gabriel is going to give Mary four points of information.
You are going to get pregnant.
You are going to give birth.
The child will be a boy.
Name Him Jesus.
Luke 1:32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of his father David,
Then Gabriel goes on to explain the character of her Promised Son.
He will be great or μέγας/megas. This Greek term is where we get the English prefix “mega”. For example, lottery players hope to win “mega” millions. Jesus will be great in the grandest sense.
…will be called the Son of the Most High.
Gabriel is announcing Jesus is the Son of God or Most High or Highest. The point is, there is none above Him. He is Deity.
Definitions and translations provided by Strong’s Concordance.
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And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of his father David…
Gabriel connects the dots from Mary back to King David. The prophets foretold of a coming time when a ruler would come from the line of David. The boy to be named Jesus, who is about to be born, is the fulfillment of the promise God made to King David.
2 Samuel 7:12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish His kingdom.
Mary herself knew she was of the line of David. Luke points this out in his documented genealogy of Jesus from Mary back to David. See Luke 3:23-31.
Jeremiah 23:5 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
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Luke 1:33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.
Gabriel makes the point two times to Mary. When your earthly son assumes the role of King, it is His non stop. His kingdom will be without end.
The eternal nature of Christ’s kingdom is promised to King David in 2 Samuel 7 and multiple places in Psalms45 and 89. The prophet Daniel in chapters 2,4, 6 and 7 makes multiple, definitive and emphatic statements. His kingdom will never end.
Daniel 2:44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever…
The same promise Gabriel made to Mary over 2,000 years ago is true for us today. Jesus is coming. And when He comes back the second time, He will be firmly planted as King for eternity.
Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over His kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Luke 21:11b …and in various places famines and pestilences. -Jesus
February 7, 2020: China has stepped up their efforts to slow the spread of the Wuhan Virus. Any person suspected to have the virus has been collected and quarantined. Any person with a temperature, has been captured and quarantined. Government officials are going door to door to look for possible infected people. China is using drones mounted with thermal cameras to detect people with a fever. The Chinese government has declared the situation a “wartime condition”.
China’s Vice Premier Sun Chunlan called for a “people’s war” on the virus. For those who refuse to participate, they risk being “nailed onto the pillar of historical shame forever.”
China is looking to convert hotels and empty factories into temporary hospitals and “quarantine stations”.
For the latest data, check out this interactive website from Johns Hopkins.
Experts outside of China estimate 100,000 to 350,000 infected
The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated this is not a pandemic. The WHO defines a pandemic as “worldwide spread of a new disease”.
“Currently we are not in a pandemic. We are at the phase where it is an epidemic with multiple foci, and we try to extinguish the transmission in each of these foci,” Dr. Sylvie Briand, WHO Head Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness.
Apparently, these other cases outside of China are a “spillover”…
For more details, pictures, and embedded videos, click on the link below from UK’s Daily Mail.
Psalm 10:1 Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
In 1755, an earthquake struck the city of Lisbon. It was All Saints Day when it happened, meaning that the churches were full. In just six minutes, 15,000 people were killed and another 15,000 severely wounded. French philosopher, Voltaire could not accept this disaster. He revolted against the problem of evil in the world. How can a person possibly believe in a good, wise and powerful God in the face of human suffering? Voltaire became a celebrated and a dedicated atheist. And he died in overt rebellion against God because of his inability to reconcile the presence of evil in a world governed by a merciful God.
wikipedia
Psalm 10 could be taken as a request for God to act. The Psalmist cataloged the presence of evil and several actions of the wicked that should have resulted in instant judgment and punishment from God; but there seems to be no immediate penalty. This confusion continued until he got a clarification from God.
Forgetting the problem of man’s rebellion against a just God that often prevents Him from answering our prayers, atheists would rather use the presence of pain and suffering in the world as their biggest talking point. Whenever we violate God’s laws and set aside His commandments, trouble will certainly come; because hard is the way of transgressors.
Man is a free moral agent and therefore can choose to do good or evil. God would not take away the freedom of choice from man, otherwise, as a robot, man can be excused, if he is not responsible.
When we experience these kinds of situations where we cry to God and He appears silent, it calls for self-examination to discover our sins and shortcomings instead of blaming Him for failing to act. We must understand that God knows and will definitely uphold justice either immediately or at a future time.
Jesus came down from the Father and went back up to the Father. He restored us to the Father. That’s the reason Jesus came and did all that He did—to restore, to reconcile us to the Father.
We are seated in heavenly places in Christ now, already restored to the Father. Knowing this changes our entire lives and the way that we see everything. It changes the way we see ourselves. It changes the way we see the world. It changes the way we see God.
It shifts our perspective from standing on the earth looking up and victimized, to the position of being seated in Christ where He is on the throne of glory with the earth as our footstool, and where all principalities, powers and rulers of the darkness are beneath us.
Knowing we are restored to the Father (restored to glory) causes the Word of God (Bible) to come alive immediately and make perfect sense, because it removes the veil that is over our eyes—the veil of a broken perspective.
