January 2004

Prophetic Word for the year 2004

“MY PRESENCE SHALL GO WITH YOU
AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST!”
(Ex 33:14)

PART ONE

           This Word came to Moses after he had broke the first set of Ten Commandments when he found the Israelites reveling and worshiping the golden calf they forced Aaron to make; just before he was to receive the second set of Sacred Tablets. God spoke this to Moses in the tent of meeting which he had pitched outside the camp. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tent while the Lord spoke to him. All the people saw the pillar of cloud as it stood at the tent door, and each one rose up and worshiped at his own tent door.

“Moses spoke this to the Lord, See, You say to me, Bring up this people:
but You have not told me which ones You will send with me. However,
You have told me, I know you by name and you have also found grace
in My sight. Now therefore, I ask of You, if I have found grace in Your
sight, show me now Your Way that I may know You, and so I may find
grace in thy sight. Consider also that this nation is Your people. And
the Lord said, My Presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.
Moses said to Him, If Your Presence does not go with me, do not lead
us from here! For how else will it be known that I and Your people have
found grace in Your sight in this place except You go with us? Only this
will distinguish me and Your people from all the other people on the face
of the earth! So the Lord said to Moses, I will also do this thing you have
asked, for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”

           Before God gave His people the Ten Commandments, He knew no mortal man could obey them all! That is why Moses broke the first set before the people heard what was written on them. Sight unseen, they had already broken God’s first Law by making and worshiping the golden calf instead of God! The calf represented a source of food, wealth and prosperity, and potential strength as a full grown bull. Sculpting the calf in gold, the Israelites added the element of deity making it a false god! The first and only time “calf” appears before this incident, is a special time in Ge 18:7-8.

“The Lord appeared to Abraham in the Mamre plains as sat at his tent door
in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men
were standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to
meet them, bowing toward the ground and saying, My Lord, if I have now
found grace in Your sight, I beg You not to pass on by Your servant: but
please permit a little water to be fetched with which to wash your feet, then
rest yourselves here under the tree. I will fetch a morsel of bread that will
revitalize and strengthen your hearts before you continue on your way: for
surely this is why you have come to your servant. And they said, Go do as
you have offered. So Abraham hurried into his tent and instructed Sarah,
Quickly prepare three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes on
the hearth. Then Abraham ran to his herd, and fetched a CALF that was
tender and good; and gave it to a young man who quickly prepared it for
eating. Then Abraham took butter, milk, and the prepared calf, and set it
all before the men; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
Afterward they asked Abraham, Where is Sarah, your wife? And he said,
Behold, she is in the tent. And the Lord said, I will certainly return to you
at the appropriate time of life; and, lo, Sarah, your wife, shall have a son!
Sarah heard Him say all this from inside the tent door which was behind
Him. Now Abraham and Sarah were very, very old; and it was well past
her child-bearing years. So Sarah laughed within herself saying, When I
I am so old, shall I now have pleasure with my lord who is also very old?
But the Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I bear
a child, when I am old? IS ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR THE LORD?
I shall return to you at her appointed time of life and she shall bear a son!”

           The great lesson in these accounts is that both involve a time of ENFORCED WAITING! The Israelites had to wait for Moses to return from his meeting with God on the mount. But for all they knew, after a month elapsed, he might never be back! Maybe he had died up there! At age 80, he already endured a hard trek out of Egypt, through the Sea, across the desert, and up a mountain! Maybe his heart gave out! Maybe God got angry and slew him as He did the Egyptians! Either way it seemed he might not return; and no Word from the Lord had come forth since Moses’ departure! Thus they lost faith and turned perverse!
            With Sarah, even before the belated birth announcement, she had already waited a lifetime trying to conceive a child, but was always denied. Now she was instructed to have intimate relations with her old husband- her remarks to the Lord suggest that such intimacy had ceased- which meant she would have to wait again for the physical signs that proved the Word of the Lord was fruitful! Then if her pregnancy was confirmed, she’d have to wait for the Lord’s return, and the miraculous birth of her first son! In both situations God’s people were forced to “wait”, and both reacted with initial disbelief! However, when the Lord removed His Presence, only the Israelites turned to lewd and idolatrous behavior while Sarah never forsook the God of Moses to worship false idols!

DOES WAITING MAKE YOU BITTER, OR BETTER?

[TO BE CONTINUED]