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October 14, 2016

When a man's ways please the Lord, HE maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him

Ecclesiastes 9:18King James Version (KJV)

Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

Ecclesiastes 9

V 1–3: DESTINY From his purely human and worldly vantage point, the writer sees a common destiny for all. All must die. V 4–6: DEAD He then considers the fate of the dead and concludes that it nullifies everything for everyone. Thus, ‘a living dog is better than a dead lion’. It is important to know that his vantage point is simply ‘under the sun’ and eternity is not under consideration here. V 7–10: DETERMINATION Seeing the futility of life, he then counsels a determination to enjoy life, to be well dressed, and to enjoy married life. Work hard now, because there will be no work afterwards! In other words, without taking eternity into view, live this life to the full. V 11–12: DOOMED But this leads him to the dead-end view that all men are doomed, and one day will be caught in the snare or trap of death. Nobody knows when. This is how many people without Christ see life today. V 13–17: DEMONSTRATION: Solomon notes a demonstration of wisdom that impressed him. A poor man saved a city by his wisdom. His wisdom is remembered but the poor man is forgotten. He feels this deeply and urges that wise words should be heard and valued.

Isaiah 1King James Version (KJV)

1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against ME.
3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
9 Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto ME? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
12 When ye come to appear before ME, who hath required this at your hand, to tread MY courts?
13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto ME; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts MY soul hateth: they are a trouble unto ME; I am weary to bear them.
15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide MINE eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will NOT hear: your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before MINE eyes; cease to do evil;
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
24 Therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease ME of MINE adversaries, and avenge ME of MINE enemies:
25 And I will turn MY hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.
28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.
29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.
31 And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.

Isaiah 1

V 1: WHEN Isaiah means ‘The Lord saves’. The names Joshua, Elisha, and Jesus mean the same. He prophesies during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of the southern kingdom of Judah. V 2–15: WICKEDNESS Isaiah concentrates his first thirty-five chapters on judgement. He starts by summarising and condemning the wickedness of the people of Judah, who rebel against their God with idolatry and a superficial compliance rather than heart obedience. V 16–20: WASHING Even in the opening judgement, Isaiah bids them to be washed and cleansed and to have a changed lifestyle marking their repentance. He assures them from the beginning that God can cleanse and wash away their sins, until they are as white as snow. V 21–23: WAYWARDNESS He underlines the spiritual and physical harlotry of Jerusalem. This results in social injustices and dishonesty. V 24–31: WILL Isaiah makes it clear that God’s will is to purify, redeem and restore His people, but to judge their idolatry and sins with vengeance and fire.

Isaiah 2

V 1–5: EXALTATION OF JERUSALEM Looking far forward, Isaiah sees the coming exaltation of Jerusalem, pure worship of God, widespread blessing on the nations, and peace between them. He calls His people to ‘walk in the light of the Lord’ now.V 6–18: EXECUTION OF JUDGEMENT But first, he predicts great judgement on the rebellious house of Jacob. Soothsaying, self-reliance, materialism, idolatry and pride will all be crushed under God’s judgement on ‘the day of the Lord of hosts’. V 19–21: ESCAPE OF JEWS In that day, the men of Judah will seek refuge in caves and will throw away their useless idols. They will know God’s terror. All will realise that the proud rebel against God is doomed. His attempted escape from God’s certain judgement is pathetic and useless.

Isaiah 3

V 1: PROVISIONS In God’s judgement on Jerusalem and Judah, all necessary provisions of food and drink will be taken away. V 2–7: PEOPLE People of worth and reputation will be removed, and inappropriate people will be in authority. Unwilling and incompetent people will rule, resulting in oppression and in the breakdown of their society. V 8–9: PROVOCATION The open vileness of immoral sin and ungodly talk against God provokes Him against them. V 10: PROMISE But God promises that those who remain righteous will find it is well for them. They will benefit from living righteously for God. V 11–26: PUNISHMENT All judgements, punishments and consequences of the sinfulness of the wicked will lead to a great downfall. Their oppression of the poor, haughty sensuality, pleasure-seeking, materialism, and preoccupying pride in outward appearance will turn to lamentation, mourning, desolation, death and judgement. The opulence and luxury that are so much loved when God is forgotten will come to nothing, and poverty will replace affluence.

