WHAT TO DO WHEN JUDGMENT IS ON EARTH #3

What To Do When There Is Judgment In The Land
Part Three

When there is judgment in the land God always makes a way of escape for His children. I have found in my studies that the protection always is a symbol of the Blood of Jesus.

In Exodus 12:1-13, God showed Moses how the Israelites were going to be protected when judgment came upon the land to kill the firstborn of every family. Vs 13 reads, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” Does this mean that God kills people? No, I do not believe He does because Jesus said in John 10:7, Verily, verily I say to you…(10) The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Everything Jesus did on this earth is an example of the true nature of God. However, I do believe that He does lift His protective hand and the destroyer is allowed to do the chaos he has wanted to do for years.

Dr. Billye Brim writes about this night in her book, The Blood and the Glory, “On this night God would lift His withholding hand and allow the destroyer to execute the sentence of the law of sin and death.” I believe this is what happened with 9/11, God lifted His protective hand. Many intercessors prayed for weeks before the event because God showed them it was coming. One old time intercessor said, “God showed me it could not be stopped, but by prayer it could be lessened.” There could have been over 50,000 deaths from that disaster, but because of prayer there were fewer than 4,000.

The Israelites were instructed to take a lamb for each household and strike the blood with hyssop onto the lintel and two doorposts of their home, and not to come out from that covering. Where they all righteous in each home? I am sure there were in-law problems, marriage problems and rebellious children. They were all protected, not by their righteousness, but because of the blood. When they were released from captivity they all went out healed, delivered from slavery and wealthy. All this protection and benefits were because of the blood, a symbol of the Blood of Jesus, our Passover Lamb. I Corinthians 5:7, “…Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.”

Next we see the example of Rahab the Harlot in Joshua 2 & 6. Joshua 2:12 reads, “Now, therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed you kindness, that you will also show kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token, (13) and that you will save alive my father, my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives unto death.” Rahab, a harlot, dared ask for her unbelieving family and all their possessions. (Lord, help us to be that bold for our families) Notice, Rahab is the only one of her family that was ever mentioned to believe in the Hebrew God, Jehovah. None of her family was ever mentioned again in the genealogies, but Rahab was mentioned many times because of her faith. She was the great grandmother of King David, and it was believed she married one the spies she protected in Jericho. Her faith put her in the Hebrews hall of fame in Chapter 11.

What was the true token? It was a scarlet cord hung outside her window. I wonder if the spies told her stories about how they were protected by the blood in Egypt when the land was under judgment. Whether she knew the story behind the blood protection or not, the only reason the entire family and all their possession were saved when Jericho was judged was because of the symbol of the blood, a symbol pointing to the saving power of the Blood of Jesus.

The word “true token” is an interesting word, tiqvah, #8615, meaning hope, expectation, something yearned for and anticipated eagerly; something for which one waits. Hatikvah is the name of Israel’s national anthem. (click link at the bottom of this page for the anathem) This word is also used in Hosea 2:15, God’s blessing on His land will transform the Valley of Achor (trouble) into the “door of hope”, (door of tiqvah). Rahab hung a sign, a true token, a symbol of hope that her and her family would be saved and delivered, even if the entire city collapsed around them.

The first instance I see in the Bible of one family member saving the family is with Noah in Genesis 6-7. Genesis 6:13 reads, “And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them, and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. (14) Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.”

Two words stand out to me in verse 14, cover and pitch. The word “cover” in Hebrew (Strong’s Concordance) is #3722, kaphar, a prime root; to cover, expiate or condone, to placate or cancel; appease, make atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive , be merciful, pacify, pardon, to pitch, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile (-liation)

The word “pitch” is #3724, kopher, a cover, a village (as covered in); bitumen (as used for coating), and henna plant (as used for dyeing); a redemption price; bribe, ransom, satisfaction, sum of money, village

Both words speak of a merciful covering. In Exodus and Leviticus, when the mercy seat is mentioned, the word “mercy” is #3727, kapporeth, from #3722, a lid (used only of the cover of the sacred Ark); mercy seat.

Genesis 9:22 reads, “And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.” In the Hebrew writing, Ham did more than see the nakedness, it was a homosexual act. Yet, God in his great mercy because of Noah, spared Noah’s heathen son from destruction.

I heard a message from a pastor in Louisiana who was taken to heaven where he saw the true Mercy Seat. He said the blood was still dripping on the Mercy Seat and every time it dropped it cried out “Mercy”. Hebrews 12:24 reads, “Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.” Abel’s blood cried for vengeance from the ground, the Blood of Jesus cries for mercy. (Genesis 4:10)

Rahab, Noah and the one who applied the blood to the doorpost all saved their entire families and their possessions when there was judgment on the land.

In the New Testament we read in I Corinthians 7:14, “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.” I like how the Amplified Bible expounds sanctified or set apart “(separated, withdrawn from heathen contamination, and affiliated with the Christian people)”. It also expounds on the children not being unclean; “(unblessed heathen, outside the Christian covenant)”.

This does not mean they will automatically be saved and go to heaven. Each of us must make a choice individually to accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. But these examples give us faith that we can believe that when everything is going wrong in the world around us, the Blood of Jesus is able to protect, set us apart and deliver us from danger and destruction that is coming on the land and God shows favor to our cluster.

Isaiah 26:9b reads “…for when Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” Do they really? Some may, but this is not the best way to learn righteousness (God’s way of doing and being right). When there was a judgment in Egypt, Pharaoh’s heart got harder and harder. After 9/11, for a time sinners turned to God, but there was not wide-spread righteousness in America. In fact, it seemed the people got more wicked.

Romans 2:4b reads “the goodness of God leads you to repentance.” My belief is that more people will be converted by the goodness of God than by the fear of what God will do to them. (I am not referring to sloppy agape, where you continue to sin because God is so good) When we take communion for our cluster, those who are in our family and those who are connected to us by way of faith are coming under the protection of the Blood of Jesus. And when they see that they are spared during calamity and others are not, I believe they will know it is of God and they will turn to Him.

When I take communion, I visualize the Blood of Jesus running down onto those in my cluster whom I am praying for. I visualize it much like Psalm 133:2 speaks of unity, “It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments.” I visualize that blood washing away the scales from their eyes so they can see, cleaning out their spiritual ears so they can hear, washing off the filth of the world and the lies of the enemy. I visualize the Blood of Jesus setting them apart to serve God.

An old-time intercessor, Jeanne Wilkerson was told by the Lord, “Tell the people not to be concerned over My soon appearing because of lost loved ones. Tell them to name them to Me in prayer. Those whose names they call to Me in faith, I will see that they make it if I have to wrestle them on their beds in the nighttime.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWhCIUvnhIg