Pray for Judgment – Pt. 2

Ron Weinland

February 26, 2011

This is the continuation of a new sermon series entitled Pray for Judgment with this being Part 2.  As I stated last Sabbath, NOW is the time to pray for God’s judgment to be unleashed on this earth beginning here in Manasseh, beginning here in the United States because we understand that is what is to take place.  That’s how God has told us it’s going to transpire and the reasons for it.

It’s indeed time to pray, that we do so even far more zealously that God’s Kingdom come because that’s what this is all about, and if we understand what that means we will be doing that, especially in the context of the sermon series.  But we need to understand why.  Why it’s so important that we do so as a matter of mercy and love toward mankind, because if our heart isn’t in it, if we’re not praying about those things, if God weren’t to carry out the things that have to take place God’s Kingdom wouldn’t come – but it’s coming.  We’re a part of this Body, we’re a part of the Church, we have a work to do and God desires our input, our prayers, our unity and oneness with Him and so that’s what a lot of this is about concerning this particular sermon series.

Toward the end of the sermon last Sabbath we started into the story of the Exodus where Moses encountered Pharaoh with the second plague, the plague of frogs.  And again, there’s much to be learned about human nature from going through this story in Exodus and we’re going to continue to go through the story.  There is a lot about human nature to be learned from this.  There’s a lot to be learned with how God works with people and how they respond.  There’s a lot to be learned with the process taking place now of why God is working with the world in the way that He is and how things are transpiring in the way they are.  There is a lot to be done.   And the more you see these things, the more you understand these things, the more dumbfounded you’ll become of the power and the might of Almighty God!

When you truly see how God works things out and how God works with His plan with mankind, a creation that’s ongoing.... That’s exciting when you understand in the Bible that creation didn’t end when man was put on the earth, when plant and animal life... when God remoulded and refashioned the earth.  The creation didn’t stop!  God talks about a greater creation that’s ongoing in mankind, through mankind to bring mankind into His Family...and those are the types of words that are used over and over again, especially in the New Testament talking about ‘this new creation’.  We are a part of that when we receive the impregnation of God’s holy spirit.  God is moulding and fashioning something within us, creating something within us.  It’s an awesome process!  But when you begin to see where God does this on an ever increasing scale, in a far greater way, in a far more massive way, with the perfect timing of things, with the perfect process that’s being used, with things that are happening in this world the way they are to bring about a specific end – the more you see that, the more in awe you are.

Sometimes you can see things about the universe and the awesomeness of it and how God made it all.  And we can be in awe of that!  It’s a little harder for us sometimes to be in awe of what God is doing now that’s far greater than the creation of the universe – far, far greater; and yet we should stand in awe of that and stand in awe of the Great God.

There is much to be learned by going through this particular series here, and especially with human nature and how God worked with Pharaoh, how God worked with Moses, how God worked with the Egyptians and with the Israelites.

But before we go back to that I think we need to go to Revelation today and repeat some of the things we covered as well some things we didn’t have time to cover, and build upon that just a little bit more; and then we’ll go back to the story of Exodus and continue to learn from that.

The vision of John in Revelation 5 is one where John saw that there was no one that could be found (that’s what he was seeing), no one could be found (that’s what was given to him first), no one could be found who could break the Seals of the scroll.  No one could be found who was worthy to look upon the scroll!  Awesome!  And so he wept, and then one of the angelic elders told him that there was One who was worthy, the Lion of Judah of the root of David, which is a reference, obviously, to the Messiah.

Let’s pick it up again in Revelation 5:7 - Then He, speaking of Jesus Christ, came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Took it from God Almighty; and so showing how important this period of time is of what all this pictures, of what God is doing on the earth; so much throughout the Old Testament that builds up to this particular time and a time when the Seals began to be broken.  And so we have to understand the period of time that’s being pictured here.

Verse 8 - Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.  And I mentioned that this has a great deal more meaning to it and we’re going to go forward to see why.  Because there’s a process here of what God is doing and He wants us to understand how important it is, our prayers that reflect so often our unity and oneness with Him and those things we desire that He’s revealed to us that is His desire.  We pray about those things that are His desire anyway, His will in our lives.  We desire to be changed!  That’s His desire for us.  We desire to be more deeply converted, we desire to be more at one with Him, we desire more of His holy spirit.  That’s His desire for us...and so we just respond, we’re praying for those things that are a matter of God’s desire and God’s will for us.  It’s an awesome process!

