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This is a story of the Anointing!
Now Elisha was suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. "My father! My father!" he cried. "The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" 2 Kings 13:14.
This was a crucial time, because Elisha was dying and as yet had not passed on his anointing to a successor. The Hebrew language actually paints a sad picture, saying that he was pining! This terminal illness may well have been avoided. If the king, or someone else suitably qualified was capable of receiving it, there could have been a completely different outcome! Little wonder then that he was pining and he died without passing it on to a successor.
The anointing he had, remained on his dry bones and when a dead man touched them, he came back to life (see 2 Kings 13:20-21)!
Anointings can be transferred.
This is a wonderful thing when we fully understand it, but all too often people can get envious or become jealous of what we have and I often see this in Churches. A pastor may become possessive of his people too much, forgetting that it is not His Church and they are not His sheep, but belong to Jesus and He is building HIS CHURCH! Not only that, He is building His Church in His way and according to His timetable. As a pastor myself, I understand what happens and we are to be protective shepherds of the flock. It is our job to love, nurture, shelter and protect the sheep, but they are the Lord's sheep and not ours! A shepherd feeds the sheep, but he cannot bear lambs! Think of this for a moment.
The best thing anyone can do is to find out God's agenda and get on side with that, ensuring that our vision is His... not our own.
When in balance, the fear of sheep stealing, professional envy and jealousy, power struggles and self aggrandizement disappear. In fact, when another minister is sent and ordained by God and God alone, allotted a specific task, it aught to complement what already exists, so the competition factor should not be present. One pastor should be able to work side by side with another, pooling common resources if necessary to get the work of the ministry done and this is the establishment of the Kingdom of God on the earth. If God sent a man to build a church right next to mine, I should be able to rejoice, because he obviously has something I do not and vice-versa! We should be able to work together in genuine unity and harmony, be capable of delegating to appropriately ordained and anointed men and take our hands off, having established a suitable structure. We shall deal with such matters elsewhere.
Moses had not delegated responsibilities to others. This denied them the opportunity of service and his father in law, saw that this would lead to problems and gave him sound advice. He took it and the outcome was as follows-
And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle. And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease. Numbers 11:24-25.
Some folk do not have the same revelation as others and might not see what God is doing. We shall see more of this shortly, but when those seventy elders had received a transferred anointing and started prophesying, negative reactions happened and this is not uncommon today.
But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp. And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD'S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them! And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. Numbers 11:26-30.
I am so glad that Joshua at least learned the truth and applied it. The leadership was subsequently passed to him and the anointing for this was passed to him from Moses.
Elisha was in a dilemma, because he had no one onto whom he could transfer his anointing. This is where our story commences, but to see the full picture, we need to go back to where it all started... |
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The Power of a Right Confession |
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Our core text states-
Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. 2 Kings 13:14.
There is a powerful truth to weigh up before we continue and I have called this The Power of a Right Confession. It is not really latching onto a great saying or even a favorite bible verse and go around glibly saying that, perhaps quoting it from memory. Anyone can do that and if it really worked, then things would be vastly different to what they are.
What I am saying is that we must learn the language of God and talk like God! We can, you know!
His words are creative! They formed and maintain all the universe. He gave us His word and when we speak His word in the way it is meant to be spoken... things really are different.
We shall see more about this elsewhere and I cannot be overstate the fact that we do need a right confession.
Proverbs 18:21 tells us Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
The word Power is Yād, which refers to the hand. You may wonder what the hand has to do with speech. It is a term that is often used to describe ways someone exercises his will. It refers to someone's authority, responsibility, care, deliverance, judgement, dominion and more over something or someone. It symbolizes power, might, possession, righteousness and strength. The laying on of hands often depicts impartation, consecration or ordination and often accompanies a spoken word, such as a prophecy. Ths position one occupies often relates to the hand. For example, somone positioned at another person's right hand received the blessing as seen in Genesis 48:13-18.
Jesus is positioned at the Father's right hand. See ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3, 13, 8:1, 10:12, 12:2.
If we have been raised with Him, then we are also positioned in a position of favour! What an awesome thought!
It is evident therefore that there is much more to this than merely talking. The words that come from our mouths are creative, for God delegated this ability to mankind in the garden. What we create therefore hinges around our confession or speech. We often get what we say and I cringe when I hear people say negative things, because they are setting themselves up to receive what they said. It is likeplanting a seed and what we sow, we will reap.
That is why we must ensure that what we say is only what God would say!
Jesus taught much on this matter as seen in Matthew 12:34 and Luke 6:45. See also Hebrews 10:23 where the Greek word in the KJV for Profession is Homologia, tells us to say the same things God says!
What you say IS very important! You and I are speaking spirits, created in the image and likeness of God, who created everything and upholds everything by His word.
King Joash entered the room and made a statement!
What he said was "right", but it was not spoken in faith... or it was a poor faith statement or confession.
It is possible therefore to say something that may be "correct" as far as "fact" goes, but be wrong in all other aspects.
He was saying what the prophet Elijah had said, but missed it.
Before we see what Elijah spoke, let us see that the bible says about the anointing...
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The Anointing |
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Everyone has to be anointed by God for ministry. Without that, it is nothing other than religious activity. Ministry is not a vocation... it is a high calling. In our present society it is easy to forget that it is Jesus' Church... no other. He is building it. He appoints... He calls... He ordains and equips and the Holy Spirit is His agent.
- Bezaleel and Aholiab were anointed to build the Tabernacle
- Elisha was anointed for a prophetic ministry
- Elijah was anointed for a prophetic ministry
- King David was anointed to be King
- John the Baptist was anointed to prepare the way for Jesus
- Jesus was anointed for His ministry as Prophet, Priest and King
- The New Testament leaders like Peter, Paul, James, Philip and John were all anointed
All of these men and many others in the bible were anointed for their tasks. If they had to be anointed for their ministries, how much more should we be anointed today, yet the very thing that is necessary to function as God intends is cast aside and the Holy Spirit is not permitted to operate in many churches today.
There is an anointing for a new breed of ministry in our day that is unprecedented. It is designed to help usher in the return of Jesus! The question remains... What IS the anointing? What is it?
The first mention of anointing is seen in the teachings of the Tabernacle. God had given strict instructions to Moses to build the Tabernacle according to the pattern He had revealed and not deviate from it. The purpose was very clear. God wanted to dwell with His people.
Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. And you shall make it according to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle or dwelling and the pattern of all the furniture of it. Exodus 25:8-9.
The next few chapters in Exodus give a detailed description of the construction of the Tabernacle and all that was associated with it. God is very methodical and precise in every detail. Every item had specific meaning?every nail, nut and bolt, cord and piece of thread and the location of every item was most important, because the Tabernacle and its teachings speaks about Jesus and the plan of redemption.
A careful analysis reveals that the Tabernacle was constructed from the inside outward starting with the Ark of the Covenant! Little wonder God was adamant about how it was to be built.
What we are saying is this: Christ, whose priesthood we have just described, is our High Priest and is in heaven at the place of greatest honor next to God himself. He ministers in the temple in heaven, the true place of worship built by the Lord and not by human hands. And since every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices, Christ must make an offering too. The sacrifice he offers is far better than those offered by the earthly priests. (But even so, if he were here on earth he wouldn't even be permitted to be a priest because down here the priests still follow the old Jewish system of sacrifices.) Their work is connected with a mere earthly model of the real tabernacle in heaven; for when Moses was getting ready to build the tabernacle, God warned him to follow exactly the pattern of the heavenly tabernacle as shown to him on Mount Sinai. Hebrews 8:1-5.
In Exodus chapter 28, God instructed Moses to separate Aaron and his sons for a specific reason. They were to minister to God!
Please remember at all times that God is the one who calls, equips and appoints men and that such appointment it is primarily to minister to Him.
In verse three, God specifically mentions the requirement for men to be equipped by the Holy Spirit. He imparted to them the wisdom and ability to do the physical tasks associated with ministry. This way we have the complete balance of spiritual ministry and practical ministry. Please look at how this happened.
And the Lord said to Moses, See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and ability, in understanding and intelligence, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, To devise skillful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, And in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of craftsmanship. And behold, I have appointed with him Aholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and to all who are wisehearted I have given wisdom and ability to make all that I have commanded you: The Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furnishings of the tent?The table [of the showbread] and its utensils, the pure lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense, The altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, the laver and its base?The finely worked garments, the holy garments for Aaron the [high] priest and for his sons to minister as priests, And the anointing oil and incense of sweet spices for the Holy Place. According to all that I have commanded you shall they do. Exodus 31:1-11.
We can't do God's work without both the natural and the spiritual, but many churches have now removed the Holy Spirit from His office. Without His help, we are trying to do God's work without God's blueprint, tools and supplies. It is like building a house without a plan, bricks and lumber.
Israel had been in Egypt for 430 years. They had been slaves, who did nothing than build bricks for their harsh taskmasters. They had no gold! They had no precious gemstones! They did not have fine silks, tapestries or linens! They lost those fine arts in the mud of the brickworks of Egypt!
The work required for this Tabernacle and all therein required a master craftsman's touch, but no one knew what to do! The Spirit of God gave supernatural talents and abilities to the people! That was an anointing!
There is an important aspect of what happens in the dimension of the spirit and it is revealed in and by the word of God.
Moses received the word, but whilst he was on the mountain with God, the people who did not yet have revelation, were being deceived and falling into sin.
We know that faith cometh by the word and also know that understanding all parables Is possible according to what Jesus said in Mark 4.
And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. Mark 4:13-15.
Jesus said that the devil came immediately... not at a later time... to steal the word. If he can steal the word from you, you do not know what God says about a given matter and then be subject to anything. If you do not know what to stand for... you will fall for anything.
You do not know who you are, where you are going, what you can do, what you are entitled to, what God wants of you... you are in danger!
God has a plan for your life and you have a great future in store, but if you do not know the truth that liberates you, then you may never make it and be led astray!
Whilst God was speaking to Moses, talking about the plan of salvation, talking about how God wanted to dwell with His people, the people had the seed stolen from them and were conned! They went astray, lost the vision and made a golden calf.
They had taken immense wealth from Egypt as their back pay for 430 years, which was a blessing from God to be used for Godly purposes but made an idol of it! Nothing has changed. Idolatry exists in the church to this day in many formats as an alternative to the real thing! Please understand that the enemy tries to introduce a substitute, or a counterfeit. He has tried to steal the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives by any and all means possible, because he knows that the anointing brings freedom and liberty; destroys yokes and equips the saints for the work of the ministry. He tries to nullify this or if that does not work, provide an alternate or a counterfeit.
I have never seen a counterfeit three-dollar note. The reason is simply because no genuine three-dollar note exists.
When Moses went before pharaoh and cast his rod to the ground, it turned into a serpent. The magicians did likewise. They counterfeited what the man of God did. This happened three times until they were not able to mimic God. In Exodus 8:19 they conceded defeat, telling Pharaoh that what Moses did was none other than the finger of God! The works of God are always ultimate. They are always superior. They always have the final say in the matter, but if you do not know what God says about it, you will fall for anything.
Always remember that and also remember that an anointing was required before anyone was permitted to minister to God. This oil was poured over Aaron. Psalm 133 says-
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment poured on the head, that ran down on the beard, even the beard of Aaron [the first high priest], that came down upon the collar and skirts of his garments [consecrating the whole body]. It is like the dew of [lofty] Mount Hermon and the dew that comes on the hills of Zion; for there the Lord has commanded the blessing, even life forevermore [upon the high and the lowly].
Notice that the blessing flows freely in obedience to the command of God when unity amongst the brethren prevails. Dare I say that there can be no anointing if discord, faction fighting, elite-ism, power struggles or such things exist? God certainly honours His word, but this psalm clearly says that God will command the blessing to fall only when the oil of the Spirit is freely flowing unimpeded. There is precise and specific way of approaching God and being able to minister effectively. To qualify for priesthood, one had to have certain attributes. Without them, the man was disqualified. See the details on the page Qualifying for Priesthood.
Many churches, including Word of Faith and Pentecostal churches have all but told the Holy Spirit that He is not welcome in their meetings. We cannot deny that they are achieving certain things, but are in actuality... disqualified! I must be careful in what I say, but it is evident that some larger churches are successful only because of their sheer size (depending on what success means)! Their programs keep themgoing under their own inertia and the Spirit of God isn't there!
I can feel the atmosphere the instant I walk into the building and sometimes the anointing is just not there! It's heavy! Despite the hype or the song service that often resembles a rock concert, my dear friend does not seem to be there. The anointing that produces life and liberty has to be present and I for one welcome Him in my church and meetings.
We simply cannot do without Him. Jesus also knew this, saying-
I can't do anything on my own. As I listen {to the Father}, I make my judgments. My judgments are right because I don't try to do what I want but what the one who sent me wants. John 5:30.
He ministered as a human being and not as Divinity, having divested Himself of all the attributes associated with divinity to become one of us and live amongst us.
Have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Although he was in the form of God and equal with God, he did not take advantage of this equality. Instead, he emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant, by becoming like other humans, by having a human appearance. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, death on a cross. This is why God has given him an exceptional honor? the name honored above all other names? so that at the name of Jesus everyone in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will kneel and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11.
He did nothing until John baptized Him and the Spirit of God descended and remained on Him. The Father gave His full seal of approval to Jesus as recorded in Acts 10:38. He was anointed for the task and operated in that anointing.
What is anointing?
To answer this question, we need to always refer to what the Word of God states. We need to look at Jesus Christ... the Anointed one and His anointing and see what the bible says, hence my introduction before actually getting onto the topic in question.