Everything Jesus did was to restore us to the Father: the Father of glory…and love. He is the WAY to the Father. This is the primary message of the Gospel and everything Jesus taught. And He did it all for love, so that we would know the kind of love that holds no record of wrong, the kind of love that makes us able to love even our enemies.
I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father” (John 16:28).
And where I go you know, and the way you know…Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:4,6).
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (Ephesians 2:4-6).
And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was…And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. (John 17:5,22-23).
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God (1 John 4:7).
Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven…therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:44,45,48).
Luke 21:11b …and in various places famines and pestilences. -Jesus
Thursday, 1/30/20: The World Health Organization finally declared a global emergency regarding the Wuhan Virus. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization is calling “all countries to work together in a spirit of solidarity and cooperation. We are all in this together, and we can only stop it together.”
Click on the link below for the WHO complete statement and declaration.
President Trump and the United States declared a public health emergency on Friday, 1/31/20.
“I want to emphasize that this is a serious health situation in China, but I want to emphasize that the risk to the American public is currently low. Our goal is to do all we can do to keep it that way,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield
The Wuhan Virus is starting to make an economic impact on global markets. On Friday, 1/31/20, the Dow Jones Industrial Index in the United States closed down 603.41 points, or 2.1%, to 28,256.03.
The economic impact is likely to be significant considering China’s consumption of goods as measured against the rest of the planet. Chinese financial regulators are set to provide $173 billion of liquidity when markets open on Monday, February 3, 2020.
RE: Corona virus is an enormous demand shock. YES! Correct! I live in Shanghai, China. Everything is shut down, people are not leaving their homes. The whole country! This is not analogous to SARs 2003. China is far bigger and the global economy is more connected. pic.twitter.com/hLarUtF9XA
Michael Douville has weighed in on the impact of the Wuhan Virus as well. The virus may be the tipping point for the global economy. Michael has been monitoring the slowing global economy for at least the last 6 months. Indexes show shipping around the planet is slowing. On Friday, the yield curve in the bond market inverted which indicates a slowing economy. Economic activity is halting across China because of the Wuhan Virus. Michael likes gold, silver, bonds and rental properties. As always, check with your financial consultant. Click on the link below for Michael’s comments on the Wuhan Virus impact.
The following points are from various headlines across the internet. These information points are continually expanding.
Companies like Apple, Google, Starbucks, Ikea, and Tesla are closing operations and stores in China.
Global airlines are suspending flights in and out of China.
The U.S. State Department has alerted Americans not to travel to China.
Other countries limiting travel to China include Japan, Australia, Vietnam, Qatar, Turkmenistan, Singapore, New Zealand
North Korea and Russia have closed their borders to China.
The New York Times is providing live updates on the Wuhan Virus. The stream is loaded with all kinds of information including an embedded reporter in Wuhan. See the link below.
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There is the following headline out of New Zealand and suppressed death numbers. Coronavirus: China accused of ‘burning bodies in secret’
The New York Post published an article indicating there may be as many as 75,000 already infected. Other news outlets globally are indicating the same.
Joel 1:4 What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; and what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten; and what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten.
Yes, the context of Joel 1 is the land of Israel. The prophet does offer a glimpse into the future of the Promised Land. There are an estimated 80-90 species of locusts in the Middle East per Wycliffe Bible Commentary. Locust plagues are a sign of the end of days per Joel.
Middle East, February 2020: Plagues of locusts are gaining steam and growing across the region in the countries of Pakistan, Oman, Yemen, Ethiopia, Kenya, Eritrea and Djibouti.
These are reported to be the most devastating swarms in over 70 years. The region is already on alert for food needs & now locusts have invaded.
Photo: Shutterstock
Officials in Kenya have resorted to using pesticides from airplanes, machine guns, tear gas, shouting and banging on drums. Officials state they are having a hard time addressing the locusts because the area is complicated by regional wars and conflicts.
2019 was a wet year for eastern Africa due to tropical cyclones. Officials are very concerned because the timing of the swarm is prior to entering the wet seasons in the region. With increased water and warm temperatures, experts warn the swarms could expand 500 fold… Allegedly.
For all the readers and followers in India, be on alert for a possible June arrival.
Worst locust invasion to hit East Africa in 25 years grounds Ethiopia Airlines jet, which was a spattered mess with damaged engines after flying through swarm. Crops hit hard, with UN teams warning of food shortages. Locusts number 40million per sq km in some parts of East Africa pic.twitter.com/Ka4bReoUw6
Desert locusts are extremely dangerous. Triggered by the climate crisis, the outbreak is making the dire food security situation in East Africa even worse.@UNCERF and @FAO are providing resources and supporting efforts to help manage and contain the situation. https://t.co/bIPnuFzVgV
Leviticus 11:22 These of them you may eat: the locust in its kinds, and the devastating locust in its kinds, and the cricket in its kinds, and the grasshopper in its kinds.
The swarms of locusts are not in Israel as the prophet Joel promises. The experts can not excuse this away, locust plagues are a sign of our current times.
The question is… are we entering into the time Joel prophesied???