And so it is here, that He’s picturing a time showing all the prayers of the saints for a purpose, for a reason – how important this is to God Almighty, especially of the 144,000 as it’s talking about here up to this point in time.  But it has deeper meaning prophetically for what continues on in the Seals being opened and the periods of time that the Seals cover, from the First Seal being opened up to the end, to the end of the last of the Seventh Plague that is poured out upon this earth.

Full of incense, which is, again, about the prayers, that which was put upon an offering, that which was cast upon the fire, talking about the fire when it was offered up before God and that smoke that would go up with all the incense, the smell of it, the aroma, the taking it in.  It shows what God takes in, how the incense is beaten small; our prayers are a sweet smelling thing to God; that God loves to receive from us.  And so again, those awesome things that are pictured here.  And this here, again, picturing the time for all the 144,000, but culminating in and finally being fulfilled when it’s time for the Seals to be broken, all the Seals...not just one, all the Seals.  So this is very much about us and our prayers.  It’s not just about the 144,000 to this moment in time, but it’s going to continue on through time, this incense that goes up before God.  And God shows us even more so then how important our prayers are to Him, the unity and oneness, and that we’re praying more fully according to His will.  Because as you pray according to God’s will it reveals then our oneness and our unity with God, and that we understand why these things have to happen, and we’re not resisting them, and we’re not thinking, “Oh that isn’t fair!” or, “That isn’t good!” or, “That’s too much!  That’s just too hard.”  On the contrary, we are in agreement with God!  We understand this is merciful for God to do this otherwise His Kingdom wouldn’t come!  Indeed, we understand the importance and we want it to come!  Not that we want to see man suffer; God doesn’t want to see man suffer.  But it shows a unity of mind and spirit as we honour and glorify God in our prayers, because we are to do that, to honour God, to glorify God, to praise God as the angelic beings do through this entire process, talking about His righteousness, and His righteous judgment and so forth.

Verse 9 - And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to break it’s Seals: for You were slain and have redeemed them, speaking again of the saints because it’s referring back to that... You have redeemed them to God by Your blood out of every tribe... and sometimes in translations they don’t understand what it’s about, they don’t understand the plan so they can’t translate properly and they don’t so often because they don’t grasp it, so they try to do it in the best way they can humanly understand.  This is about the 144,000.  ...for you have redeemed them, speaking of the saints, to God by Your blood out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation; And so as I think I mentioned last Sabbath; this isn’t just about Israelites!  This isn’t about some kind of prejudice that God has that some people have accused Mr. Armstrong of having, or racist, or whatever it is – it’s about what God had done through time before there ever was a nation of Israel!  Of all those people through time whom God has worked with and are going to be a part of the 144,000; it’s just that there is a way that God has been working with mankind to teach us great lessons and He has done so through a nation of people and using a particular name that God is going to use into eternity – because it’s not about the specific physical people, it’s about what it is about, about what it pictures concerning God and His Family.

And so through time...and God makes it clear here, all.  Even in the time of the disciples, they came to understand in a very powerful way this isn’t just for the Israelites, this isn’t just for Judah, it’s for all people whom God decides and determines to call to be a part of His plan in the first phase of salvation, which includes peoples, as it says here, out of different tribes, tongues, and peoples and nations.  And have made them kings and priests to our God: and they shall reign, speaking of these saints, on the earth.  Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, because this is that time. This pictures that time of what is going to be granted to Jesus Christ in a greater way: He’s coming back as King of kings!  He’s coming back, as I mentioned in the post here, ‘as a Lion and not as a Lamb’, not as a Passover this time.  He’s coming back very powerfully so to take control of all governments of the earth.

...and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.  And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be to Him who sits on the throne, to God Almighty – because this is a hard time – this is a difficult time being pictured in the opening of the Seals.  It’s been a hard time for God’s Church since the first one was opened, as I mentioned last Sabbath; the agony, the pain, and the suffering that goes on in your mind and in your being, that rips people apart because relationships are torn apart, families are torn apart because of what they had to experience in the scattering of the Church and the Church being spewed out of/vomited out of God’s mouth, can no longer be a part of the Church of God.  And then God began to shake and began to bring us to repentance and bring us back, slowly but surely, a small remnant that He began to work with to mould and fashion, to do the rest of what is going to be pictured during a period of the Seals here that must be broken.  Agonizing time!  It wasn’t meant to be pretty!  But without those things I couldn’t be who I AM TODAY and you couldn’t be who YOU ARE TODAY!  It’s been hard!  It wasn’t meant to be easy because human nature doesn’t change if it’s easy.