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The Anointed One and His Anointing |
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Jesus did nothing without the anointing in operation in His life. Everything He did was by the Spirit of God. For example, He said in Matthew 12:28 that He brought the Kingdom of God when He exercised control over evil spirits by the Spirit of God! He did nothing of Himself or by Himself. As an ordinary human being at that point, He relied completely on the ability that God gave Him by the Spirit of God. His first public sermon started with the confession-
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, Luke 4:18.
Jesus came in that anointing as the Anointed One. People Call Him Jesus Christ as if the word Christ is His surname. It has nothing to do with the family name or last name whatsoever, as the word Christ is a title or description of the office that He held. The New Testament opens with a statement of His genealogy.
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Matthew 1:1.
We could say it like this-
The book of the generation of Jesus the Anointed one and His anointing.
The word Christ is Χριστός or Christos, which comes form the word χρίω or Chriō.
The words give the idea of some form of contact that would be experienced when touching something, immersing something, or covering something or someone with something else like ointment or a liquid. It is like applying paint, smearing or rubbing something with oil.
I mentioned earlier that Aaron was anointed with oil. God had already chosen him and he was consecrated or set apart to God for his office to publicly acknowledge this when Moses poured oil over his head. It ran done his hair, onto his beard, over his clothes and a Jewish tradition says that he was so saturated with it, that he left oily footprints behind him as he walked. I do not know if that is true or not, but it sure sounds nice and in essence is a picture of what it means to be anointed for ministry. We should be able to leave a trail behind us that is like a deposit of Christ wherever we go.
The Oil was special!
It is not surprising therefore that the oil Moses used was special. God had given Moses precise instructions regarding the construction of the Tabernacle. His instructions regarding the anointing oil were very precise.
Take the best spices: of liquid myrrh 500 shekels, of sweet-scented cinnamon half as much, 250 shekels, of fragrant calamus 250 shekels, And of cassia 500 shekels, in terms of the sanctuary shekel, and of olive oil a hin. And you shall make of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer; it shall be a sacred anointing oil. And you shall anoint the Tent of Meeting with it, and the ark of the Testimony, And the [showbread] table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, And the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the laver [for cleansing] and its base. You shall sanctify (separate) them, that they may be most holy; whoever and whatever touches them must be holy (set apart to God). And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons and sanctify (separate) them, that they may minister to Me as priests. And say to the Israelites, This is a holy anointing oil [symbol of the Holy Spirit], sacred to Me alone throughout your generations. It shall not be poured upon a layman's body, nor shall you make any other like it in composition; it is holy, and you shall hold it sacred. Whoever compounds any like it or puts any of it upon an outsider shall be cut off from his people. Exodus 30:23-33.
This anointing oil had to be the best!
It had to be costly and it had to be special?so special that its use was restricted to those selected by God and was never to be duplicated.
Oil represents the Holy Spirit. The anointing and work of the Spirit of God is special and precious and it is certainly not to be mimicked or misused in any way! To serve God, one has to be chosen by God. It is not a vocation as some have made it, but it is a high calling. Aaron and his generations were to be separated to God, to be different, to be unique and to be separated from the world system. The implications or requirements in or for the church are similar. Unfortunately man appoints and not God and such appointments more often than not are not anointed at all. Little wonder that the church as the outsiders view her, is a fragmented, disjointed, sick, sad and disgusted wimpy mix. There are too many pastors who should be shoe-salesmen and shoe salesmen who aught to be pastors. Without that anointing they are like square pegs in round holes, trying to do God's work and it can never work. That is not God's plan!
Jesus was chosen. Jesus was precious. He was rare and He was anointed. Little wonder He accepted the worship Mary gave Him.
Mary took a pound of ointment of pure liquid nard [a rare perfume] that was very expensive, and she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair. And the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. John 12:3.
The anointing oil was never to be placed on human flesh!
It must not be applied to people's bodies, and you must not make any like it with the same recipe. It is holy, and it must be holy to you. Whoever makes perfume like it and whoever puts any of it on someone not a priest will be cut off from his people. Exodus 30:32-33.
Reference to the flesh often relates to the unregenerate nature of fallen man. Unless you are born again... unless you have an intimate relationship with God, you will never see or understand the anointing! The priests had to apply the blood of the sacrifice first before applying the anointing oil to ensure that this precious oil never touched unregenerate flesh!
When Jesus spoke with Nicodemus in John chapter three, He said very clearly that we have to experience spiritual regeneration, or, be born again, to see the Kingdom of God. Without this, it is impossible. Jesus breathed on the disciples after His resurrection in order that they could be born of the Spirit. He also told them to wait in Jerusalem to receive the Spirit. There is a distinct difference between these two operations. One brings spiritual life and the other produces spiritual ability. This anointing oil was to be placed only on priests who were already chosen and qualified by God, not to ordain men by men to become a priest. There is a vast difference. Jesus never took His office on Himself. God appointed and ordained Him, giving His seal of approval on Jesus after His Baptism by John at the Jordan River. John saw the Holy Ghost descending and remaining on Him. Before then a man called Simeon made a profound declaration.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout [cautiously and carefully observing the divine Law], and looking for the Consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been divinely revealed (communicated) to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). And prompted by the [Holy] Spirit, he came into the temple [enclosure]; and when the parents brought in the little child Jesus to do for Him what was customary according to the Law, [Simeon] took Him up in his arms and praised and thanked God and said, And now, Lord, You are releasing Your servant to depart (leave this world) in peace, according to Your word. For with my [own] eyes I have seen Your Salvation, Which You have ordained and prepared before (in the presence of) all peoples, A Light for revelation to the Gentiles [to disclose what was before unknown] and [to bring] praise and honor and glory to Your people Israel. Luke 2:25-32.
The Holy Spirit had previously told him that he would see The Lord's Christ, before he died. He said that he could now leave this world, because he had seen The Anointed One, stating that he had also seen the Lord's Salvation.
This anointing is what enables us to bring the message of salvation to a sick and dying world. When Jesus started His ministry, it was only after that anointing came on Him and as we have said, stated in His first public appearance that He was in fact this long awaited Anointed One. Approximately thirty years later, Jesus started His ministry.
Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Matthew 3:13-17.
John testified that he saw the Spirit of God descend gently like a dove upon Jesus and he heard God's vocal commendation of Jesus.
Immediately afterwards, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness where He was tempted. Forty days later, the Gospels state that Jesus was Full of the Spirit. This means that the Spirit of God was not only Upon Him, but also Inside Him! Why differentiate this? Why make a distinction between the two immediately before Jesus started preaching?
I put it to you that the former was the appointing or consecration To the ministry and the latter was the equipping For the ministry.
This is consistent with how we are to operate in the church. Jesus sent the disciples out on periodic assignments before His death, burial and resurrection and just before he transferred the baton on to us, He commanded us via the early disciples to wait for the equipping of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had not yet come, so the early church, comprising some 120 men and women, including Mary the mother of Jesus waited in prayer. The Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost.
We therefore have two distinct elements, both operations of the Holy Spirit in our lives, but the two are completely different. One produces life. It takes us out of one kingdom and places us in another. The second is the equipping for the task. It is that particular anointing I am concentrating upon.
When He came, that anointing separated Him from the rest. No one had ever seen such things before. They were amazed at His teaching and astonished at both the power and authority by which He ministered. We are now the Anointed Ones, or the Christ-Ones who are the followers of the Anointed One and His Anointing who have been called to do likewise. We can, because He said we could. We can, because He said that we can be anointed with the same anointing He had.
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The days Of Elijah
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The Mystery Man
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The Mystery Man |
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Who is this man? Where did he come from? All that the bible tells us about this man we call Elijah is that he was from the region of Tishbe who settled in Gilead, גִּלְעָד Gilʿād, which is somewhere in the Transjordan district around the Arnon, Jabbok and Yarmuk rivers.
The only other man whose background is shrouded in the mystery of God is Melchidek, who I regard as a type of Christ, but that is another story I may share elsewhere!
This is where Laban caught up with Jacob in Genesis 31:21-25 and where the Ishmaelites bought Joseph and took him to Egypt (see Genesis 37:25).
Gilead was good pastureland and part of the inheritance that Moses distributed to the Israelites. Sihon, King of the Amorites, ruled over half of the territory and Og, King of Bashan over the other half (see Joshua 12:1-24).
Many years later, during Absalom’s rebellion, David took refuge there where the battles leading to Absalom’s death were fought. Gilead was among the places in which David’s sinful census was taken.
Jeremiah cried out in Jeremiah 8:22, Is there no balm in Gilead?
Ezekiel’s vision of reconstruction placed Gilead on the eastern border.
Other than these and many other incidents, there seems to be no hint of Elijah’s nativity, childhood or youth. Other than the first reference made of him in first Kings chapter 17, he is what I would call a mystery man—something like Melchisedic. Who was he? Where did he come from?
It seems that God has certain folk in reserve, almost as if they are hidden away; out of sight and out of mind, but close to the heart of God, who have a special place in the economy of things.
Take Enoch for example. We know his genealogy from Genesis chapter four, but he was a special man—a prophet of God who spoke about the return of Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, Enoch, from the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied about them. He said, “The Lord has come with countless thousands of his holy angels. He has come to judge all these people. He has come to convict all these ungodly sinners for all the ungodly things they have done and all the harsh things they have said about him.” Jude 1:14-15.
What a powerful ministry!
Take John the Baptist, who Jesus said was the greatest prophet of all time. The Gospel accounts speak about his miraculous birth and nothing whatsoever about his childhood and early youth.. absolutely nothing! The bible is silent about him until he emerged out of obscurity into the most profound ministry of all time, other than the ministry of Jesus. What did he do for most of his life? Where was he?
We measure things by human standards only too often, but God has differing measuring procedures.
I suggest that John, who came in the power and anointing of Elijah was hidden in the quiver of God—reserved and being made ready in the school of the Spirit for a particular point in time, to perform a particular task, with a particular anointing that I call the Elijah anointing. This is the Spirit of Elijah.
People talk about the Days of Elijah as days of revival, but they were evil days...
They were days of confrontation of evil.
They were days of spiritual decline, possibly the worst days of Israel's spiritual history, but God raised a man to usher in a new era!
Elijah came as if out of nowhere-
Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, I stand before Him, and there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!” 1 Kings 17:1.
In like manner, John emerged as if out of nowhere to usher in a new dispensation.
The Days of Elijah
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The Days of Elijah |
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God did not send the man to a revival!
The days of Elijah were evil days.
The arguably worst king of Israel sat on the throne in the darkest days of the country. Witchcraft was rife. Jehovah and His word had been replaced with anything else that suited the whims of the people and Baal worship was the national religion of a country ruled by the daughter of a priest of Baal!
In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri began his reign of twenty-two years over Israel in Samaria. And Ahab son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all before him. As if it had been a light thing for Ahab to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he took for a wife Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah [idolatrous symbol of the goddess Asherah]. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel before him. In his days, Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of the life of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through Joshua son of Nun. 1 Kings 16:29-34.
As it was then, we are now witnessing the removal of all that is decent, pure, holy and righteous today, even in the ranks of our national leaders and, sad to say, with leaders in churches. The bible is being cast aside or even forbidden to be read in places like schools where humanism it taking over. It is forbidden to pray in some public places and I have seen some Christians arrested for witnessing about Jesus in a country that once stated, In God We Trust!
Our present federal government is led by a woman whose policies and decisions are decidedly questionable. She is not even legally married, so her role model image is not good at all. Other federal leaders are blatantly admitting that they do not want God at all in any area in any capacity whatsoever and many are living in alternate lifestyles that are without doubt forbidden by God! I do not want to sound crude but when minority groups continue to push for same sex marriage and some church organizations still debate over homosexuality which is clearly unacceptable in the word of God (I am not condemning anyone here but stating truth), something is wrong.
The previous premier of the state in which I currently live, passed a law that legalized the practise of witchcraft. This is in direct contravention to everything God states in His word. As with the alternate lifestyles I just mentioned openly advocated nowadays, those who criticise such things risk legal actions involving hate crime and discrimination.
The Church however is opposed without question!
I could continue with many sorry tales and this is the time in which it seems that history is repeating itself. We need man and women of God who know their God and His ways who are bold enough to stride into the halls of justice and parliament, the lecture theatres of universities, courts of law and conference rooms of the media and speak the truth... with real clout to follow!
Elijah prayed that it might not rain, not because he was impervious to human suffering, but because he put the glory of God before everything else. The spiritual conditions that obtained in Israel led to a lack of public recognition of God and worse, because God He was openly insulted and defied by Baal worshippers and practitioners of witchcraft. Elijah said that he was very jealous for the Lord God of hosts in 1 Kings 19:10 and longed to see His great Name vindicated and His backslidden people restored.
God promised in 1 Samuel 2:30 that He would honour those who honour Him, but He also stated that those who despised Him would be lightly esteemed. Aware of this, Elijah boldly confronted wicked Ahab and proclaimed Divine judgment on the kingdom. His boldness was based on the word of God.
- It was the same boldness that allowed Moses to go before Pharaoh to demand the release of God's people
- It was the same boldness that allowed David to go forth, meet Goliath and conquer him
- It was the same boldness that transformed Peter from a snivelling coward to a pillar of strength on the Day of Pentecost, enabling him to win 3000 precious souls in one sermon
- It was the same boldness that gave Paul such strength to testify as he did before Agrippa
- It was the same boldness that permitted reformers like Luther to nail his thesis to the door of the church
Such boldness can only emanate from a supernatural source to energize us to successfully wrestle with the principalities and powers of evil.
