2006: Year of Comfort, Vengeance and Glory
(week 01/06)
Olubi Johnson
Isaiah 61:1-3 NKJV: “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.“
The year 2006 will be a year of comfort to those that mourn in Zion.
Matthew 5:4 NIV: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted!
Zion in this context represents the perfect church.
Those who mourn in Zion will be comforted by the manifestation of the glory of God, through them that are trees of righteousness the planting of the Lord.
They in turn will comfort others with the comfort that God has comforted them.
This is particularly true for Nigeria: the nation that suffered two air crashes killing over 200 people including school children and lost the president’s wife at the same time will be comforted by the manifestation of the glory of God in the land.
What then does it mean to mourn in Zion?
It is to be grieved and dissatisfied with the present spiritual condition of the church: overemphasis on material blessings and omission of the weightier matters of the law: perfection of the love of God by faith, righteousness and justice:
Matthew 23:23 NKJV: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
This dissatisfaction should motivate us to a life of discipline; self-denial and diligence to perfect the love of God in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit using the written Word.
It is the perfection of the love of God that will bring about the manifestation of the glory of God.
This revelation has been given to us in a ‘double’ form: a new way in the wilderness (Is. 43.19, 40.3-5) and a new bowl of salt (2 Kg. 2.19-22).
Like Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream (Gen. 41.32) and Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Dan. 2.45).
The ‘dream’ or revelation of the perfection of the love of God using the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus is sure and true, the interpretation that it will cause the manifestation of the glory of God is certain and the time of fulfillment is upon us.
However, at the same time the year will be a year of vengeance to those who are at ease in Zion: typified by the materially prosperous but spiritually lukewarm Laodecian church 2006 will be a year of vengeance:
Amos 6:1, 4-8 NKJV: Woe to you who are at ease in Zion 4 Who lie on beds of ivory, Stretch out on your couches, Eat lambs from the flock And calves from the midst of the stall; 5 Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments, And invent for yourselves musical instruments like David; 6 Who drink wine from bowls, And anoint yourselves with the best ointments, But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. 7 Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives, And those who recline at banquets shall be removed. 8 The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself, The LORD God of hosts says: “I abhor the pride of Jacob, And hate his palaces;
Zion here is symbolic of the whole church in this context.
Revelation 3:14-20 NKJV: “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘these things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’–and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked– 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
Isaiah 34:8 NKJV: for it is the day of the LORD’s vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
This New Year message is a prophetic trumpet that is blowing a certain sound (Is 58.1, 1 Cor. 14.8): asking the church to arise out of spiritual laziness and indulgence in material things and to shine by diligence to perfect the love of God by the Spirit through the Word.
Joel 2:1-2, 7-8, 10-13 NKJV: Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand: 2 A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, the like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, even for many successive generations. 7 They run like mighty men, they climb the wall like men of war; every one marches in formation, and they do not break ranks. 8 They do not push one another; every one marches in his own column. Though they lunge between the weapons, they are not cut down. 10 The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble; the sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness. 11 The LORD gives voice before His army, for His camp is very great; for strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; who can endure it? 12 “Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” 13 So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.
To ignore this trumpet is to bring vengeance upon your life, but to turn, repent and hearken to this trumpet by mourning in Zion will cause you to experience the comfort of God by the glory of God in 2006!