Human nature will not change.  It’s a battle to change, to become something different, especially during this time in this age and in this world where Satan and the demons exist, where they bombard you and are so stirred up right now like spoiled little brats who don’t want to give up, because they’re told, “Your time is up and you’re going to have to give up everything you have!  Every power you’ve exerted is going to be taken away from you!”  And they’re screaming and hollering and bickering and fighting, even amongst themselves, which we don’t understand sometimes.  They’re going to be fighting amongst themselves.  They’re going to be destroying everything they can destroy as they continue to go forward, whatever God allows, no more and no less; because they have a job to do, to fulfill, to complete.  A lot going on right now....a lot going on.  It’s awesome to be a part of it!  And there’s a lot more, obviously. We’ve gone through a lot of suffering and now we’re getting close to the physical part of it because we haven’t gone through any of that... not like what’s coming.

And so, Blessing and honour and glory... that’s why these things are being stated; so we can say, “Amen! Absolutely!” Absolutely Blessing, honour, glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever. Amen. Indeed!  All in the context of the Seals that are sanctified by God (they were a long time ago), holy; no one could even look upon it.  That’s how important it was to God: no one was worthy to not only not open the Seals, or break the Seals, but not even to look upon it.  It says a lot!  Sometimes we read through things and we just don’t grasp how important it really is, this age. This time right now that we’re going through is awesomely, mightily, powerfully important to all the earth, to all those who will come along throughout the Millennium and into the Great White Throne.  This period of time is what it’s all about, truly is, and what is being accomplished during this period of time.

Let’s go on over to Revelation 8 and look a little more closely at this matter concerning the prayers of the saints, because it reveals a little more.  Revelation 8:1 - And when He had broken the Seventh Seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.  So this is quite a ways into it, this is the Seventh Seal - November 14, 2008 – that’s when it happened.  We know!  We know when the First Seal was broken.  Powerful events!  Awesome times in history!

And I saw the seven angels who stood before God; and to them were given Seven Trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, and in the Greek the meaning of this is ‘much more incense’.  Why?  Because it’s a follow up to what was said earlier before the First Seal was broken.  The prayers of God’s people since the time of the apostasy that continued on – all that went into all that and the changes and the fighting and the battling and the conquering on a spiritual plane that has taken place in so many people’s lives who are sitting right here today!  How important is all that to God? Awesomely important!  Sometimes we underestimate and don’t grasp the depth of what God is doing in our lives and His desire of the kind of relationship He has with us.

And so to them was given much more incense, because this is another occasion above and beyond what had already happened, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel took the censer and filled it with fire on the altar, and cast it to the earth: and there were sounds, again, not translated well, there were sounds and thunderings, and lightning,  because it reveals something that should be seen as a result of... you hear it, but then you see where it came from, and an earthquake, which means ‘a shaking’.  That’s what it’s about; not about a specific earthquake.  It’s the same kind of word that’s used over and over again that we’ve talked about in times past that has to do with a shaking.  Can mean an earthquake, it shakes, just like what is going on down in Arkansas north of Little Rock there.  Last week before the Sabbath there were three days in a row where there were over twenty three, twenty four earthquakes – wham, wham, wham, wham, wham – about 2.5 to 3.8 or something like that.  Think, “What in the world is going on over there.”  I’d be a little concerned if I lived on top of that thing.  Something’s going on that’s different than usual with another four within the last 24 hours.

But here it’s talking about a shaking because it’s talking about the sounds and those are caused by the thundering and the lightning and the shaking, shaking of this earth.  And the seven angels who had the Seven Trumpets prepared themselves to sound.  So again, amazing that this incense is offered up, if we understand it, it’s offered up before each Trumpet.  We continue to offer up, but this is what God reveals, how important these things are to Him, because it’s important in our relationship with Him and so He uses these things to help us to see and to understand.  And so it’s not just before the First Trumpet that this happens, it happens each time, continues on because we continue on and we continue to pour out our being to God.  And what we’re focusing in on right now, what we’re praying about, is awesomely important before God, it truly is, for where we are in time.