Elijah could not have learned these things in a seminary or bible-training college because of the poor state of the nation. I had better be careful and wise at how I say this, but we cannot learn what needs to be learned today in most seminaries and bible colleges because they have denied most of the work of the Holy Spirit and disregarded the importance of the anointing.
Most that I know of, are definitely not teaching their students how to hear from God, the principles of faith without which it is impossible to please God, how to operate in the things of God and how to obtain such boldness in a time that is very much like the time in which Elijah lived.
God appeared to Moses in the backside of the desert, so it is likely that in the solitude of Gilead that Elijah had been trained, ordained and despatched on his mission by God.
I believe that John was similarly trained and equipped to suddenly emerge from the wilderness to be thrust into the public arena to prepare the way for the Lord. If so, is it not likely that God is also training and equipping modern day prophets in the crucible of a wilderness of some kind, somewhere for their all-important task of preparing the way for the Lord's return.
When believers pray for revival or ask for the days of elijah to return, they may be wiser to stop and consider precisely what they are asking for!
Speak the Word
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Speak The Word |
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Elijah Knew and Spoke the Word!
When he confronted the king, all that he said was what God had already said!
He knew what God said about the blessings and inheritance and the requirements for the people to hearken and obey. Without sounding legalistic, I think that the blessings are conditional. We certainly live in days of grace, but God's word has not really changed and He has not changed. The choice is ours just as much as the choice was the peoples then and they chose to disregard God's directives. Drought and famine was the result of disobedience. Compare the blessings passages in Deuteronomy 28, which we love, with the cursings passages.
This was the setting.
This man walked right up to the king, pointed his finger at him and said, King... it will not rain again because I say so, turned around and walked out!
Elijah the Tishbite, of the temporary residents of Gilead, said to Ahab, As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before Whom I stand, there shall not be dew or rain these years but according to My word. 1 Kings 17:1. See also Deuteronomy 11:10-17, 28:15-24.
I like to use my imagination at times to picture what it may have been like.
Picture Ahab sitting on the throne with all those who attended him present when the palace doors are flung open with a resounding crash! A man, who may or may not be known to him, strides past the guards straight up to the throne without any pomp or ceremony and makes this bold declaration. The king could have easily snapped his fingers and had Elijah's head, but did not. Why? How did he get there past the guards? Why did they not drag him off and throw him into a prison cell?
Why did Daniel sleep comfortably in the lion's den (possibly snuggled up to them for warmth with his head on one as a pillow)?
Why did Jesus walk through a riot unharmed when they were determined to push Him off a cliff?
Why did Paul shake a deadly poisonous snake off him and have no side effects?
Why did a preacher I recently met live to tell how an attempted armed robbery fail when the thief shot him at point blank range to empty the magazine and every bullet simply fell to the ground one inch off his chest?
How did another preacher live to tell the tale about how several shots fired at point blank range pass through the body whilst burning holes in the front as they entered and burning holes in the rear as they passed through?
These are a few testimonies to illustrate that when God sends someone on an assignment, no demon force from hell or human agent can prevent it from happening! Elijah was sent on an assignment, so the king could not kill him!
Elijah made his declaration and so had finished that particular assignment. He came as a prophet to introduce or declare change. Amos 3:7 says that God reveals His plans to His servants the prophets who then pass it to the people and in this light, Elijah proclaimed that God was about to introduce a change. He declared a famine in the land and famines indicate that spiritual change is imminent.
Famines indicate that a spiritual change is imminent!
We are experiencing a financial and a spiritual famine in the world right now. Change is imminent.
Famine preceded change in the days of the patriarchs.
Both Abraham and Isaac experienced famine then change occurred. Joseph was sent by divine providence into Egypt preceding a disastrous famine and a major change took place from this event that lasted 430 years before Moses led a nation out of bondage to cross the Red Sea and lead them towards the Promised Land.
Having declared a spiritual change, God redirected his steps, sending him from a high profile position to one of isolation. He had completed that particular assignment and doing anything else would have been disobedient.
His task up to that point was to present one message and one message only.
He spoke the word of the Lord!
Jesus told us many that He did not function independently from the Father... came to do the will of the Father and was submissive to the will of the Father. He said only what He heard the Father say. Here is one example-
I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. They understood not that he spake to them of the Father. Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. As he spake these words, many believed on him. John 8:26-30.
The Church Fathers knew the value of speaking The Word. My friend... the word works! God watches over it to perform it. His word created all things. I urge you to look at what the bible says about itself and see the value of the word of God in your mouth. For example-
The LORD your God will give you many blessings in everything you do: You will have many children. Your animals will have many offspring. Your soil will produce many crops. The LORD will again delight in making you as prosperous as he made your ancestors. He will do this if you obey him and follow his commands and laws that are written in this Book of Teachings and return to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
This command I'm giving you today isn't too hard for you or beyond your reach. It's not in heaven. You don't have to ask, "Who will go to heaven to get this command for us so that we can hear it and obey it?" This command isn't on the other side of the sea. You don't have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it for us so that we can hear it and obey it?"
No, these words are very near you. They're in your mouth and in your heart so that you will obey them. Today I offer you life and prosperity or death and destruction. This is what I'm commanding you today: Love the LORD your God, follow his directions, and obey his commands, laws, and rules. Then you will live, your population will increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you're about to enter and take possession of. Deuteronomy 30:9-16. See also Romans 10:8.
If you truly want to succeed in life... do what the word says and say what God says.
New Instructions Accompany Fresh Provision
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New Instructions... Fresh Provision |
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Whenever God sends someone on an assignment, the best thing to do is to stay with that particular assignment and do the best you can in the process.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 gives us sound advice in this area.
Do not deviate from that assignment and continue to do that until you receive fresh directions. The outcome is not your responsibility. It is God's. You have done your job; so do not try to make it happen. Ishmael may be the result.
This reminds me of Philip in Acts chapter eight. Jesus had commanded the disciples to spread throughout the whole world, but they never left Jerusalem. Saul started to create havoc with the believers and they were in essence forced to move out. Jesus knew all this beforehand of course, but it does make me wonder if the modern day church is really doing what Jesus commanded. Philip was having a revival. People were getting healed. Demons were being cast out. People were getting saved and miracles were happening. That's the stuff any preacher worthwhile would really want, but the Holy Spirit spoke to him saying, Philip, I want you to leave the platform and go to one man out in the backside of the desert! You know the story I guess, but I use this to illustrate that you and I need to always be open to the leading of the Spirit, because if we are, then once we finish the current assignment, He may dispatch us on another!
It is time we stopped pushing our own agendas and got in tune with His!
This is the case with Elijah, because as soon as he had fulfilled his then allocated task, God spoke again, this time with further instructions.
And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 1 Kings 17:2-5.
Please pay attention to how the verse opens... And the word of the Lord came unto him.
Hang on! Hadn't he just declared the word of the Lord? Yes he had, but that was now old manna. In exodus 16:15; 31-35, Israel gathered manna. Every individual person had to gather enough for himself and not store it up. It was an individual and personal thing. On the Sabbath, no manna came and anyone who went to look for it got nothing. Storing it for a following day was useless, as it went rotten and worms ate it. See also
When Israel entered the Promised Land and started to partake of the produce of the land... which God gave them...the manna ceased! See Joshua 5:12.
You and I must gather our own personal manna... daily! No one else can do it for you. Revelation 2:17 speaks about the hidden manna... revelation provided to the individual. It is a personal thing.
Elijah had just faithfully discharged his commission and the Lord started speaking again to His servant... not beforehand, but after completion!
From what I have learned and from what others tell me, it seems that God does not grant fresh revelation until there has been a compliance with that which has already received. This is seen in the early life of Abraham, where in Genesis 12:1, God told him to go to a land that He would reveal to him, but instead of total commitment and obedience he went only half way and settled in Haran and the Lord never appeared again to him until after he had obeyed and moved. See Genesis 12:4-7. All God told him was to go to a place that would one day be revealed to him.
Sometimes, God does not give us the full picture. There are many good reasons for this. We may not be able to handle it if we saw the complete thing at once. We might tell too much about it to the wrong people and dream killers could come in and destroy you or the vision. There cold be other people involved in it who are not yet at the point in their lives God wants them to be and they could be part of your vision.
Sometimes it is like looking at one piece of a jigsaw puzzle, or being that piece, but not see the completed puzzle yet!
Trust God, my friend.. trust God!
As soon as Elijah delivered his message, he had completed that mission and God reassigned him.
The word of the Lord also told him, Get thee hence and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith. 1 Kings 17:2-3.
Many people do not know how to determine the mind and will of God. Sometimes they do not realize that God had them doing one particular thing and once they had done that, He wanted to send them elsewhere. That's OK. Do not camp! DO NOT CAMP! Learn to discern when the cloud of God is moving and learn to see where it is going and follow that. Israel had to learn that and God led them for 40 years, meeting every need in the wilderness during that time. God has not changed! Think about it.
Some people often guess or assume, going onto tangents that sometimes cause much hurt and anguish and it need not be so. According to Paul, we have the mind of Christ in 1 Corinthians 2:16. Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to us in order that He can each us and lead us. See John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13. Please consider that guessing is a result of the curse. Adam never had to guess. For that matter, he did not need to toil either. All that changed once he ate that fruit.
I am so thankful that Jesus came to restore all things. We have the bible for our reference to give us revelation, wisdom and understanding.
Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose, and action), So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17. See also 2 Peter 1:4; 19-21.
God told him to (a) get going and (b) to turn.
We need to see the implications of this instruction. They are most important. The word Turn is פָּנָה ( pān?) that has many derivatives, but the one I focus on is Face and it means much more than that part of our physical features. It refers to words like before, towards the inside, inner and most often to turn! We speak about turning around, turning back or turning away from something.
The face of course identifies the person and often reflects the attitude, moods, emotions or sentiments, but it also describes behavioral patterns.
Most of us have heard about the renewing of the mind from Paul's teachings in Romans.
Brothers and sisters, in view of all we have just shared about God's compassion, I encourage you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, dedicated to God and pleasing to him. This kind of worship is appropriate for you. Don't become like the people of this world. Instead, change the way you think. Then you will always be able to determine what God really wants?what is good, pleasing, and perfect. Romans 12:1-2.
After making such a bold declaration, God told elijah to hide himself by the brook Cherith. This is important, for without your own personal Cherith... you might not go anywhere!
The word means a cut, or cutting. It relates to circumcision!
The flesh life needed to be crucified!
The flesh life still needs to be crucified!
Every one of us has to deal with things that might have influenced our lives before we met Jesus.
I was twenty-six years of age when I was born again. My spirit was instantaneously renewed when I was saved, but I had 26 years of life experience in me, some of with had to go! I was a new creation in Christ Jesus but my habit patterns and thought patterns that I had acquired remained and this is what I had to deal with. The old nature still wanted to sit on the throne of my life and it wants its own way in your life also. Deal with these issues. Make a turn now. Once you were going in a certain direction that may or may not have been good but it is now time to stop and see what God is doing.
Moses was walking down the hill when he was searching for some sheep and saw a bush that was on fire, but was not being consumed. He could have easily thought that it was interesting and continued on his way, but he stopped and made a decision to turn and see what was happening.
This is what I am speaking about. We are to see what God is doing, learn to recognize it and turn to face it or embrace it and to get on side with what God is doing.
Permit me to use more illustrations about what the word Face means. For example, a hard face sometimes indicates defiance according to Jeremiah 5:3. When one is joyful, it is revealed in the face. When one is sad, we have a long face. When we are embarrassed we become red faced and so on.
Consider the meaning of the word Turn as Looking towards what God is doing and face a new day, or a new event.
Change is coming and God told him to embrace it!
At it was with this prophet, we are entering into a new dispensation or era and God wants us to move into it with Him.
This is indicative by the command to Go East, which of course is geographical, but what is the spiritual connotation?
We identify the East with the rising of the sun. Sunrise heralds a new day. It always comes from the East and because we can rely on that, and associate this with the things that God is and does, we can be assured that the new day I am speaking about always comes from God. Sometimes the enemy came from the east and the term is often used to describe wisdom, such as the wise men from the East who feature in the Nativity Story.
With fresh instructions, God makes room for fresh provision.
You can be assured that He will not send you somewhere without taking care of you. When Jesus sent His disciples out on assignment, His instructions were to leave all that they were accustomed to using like credit cards and wallets behind, not to keep them broke as some people think, but to give them an opportunity to prove that God provides. On their return, He asked them if they lacked anything and they admitted that they did not. My friend, if God sends you on an assignment, He is obliged by His own word and nature to care for you. It works! I've proved it!
No matter wher God send you, He will provide. It might not always be easy, but He will not fail you. You can find water in a desert you know. Moses did! The rock that followed the nation gushed enough pure, sweet water for somewhere between 2,000,000 and 3,000,000 people and their livestock!
God sent Isaac into the middle of a famine and, because of their covenant relationship, Isaac sowed in that land and reaped 100-fold! See Genesis 26:12.
In the midst of a famine, God made sure that His man lacked nothing. He told Elijah beforehand that the brook would provide fresh water and said that He had commanded ravens to bring him food!
Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. 1 Kings 17:3-6.
That is supernatural provision!
In the middle of a horrific drought, God looked after His man!
Where did they get the bread?
Where did the meat come from?
Why didn't they eat the meat?
