Palm 8:1

My Shepherd met me in His green pastures and laid me down in Isaiah. The Mind of the Spirit engaged the spirit of my mind in Isaiah 62, verses 1 and 7:

Isaiah 62:1 ¶ For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

Isaiah 62:7 And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

We visited here only a few weeks ago (THE ENVY FOR SUPREMACY! 11/1/25), but today I noticed GOD promised He would not rest until the righteousness of Jerusalem burst forth as brightness, and “the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth” (Isaiah 62:1). This caused me to revisit verse 7, where, in view of His promise, we are told to “give him no rest” till it is accomplished. We join GOD in His heart’s desire to see Jerusalem fulfill His promise and realize hers.

Along the still waters, I was moved by the Father’s single-minded focus on His city, Jerusalem, and remembered that the Gentile nation of the Amorites had occupied it before it was given to Israel. What is surprising is that GOD recognized the Amorites as the legitimate occupants of Canaan (Genesis 15:16), holding Salem  (which is Jeru-Salem) as their capital, ruled by a king-priest named Melchizedek, the priest of the Most-High GOD (Genesis 14:18-20). Now comes the puzzle: Ham is the progenitor of the Amorites (Genesis 10:6-20, see verses 15-16). Ham was the youngest of Noah’s three sons, and Japheth was the oldest. Shem was the middle child (Genesis 9:24 and 10:21).

A descendant of Ham held the Promised Land, and God would not turn it over to a descendant of Shem through Abram’s seed until the “iniquity of the Amorites” had come to the full. This tells us God gave Jerusalem to Ham before He gave it to Israel, the descendant of Shem. It was taken from Israel and returned to the Gentile nation of the Chaldeans; however, the Chaldeans were descended from Shem. Not all Semites are Jews. Israel was to be restored to her Land after seventy years under Babylon (Jeremiah 29:10). However, the kingdom was never restored to Israel, and she never reclaimed Jerusalem without some other Gentile nation being her overlord (Acts 1:6). Jesus prophesied that a Gentile nation would continue as overlord over Jerusalem until He returns with all His saints (Luke 21:23-28). Interestingly, the overlords of Jerusalem have been the descendants of Japheth, the firstborn of Noah.

The care of Jerusalem went from Ham, the youngest of Noah, to Shem, the second son of Noah, to Japheth, the first son of Noah. Each time the transition was triggered by the sins of the people charged with her care. God told Israel she would receive the land from Ham because of the horrible sins of the Canaanite people (Deuteronomy 9:6). Judah (of Shem) lost it to Babylon because they turned to the sins of the Amorites (of Ham). Let the nation of Japheth beware (Zechariah 12:3).

In the valley, kneeling in the shadow of His Cross, it heard the Saviour repeat His daily call to all disciples: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 923). It’s the only way to maintain a proper and faithful stewardship in His kingdom (1 Corinthians 4:2; Colossians 1:13).

At the table, He anointed my head with His oil and filled my cup with His grace. Goodness and mercy followed as we went together into His harvest.

Praying for revival! 🙏