Let’s turn over to Matthew 9.  We are at a critical stage in time.  God is doing some awesome things, truly is.  Everything is being prepared for what’s ahead, a mighty work.  Time is becoming more precious for the work that’s yet ahead of us and Manasseh must begin to receive of judgment that was determined by God so very long ago...so long ago; part of a righteous purpose He has being worked out that starts here.  That’s why so many are called here; that’s why so many have been even during the period of Philadelphia and how God is working within Manasseh to spread throughout the whole world; but it starts here and God is showing the importance of what He’s doing and how He’s doing it and why He’s doing it the way He’s doing it.

So we have a lot of work to do and little time to do it.  So, included in your prayers you need to be asking that God grant us time because it’s important that we are able to accomplish what needs to be done.  And it’s just a matter of coming into greater agreement with God to do His will.  We pray about His will.  We’re coming into greater unity with His will.  He’s showing us what His will is and then we pray about it showing our agreement with His will; that we desire these things to be done. Jesus Christ said “Pray, Your Kingdom come!”  That should mean more to us today than it did a year ago, it truly should.  We should have greater understanding of what that means today because of what we have to go through yet and what it takes for God’s Kingdom to come.  And so we desire to have more time, that there might even be more ‘labourers for the harvest’.  They’re coming, but our prayers are to be a part of that, prayers that go up before God bringing us into greater unity and oneness because it’s still about training and moulding and fashioning us and what is taking place that God is going to use in the next several months in front of us. And that’s why He gave this particular example here, so we desire to grant us time.  And to grant us time means that the Thunders have to grow in greater power and that the Trumpets, especially two, three and four now begin soon.

Matthew 9:36 – And when He saw the multitudes He was moved with compassion on them, because they were weary and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. That’s the way this world is, a world that’s so deceived, they get so caught up in things out here, the technology that is here where people don’t have lives anymore; they’d rather ‘Tweet’ about it.  We were talking about that on the way over here.  You think, “What kind of a world is this that you want to put out there, ‘I’m going down to the store and I’m going to buy something,” whatever it is.  And who are the people that want to find out what you’re doing today?  And they see these things you’re doing today and you think, “What’s with this?!”  I’ll tell you right now it isn’t good. It’s isn’t good!  It’s like Facebook; it really isn’t good.  There are things out here that aren’t good for human beings, that were never meant for us to use technology in that way.  What is good is a fellowship.  What is good is the ones you do have relationships with!  What is good is the ones you wake up with in a particular day in a particular home and how you treat each other and how you talk to each other at the job!  That’s what’s important!  Not to remove yourself from the world and have some kind of cyberspace relationship with human beings!  How sick is that!!  Do you understand how sick that is and what Satan is doing to this world?  Because then people don’t have to.... if you can do it out there, wherever that is, it doesn’t try you as to who you are, what you’re nature is like, what kind of a person you are and what kind of a relationship you do have with people and how do you talk to people and how do you treat people?  This is such a sick, filthy, evil world!

Do you have compassion on it? Do you hurt because you see what’s happening, what’s taking place?  The kind of TV, the kind of movies, the kind of shows, the kind of music that continues out there, the way it is in this world and how much worse it’s getting?  Every month, by leaps and bounds it get’s worse.  Do we hurt for people that are getting sucked into these things?  For young and old alike in the world and what the world is becoming more and more?  That we want to see this end?  That we hate to see the kind of governments that are in the world and the kind of confusion caused by that, the lying and the cheating and the games that people play who are in power and the people with money who want more money, and they don’t care who they step on and who they hurt.  They don’t care if a commodity goes up and then they bank on it going down and they’re going to make money on it when it does and these little rumours that go out there that they are behind oftentimes to manipulate markets so that they can make more money and hurt other people who have their life savings... they don’t care about your life savings!!  Do you hurt for people in this world? Do you see what’s going on?  ...and sometimes weep because you hurt and you want to see this end and you are in agreement with God Almighty it’s time that it end!  Such an unjust, evil, sick, perverted world this is becoming, and the greater the technology the greater the perversion and misuse of everything that’s out there.  I’ve had my belly full and I’ve had it a long time ago – truly, truly, truly – and I feel for people, I feel for young people that have to live in this world and how their minds become polluted.