Later in the story, I think we may see their possible source, but for now, please remember that regardless of the circumstances, God will always care for you when you are walking with Him. Jesus said so-
"So I tell you to stop worrying about what you will eat, drink, or wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothes? "Look at the birds. They don't plant, harvest, or gather the harvest into barns. Yet, your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they? "Can any of you add a single hour to your life by worrying? "And why worry about clothes? Notice how the flowers grow in the field. They never work or spin yarn for clothes. But I say that not even Solomon in all his majesty was dressed like one of these flowers. That's the way God clothes the grass in the field. Today it's alive, and tomorrow it's thrown into an incinerator. So how much more will he clothe you people who have so little faith? "Don't ever worry and say, ?What are we going to eat?' or ?What are we going to drink?' or ?What are we going to wear?' Everyone is concerned about these things, and your heavenly Father certainly knows you need all of them. But first, be concerned about his kingdom and what has his approval. Then all these things will be provided for you. "So don't ever worry about tomorrow. After all, tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25-34.
The Cutting Place
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The Cutting Place |
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Now there is one thing we must come to grips with. To be truly effective, the old man, or that old nature within us has to go as I previously mentioned. We must mortify the flesh life. God gave the prophet a word, then sent him off into a wilderness. Part of the preparation for that new day involved dealing with the old ways of doing things. God sent him to the Brook Cherith.
The word of the Lord came to him: "Leave this place; turn eastward and go into hiding by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 1 Kings 17:2-3.
Wait a minute! Didn't God send him to confront the king with a powerful declaration and now He told him to hide? Skulking in a cave in fear and trembling is hardly the trait of a great man of God (or is it?). It is more than that. The Hebrew word used is סָתַר (Sātar) that of course means to hide or conceal, but there is more to it than that.
Some of the meanings suggest Shelter and Protection.
Elijah was to get alone with God, completely removed from all outside influences to learn how to be totally dependent on God.
- He had to hide himself with God
- He had to learn that God was his source
- He had to learn how to trust God for everything
- He had to learn that God would shelter and protect him, care for him and provide shelter, food and water
- He had to learn how to live in the supernatural dimension of God for the task ahead
- He had to stop living by or depending on the world system and start to trust God.
We belong to a different Kingdom! In this Kingdom there is a totally different way of doing things to the ways of the world. The world system, particularly the economic structures of the world system are not built on God, but on a Babylonian footing and it is failing! We must learn how to function in God's system. Elijah did! Jesus did. He taught people like Peter how by sending him a fish with a coin in its mouth and sent a net breaking, boat swamping haul of fish.
Religious misconceptions lead us to believe that we have to be poor to follow Jesus, but that is totally untrue.
The story found in Mark 10:17-22 is an example.
Now as Jesus was starting out on his way, someone ran up to him, fell on his knees, and said, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: "Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'" The man said to him, "Teacher, I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws since my youth." As Jesus looked at him, he felt love for him and said, "You lack one thing. Go, sell whatever you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." But at this statement, the man looked sad and went away sorrowful, for he was very rich.
This man made some startling statements and Jesus did not correct him. The man did what he said he did, but the Lord wanted to teach the man something. unfortunately, this man could not pass the test, trusting instead on his own abilities and resources. I suspect that Jesus was hoping to make him His successor to Judas! Jesus never told us that we have to be poor. The lessons God wants us to learn are that when we make God our source... He makes sure that we are cared for. There are certain laws or keys of the Kingdom that work every time when applied. One is the law of the harvest, or sowing and reaping. Jesus wanted this man to sow some seed, but all he could see was that he had to give something away!
Jesus learned about God's way of doing things in His ministry. He spent many an hour alone and in complete solitude with His God. He prayed often. He deliberately sent His disciples away on occasions so that He and the Father could spend time with each other. Could it be remotely possible that God wants you and me to learn the same lessons?
Cherith was the place where Elijah learned to cut himself off from the world system.
The brook or wadi is a seasonal stream whose Hebrew name is כְּרִית (kerît). It simply means a Cut.
Its root words have similar meanings, such as to cut off or down and to destroy or consume.
It also speaks about a covenant!
It is like making an alliance or a bargain, originating from the cutting of flesh and passing between the pieces.
When I read that, it excited me because I thought of the time God cut a covenant with Abraham in Genesis chapter fifteen! Here God walked up and down in a trail of blood that was the result of sacrifice. We do not sacrifice any longer, because Jesus was our ultimate offering, but we still need to embrace the provisions and requirements of cutting covenant with God.
Is it possible that God wanted to cut a covenant with Elijah? If so, then this could have a rippling effect coming upon Elijah's successors and their successors. Later in our story, we shall see that Elisha wanted to have a successor to whom he could pass the anointing.
Think of the implications.
I cannot speak for you, but when the Lord started to show these things to me... a preacher with Jewish blood in his veins... a preacher who has developed his ministry by the Lord's directive along the lines of a modern day John the Baptist, with the ministry motto of Preparing the way, I had to stop and think about a covenant relationship with God, through the blood of Jesus in a different light!
Regardless of whether that is conjecture or not, God definitely sent the man to the place of cutting, where he had to deal with the flesh issue. If you or I want to go places in God, we must deal with the flesh issue. You will go no further if you do not.
It is at this point where Elijah learned that God is the source. You and I must learn that God is our source.
God may use another human being to make provision for you, but we are to always regard God as our Jehovah Jireh or our provider.
At this place where Elijah stayed for an unknown time, God made sure that he lacked nothing.
He drank from the stream. This is natural provision.
God sent Ravens with food. This is supernatural provision.
We need both.
Where did those ravens get the food? They do not cook bread, so someone had to have baked it! They eat flesh, so why did they not eat the food themselves instead of carrying it in their beaks to drop at Elijah's feet? I suspect that it was also cooked, so someone had to cook it.
Interestingly God sent the ravens twice a day?once in the morning and once in the evening. Once only would have been a miracle in itself, but later in the day for a second time was astounding. Then there was the next day and the following day and the following day.
This was an ongoing miracle in itself, much like the way God provided supernaturally for the Israelites in the wilderness for forty years.
They had to collect their own manna every day. Mother could not get some for her children. The kids had to get theirs too.
In like manner, Elijah had to gather up what the ravels brought him... twice daily.
After all, it was a time of famine and a time of drought, so it must have extended for an extended period of time before the stream dried up. We do not know how long that was, but we do know that the drought lasted for at least three years, possibly three and a half years. If you do the maths, that came to approximately 2520 meals. Some was directly provided at the brook and some when he was at Zarephath.
All we know for certain is that the stream eventually dried up and this is where many people fail. Many people start to panic at that point. They may think that they must have been mistaken, thinking, Surely, God wouldn't send me to a dry place. God would not send me to a place of famine.
No? He sent Elijah!
He also sent Abraham to a dry place, but Abraham thought he had heard wrong and went down into Egypt! Never do that. Move only when God tells you and move only to where He sends you. Anything else could be disastrous.
Drought and famine is not your problem. I said, Drought and famine is not your problem! If God sent you there, it is His problem and He will provide. Instead of fighting that thing, perhaps it might be better to see what God is doing with you, or to you.
Perhaps He is dealing with issues in your life that you may never address otherwise. Remember that the brook Cherith is the cutting place where the old life with all of its hang-ups, habits and mannerisms that are not conducive to Godliness or not productive for the Kingdom of God have to be put to death.
Paul would say that this is where you have to crucify the old Adam in you!
Perhaps God is offering you an opportunity to use your faith and put His miracle working power to effect and wanting you to break out of the box and start walking in the supernatural provision of God, calling those things that be not as though they were. It is one thing to sit in a comfortable church saying, Yes, amen when someone says something good, but a completely different matter to put it to work in your life as a doer of the word and not a mere hearer.
God sent Abraham to Canaan and he walked into the middle of a drought!
Isaac sowed in famine and reaped one hundred-fold in that same year!
Joseph was sold into slavery and sent to Egypt, but this was in the plan of God and he preserved the whole nation during the worst drought in history!
It might not always be pleasant, but it will always be right. The precedents have been set. You can do it, but you will have to get out of the box... get out of your comfort zone and learn how to operate in the Kingdom of God and it commences with burying the old man and his ways!
When The Brook Dries Up
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When The Brook Dries Up |
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We understand that God never changes. In Malachi 3:6, He says For I am the Lord, I do not change. The New Testament says the same thing about Jesus. Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is [always] the same, yesterday, today, [yes] and forever (to the ages). Hebrews 13:8.
You can always depend on Him. He is not fickle with His feelings towards us and does not change His mind (even though it seems like that at times) and there is always that constancy... that dependability factor... that unshakable rock solid dependability about Him that constantly assures us God is always a good God and we can know for sure where we stand with Him.
All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. James 1:17.
We know that God dwells in light In fact... He Is light! Like light however we can see different variations form time to time. A diamond has many facets and when holding it up to a source of light, and slowly rotate it, different colours radiate from the individual facets. The light remains the same. The diamond remains the same, but our perception and its results may alter.
God told Elijah to to to the Brook Cherith.
He said that he could drink from the brook, but elijah had just declared a drought!
God told him that He had issued a command for the ravens to feed him.
The LORD told him: "Leave here and travel eastward. Hide out in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. Drink from the stream; I have already told the ravens to bring you food there." So he did as the LORD told him; he went and lived in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. The ravens would bring him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he would drink from the stream. 1 Kings 17:2-6.
Elijah did as God commanded, so he was in the right place at the right time, doing the right things and when we are in such a place, God never fails us... but the brook dried up!
The point I wish to make is that you can be right in the center of the will of God and it seems that nothing is working for you, other believers are against you, all hell has broken loose around you and so on. What do you do when your brook dries up? The answer is to stay put! If you move, you risk walking away from a potentially greater miracle and into trouble.
This happened to Abram. God told Abram to go! Go where? He didn't tell the man anything more than that. He had to leave his past behind him and take no one with him, but he took Lot! Trouble erupted as a result of that disobedience.
Abram arrived in Canaan and God told him that he had arrived at the place of God's choosing... but Abram moved on to Bethel.
After a while at Bethel, the man kept going South.. out of the Promise and down into Egypt and into a famine. He did not stay wher God sent him and more trouble came. I am glad however that Abram finally got his act together and God blessed him. That blessing is now on us! You can read the account in Genesis chapters 12 and 13.
Many people think that they heard wrong, or God made a mistake, start questioning God, start guessing, run to other people for advice or assistance (not that we should not do that) and confer with flesh and blood instead of stopping and asking the Holy Spirit for direction. There is a couple in my church who are going through some difficult times and is receiving urgent medical treatment, but keep their faith, trust and confidence in God. He told me recently that they have often had something of vital importance to do and their car had no fuel in it!
After telling the Lord what is happening, they drove to the doctor, drove to the pharmacist, drove to the grocery store, back home and repeated the process... but the fuel tank was empty! They have had this happen on more than one occasion.
Normally, doing such a thing is rash foolishness, but they were in desperate plight and had a legitimate need and called to God for help and He helped them!
Don't tell me that this does not work!
It worked for them, because they had a promise from God and that was all they had. Right when they could have panicked, blamed God for their troubles, ran to other people for help, borrowed money that they could not repay... tapped into the source and it works!
My friend, the bible has many stories of such supernatural provision and God has not changed.
He has a way to help you. He has a provision for you. He has an answer for you.
When God told the man he would look after him, He did not lie. God is not a liar. That particular source dried up, but God had pre-prepared another.
He sent Elijah to the widow at Zarephath and I suspect that she was the one who baked the bread and cooked the meat the ravens brought him.
In effect she had been sowing precious seed, so when her time of need arrived... God sent His men to her to provide for all three of them. The supply lasted for as long as it was needed.
Your supply will last for as long as necessary and for as long as you are capable of both receiving it and retaining it.
The widow in 2 Kings 4:1-7 had a miracle, but there were certain conditions.
Elisha told her to do all she could to prepare for it. If you are not ready, it might not come.
He told her to lock herself away with God. She hid in the house for good reason. It was to stop the loose talk, the doubters, the mockers, the unbelievers, the questioners and more from shutting down her blessing. Such things can and will stop you from getting your miracle. It stopped Jesus from ministering in His own home town!
She followed instructions to the letter.
The miracle continued for as long as she was capable of receiving and when she had no ability left to store the oil, it stopped!
A pastor acquaintance and I were discussing the global economy and natural resources. Many people are afraid that we will run out! My friend, when God created everything, He knew how much to make! It will last for as long as it is necessary!
Unless the Lord gives you fresh instructions or more specific instructions, stay put, because that is where God sent you. When the brook dries up, find out what God is doing and do it. He could be lining you up for a miracle and your miracle will depend on your ability to receive it and retain it.
Zarephath
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Zarephath |
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When God sends us somewhere, it is for good reason. He always has a purpose and when He sent Elijah to a place called Zarephath, it was to get him ready for what was to come, but the man needed some of his rough edges smoothed away. Refining was required. We all need this, although the process is not always pleasant, or it might not be to our liking. After all, we would all like to be in the limelight, or up front, sitting with all the leaders I guess, but that is not always how it works. Hey God! I'm anointed! I've been to bible college. I have a vision. I'm keen and enthusiastic. The need is there and I am willing to go , so what's the delay?
Refining is required.
The name of that place in Hebrew is צָרְפַת and it means Refining. Sometimes the journey or transition from Amen to there it is... is not as we expect.
The journey for Elijah was not easy, being a trek through the desert—in famine time, of some one hundred miles or 160Km—all on foot!
It was in Zidon. That place wasn’t even in Israel. It was really in enemy territory now, but for good reason.
Firstly, Elijah was sent there for come refining and we all need a good dose of that I think. Was he being sent there to get rid of pride? I do not want to hazard a guess, but God thought he needed some more refining, so off he went.
