Devotional – Blessed!
In Ezekiel’s prophecy concerning the Last Days invasion of Israel there is some thing he mentions that we need to remind each other of. That being God is the one who actually initiates this battle!
1 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh,[fn] Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. 5 Persia, Ethiopia,[fn] and Libya[fn] are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you.
10 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan:
You will remember in the book of Daniel there was a time when King Nebuchadnezzar had been warned by God through Daniel his prophet to not think that he (the king) was responsible for the great empire of Babylon!
We all know that the king did not heed God’s warning and whilst bragging one day in the palace, God’s judgment struck the king down and he lived an animal like existence for seven seasons.
Daniel 4: 28 “But all these things did happen to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 Twelve months later he was taking a walk on the flat roof of the royal palace in Babylon. 30 As he looked out across the city, he said, ‘Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.’
31 “While these words were still in his mouth, a voice called down from heaven, ‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, this message is for you! You are no longer ruler of this kingdom. 32 You will be driven from human society. You will live in the fields with the wild animals, and you will eat grass like a cow. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.’
But as quickly as God’s judgment fell on the king so too one day he snapped back to normality due to God’s grace and but now he was a changed man.
34 “After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever.
His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal. 35 All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth.
No one can stop him or say to him, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’
The king, now knew that it was God who raised up kingdoms and empires and that He too was the one who would pull them down at His will!
As we read Ezekiel’s prophecy of the great invasion yet to occur on Israel, we read it is actually God who puts the plan to attack Israel into Gog’s mind, the Prince of Rosh (modern day Russia).
As we read our headlines today, God is positioning the pieces of His plan. He is the One who is ruling over every decision being made by the current world governments.
This is why we as believers, in spite of the wars and rumours of wars we currently are seeing, can have a peace that indeed does pass all understanding – Phl 4:7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
How blessed are we knowing what God has planned for the future of our world.
This is why the psalmist could write – Psalm 144:15 Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall! Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!
The word “blessed” here translated means “Oh how happy!”
Jesus is coming…..