So, when He saw the multitudes He was moved with compassion on them; and we have to ask ourselves, how often are we moved with compassion on those whom we see?  Sometimes even when their frustration, their misunderstanding comes our way.... that really puts you to the test.  “Father forgive them because they don’t know what they’re doing.  Your Kingdom come, soon!” ...because they were weary.  A lot of hurt in this world, a lot of hurt in families, a lot of hurt in people’s lives, people are messed up; they don’t know how to live life.  It’s safer to be in cyberspace than in real space; many feel it’s emotionally safer.  People have been hurt by so many things.

Then He said to the disciples, The harvest truly is abundant, but God has a plan for everyone in their time and we understand that, especially the Great White Throne.  He said... but the labourers are few; Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, these words have never been more important in any moment in any time in history than they are now, truly.  There was something God was doing at that time; there were things being worked out at that time that God was going to perform, did perform and so forth, but this is what the disciples were to have as a part of their prayers and their petitions before God in things they were to learn from Christ.  And we are to learn from Christ today in the same manner for those things that are written down, and this is more pertinent to us today than it was at that time for what God is going to accomplish and what God is doing during this time.

Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that He’ll send forth more labourers into His harvest.  Do we see the need?  Do we believe? How deeply do we believe what’s coming and what God is shaking loose in this world?  You need help.  You need a lot of help.  You can’t do it.  We’re not going to be able to do it all!

Let’s go back now to Exodus 8 and continue on with the story.  So much that we’re to be involved in concerning our prayers, our prayer life, and our relationship with God, what we learn through that process, what God desires us to see that is His will, and why we are where we are right now in time... that our prayers take on a greater urgency.

Going back to Exodus 8:5 - Then the Eternal spoke to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch out your hand with the rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt. So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did also with their enchantments, and brought up frogs out of the land of Egypt.  Don’t know exactly what this entailed, but they were basically using deceit and trickery and perhaps some powers that were given to them through a demonic world to do something that made it appear as though they were doing something that was already happening, but they made it look like they were doing it too, whatever happened here.  Don’t know how far this goes, God doesn’t show us.

Verse 8 -Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Appeal, which this word means...there are some other words that are used in different verses, but basically this is what he’s asking, to make an appeal to God for them.  In other words, this word has to do with ‘an earnest and a formal request’, and that’s what he’s doing.  “You make it for me, for us, for me to God, to your God.”  He didn’t believe, but they did.  But he said, Make an appeal to the LORD, that He would take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go that they may sacrifice to the Eternal.  He was lying.  That wasn’t really what was in his heart.  He didn’t really believe.  But Pharaoh was moved, not because of getting to be humbled and believe in the God of the Israelites, on the contrary, but because the frogs were such a pain and if Pharaoh had some abilities there himself or maybe some god listen to him because they believed in many gods in Egypt.  Just to believe that there was one God was something very foreign to their minds in Egypt.  And so if there is somebody he has this ‘in’ with, go appeal to them and I’ll let you go.  Liar, liar!  ...if they can be removed.  Because it was just a big nuisance; that’s how it started out, just a big nuisance.  Wasn’t something that was taking life or threatening life as a whole; it wasn’t doing that, it was just that they were everywhere, they were in the areas of the kitchen, the food and pans and everywhere you looked, in the beds.  Not a nice thing.

Verse 9 - And Moses said to Pharaoh... the King James Version says, Glory over me: but it doesn’t give you the understanding of what’s being said here.  New King James gives it a little better.  He says, Moses is speaking to Pharaoh, and He says, Accept the honour of saying when I shall intercede for you, in other words, you say when, and you can have this honour.  In other words, we won’t tell you and we won’t force it so it’s like not losing face entirely.  It’s kind of like a little bit of a stab too when it comes to pride and how He’s working with him.  He says, Accept the honour of saying when I shall intercede for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only?

Verse 10 - So he said, Tomorrow. And he said, Let it be according to your word: that you may know that there is no one like the Eternal our God.  And so the point here was to drive home the truth that indeed the God of Israel is in control.

Verse 11 - And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people; and they shall remain in the river only. Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried out to the Eternal, in prayer; crying out to God, talking, conversing with God as we do in prayer.  ...and he cried out to the Eternal concerning the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh.  Because he was told what to do and what to go and tell Pharaoh and so forth; and yet he had a confidence and a relationship with God to the point of being able to know and to understand that there was a process here that God was going through and what God was working with, and a boldness then to tell Pharaoh, “You set the time.”  And then to go back... because it wasn’t about him, it wasn’t about his honour, it was about a job that was being done.  And so it says, And the Eternal did according to the word/request of Moses; because it was a part of His plan and His purpose, His will, and He did so then according to that request.

