December 2003

HINDS’ FEET IN HIGH PLACES

Part 26

“He makes my feet like hinds’ feet,
and sets me on my high places!”

(2 Sa 22:34)

“The word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, set your face
toward the mountains of Israel; prophesy against them, and say, You
mountains of Israel, hear this Word of the Lord your God; Thus says
the Lord God to the mountains, hills, rivers and valleys; Behold, I will
bring a sword on you, and destroy your high places! Your altars will
be barren and your images broken, I will throw your slain men before
your idols, then spread the dead carcasses of Israel’s children before
their idols; strew your bones about your altars; lay waste the cities of
your habitation, and your high places made desolate! Your altars will
be destroyed and desolate, your idols will be broken and made to cease.
Your images will be cut down, your works abolished, and the slain will
fall right before you! YOU SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD!
Still, I will leave a remnant so that some of you may escape the sword
among the nations as you are scattered about the countries. They who
escape will remember Me among the nations to which they are carried
captive. I am broken-hearted by their whorish heart for it has departed
from Me, and by their eyes that go a-whoring after idols! But they shall
loathe themselves because of the evils they have committed in all of their
abominations; and THEY SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD!
They will know I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.
Then the Lord God told me: Hit with your hand, stamp with your foot,
and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! They
will fall by the sword, famine, and pestilence. He that is far off shall die
by pestilence; he that is near shall fall by the sword; while he that stays
and is besieged, will die by famine: thus will I fulfill my fury upon them;
and YOU SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD!
Your slain men will be among their idols round about their altars, on
every high hill, in every mountain top, under each green tree, and every
thick oak, for this is where they sacrificed a sweet savor to all their idols.
I will stretch out my hand on them to make the land desolate, yes, more
barren in all their habitations than the wilderness of Diblath: therefore
THEY SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD!” (Eze 6)

          O what lengths our faithful Father goes to in order to deliver His children from enslavement to their weak flesh! He will do whatever it takes to bring all souls back to Himself. As David said, “The Lord executes righteousness and judgment for ALL who are downtrodden. He made known His WAYS to Moses, but to the children of Israel He only showed His ACTS. The Lord is merciful and full of Grace, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always rebuke, nor will He be angry forever. He has not dealt with us the way our sins deserve; nor has He recompensed us according to our iniquities. But as the heaven is high above the earth, so does His mercy abound toward them that fear him. He has removed our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west!! As a father pities his children, so does the Lord pity them that fear him. For he knows our frame, and remembers that we are but dust!” (Ps 103:6-14)
           The Holy Spirit taught me to see Isa 53:5 in a new way, “He (Christ) was wounded for OUR transgressions; bruised for OUR iniquities; and chastised to secure OUR peace; therefore, by HIS stripes, WE are healed!” Where were stripes laid on Christ? On the back of His Body. And beloveds, WE ARE that Body of Christ!! Therefore, every time the Lord administers His “Rod (Word) of Correction” (Isa 11:1, 4; Pr 22:15) WE ARE BEING HEALED! Of course, “No chastening, for the present, is joyous, but grievous; yet afterward, it yields the peaceable fruit of Righteousness to all who are exercised by it.” (Heb 12:11) Thus, the fiery trials we experience, as children of God, are not destroying us, as it seems betimes, but they are actually HEALING US!
           One of the greatest examples of the extent to which our Father will go to redeem His people is illustrated in the plagues sent upon Egypt to deliver the Hebrew nation from enslavement therein! It all started when Moses and Aaron commanded the Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Let My people go so they can hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.” (Ex 5:1) But the Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His Voice to let Israel go? I DO NOT KNOW THE LORD, neither will I let Israel go!” (v. 2) But God had a divine plan for Pharaoh’s life, as Ro 9:17 states, “The Scripture says to Pharaoh, Even for this very purpose have I raised you up, that I might show My Power in you; and My Name should be declared throughout all the earth!” So a series of plagues befell Egypt and throughout them, the Lord states His purpose EIGHTEEN TIMES [18 = bondage]:

“YOU S-H-A-L-L KNOW THE LORD!”

Delude yourself while you must, O unbeliever, but I give you God’s Sacred Word that your day will come when “You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free!” (Jn 8:32)

[TO BE CONTINUED]