This word has a root word that signifies a Crucible, which is where metals are melted, especially precious metals.
When the heat is turned up the gold melts and the dross rises to the surface. A goldsmith looks for one thing to indicate when the gold is pure and this is his own face. As he peers down, a mixture of gold and scum is evident, so he skims the scum off the gold and heats it again in the crucible, to repeat the process. When all the scum is removed, the goldsmith looks down and can clearly see his own reflection. God is doing this to us now. Let’s get it over and done with as son as possible, because it is hot in the furnace!
Sadly, the place of refining is not easily reached and many of us shrink from it. The journey is too difficult; it is not comfortable. It takes too long and we want is yesterday, but this is how God works. Apparently, Elijah achieved something very significant there, because Jesus mentioned it in Luke 4:24-25, saying that there were many widows around in Israel who could have cared for the man of God, but a stranger had that honour! No one amongst God’s own people qualified for that task. What an indictment, but there was another very good reason to be sent there.
Matthew Henry said it was To show Jezebel the impotency of her malice, God will find a hiding place for His servant even in her country.
Equally striking is it to notice that it was not a rich merchant or one of the chief men of Zidon, but a poor desolate and desperately needy woman—a widow who was chosen. God arranged it so that His man was supported by a widow by supernatural provision right under the enemy’s nose, in enemy headquarters! I think that God laughs at times about our prideful egotistical attempts at greatness and superiority. He often chooses the most unusual or unexpected things or people for His purpose... the weak things or despised things to confound the wise!
The message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God's power to us who are being saved. Scripture says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. I will reject the intelligence of intelligent people.” Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the persuasive speaker of our time? Hasn't God turned the wisdom of the world into nonsense? The world with its wisdom was unable to recognize God in terms of his own wisdom. So God decided to use the nonsense of the Good News we speak to save those who believe. Jews ask for miraculous signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, but our message is that Christ was crucified. This offends Jewish people and makes no sense to people who are not Jewish. But to those Jews and Greeks who are called, he is Christ, God's power and God's wisdom. God's nonsense is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength. Brothers and sisters, consider what you were when God called you to be Christians. Not many of you were wise from a human point of view. You were not in powerful positions or in the upper social classes.But God chose what the world considers nonsense to put wise people to shame. God chose what the world considers weak to put what is strong to shame. God chose what the world considers ordinary and what it despises—what it considers to be nothing—in order to destroy what it considers to be something. As a result, no one can brag in God's presence. You are partners with Christ Jesus because of God. Jesus has become our wisdom sent from God, our righteousness, our holiness, and our ransom from sin. As Scripture says, “Whoever brags must brag about what the Lord has done.” 1 Corinthians 1:18-31.
Zidon was the original home of Jezebel! God sent His messenger of truth and justice to her home! Moses the deliverer of Israel was raised in the king’s court! My friend, if you feel that you have been sent to a hard place where it is getting hot, you just might be in precisely the right place, placed there strategically at the right time for some special assignment. Don’t quit!
Sometimes, man's extremity is God's opportunity.
When Cherith is dried up then Zarephath will be opened up for you. Do not be overly concerned about the future, because tomorrow will bring tomorrow's God and tomorrow’s provision.
Elijah’s obedience and humility was tested, because God sent him to receive support in a hostile environment by a woman he did not know and a woman who was not a Jew!
Please understand that God did not give Elijah the full picture. He only told the man where to go where a widow would sustain him. Sometimes our journey is simply step-by-step as we travel, but we do know where we will finish. There are times when God chooses others we would not pick ourselves to help us and it is a good thing to remember that we really do not have the right or abilty to choose who God sends to help us!
There is another aspect to consider.
Elijah had just given a message to Ahab, spent time alone with God where he learned how to walk in the supernatural and receive divine sustenance. He had been in rookie school, or boot camp, but now it was graduation day and God called him to war!
He had to face the enemy—not just any little rookie private, but the commander-in-chief.
Ahab’s wickedness consisted of perpetuating all the sins of Jeroboam, considering them trivial. He married a pagan princess, Jezebel, who zealously tried to promote her depraved cult as the exclusive religion of Israel. Jezebel’s father was Ethbaal. He was king of the Sidonians (the Phoenicians) with his capital in Tyre. They were Baal worshippers and he may have been the high priest. The name Baal means lord, often used in reference to the male deity the Canaanites worshiped. The people in Tyre called him Baal Melqart, but their religion was only a cultic variation of the standard Baal worship common throughout Palestine. Ahab built a temple for Baal and constructed an altar in the capital of Israel. Asherah poles that were idols carved to stimulate worship of Baal’s female counterpart were erected. Jericho was refortified, despite specific instruction not to do so by Joshua in Joshua 6:26.
God sent him to enemy headquarters before going to Horeb. Back home, Israel was in her worst state ever. Ahab was the worst King ever.
The walls of Jericho had been rebuilt in spite of Joshua’s edict or prophecy and whenever someone is at Jericho, they are in the middle of war.
The days of Elijah might not be days of revival after all, but a season in which immense battles are being waged. The war is already won, but we still have an occasional fight on our hands and we would be wise to keep remembering to wear our spiritual armor and realize that we do not struggle with human beings, but spiritual forces.
For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), Being in readiness to punish every [insubordinate for his] disobedience, when your own submission and obedience [as a church] are fully secured and complete. 2 Corinthians 10:3-6.
Tested By Dreamkillers
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Tested By Dreamkillers |
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Do you have a dream? Has God shown you something and you are holding onto that? Perhaps the Lord has already told you to do certain things and you have taken all the steps you can think of and are in waiting mode.
This is a vulnerable point for many people.
Many times, there is a definite or distinct season between the time you receive the promise to receiving the fulfilment of it.
Just because God said it, does not mean it is an automatic deal. You have to do something. You have to be tested. You may be in a refining stage as Elijah was. You might be on probation.
God could have sent you to a certain place and it is easy to assume that everyone else there is sympathetic to your cause.
Let me tell you, that is often not the case. You just might be fellowshipping with others who just cannot see or do not want to see what you can see.
Sometimes spiritual envy or jealousy rears its ugly head.
Whatever happens, stay focussed and keep confessing it and preparing yourself for it, because the dream will come to pass in its appointed time, despite the opposition, misunderstanding and perhaps abuse you receive. Yes... even by other believers!
God had sent Elijah to the widow and miracles of provision happened. He was doing all God told him, confessed the word, sown his seed and was starting to reap a harvest. He did so in response to direct instructions-
Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you. 1 Kings 17:9.
He did so. When he arrived, he declared a thing, based on the word of God to him and the miracle started to happen according to the word of the Lord that Elijah spoke.
Paul spoke about the sword of the spirit in Ephesians 6:17, stating that this was the word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says-
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Many people glibly quote bible verses and say that the reading was the word of the Lord, referring to Isaiah 55:11, whish states-
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
That way of speaking is not correct. If God did not Send it... it will not do a thing! If merely saying a bible verse was all it took then much more would be accomplished by many more people than it is.
And, truly, the good news came to us, even as it did to them; but the hearing of the word did them no good, because they were not united in faith with the true hearers. Hebrews 4:2.
For it to work, it must be something that God revealed, quickened or gave a specific rhema and confessed with faith and expectancy! That... is the sword of the spirit! That... is the double edged sword and it becomes so when God said it to you and you then say it back! At that point, and not before, it has been sent... and then it will not return to Him void!
Elijah received a specific word and acted upon that. He then started to speak it by way of confession or declaration. What God said became what he said and that is when it works. Hebrews 10:23 tells us to hold fast to the profession of our faith. The act of holding fast is not reciting a catechism or doctrinal statement, but grabbing hold of that particular word and holding onto it, staking a claim on it, possessing it or seizing it. The profession of faith is Homologia, which means saying the same things that God says... or talking like God talks!
That word is creative. Once he spoke it, the food just kept coming for as long as it was necessary. It was specific. He told the woman to make him some food first. She was desperate! In her mind's eye, that was her last meal and the future was bleak. Asking her to do that was important. He was not being selfish or greedy, but wanted her to learn a powerful principle.
He wanted her to learn one of the laws of the Kingdom.
There are many laws we must learn to apply if we wish to be successful. I am not referring to Laws such as the Ten Commandments. There are hundreds of those things and we cannot keep them! I am speaking about principles or keys. These laws apply for every human being on the planet, whether they know about them or not and whether they believe them or not.
The Law of gravity is one! You can't see it, smell it or taste it, but fall out of a tree and you will see that it works.
The Law or aerodynamics is another. By applying the principles of thrust, lift and drag an World War 1 biplane will fly in the same way as a modern jet fighter. Those laws may be applied more efficiently by the jet, but the principles remain the same for anyone who applies them.
In like manner, anyone who applies certain Laws or Keys of the Kingdom of God will get the results, because God ordained them to be so!
The laws of the harvest and of sowing and reaping are what I refer to here.
He told the widow to sow her food back to God before doing anything else. That released the miracle so that she could then do as he asked and make food for herself and for her son. This had to be a daily process, repeated every day during the drought. The promise was that the supply would last up to and including the day that God sent the rain and it happened... according to the word of the Lord that Elijah spoke! See 1 Kings 17:13-16.
Just because some things are happening, does not mean you are immune from problems! They came! The boy died! Right in the middle of a continuing miracle the boy died and the woman started to blame God for it! She accused the man who came to help her of the problems. She asked him-
Afterwards, the son of the woman who owned the house got sick. He got so sick that finally no life was left in him. The woman asked Elijah, "What do you and I have in common, man of God? Did you come here to remind me of my sin and kill my son?" 1 Kings 17:17-18.
Please notice that she asked, Did you come here to remind me of my sin?
That is the stuff the devil does. He is the accuser of the brethren. He is the one who wants to dig up all the dirt of the past and remind you of them, but your sin is gone forever once you repent and make Jesus the lord of your life. Remember that he was in the heartland of enemy territory and a showdown was imminent.
She doubted Elijah, despite the miracle, but when the lad was brought back to life, she had a change of heart.
Please keep in mind that opposition and dream-killers may and often do come to you, even when God is moving in your life, but stay focussed. In the midst of blessing, maintain the right attitude.
The Enemy Camp
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The Enemy Camp |
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We have seen that God took Elijah from the natural and into the supernatural with regards provisioning. He had made a powerful prophetic declaration based on the Word of God and immediately received fresh instructions. We must always be attuned to the voice of the Spirit for directions in our lives and this may be a daily, step-by-step, hour-by-hour, moment-by-moment walk. As a direct result of his own statement in accord with the will of God, drought came and God then issued fresh instructions.
At this point, many believers fall into difficulties. They may baulk at the concept of living by faith, or by living off God so to speak and thus never get to their Promised Land. They may take that step of obedience and find that God truly blesses and provides water in the desert wilderness and then camp there. Both may be fatal.
They may receive their blessing at that water hole initially, but God moves on. He is constantly moving onwards. Israel was led, sheltered and protected by God for forty years. He provided enough food for somewhere between two million to three million meals every day for forty years. Don't you think God can't still do the same things nowadays? The pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud were constantly on the move. If God stopped, they had to stop. If He turned left, they would have been fools to turn right, but don't some of us behave like that now? If He moved, they had to move with Him or be left behind. Once one arrives, it is very tempting to stay put, but if God starts to move and you do not go with Him, it is likely that the flow of blessing will start to diminish, perhaps stop completely. The flow of water starts to dwindle and the stream turns into a still or slowly flowing stagnant pond full of muddy, slimy water.
Large ministries may fall into such categories equally as well as individual believers. A large organization can actually keep its momentum going by its own sheer weight or inertia and mistakenly think that they are doing well, thank you, but God is not in it any longer, having moved on. Their programs may be great and wonderful, but devoid of the anointing. The worship where the presence of God once manifested sometimes degenerates into entertainment that is propped up by smoke generating machines instead of the supernatural fog of God's presence and mind numbing strobe lighting in lieu of the supernatural light of God (I have seen villages with no electricity illuminated at night like this).
There is nothing wrong with programs and facilities, provided that they are not the objectives themselves. We must use all means and tools that are available, but when they become the objective per-se, could it be possible that they have turned into a false god? It is possible to worship worship?Israel made a golden calf and worshipped it, but God initially provided the Gold from which they made it. I have seen many golden calves and memorials in churches where God once moved in a mighty way, but is not doing that any longer! When Moses was leading the people in the wilderness, they arrived at a place where poisonous snakes lived. When a snake bit someone, they died and the people started to cry out to God for deliverance. God told Moses to make a brass image of a snake and affix it to a pole, instructing those who were bitten to stand beneath that pole, fasten their vision on the snake and they were healed.
Jesus mentioned this, saying-
In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up?and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life. John 3:14-15.
The Israelites walked into a den of snakes because of their reluctance to change and complained every step they took. God's remedy worked for them... then... but it was only required for the time they were passing through and left the snakes behind. Once they had passed through that area, the brass serpent that God told them to use was no longer required, but kept it. 400 years later the people were worshipping the thing God used once but was not using any longer. Can it be that we have built our own church idols out of things that God used once,but is no longer using??
Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. 2 Kings 18:1-4.
That is the kind of thing I am talking about. I have often heard people say that they would love to have the good old days back, or how wonderful it would be if we could stay in the place where God did so-and-so a thing and a whole generation later be still saying the same things as if God can do nothing else. They are drinking from that still, stagnant pond where God had once sent them, or where He once visited them, but no longer.
I am not advocating change for change sake. I am not suggesting that we move house just because someone else is getting blessed somewhere else. rejoice with them. Help them if necessary, but stay planted where God put you until He moves you on! What I am saying is that we need to be mindful of what God is doing, wherever it is, find out what it is, determine if it applies to us where we are at present and get on side.
Israel lived in tents then so they could easily pack up and load the house on backs of the camels and follow that cloud, but you and I live in a geographical location where (hopefully) God has planted you. That is where you belong. You are not a spiritual nomad, but are to be sensitive and opened to a move in the spirit. Be open to change you feelings, attitudes and habit patterns and go with the flow of God.
It may be possible that what He wants you to do is to learn and acquire new skill skills, talents and abilities and provide you with additional weapons and armor for the battle that is coming... and know how and when to use them!
There is a battle you know. It is already won of course, but you are called to war nevertheless.
The devil is out there on the prowl seeking to destroy the unlearned and inexperienced and we are instructed to stand steadfast in the faith and resist him.
Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset?rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world.And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessing and favor], Who has called you to His [own] eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the dominion (power, authority, rule) forever and ever. Amen (so be it). 1 Peter 5:7-11.
Peter spoke about dominions, principalities and powers. This is the battlefield. Paul explains in Ephesians that the devil has an army arrayed against us in which all of his subordinates are specifically trained for their allocated tasks in various ranks and files as found in the military. There is a commander in chief in any military organization who is supported by advisers, general, colonels, majors, captains and the like right down to the privates. Every one of these beings in the devil's army is trained for one purpose and that is to bring you down. This is why Paul told us to be garbed, equipped and completely enveloped with the armor of God so that we will not be ignorant of the devil's strategies, plots and schemes. It is not a negative aspect as some people say thinking we must hold up the shield of faith to cower behind, rather it is a powerful effective force that the devil and his followers have no defense against whatsoever.
We win! Hallelujah... we win. We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us, but we are to be trained and we are to know our place in God and we are to know our ability and we are to know our position in the Church of Jesus Christ.
The Navy has a command that every captain of every ship uses. It is Action Stations or Battle Stations. When that alarm sounds at his command, it resonates through every chamber in the ship and every person on board knows what it means. Every person runs to his or her allotted station. Every person knows what he or she is to do and every person is prepared and armed. No one waits. No one goes to the wrong position. No one is a spectator. If the lookout does not see the enemy, that ship could go down! If the artillery is not loaded, no one can fire the broadside to destroy the enemy. If the helmsman does not steer the ship everyone is lost.
This only happens by practice, practice and more practice. They practice that thing until the timing is split second precision. They practice that thing in the middle of the day, or the middle of the night, during breakfast or dinner. It matters not if they are inconvenienced because the enemy does not care. The enemy cares only about one thing and that is your destruction.
The only thing that makes a difference is a four-word statement, This Is No Drill. When everyone on board ship hears that, they all know that it is the real deal. They all know that this is not a game and they all know that someone could die that day.
This is where the Church is poised right now!
We have all been undergoing training. Some are being trained at Officer School. Some are being trained as rank and file personnel. Some are being trained as navigators; some as pilots; some as cooks; some as engineers or communications officers, but all are being trained and trained and trained and trained yet again until they all perfect their roles! If one person in the chain is a weak link, the whole ship goes down!
This sort of sounds like the Five Ascension Gift Ministries of the Apostle; the Prophet, the Evangelist, the Pastor and the Teacher to me, but it also sounds like Ministries of Helps who are the supply personnel; the people who provide the food and water; the bandages for the wounded; the compass for the helmsman or the shells for the guns. Imagine the situation if those people who might not be on the ship or let the team down. One single person goofing off can jeopardize the whole operation in the military and it is happening in the Church! That is why God is sending all of us to boot camp and will keep training us until the cry comes, Battle Stations... This is no Drill comes.
My friend, we must know God, not know about God. We have to know how He operates. We have to know our limitations and calling and find out who we are where we fit into the economy of things. We have to learn that we are the cook, not the helmsman in the ship, or the radio operator and not the helmsman (although some ranks might overlap). If one man is wounded, we need to be able to support him and not shoot him as the church has been doing.
We need to know God's exceeding abundance in every respect to us-ward and we also need to know our enemy.
We need to know what weapons the enemy uses and determine his supply lines or what armor he wears. It is useless shooting an arrow at him if he is wearing a bulletproof vest!
Most of us are at a training camp where we know that everyone present is on our side and are not shooting real bullets at us. It is a game. The military use the term War Games, but when the first wave of soldiers hits the enemy lines, everything changes. It is no longer practice, but the real thing and someone might come home in a box with the flag draped over it and when they suddenly realize that, they get serious!
It is time for the church to get serious. It is time we not only evangelized... but made disciples! The Great Commission did Not tell us to win the lost... but to Make Disciples... to feed His lambs and sheep. In other words, we are to win the lost and also teach them how to live and win! The Church is sadly full of babies... wonderful men and women who have not yet learned the basics and reached maturity in Christ. They are still being bottle fed instead of eating meat or better yet, feeding others!
A pastor's job is not to build the church or to get some programs up and running (although they may be necessary andfit into teh overall vision). His job is to wait on God, give himself to the word of God and to prayer and find out what the Lord wants for His sheep. Habing done this, the pastor is to feed the sheep, help them grow from infanc stage to adult stage, mature and grow up so that they can have babies! Pastors do not give birth to lambs. Sheep do that!
The writer to the Hebrews was speaking about Jesus and Melchisedec. He said that the Lord was-
Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Hebrews 5:10-14.
Those are strong words, but true nevertheless, because far too many believers are still at Boot Camp and constantly remain there! Boot camp is supposed to be temporary, for after graduating, the personnel are sent out on assignment! It is out there where the mission field lay!
Do you know when casualties mount? Often times, the casualty rate increases when the personnel forget their basic training. It may get uncomfortable wearing a helmet, so it is forgotten until a sniper gets someone's head in the cross-hair of his telescopic sight! It might be uncomfortable to stay awake when stationed in a vantage point as look out, but drifting off to sleep could cost the lives of those who rely on your state of readiness. It might not be comfortable to wake early in the morning for prayer, but that is when the Commander-in-Chief might be issuing standing orders for the day. Your bible might get too heavy to carry, but that is the training manual that contains every instruction for every event you may encounter in life.
God had Elijah in boot camp at Cherith! Here he had been learning how to trust God. Here he had been learning how to hear from God. Here he had been learning not to rely only on his own abilities and resources. Here he had been learning about or getting to know his God! How well do you know Him and His ways?
The command came to Elijah,
Arise, get thee to Zarepeth. 1 Kings 17:8-10.
There are several things I want you to look at now. Firstly, Elijah had a Fresh word from the Lord. I cannot over-emphasize this.
Always get a word and rely on a word from God. If He has spoken to you about something then stay at that until He gives new instructions. Do not deviate from that. Do not change course or try something else if it does not make sense to you then. God has a plan. He knows what is ahead even if you do not, so, assuming you know how to listen to God and know that He is the one speaking, stay with that and nothing else. You can know His voice. You can tell if it is the real deal or not and if you are still learning, then learn quickly. Do not forget His word, for it truly is a light to your feet and a lantern for your path. God told Elijah to arise and get thee...
He had to do something! Walking with God is not stagnant. It is a constantly moving thing.
The word Arise has too wide a range of meanings to list here, but I do want you to see one important meaning. Basically, it denotes rising up from a prostrate position and making certain preparations for specific activities like travelling.
It refers to preparation for and engagement in war. I would think that when one goes to war that certain preparations are made for ultimate victory.
This is where we fit. Our leader, Jesus Christ has already won the war, so when God engages in combat, which is happening now, victory is certain.
The words Get thee are taken from the Hebrew word הָלַך (Hālak) that usually refers to travellers or people who have embarked on a journey, hence movement or procession. When linked to movement, it is like the phrases the sailing of ships, or the running of water.
What is more important however is the association with God's coming to his people in judgment or blessing and how the people followed the ark of God through the desert. If you remember, the people fell into idolatry when Moses was on the mount with God, so the term is also used to describe how people can go after other false gods. This leads to the pursuit of one's own evil counsel.
This was the setting in Elijah's day when Ahab and the people had gone after false gods, or had embarked on a course of action that led to their becoming almost as if they were God's enemies against whom God was about to war against.
He sent Elijah to the heartland of enemy territory. After completing basic training, Elijah was sent to the enemy camp?right to the stronghold of enemy headquarters.
The days of Elijah were not days of revival in the sense that some members of the Church like to think, but days of warfare, striking at the very heart of the enemy stronghold.
God told Elijah to go to Zarepath. That's right where his present enemy came from.
The days of Elijah require strong men and women of faith. The days of Elijah are days of confrontation, taking the battle straight to the enemy camp. The people of God who are involved in this will be the people who, I believe, will see a manifestation of the presence and power of God that the church has perhaps never seen before. We had a touch of this in Moses' day. We had a touch of this in Elijah's day and we saw the prelude to this in the early church. I am convinced that such warriors will go up in the rapture.
It's Showdown Time
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Its Showdown Time |
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Much later, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: "Go, appear before Ahab; then I will send rain upon the earth." Thereupon Elijah set out to appear before Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria. Ahab had summoned Obadiah, the steward of the palace. (Obadiah revered the Lord greatly.When Jezebel was killing off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and provided them with food and drink.) 1 Kings 18:1-4.
The time had arrived when God determined to bring this matter with Ahab and Jezebel to an end. It was showdown time! Showdown time is coming again. Our era is merely repeating what happened then, when governors and rulers of countries are in essence doing similar things against God. At some point in time, the line is drawn and it is as if God will say, Enough is enough! As I write this, several schools in our state of West Australia removed the Lord's Prayer and others are being hounded because they dared sing the Christian verse of Australia's National Anthem. This is happening around the world of course, but it illustrates that we are witnessing a repeat of history and this time a major showdown is coming. I believe that it will be unprecedented, possibly culminating in the return of the Lord Jesus Christ!
We have previously seen how Elijah acted on a specific word from the Lord, coming to him saying that he served the Living God before whom he stood (see 1 Kings 17:1). There is no higher honor than to stand before God as His duly authorized representative. There are many went ones out there who are not sent ones and the difference between them is like comparing a Hawaiian rainforest to an Inuit village in the Arctic. Someone who is a real ambassador for Christ has the full backing of God's word, His angelic hosts and the anointing that is provided by the Holy Spirit!
The act of standing means that the person involved leans against God, stands fast for God and is absolutely firm and unshakable in his relationship with God. It describes the act of propping something up or supporting it. Other meanings include the act of getting up or standing up. When someone is hurt or offended, loses momentum and impetus or has so much opposition coming against him, he wants to quit, we can tell them to get up or stand up!
Another meaning describes how we can stand for judgement or to give judgement and this is getting close to the core of the matter! It relates to truth and justice and the Church is designed to dispense such matters. It is an expression of dedication, allegiance and servitude… readiness, respect and a willingness to serve, so this has immense significance. The bible tells us that we (the body of Christ) shall judge angels. That is an awesome statement. Paul mentioned this when speaking about Christians going to law about certain matters.
...Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. 1 Corinthians 6:2-4.
There is a judgement coming and it will be a righteous judgement. Those who are born again have already been judged and the penalties were taken to the cross of Christ, so that aspect is not what I am talking about. I am speaking of how we are to rule and reign in life with one christ Jesus!
Elijah was declaring that he was God’s man who stood for the truth and was not about to accept injustice, falsehood, idolatry and more. He stood up against anything that was ungodly and we sure need such champions today.
We have also seen how new instructions or changes in direction give way to fresh provision. This is an important thing to keep in mind, for by not applying God given change, we could be left behind and found wanting.
Several things come to mind.
- There are appointed times or seasons in God. There are appointed times and seasons in just about everything you care to name, Nature shows us this by the seasonal chanfges of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. The gestation period for a human baby is approxinately nine months.You may have a legitimate claim or promise, confirmed numerous times by scriptural means, but miss the mark by inappropriate timing.
Abram had received a wonderful promise from God but bowed to the pressure of time and Ishmael was the outcome.
- God had previously told Elijah to get away from Ahab. Now He sent the man back. God had not changed His mind, but it was now time to enter then next phase of ministry.
- Gos made a definite statement of what He intended to do. It was a promise! It was as if He said, I am sending you to the man. When you get there, confront him. I will send rain.
This drought was more than an absence of rain. By the word of Elijah, even the dew ceased. The great difference between temperatures of night and day in that region causes heavy dews, which keep vegetation alive during the summer drought. The amount varies in different regions, but in Gaza there is dew 250 nights of the year! This was serious stuff! It had to last long enough to prove that Elijah's word was in fact a word from God... a word of judgement and a word that worked!
When he arrived back there, even the haughty king was feeling the impact so much that he went out looking for water himself! Think of the implication for a moment. He sent his right hand man out one way whilst he went another.
And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth. And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria. And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly: For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts. So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah? 1 Kings 18:1-7.
Never give the devil credit for things he has no control over. He is not as powerful as people say. He has been defeated and already judged. God is always in charge and despite the evil that pervaded the land, God still had faithful people, one of whom was the evil king's right hand man!
Elijah met Obadiah... he did not go to the king. Obadiah went back to Ahab and told him that he had found Elijah and the king went to him!
When things get bad, even the mockers, doubters and the unbelievers cannot but realaize that God is supreme and has the answers. They may not like it. They not want to yield, but they cannot ignore the facts. It is interesting to find that when people are in real trouble, perhaps life threatening trouble, they cry out to the one they try to ignore or use His name as a cuss word.