When you’re at one with God, when your will is God’s will, when you are confident and bold and you know what God’s will is, your prayers will be very strong and very powerful indeed because God wants us to share and be a part in it, things that He’s going to do, examples that are going to be written and things that He accomplishes and teaches mankind.

...and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields.  Can you imagine the stench?  Dying, dead frogs all over the place?  And they had a job then to clean them up from all over.  They gathered them together in heaps and a terrible stench filled the land. But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, at least they’re dead and they’re not bothering them anymore; and there might be a stench for a while but at least that’s behind us, he hardened his heart: It’s a unique response of something we’re going to see through time. Pride is a powerful thing, and there are going to be people, candidly large numbers (and larger numbers of people than on the other side of this), large numbers of people who become hardened and more deeply hardened the farther we go through the next 15 months, because pride is so great.  They hate so much, they resist so much, they do not want to give up; so much so everything about their lives.... that they actually begin to turn more and more against what is possibly before their face in the sense of the truth, to possibly consider it and to receive it.  It’s a hard thing to grasp and comprehend, but it’s a powerful thing. They’re going to do it all the way until they die, as I mentioned last week.  They’re going to resist God until they die.  They have this kind of a mindset like Pharaoh.  The more you think you have that you don’t want to give up, more to lose and you strive to hold onto it – it’s like the stock market.  Until the day there is not a dime left in it, there will be people who are going to say, “We’re going to turn this around!  Keep your money there!  If you take it out you’re going to hurt the process!”  How incredibly dumb human nature is!

And so there’s a process here of people just hardening their hearts and getting worse and worse and harder to change.  You know what changes them finally?  Or gives them the ability to begin to change?  On the day of their resurrection. In this body, in this life, in this time no matter what they go through they’re going to resist God to the bitter end.  They hate the truth and the more they hear about certain things about it the more they hate it, the more they turn against it.  It’s an amazing thing about the human mind.

So understand that most of the people out there – this is the route they’re going to choose.  They’re not going to be converted, they’re not going to be moved by fear; they think in some way that they’re going to come through this.  Just like the individual I read here recently who believes with all of his being... he talked about how it is clearer to him than anything he’s ever seen and believed, that this next collapse that takes place is going to be ten times worse than what happened in 2008, but if you follow his strategies you can come out ahead of most everyone else because of the gold and different things in different countries you can do and to pigeon hole certain things away here and there, and when this is all said and done you’re going to be in pretty good shape, that’s what they believe.  And people are going to do that.  Their hearts become more hardened.

And so he hardened his heart; it was a response to what God had done, what Moses had told him...and he did not heed them; as the Eternal had said. That’s what God said would be the case; just as God said. So again, reveals a lot about human nature, especially when people are filled with this kind of pride and with such ego in their lives.  When someone thinks that they have so much to lose.

There is a great difference in what God is doing at this time and what He was doing during Moses’ time and that’s why it’s interesting to go through the story to see the patterns and the things that took place and the timing involved; delicate timing all the way through, unique timing.  His purpose wasn’t to bring the Egyptians to conversion, not even the Israelites to conversion; it was to move them to a point that they could be worked with more meaningfully, more effectively in a physical way as a physical people.  They weren’t being called like how you were called.  They weren’t being called to see truths and grasp truths and understand things about God.  No, they resisted.  Look at them, look what they did!  God finally separated different things that were happening there, the plagues that were taking place, they left Egypt and as soon as they got on the other side they started complaining and murmuring.  And the fear?  Where was the fear?  Interesting.  The more you see in this story, the more you can grasp how God is working with this age and with people right now, especially in this country.

I think I’ll read this new post. I think this’d be a good spot to do this, because things are different now than they were back then; because this time God is bringing people to conversion.  There are going to be a lot of people just brought to fear.  Sometimes fear can bring you to conversion as well, but some people are going to do certain things in their life just out of fear only and then, again, different types of people that are going to come are going to experience different things at different points in time here, but it’s amazing how many are going to hold on to the bitter end to their pride, to their righteousness, or to their way of doing things.

This particular post I just put up yesterday, I want to go through that and read that now before we go on into the story in Exodus here.

THE TIME FOR JUDGMENT IS NOW

February 25, 2011

Seven months have now passed since my last posting. It has been a little over two years since the Seventh Seal of Revelation was opened. More incredible yet is the reality that in about 15 months from now, Jesus Christ is going to return to this earth.

This time Christ is coming as King of kings, as a Lion, and not as a Lamb. Since mankind and their governments will not relinquish power and authority to God’s true authority (6,000 years have proven this), He is sending His Son to take control, by force, in order to put down all earthly governments. There is no other way for God’s Kingdom to come.

The rule of mankind is going to violently be taken away by the One Almighty Eternal God. Only a very few believe these things at this time, but over the next several months millions will come to believe it! NOW is the time of transition when everything is going to begin to change, from man’s self-rule to God’s worldwide rule.

As I am writing this, I think of radio interviews that I have had that led up to the time of the opening of the Seventh Seal (Nov. 14, 2008). The attitude of some interviewers was one of questioning how God could allow such horrifying end-time events to occur, as if God were not merciful and did not care. However, the opposite is true.

God has been abundantly patient with mankind and has extended great mercy for 6,000 years, but the true reality is that man has not listened to God. When God’s prophet spoke to these interviewers, not a single one believed the truth they heard. None believed that the one with whom they spoke was God’s prophet. That is just the way mankind is and always has been. It is even this way within the scattering that has followed the apostasy of 1994.

Nothing has changed. Even during the time of Christ, the overwhelming vast majority of people, including rich and poor, educated and uneducated, government officials, religious leaders, and those from all other walks of life refused to believe that Jesus was the Messiah or a prophet.

When it was all said and done there weren’t many there.  Amazing what took place!

They did not receive God’s own Son, so it is no wonder that most all humanity has refused to listen to any of us who are God’s prophets.

Some think that by the very fact I would make such a statement, that “I am a prophet,” then I must think very highly of myself and/or that I must be delusional. Without exception, most everyone through time has felt the same about all of God’s prophets.

They think that way about you; so often family members.  You’ve got to be nuttier than a fruitcake to believe some of the things you believe.  That’s the way they think.

But we have a job to do and we must do it with boldness and confidence, and we do so, combined with genuine humility before God. Sadly, this sound assurance is often misread and seen as haughtiness.

Judgment Can No Longer Be Delayed

Man’s history has been one of rejecting God. It is for this very reason that God’s judgment for this end-time has now come. God has been exceedingly patient, even over the past two years, during a time when prophetic end-time events were to have already been unleashed. This nation, and the rest of the world, has not yet suffered destruction as God had revealed previously in prophecies.

Instead, God chose to extend His great mercy, patience and love toward mankind. He did so for two great reasons. The first reason was to reveal, as a final great witness to mankind, the magnitude of His mercy upon mankind at a time when no mercy would have otherwise been justifiably deserved.

God has no pleasure in the suffering of mankind. On the contrary, it grieves Him. But God’s righteous judgment must NOW be executed in order for His Kingdom to be established at the coming of His Son on May 27, 2012. Because of God’s great mercy, mankind has escaped great worldwide tribulation and suffering for more than two years now. But NOW, time has run out!

The second reason God chose to intervene and delay the execution of His judgment was because His own Church fasted (neither liquid nor food consumed) [so that people can understand what that means] and made a special petition to Him. God’s Church fasted for two consecutive days for this nation and the world, petitioning that God might alter events in order to allow for the possibility of a larger number of people to be saved during this end-time.

I hope you remember your prayers back then.  I do.  For the scattered Church as well?  For that which was spewed out of God’s mouth as well as for this world.

God heard those prayers and revealed His will that He desired to extend mercy and more time (without destruction) for mankind.

I hope you understand that it was a matter of God’s will – that God leads us to do the things that are a matter of His will and we respond.  Even that fast was a matter of His will, already.  It wasn’t something we dreamt up or decided this was a good thing to do – God leads us, God works with us for a purpose and for a reason by design for what He’s giving to us, what He’s sharing with us, and things that’ll be written later on.  We get to share in His plan. It’s an awesome thing!

If this fast had not taken place, the Second Trumpet would have sounded shortly after that. But it was God’s will that the fast should happen exactly as it did. So God gave mankind a year of mercy for each day of fasting.

