Psalm 16:2

My Shepherd met me in His green pastures, sitting beneath a fig tree. He gave me Isaiah 60:1-3 and 59:15-17 to eat (playing off Ezekiel 3:3; Revelation 10:9-10). Would you like a bite? 🙂

The Mind of the Spirit connected with the spirit of my mind in verses 16-17 of Isaiah 59:

Isaiah 59:16 ¶ And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.

Isaiah 59:17 For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.

I woke up to Isaiah 60:1, “ARISE, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.” I rejoiced that God grafted me into this good Olive Tree promise (Romans 11:17-18). But it was in Isaiah 59:16-17 that He sobered my enthusiasm:

When “truth faileth” and “he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey,” it displeases the LORD that there is “no judgment” (Isaiah 59:15).

When His appointed “ministers” refuse to execute the wrath for which He ordained the sword of judgment (Romans 13:1-6: for example, see 1 Samuel 15:20-33 and Ezekiel 30:24), the first thing GOD does is He looks for a man to intercede (Isaiah 59:14).*

What got my attention this morning was what followed: “For he [our LORD] put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke” (Isaiah 59:17). The Spirit impressed on me the fact that this is Christ, Who would be the arm of the LORD come in flesh to bring the salvation He sought (Isaiah 59:16b).

Along the still waters, as I reflected on these things, I thought about the fact that Jesus came in this armor to Intercede for us. He prays for us continually (Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:26-34). And He manifested His righteousness in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16; John 1:1, 14).

The Spirit brought to my attention the armor we are called to wear in our warfare (Ephesians 6:12-21). I marvelled at the realization that Jesus left His armor with us. Unlike Saul, who offered his sword, helmet, and mail to David, which didn’t fit, so he refused (1 Samuel 17:38-39), the armor Jesus has left for us is perfectly fitted to “the new man created in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:24, see verses 20-27). He renewed His call to be an Intercessor in a world where “judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off,” when “truth faileth,” when the righteous are despised, hated, and persecuted (Isaiah 59:14-15), when others we might expect to stand refuse, when most Christians try on the Helmet, and the Breastplate, but find it uncomfortable, not fitted to their flesh, and unwilling to put on the new man for whom it is tailored.

The Spirit encouraged me to follow Jesus’ example. When He came armored for war against Satan, sin, and death, and opened the Scripture to read Isaiah 61:1-3, He concluded His reading with the phrase: “to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD” (Isaiah 61:2a). He did not continue to “the day of vengeance of our God” (Isaiah 61:2b, see Luke 4:16-20). In terms of whatever part I have in carrying forward Jesus’ fulfillment of Isaiah 59:17, I must not include “the garments of vengeance for clothing.” I asked whether I could be “clad with zeal as a cloke” (Isaiah 59:17b). He sent me to John 2:17, “And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up” (See Psalm 69:9). I reflected on this and waited for clarity. The Spirit spoke: take the cloke, leave the vengeance to me (Zeal: 2 Corinthians 7:11; 9:2. Vengeance: Romans 12:19).

In the valley, kneeling in the shadow of His Cross, I heard a voice behind me saying, Here is the way, walk ye in it (Isaiah 30:21): “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

At the table, He assured me that He commissions us to take His armor and go forward in the warfare with the weapons He has provided (Ephesians 6:12-21; 2 Corinthians 10:4). He calls us to Intercession. He anointed my head with His oil and filled my cup with His grace. Goodness and mercy followed closely as we entered into the harvest.

Praying for revival! 🙏

Going live asap:

https://rumble.com/v6yobmy-shepherds-pasture.html

[*Intercession may be made for or against (For: see the example of Moses (Exodus 32:9-14), 1 Timothy 2:1, and Romans 8:34; Against: Romans 11:2 (see 1 Kings 19:18, read the back story). Furthermore, intercession can be both physical and spiritual.]