WE ARE OPPRESSED BUT NOT A FAILURE

(A series in the book of Isaiah: Chapter 14-24)

You may have come in the time of your life when you felt so oppressed. You may have experienced that people have hated you for no sane reason. You may wonder and even reached to a point of questioning God about your hardships and trials. I would like to share with you that you are not alone in this experience. From the very beginning, sin entered into the hearts of men oppression has been defined to be the natural tendency of evil against good or righteousness. Evil’s animosity against good is proclaimed in the form of oppression.

In many ways, God’s people are oppressed. There are all sorts of oppressive powers against God’s people, it was not simply Babylon there were all sorts of types of Babylon like kingdoms who tried to dominate, control, manipulate, and destroyed God’s people. Isaiah chapters 14-23 speak of nations and kingdoms that have evolved to establish human greatness and false worship. These nations have been used by Satan to bring in a tragic fall against the people of God. Among these chapters, there is one thing that is common and that is that they will all be NO MORE.

God is declaring in these chapters that GOD’s Kingdom will ultimately the sole kingdom that will survive and that will stand to eternity. No kingdom will stand against the righteousness of God, all of them will either be vanished or worship the true creator God. Their dominion would not be forever. Their dominion will all be for a time in the timetable—a time given them to repent and see God’s righteousness.

This idea brings us that all oppressive powers around us in whatever form it has its specified ending. These oppressive powers will never be always in the fate of oppressing. God already declared from a long time ago that all these powers will never stand long and strong against God’s righteousness. Only God’s righteousness will stand forever. We may not see it right at this moment, we may not understand how it will happen, it may be hard to admit it but IT IS THE BEST REALITY to put our hopes for. All this evil dominion taking place in this world will come to its ending.

This promise is given profoundly stated in Isaiah 14:1-3,

“When the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and again choose Israel, and settle them in their land, then strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. 2 The peoples will take them along and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them as an inheritance in the land of the Lord as male servants and female servants; and they will take their captors captive and will rule over their oppressors.

3 And it will be in the day when the Lord gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and harsh service in which you have been enslaved,”

Friends, Satan does not own us. Satan is just playing in our minds to condemn us. We are claimed by God at the cross in Jesus Christ. God loves His children and He is doing His best to reclaim and restore His people into His dominion.

God’s wondrous plans for all His children is for them to be blessed and to be a blessing to others. God has chosen His people to represent the correct understanding of God. His people are chosen to proclaim an understanding of the true God. We are to proclaim that God is love and this is WHO IS.

The kingdoms of this world may look winning but the fact is already laid out a long time ago that only the righteousness of God will stand to the end. God’s people maybe not the majority but they will be sustained. This is what God has already declared.

GOD’S PEOPLE MAY BE OPPRESSED BUT THEY ARE NEVER LOSERS. THEY ARE ALREADY DECLARED WINNERS FROM THE VERY BEGINNING IN CHRIST. GOD’S PEOPLE ARE OPPRESSED ONLY FOR A TIME, BUT THE OPPRESSORS ARE DESTROYED FOREVER.