Good morning all!

Father, we know that Your word becomes more clear the closer we get to You. We know we could never measure Your heart or the power of Your love, we trust that You can only do that which is meany to strengthen us and make us more like You. Show us how to walk in victory and live a life that has triumphed over every enemy and thought that is not subjected to You, Amen.

Isaiah 34

5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
The Surgeon of heaven has carefully prepared His scalpel so that He might perform surgery and cut this curse from His people so that it does NOT spread further.

8 For [it is] the day of the LORD’S vengeance, [and] the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
For it is the day of the LORD’s judgment, the year when Edom will pay for the controversial way they have treated Israel.

9 And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.
The streams of Edom will be filled with burning tar, and the ground will be covered with fire.

10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
This judgment on Edom will never end; the smoke of its burning will rise forever. The land will lie deserted from generation to generation. No one will ever live be able to live there.

Bottom line

I don’t know about you but it looks like God is going after Idumea and based on what we just read, they don’t stand a chance…I mean who can stand against the power of God? Did you notice in verse 10, it says God is going to be forever burning this place down, in fact, the fire will go from generation to generation…nobody can live in this place. Who is Idumea and why is God dealing with them so harshly?

[Amo 1:11 NLT] This is what the LORD says: “The people of Edom have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They persecuted their relatives, the Israelites, with swords, showing them no mercy. In their rage, they cursed them continually and were unrelenting in their anger and rejection. Jacob and Esau were twin brothers, which are Israel and Edom…they are FAMILY. Why is God so angry? Well it would appear He don’t care much for how they treated family, they spoke poorly of them, showed them No forgiveness and rejected them. Does that sound like a family God wants to be a part of? Why did God wash His sword off before He usedit? God doesn’t swing His sword in anger, He’s not rash or impulsive NOPE God takes His time and is very deliberate with the actions of His sword. He will only remove the cancer from our life NOT one healthy cell will be touched, He removed only that which will cause sickness and death. Idumea is the city we live in when we don’t show MERCY to others, why else would He burn it down? It’s like that country song, “love don’t live here anymore” Ha! Why doesn’t love live there anymore? The song opens with “cuz this heart of mine has been hardened like a stone”. When we live like Idumea we’re living in death and destruction, the life of Christ isn’t flowing from us, in fact, we’re empty we have NOTHING to offer the world or God for that matter. And if we continue to live like that God will continue to send His judgment, until when? Until the pain to remain the same is greater than the pain to CHANGE…REPENT. Scripture does say that until we repent we can’t find God, we can’t find forgiveness and we can’t find peace and you will PERISH!! The Greek word for perish is Apollyon…hmm, I seem to remember a king with that name?

[Rev 9:11 KJV] And they had a king over them, [which is] the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue [is] Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath [his] name Apollyon. What do you know? The king with power and authority over this empty life is Apollyon, unfortunately he happens to be the king of a dark pit filled w/smoke which has NO bottom. You know what you call that? A HARD heart, an EMPTY heart, a heart in a state of CONFUSION. Why? Because we choose to live like Edom, we choose to be careless with the words we speak to one another. And instead of lifting one another or defending one another, we reject one another and show NO mercy. What if the only reason God has given you breath in your lunges this morning was to show mercy to others? What if the only reason you have a heartbeat was so that it might beat just like Jesus? The bottomless pit is a lifestyle that has NO heart for others and as long as you remain in it, you can never be FILLED…SATISFIED…because that life is completely empty and no matter how hard we try to fill it, NO bottom is NO bottom. God’s NOT interested in smoke and mirrors, He’s looking for real change, a true heart, one that beats for Him…it’s His only requirement He has for us.

Point to Ponder

God’s requirements? [Mic 6:8 NIV] He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. The world will know we live humbly with God because we will show them mercy…true justice.

May we all live in triumph over every false way, Amen.