You, my friend, might be the very one with the answer in your locality. You might be the only flicker of light in a dark place. Keep shining. Keep your testimony pure. You might have been brouight into the Kingdom like Esther, for such a time as this! People could come to you... but you've got to stand for something. If you do not stand for something, you will fall for anything!
When Elijah finally arrived and stood before the King, Ahab immediately tried to blame him for all the problems. How typical! Often times we try to blame others or cannot take responsibility for our own actions. That has to stop.
"So it's you, is it... the man who brought this disaster upon Israel!" Ahab exclaimed when he saw him. "You're talking about yourself," Elijah answered. "For you and your family have refused to obey the Lord and have worshiped Baal instead." 1 Kings 18:17-18.
I really like what happened next. It was like someone marching into the White House, past security, striding up to the President of the United States of America and telling him, Now you get yourself out of here, take your false prophets with you and get up to Mount Carmel. See 1 Kings 18:19.
That king was the head of a nation, but Elijah represented a much higher authority... the Lord of lords and the King of kings! We need this again and I believe God is preparing some men and women today for this! Ahab did it!
Ahab sent orders to all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. 1 Kings 17:20.
Why did he do as Elijah commanded? I suggest that he had no option. I suggest that the anointing on God's man was so strong, that conviction of sin compelled him to do so. At one quick snap of his finger, he could have ordered Elijah's head to be severed, but the Holy Spirit was backing Elijah's words! Make Up Your Mind!
Whan happened next is amazing. One man challenged the king, his entourage, 450 false prophets and an unknown number of other people.
One man on a mission can change the destiny of a nation.
One word from God can change your life forever.
Your own destiny can be changed in an instant and all it takes is to make a quailty decision. Make up your mind where you want to go and what you want in life.
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. 1 Kings 18:21.
Elijah was dealing with double mindedness. James tells us that a dobule minded man is complertely unstable.
A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 1:8.
He said that if we are unstable like that, don't expect anything of God or from God. Like elijah, he told us to make up your minds. Either we are in or we are out. Jesus taught us that we cannot serve two masters. See MAtthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13.
The battle is not really over possessions, but over the hearts and minds of people. When Abraham won the battle in Genesis 14, the king of Sodom immediately approached him with a deal. You can keep the stuff Abram. I'll have the people. See Genesis 14:16-24.
Look for a moment a the word H alt that Elijah used. It was much more than simply asking them to make up their minds. The Original text is פָּסַח ( pāsaḥ) which means
pass or spring over. You may recognize the word Passover which is derived from this word and it occurs more than many people realize. See Exodus 12:13, 23, 27; Numbers 28:16-25; Leviticus 23:5-8; Deuteronomy 16:1-8 and so on.
Other meanings include
To limp or hobble, which describes a special cultic dance or to appease a deity in ritual.
Another interpretation suggests that God promised to defend or protect His people and elsewhere it refers to an Egyptian word meaning Stroke and Blow, referring to the tenth plague in which the Lord struck the firstborn of Egypt.
A literal translation of the Hebrew text is-
How long will you continue to hobble between the two forks of the road?
The Israelites had not totally rejected the Lord and followed Baal. They were double-minded, wanting both the Lord and Baal! This practice of combining Baal worship and Jehovah worship is called syncretism, which is trying to combine differing beliefs. It can't be done!
A missionary may go to a foreign land withthe best of intentions but sadly fail, if all he presents is religion in the name of Christianity.
Without that life changing release brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit, which includes Spiritual regeneration and the infilling of the Holy Spirit, it is very possible for those refeivning the ministry to merely add God to their list of other gods.
I love evangelism, but my associates in Africa have stated very clearly that they are Evangelized out! They correctly asked us not to just bring another salvation and return home, but to make disciples in their home land... to train and teach them in the ways of God.
Without adhering ot this clear command by Jesus, we risk getting someone to say a sinners prayer, bring them to birth so to speak and then abandon them! Without a stable footing, they simply added to their existing list of deities as the Israelites had.
The Lord is a jealous God who allows no rivals to His worship!
People had to make up their minds then and tehy have to do the same today. No one can worship both the Lord and Baal. When Christ spoke to the Laodicean church, He put the matter this way-
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot. So, then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth” Revelation 3:15–16.
No one can sit on the fence. Some people feel that they can live with one foot in the Kingdom of God and one in the kingdom of the world, but neither side wants them! Someone once said, Don’t sit on the fence, or you’ll get shot at from both sides!
Elijah’s call to the people of Israel was to make up their minds whom they would serve. He wanted them to declare what Joshua had declared-
as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord Joshus 24:15.
Putting it into today's language, it was essentially telling the people, I am drawing the line. Enough is enough. It's showdown time! Stop all the pretences, false religion, alternate lifestyles, counterfeits and substitutes and let the real God be revealed! My... dont we need this today!
Jezebel wasn't even there!
All she did was to plant the seed and stand back. Man's fallen state did the rest! Is anything different today? I think not!
Jezebel is a spirit! She is still around today and is doing well in religious circles where the truth is not revealed... the word of God is not preached adn the Holy Spirit is not welcome!
Never forget that although we do not struggle against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces that are very powerful, the devil is already defeated!
He is a Fallen Created Being!
If you are redeemed, you are blood washed and thus a son of Almighty God (no gender implied).
Hell Is Full Of Good Intentions
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Hell Is Full Of Good Intentions |
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Several years ago, the Lord took me to Hell. I was there for 45 minutes, not in vision form, but in a real experience and I never want to see that place again! You may see the account by clicking here. I saw preachers there! They were the saddest looking people I had ever seen and I later asked the Lord who they were. He told me that they were preachers who never preached the truth! They might have stood behind a pulpit, but were never born again! That saddens me. They preach something, but apparently not Christ and what is worse is that the people who attend their churches never get born again either and join them!
The reason I share this is that we still face the same conditions today. Dualistic religion is rife in mainline, traditional, orthodox churches. Substitutes are everywhere and God is preparing to draw the line with them!
Elijah threw down the gauntlet to the prophets of Baal in a trial by fire! The prophets were to choose a bullock, cut it in pieces, lay it on the wood of the altar, while Elijah did the same with a second bullock (1 Kings 18:23) and they were then ask Baal to send fire upon their altar. Elijah would do the same, but call on the Lord instead.
...and the God who answereth by fire, let him be God (1 Kings 18:24).
The false prophets cried out for Baal to answer their increasingly frenzied entreaties, but the heavens were silent.
God himself laughs at the foolish ideas of the heathen. See Psalm 2:4, 115:4-8.
Last night our time, a prime time television show started. It is titled The One and is a competition between ten people practicing their arts of new age, occultist, fortune teller, tarot card reading, soothsaying, feeling the vibrations, welcoming their familiar spirits, relating to their spirit guides and the like, to see who is The One! They are serious about it! They are genuine and sincere, most likely just as much as those preachers I saw in hell, but misguided, lost and doomed!
Faith and sincerity in religious worship do not insure that ones worship is acceptable. No one could deny that they had faith! No one could fault them for not being sincere! The only problem is that their faith was in the wrong object and they were sincerely wrong! It is not enough to have faith?faith is only as good as its object. It is not enough to be sincere. Jesus reminded the Samaritan woman in John 4:24 that true worship of God must not be only sincere, it must be in spirit and in truth.
The Apostle Paul did not fault the sincerity of his unbelieving Jewish brethren, but their zeal did not merit salvation.
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. Romans 10:2-3.
That saying, The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, is apt.
The Right Timing!
There are appointed times and seasons in God. The false prophets started calling out to their god in the morning and continued well into the afternoon!
And Ěliyahu said to the prophets of Ba?al, "Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many. And call on the name of your mighty one, but set no fire." So they took the bull which was given them, and prepared it, and called on the name of Ba?al from morning even until noon, saying, "O Ba?al, answer us!" But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they had made. And it came to be at noon, that Ěliyahu taunted them and said, "Cry aloud, for he is a mighty one; he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or it could be that he is asleep and has to be awakened!" And they cried aloud, and cut themselves, according to their ruling, with knives and spears, until the blood gushed out on them. And it came to be when midday was past, that they prophesied until the time of bringing the evening offering. But there was no voice and no one answered, and no one paying attention. 1 Kings 18:25-29.
Baal never turned up. It was time now for the real God to show Himself. I think that He is giving us time to get our acts together and I am referring to those who are in essence like these folk... sincere, but misled... misguided and fooled... blinded by the false god of this world. Paul said-
We don't become discouraged, since God has given us this ministry through his mercy. Instead, we have refused to use secret and shameful ways. We don't use tricks, and we don't distort God's word. As God watches, we clearly reveal the truth to everyone. This is our {letter of} recommendation. So if the Good News that we tell others is covered with a veil, it is hidden from those who are dying. The god of this world has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. As a result, they don't see the light of the Good News about Christ's glory. It is Christ who is God's image. Our message is not about ourselves. It is about Jesus Christ as the Lord. We are your servants for his sake. We are his servants because the same God who said that light should shine out of darkness has given us light. For that reason we bring to light the knowledge about God's glory which shines from Christ's face. 2 Corinthians 4:1-6.
The devil is the god (lower case) of this world system because Adam gave it to him in the garden, but Jesus took the legal rights back! The problem is that unless one "sees the light", he is walking in the darkness, blinded and deceived by the devil. The prophets of Baal were blinded by him, just as much as those who practice witchcraft in its various forms and guises today.
At the right time, Elijah got things into Divine order. This is happening today. For 2000 years, religion got out of Divine Order and an alternate form of religion became known as Christianity! The vast majority of the modern Church is nowhere near the design, but will be restored. He rebuilt the altar and dug a trench around it and there was a distinct pattern involved. God commanded Moses to build the Tabernacle according to strict guidelines.
I think that Elijah was led by the Spirit of God to reveal this pattern and it impacts us today.
Firstly, the trench was large enough to contain 2 measures of seed. We have had the seed for 2000 years! This may be pure conjecture, but I find it interesting.
He took 12 stones to rebuild the altar. The number twelve represents God's Perfect Government! There were 12 patriarchs and 12 sons of Israel! The number 12 predominates in Solomon's Temple, representing the Glory of God. There were 12 Apostles. There are 12 foundations in Heavenly Jerusalem, 12 gates, 12 pearls and 12 angels. The dimensions of Heavenly Jerusalem contain 12 units. Jesus was 12 years of age when he was at the Temple.
This cannot be any accident!
Elijah put the wood in order. He cut the bullock into pieces according to Law and placed the pieces on the wood. All this speaks of method and Godly order. When Jesus fed the multitude, He instructed the disciples to seat the people in order, before the miracle happened and 12 baskets remained.
He told the people to fill 4 barrels with water and over the water over the sacrifice and to do that 3 times. The numbers 3 and 4 are also significant and I recommend that you study this for yourself, but multiply them and the result is 12!
There is a spiritual truth here somewhere!
Now at the appointed time... at the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah made one simple request! It was simply-
When it was time to offer the sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward. He said, "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make known today that you are God in Israel and that I'm your servant and have done all these things by your instructions. Answer me, LORD! Answer me! Then these people will know that you, LORD, are God and that you are winning back their hearts." 1 Kings 18:36-37.
As I have often said before, the battle is over the hearts of men! Permit me to ask you, Where is your heart? If I am correct, we are rapidly reaching the close of this dispensation. It is coming to the end of this age and I want to tell everyone to be ready for it! You might be a church goer, but not be born again. You may be devout and sincere in your own way, but is Jesus the Lord of your life? The fire Is going to fall one day, regardless of what you do or do not believe.
And it came to be, at the time of bringing the evening offering, that Ěliyahu the prophet came near and said, "יהוה Elohim of Aḇraham, Yitsḥaq, and Yisra'ěl, let it be known today: You are Elohim in Yisra'ěl, and I Your servant, have done all these matters by Your word. "Answer me, O יהוה, answer me, and let this people know that You are יהוה Elohim, and You shall turn their hearts back to You again." Then the fire of יהוה fell and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. And all the people saw, and fell on their faces, and said, "יהוה, He is the Elohim! יהוה, He is the Elohim!" 1 Kings 18:36-39.
Those who did not believe, or sided with the false gods died that day! People try to tell me that God is a good God who wouldn't send anyone to Hell. They are right... God doesn't! They go there because of personal choice and God has to honour their decision, although it breaks His heart! Hell is not supposed to be man's destiny. It is where the devil is to go and take his followers with him. See Matthew 25:41. Don't go there! An acquaintance of mine once shared how The only tears in Heaven will be those of Jesus when He has to tell those before Him to depart from His presence because He does not know them. They may attend church now, do wonderful charitable acts, live clean lives and not hurt anyone, but stil not make it, because they do not have an intimate relationship with the Master.
Hell is full of good people who had good intentions, but never followed through or never decided to follow Jesus.
God Speaks Again
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God Speaks Again |
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After many days, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth. 1 Kings 18:1.
We have previously seen how Elijah acted on a specific word from the Lord, coming to him saying that he served the Living God before whom he stood (see 1 Kings 17:1). There is no higher honor than to stand before God as His duly authorized representative. There are many went ones out there who are not sent ones and the difference between them is like comparing a Hawaiian rainforest to an Inuit village in the Arctic. Someone who is a real ambassador for Christ has the full backing of God's word, His angelic hosts and the anointing that is provided by the Holy Spirit!
