JULY 14
Theme: Sing oh barren
Great word from our Captain last week, in a word make the song not the wrong choice.
Today’s Topic:
GENERATIONAL STRETCH
God has spoken to us with an accurate and independent witness. The whole of Isaiah chapter 54. Can be summed up in one word – increase. Today we are focusing on two key factors
God wants our increase to be generational
Biblically to see generational increase come to pass, there needs to be generational stretching.
Generational word to support the song choice
God is in the corollary – This portion of scripture is the prophet Jeremiah lamenting the extreme barreness of Judah which had resulted from the people of God’s nation rebelling and turning to other Gods. There are a number of ways in which Judah’s barren state can be likened to the situation in the developed world. Important to recognize that Jeremiah definitely sees this this as very sad yet he turns his heart and his mournful cry to God. Equally important to recognize that God has promised those who mourn will be comforted. God’s comfort is found in the corollary of whatever we are mourning over and is delivered through the holy Spirit touching hearts and inspiring them to take hold of what God can do to turn the mournful situation completely around. God’s generational blessing as we see in the word he gave to Jeremiah can start even in the midst of the consequences of our sin / rebellion. God promised to bless Judah if they would accept the consequences of their sin and rebellion – which was they were to go into captivity to Babylon and serve Babylon.
This is outlined in the famous verses from Jeremiah 29 1-7
”Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon; 2 (after that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;) 3 by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying, 4 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; 5 build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; 6 take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. 7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
This word regarding making the song choice from Lamentation 5:14 -15 was given to Phil in 90s and is a now word for us at Megamorphic. A now word does not have to be a new word.
General likenesses to cultural conditions today:
"Remember, O Lord, what has come upon us;
Look, and behold our reproach!
Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens,
And our houses to foreigners.
We have become orphans and waifs,
Our mothers are like widows.- homeless, neglected, or abandoned person, especially child
We pay for the water we drink,
And our wood comes at a price.
They pursue at our heels;
We labor and have no rest.
We have given our hand to the Egyptians
And the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
Our fathers sinned and are no more,
But we bear their iniquities.
Servants rule over us;
There is none to deliver us from their hand.
We get our bread at the risk of our lives,
Because of the sword in the wilderness.
Our skin is hot as an oven,
Because of the fever of famine.
They ravished the women in Zion,
The maidens in the cities of Judah.
Princes were hung up by their hands,
And elders were not respected.
Young men ground at the millstones;
Boys staggered under loads of wood.
Specific word given to Phil in 90s while touring New Zealand schools. Corrollary is that if we are living in obedience to God our young will excel in the music/creativity , our elders will get behind them especially in governance and our lives will be filled with dancing and joy.
The elders have ceased gathering at the gate,
And the young men from their music.
The joy of our heart has ceased;
Our dance has turned into mourning.
General generational stretchers
Isaiah 54 : 2 – 15 Read this through for yourself and make your own notes and refer to various points listed below.
1“Sing, O barren, You who have not borne! – who has not born, been directly involved in someone else being born again.? Or have not had it happen recently?
Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, You who have not labored with child! - Has conception taken place? Need seed to conceive, God’s word and Children of kingdom are seed. Need also to sow seed. God supplies seed for sower. Look out for Esther’s topic next week on the 5 Cs, = Crops
For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord. - Don’t have to be desolate to have children but if you are you can believe for more.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, - stretch out. And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;- delegation, others not just ourselves will be involved in the stretching.
Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, And strengthen your stakes.
3 For you shall expand to the right and to the left, And your descendants will inherit the nations,- this is way more than just adding a room or two to our home base tent.
And make the desolate cities inhabited.- word for Hermitage? Redeem all the negatives of the Andrew Jackson Hermitage and make it a multi Millenial mandate Heritage!
4 “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame;
For you will forget the shame of your youth, And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.5 For your Maker is your husband, The Lord of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.
6 For the Lord has called you Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, Like a youthful wife when you were refused,” Says your God. – increase happens even when it seems we do not have the support we need, our support for increase comes from God. Jesus the chief Cornerstone was rejected.
7 “For a mere moment I have forsaken you,- It can even seem like God’s support is not there .
But with great mercies I will gather you. 8With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment;But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” Says the Lord, your Redeemer.
9“ For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
- God is committed,
Psalm 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Even when we think he might be angry we can approach him with affection
10 For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, - increase comes by faith. Faith even as small as a mustard seed can move mountains and hills.
But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” Says the Lord, who has mercy on you. 11 “O you afflicted one, Tossed with tempest, and not comforted, Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, And lay your foundations with sapphires. 12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies, Your gates of crystal, And all your walls of precious stones. – lay deep foundations regardless of how we feel and how circumstances seem. If we lay Biblical foundations they will be like precious stones and glorious.
13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children. – Biblically being stretched generationally has great outcomes.
14 In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you. 15 Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.- opposition will not prevail.
Faith not fate
Proverbs 30:16 The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.
Generation Meaning:
Dictionary
1. all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively.
2. the production of something.
Biblical Words
Handy Link https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=generation&t=KJV#s=s_lexiconc
Biblical Generations
Chosen
1 Peter 2:9 "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”
Genealogy steps
Matt 1:1 "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham."
Sign seekers
Luke 11:29 And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.
Mark 8:12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.
Market place adversarial accusers
Matt 11:16 "But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
Proverbs 30:11-14 “11 There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother. 12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. 13 There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. 14 There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.”
Baby boomers, Millennials, X/Y
Whereas these terms themselves are not found in the scriptures and are man made, they are common generational terms in our world today. Biblically, God loves the people of every generation and our primary objective should be to demonstrate Gods love to others regardless of the generation they come from. Lets all be pro-active about generating a Godly generational mindset. There can be some useful understanding derived from well researched observations about particular generations, however, best insight comes from the Holy Spirit – the kids these days are awesome!
Attitudes
Biblical recommended generational Greater things:
John 14 WHOLE CHAPTER
John 1:50 "Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.”
Our future:
Psalm 145:13 "Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.”
Psalm 78:4 "We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.”
Destiny dynasty:
God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob. LINK: https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=God+of+abraham+isaac+and+jacob&t=KJV#s=s_primary_0_1
Blessing to the thousandth generation
Exodus 20:5-6 "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."
train up a child
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.
B.I.D
Are you a member of God’s chosen generation?
Have you committed to the fullness of God’s global generational stretch?