Isaiah 4

V 1: BEREFT The slaughter will lead to such a shortage of the male population that women will be bereft of men. The women will have to supply their own needs in this chronic shortage of males. V 2: BRANCH In all of this, God foresees the Branch of theLord being beautiful, glorious and blessing those children of Israel who escape. In Scripture, the word ‘Branch’ is a Messianic title applied to the Lord Jesus Christ. V 3–6: BLESSING Even in the midst of such judgement, God sees ahead to blessing in Zion and Jerusalem, when the filth of sin is washed away and God’s glory will cover Mount Zion in a tabernacle-like manner. Shelter from shame will be provided by God for His people.

Isaiah 5

V 1–7: DIVINE DISAPPOINTMENT God sees Judah and Israel as a vineyard that He has cared for and planted. But it produces wild grapes and must be broken down and laid waste. Despite the need to judge His people, God is disappointed. V 8–23: WIDESPREAD WOES In a series of judgements, God foretells woes to come in a wide variety of activities. These include materialistic living, drunkenness, pleasure-seeking, arrogantly open and presumptuous evil, perversion of justice, pride and bribery. V 24–25: ANGER AROUSED God’s anger against these sins will be as a devouring fire. A basis for His anger is the rejection of His law and a despising of His word. A solemn and recurring comfort in the book of Isaiah is that that even when God has performed certain judgements, His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. The hand that God would stretch out in mercy to welcome those who repent must be held out in judgement because there is still no repentance. V 26–30: FRIGHTENING FOES God will bring hostile and terrifying nations from afar to carry out His judgement on His unrepentant people.

Then said I, Lord, how long? And HE answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate....

Isaiah 6: 11

Isaiah 6

V 1–4: GOD’S GLORY Before Isaiah is called and commissioned to be a prophet, God gives him a glimpse of His wonderful glory and awesome holiness. V 5–7: UNWORTHILY UNCLEAN The response, as always, when one understands something of the holiness of God, is that Isaiah sees himself as undone, unclean, and unworthy. Through a seraph touching his lips with a live coal, God demonstrates that Isaiah’s iniquity is taken away and his sin is purged. He knows God’s complete cleansing. V 8: READY RESPONSE Only then does God ask, ‘Who will go for Us?’ Recently cleansed and put right by God, Isaiah readily says, ‘Here am I! Send me.’ V 9–12: DIFFICULT DUTYGod underlines that the task will be hard. Isaiah will be sent to unresponsive people to give them God’s word until the cities are laid waste and the land uninhabited, because the citizens will be taken into captivity. V 13: RETURNING REMNANT The encouragement, however, is that there will be a remnant that returns, which God regards as a holy seed or as a stump. This will provide the nucleus of future believers who will walk with God.

Proverbs 16:7King James Version (KJV)

When a man's ways please the Lord, HE maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Verse 7

Note, 1. God can turn foes into friends when he pleases. He that has all hearts in his hand has access to men’s spirits and power over them, working insensibly, but irresistibly upon them, can make a man’s enemies to be at peace with him, can change their minds, or force them into a feigned submission. He can slay all enemies, and bring those together that were at the greatest distance from each other. 2. He will do it for us when we please Him. If we make it our care to be reconciled to God, and to keep ourselves in His love, He will incline those that have been envious towards us, and vexatious to us, to entertain a good opinion of us and to become our friends. God made Esau to be at peace with Jacob, Abimelech with Isaac, and David’s enemies to court his favour and desire a league with Israel. The image of God appearing upon the righteous, and His particular lovingkindness to them, are enough to recommend them to the respect of all, even of those that have been most prejudiced against them.


Dictionary of Bible Themes:

9:18 Wisdom [is] better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.
Solomon practiced this very thing. During his 40 year reign, there were no wars. He was known as a man of peace. He used the wisdom God had given him to stay out of war. This was the very reason he married so many women. All the weapons of war might not bring peace, but wisdom can. God would destroy countries that turned away from Him in sin.
Hebrews 12:15-16 "Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble [you], and thereby many be defiled;" "Lest there [be] any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright."
Be wise unto salvation.
ALSO READ: 
■  Christians are not to take personal revenge but, following Jesus Christ’s example, are to entrust themselves to God
Put your sword back into its place.Jesus did not bring His kingdom with force, like earthly kings.
#NWO Agenda:
#WhiteRevolution + #BlackRevolution = Hate
HATE = WAR = ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT
Christians need ONLY to be faithful to GOD no MAN can/will save us, ONLY JESUS Christ
 

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