The act of standing means that the person involved leans against God, stands fast for God and is absolutely firm and unshakable in his relationship with God. It describes the act of propping something up or supporting it. Other meanings include the act of getting up or standing up. When someone is hurt or offended, loses momentum and impetus or has so much opposition coming against him, he wants to quit, we can tell them to get up or stand up!
Another meaning describes how we can stand for judgement or to give judgement and this is getting close to the core of the matter! It relates to truth and justice and the Church is designed to dispense such matters. It is an expression of dedication, allegiance and servitude. readiness, respect and a willingness to serve, so this has immense significance. The bible tells us that we (the body of Christ) shall judge angels. That is an awesome statement. Paul mentioned this when speaking about Christians going to law about certain matters.
...Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. 1 Corinthians 6:2-4.
There is a judgement coming and it will be a righteous judgement. Those who are born again have already been judged and the penalties were taken to the cross of Christ, so that aspect is not what I am talking about. I am speaking of how we are to rule and reign in life with one christ Jesus!
Elijah was declaring that he was God's man who stood for the truth and was not about to accept injustice, falsehood, idolatry and more. He stood up against anything that was ungodly and se sure need such champions today.
We have also seen how new instructions or changes in direction give way to fresh provision.This is an important thing to keep in mind, for by not applying God given change, we could be left behind and found wanting.
Several things come to mind.
- There are appointed times or seasons in God. There are appointed times and seasons in just about everything you care to name, Nature shows us this by the seasonal changes of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. The gestation period for a human baby is approximately nine months.You may have a legitimate claim or promise, confirmed numerous times by scriptural means, but miss the mark by inappropriate timing.
Abram had received a wonderful promise from God but bowed to the pressure of time and Ishmael was the outcome.
- God had previously told Elijah to get away from Ahab. Now He sent the man back. God had not changed His mind, but it was now time to enter then next phase of ministry.
- God made a definite statement of what He intended to do. It was a promise! It was as if He said, I am sending you to the man. When you get there, confront him. I will send rain.
This drought was more than an absence of rain. By the word of Elijah, even the dew ceased. This was serious stuff! It had to last long enough to prove that Elijah's word was in fact a word from God... a word of judgement and a word that worked!
When he arrived back there, even the haughty king was feeling the impact so much that he went out looking for water himself! Think of the implication for a moment. He sent his right hand man out one way whilst he went another.
And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth. And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria. And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly: For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts. So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah? 1 Kings 18:1-7.
Never give the devil credit for things he has no control over. He is not as powerful as people say. He has been defeated and already judged. God is always in charge and despite the evil that pervaded the land, God still had faithful people, one of whom was the evil king's right hand man!
Elijah met Obadiah! He did not go directly to the king. Obadiah went back to Ahab and told him that he had found Elijah. The king went to him!
When things get bad, even the mockers, doubters and the unbelievers cannot but realize that God is supreme and has the answers. They may not like it. They not want to yield, but they cannot ignore the facts. It is interesting to find that when people are in real trouble, perhaps life threatening trouble, they cry out to the one they try to ignore or use His name as a cuss word.
You, my friend, might be the very one with the answer in your locality. You might be the only flicker of light in a dark place. Keep shining. Keep your testimony pure. You might have been brought into the Kingdom like Esther, for such a time as this! People could come to you... but you've got to stand for something. If you do not stand for something, you will fall for anything!
The Sound Of Rain
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The Sound Of Rain |
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Most people know what happened next. The fire fell and the double-minded people cried out that The Lord was God. Elijah did not have to beg or plead with God in any way. He knew the mind and will of God and had a word from God, so his prayer was very simple and he had a boldness about him that far too many professing Christians know nothing about today. When you know who you are in Christ and know what God has done for you, you are not a beggar or a lowly worm of a man, but a son and joint heir of God because of Jesus.
Stemming from that relationship, Elijah was bold enough to confront all the falsehood of religion and put the false prophets to death. Although we might not be permitted to do such things literally in our modern day society, we can and should put the false spiritual forces to death, for our battles are not with men but in the dimension of the spirit. The weapons God has given us are not natural, or intellectual weapons but mighty and powerful spiritual weaponry and armour.
Having dealt this death blow to the spiritual forces, Elijah had effectively removed any obstacles preventing the blessing from flowing to God's people. It is much the same today. as soon as he did that, he know that the rain was already on the way.
He did not have to do anything more as it was now an accomplished fact and this is how we too can walk in the victory Jesus won for us.
When we know without doubt what He did and ensure that we are correctly aligned to receive the promise, there is nothing in the whole of creation that can stop it from coming. All you have to do is be prepared to receive it and retain it.
Elijah turned to Ahab and told him to prepare for the rain's arrival and there was not even a cloud in the sky!
Elijah then went to the top of the mountain and fell on his face before God to pray. He didn't even look for the manifestation, because it was already in his heart. Turning to his unnamed servant, he told him to look for the manifestation of the promise. The servant had to be taught something and I suspect that this manwhose name is not mentioned was Elisha.
He looked towards the sea as commanded and came back with a report. I don't see it!
Elijah had to deal with this unbelief! He told the man to do this again, and on the seventh time, all that he saw was a tiny cloud that was so small it looked like a man's fist.
That is all he needed. We do not necessarily need to have earthquakes, flashing lightning, rolling thunder, fireballs from Heaven, but a promise dn when we activate ourselves on that promise, the manifestation starts to arrive. It might not get there yet, but it is on the way.
Elijah then told Ahab that he had better get going home quick or he would get bogged on the road. Look at the importance of this statement. A severe drough had devastated the land. There was no water whatsoever and the dry ground was baked hard by the fierce sun, so a muddy roadside was out of the question, but he told the king to hasten back or else he would be stranded!
That rain came just as God told Elijah and just as Elijah declared. Ahab started the return journey and Elijah lifted up his coat and outran the racing chariot to Jezereel (which means God Sows), a distance of 37 Km. That was a supernatural manifestation if ever there was one.
I believe that there is an order of progression from receiving the promise to receiving the fulfilment, or from Amen to There it is!
- There has to be a declaration of faith based on the word of God
- There has to be a separation from evil and the controlling influence of the world system which includes false religious beliefs and activities
- There has to be an attitude of worship and thankfulness
- There needs to be an attitude of humility, that is real and genuine
- There must be a prayer of faith accompanied with an air of expectation
- Unbelief and opposition has to be overcome
- Evidence of the promise comes
- The manifestation of the promise arrives
- Supernatural signs, wonders and miraclecs take place
- God is to receive the glory
Failure
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Failure |
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When Aham returned to the palace, he told Jezebel what had happened. She had not even been present when the fire fell. Shw was not there when Elijah slew her false prophets. She did not see the rain coming. She was nowhere to be found when God revealed Himself as the one true God, but she sent a message to Elijah... a verbal threat mind you, that She was goioing to kill him.
There are times when it seems that God does something great in our lives, or we accomplish something positive and constructive and all hell seems to unleash itself afterwards as if to destroy what was done, or nullify the effect.
Jesus told us that the birds of the air can swoop down to steal the word, so it is not surprising that such things happen, but never leap to comclusions. Never start crying out that the devil is attacking you. Don't even give him the time of day.
No matter what happens, you walk on the victory and continue doing so. I tell people not to open a porthole in a submarine. This islike saying not to give him a foothold or invite trouble and it often comes verbally!
Jezebel didn't touch the man. She sent one messenger to him to deliver a verbal threat. It may have been wroitten onparchment or something, because the King James Version said, when Elijah saw that, he fled for his life. The word That is in italics which is not in the original, so Elijah saw something. It was a threat and he fell for it.
He fled a day's travel into the wilderness... away from where the blessing of God (the rain) was falling and back into a desert place.
When you depart from where God is doing something without His authorization, you could find yourself in a whole heap of trouble and in a dry barren wilderness. Ther is no one else to blame, other than yourself, so do not start having a solitary pity party as Elijah did.
Whilst he was sleeping, an angel of the Lord touched him. God can touch you wher you are my friend.
The angel brought sustenance to him. God wants to take care of you regardless of your situation and circumstance and will do wo it you permit Him.
Elijah was in such a poor state that he went back to sleep and the angel had to come back with more food and water and told him to get up!
That angel was trying to get the man to stand up inside. He had given Elijah enough sustenance to last 40 days and 40 nights so that he could get to the Mountain of God, the place called Horeb. This is in the Sinai area, possibly Sinai itself where God revealed Himself to Moses as the great I Am.
He is always seeking us... always reaching out to us, always wanting us to come to Him. Dare I suggest that He wanted His man back?
My friend, no matter how low you fall or how much you have failed, there is always hope.
While we were yet in weakness [powerless to help ourselves], at the fitting time Christ died for (in behalf of) the ungodly.
Now it is an extraordinary thing for one to give his life even for an upright man, though perhaps for a noble and lovable and generous benefactor someone might even dare to die.
But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us.
Therefore, since we are now justified (acquitted, made righteous, and brought into right relationship with God) by Christ's blood, how much more [certain is it that] we shall be saved by Him from the indignation and wrath of God.
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more [certain], now that we are reconciled, that we shall be saved (daily delivered from sin's dominion) through His [resurrection] life. Romans 5:6-10.
Pass The Baton
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Pass The Baton |
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And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? 1 Kings 19:9.
We have just seen how Elijah heard a bad report and in essence fled for his life and gave up the fight.
He is mentioned as a great man in scripture and he was truly one of the giants of our faith, but he was also very human. The word of God does not cover up things. It does not gloss over our flaws, but tells us what people did so we would benefit and learn from their mistakes as well as from their achievements. This is what I like about God. He shows us that despite our weaknesses and failures that we can also triumph and walk in victory.
Until I saw this, I had an unreal, almost fairytale view of the champions of the bible. They were real people... as real as you and me.
Paul spoke about such matters-
Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. 1 Corinthians 10:6-14.
Elijah was not commanded to hide, but he went into a cave and the bible says that he lodged there. That word lodged is most interesting. The Hebrew is לוּן (or lîn). It means to lodge, abide, remain and tarry, but other meanings include murmur, grudge and more. Although it suggests an overnight stay, it implies a premanent stay. He was muttering and murmuring in the same way that Israel muttered, complained and murmured in the wilderness.
If he had fallen to such a low state, he was in serious trouble. How could this have happened? Was the pressure to o much for him to handle? His servant had not really supported him as he had thought and couldn't see answered prayer answered before the evidence came.
He faced Jezebel and Ahab alone. Where were the other prophets?
Had God told them not to get involved, or had they chosen not to get involved?
God told him that 7000 faithful prophets were in the land, so why would Elijah think that he was the only one left?
It is easy to become frustrated and disappointed when no one stands beside you. It is easy to think that no one cares or understands you or bothers to acknowledge that you are alive when you are fighting in such a spiritual war. You can become hurt and disillusioned and this may be where burnout occurs. Whatever happeened, Elijah had had enough and was in that cave, muttering and murmuring!
It seems that he was comlaining about his lot, saying that he was the only man of faith around, that he was the only person who had a vision, that he was the only one faithful to the cause and had in effect disqualified himself for ministry!
Robert, you may say, That was Elijah. He wasn't like that. God said that He would send the prophet Elijah to prepare the way of the Lord. elijah wasa a great prophet. Yes that is all true, but the one Jesus said was the greatest prophet to live was in that foul stinking jail wondering what had gone wrong and had to send a message to Jesus to ask him if he was really the Messiah or not.
This shows me how great our God is and that He cannot fail us and that He takes great pleasure in using the weak things of this world to achieve His purpose.
This includes the likes of you and me!
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We are about to enter into a new era in the Church and in the affairs of man.
Rapid changes are taking place around the world today in ever increasing extent and we could speculate about many different things, some of which you may already be aware, but there is more to come.
We are living in exciting days of the Church. Depending on one's viewpoint, the Church is in decline, but that relates to the institutionalized Church, not necessarily the Church that Jesus said He would build. The Church of which I speak is a glorious Church that is advancing.
The presence of God is increasing... the anointing is increasing... the blessing is flowing more than ever before.
We are being prepared for something that has never happened before in human history. What we are sharing with you could be part of it!
To be concluded... |
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The Changing of the Guard
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The Changing of the Guard
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The Changing of the Guard |
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Elijah at this point is at Horeb. Although an angel of the Lord had instructed him to arise and eat in preparation for a journey, it seems that God had not sent him to lodge in a cave. If this is correct, then had God wanted him to go elsewhere and if so, the question arises, Where and for what purpose?
His forty day journey was a time of testing, refining, proving and probation, for the number 40 represents such things.
He came to the cave and there he stopped.
I suggested in the previous section that he may have had burn-out or quit and God was trying to get his man back! I say that because of the question God asked him- There he came to a cave and lodged in it; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah? 1 Kings 19:9.
Elijah could have replied that he was resting before continuing his journey. He could have said that he wanted some clarification or further instruction, but instead of answering logically, it seems that Elijah was complaining. Please refer to the previous section for further information.
Once he said that, God told him to go forth and stand on the mount before the Lord. This is serious stuff! The Hebrew text sheds some light on this event and there are two words or phrases to consider.
Firstly, the command to Go forth is יָצָא or Yāṣā. It was a command to come out of that place and talks about offspring and produce and to bring out or lead out. God was trying to lead him out or bring him out of that condition.
The phrase is used to describe someone going out from a particular locality or from the presence of a person and it is used to describe how Moses brough the people out of Egypt. Exodus 13:3 says- Remember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slavery; for by a powerful hand the Lord brought you out from this place. See also Exodus 3:10, 14:1.
When Opposition Comes
Say the Right Word
The Double Portion
The Horseman Arrives
Joash
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Conclusion |
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To be completed
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