The Second Trumpet that did not sound during that time is now drawing near. For the work that must be accomplished to produce what is necessary for God’s Kingdom to come,

There was a lot done to where finally Moses said, “Let them go!”  There was a lot that God was doing with the Israelites in working with them in their minds.  There was a lot God was doing with Moses and Aaron and Miriam.  There was a lot that God was doing with Pharaoh to teach great and mighty lessons.  There was a lot God was doing with Egypt.  There are Egyptians who went out with the Israelites.  Interesting!  So again....

The Second Trumpet that did not sound during that time is now drawing near. For the work that must be accomplished to produce what is necessary for God’s Kingdom to come no more than two years of mercy can be extended to mankind. In the 15 months left, there is much to be accomplished by the affects of the Thunders and Trumpets that are yet to sound.

But who has taken notice of God’s mercy and the extension of time He has given (without tribulation). Only His Church! No one else has! The reason is because no one else believes these truths. So now, God’s judgment of end-time events must be unleashed. It has already begun.

There’s some scary stuff going on out there, there truly is, things that are going to change the world one of these days very rapidly, very quickly, in an accelerated way that’s going to make your head spin even though you believe these things.

Since the beginning of this year, the Thunders of Revelation have become louder and are now overlapping each other. Severe storms of destruction are not just in the distance any longer, but coming down quickly upon us. These begin harshly upon the United States, first and foremost. The Second Trumpet is being prepared to sound, and the Thunders will be intensified dramatically in this nation and throughout the whole world.

Total Collapse

The book, 2008—God’s Final Witness, revealed that 2008 was God’s last great warning to mankind. We have now entered the year for total economic collapse, with worldwide tribulation and destruction.

The current sermon series (posted on the Church website at cog-pkg.org) entitled “Pray for Judgment” is a follow-up to the two-day fast held by God’s Church in February of 2009. God granted mercy then, but as people have never listened to God and have ignored His mercy as usual, NOW it is time for devastating end-time events to be poured out.

Yes, end-time events have already started unfolding before your eyes. Over the past two years, the world has chosen to believe it can turn the tide of a worldwide economic crisis that struck in 2008. Wall Street has willingly deluded itself into believing it can regain all that was lost and continue to move forward in full recovery. They will not recover as this time is different from all others in the past because this is the end-time. Instead, a far greater economic crash is about to occur.

Most are blind to events reported in the news that should be crying out to them of God’s final “hand-writing on the wall.” God has now numbered our days and our self-rule will be finished.

Just as it said back there in the book of Daniel.  The same thing is true today in a spiritual plane in a very powerful way physically and spiritually.

The world has been judged and the age of man will now end. It is time for God’s rule to be established.

The Middle East is in great turmoil. Commodity prices are surging. Governments are struggling. Europe is in crisis. China is at a crossroads and is now acting accordingly to preserve herself and become dominant in the world. Food is rapidly becoming more scarce.

All these things are working together for a purpose.

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing is about to backlash and cause the dollar to collapse, so that it will no longer be looked to as the world’s reserve currency. All is already in motion to launch this world into a final World War III. This is not a pleasant message, but it is true.

Earthquakes, extremes in weather, destruction of crops, economic turmoil and uncertainty, government uprisings, inflation, terrorism, and many other calamities are about to increase manyfold over. We have entered a most sobering period for man’s history. Death and destruction is NOW at our door.

You need to make sure that you are getting your spiritual house in better order. As part of that process, God’s Church has called upon people to enter into a one-day fast in the beginning of April. The second day of the month has been set aside as the target date for this fast, but can certainly be entered into before or after that date.

In this coming fast, we seek to unitedly draw closer to God so that we can better enter the last phase of His work before His Son returns. The time is NOW for God’s end-time judgment to be poured out and we need to be spiritually strong in order to serve God in the great harvest that is now before us.

And to me that’s exciting!  It’s exciting to understand that it’s about a great harvest that God has planned for so long, of something that’s going to take place that’s going to glorify and honour Him so mightily, to have so many that are going to be brought to conversion before His Son returns, to have a great Church established and ready for Him when He returns.  That’s an awesome thing to understand.  And again, the story of Exodus reveals much about how God works with human beings, with peoples and with nations to do the things that He’s doing.  This time God is working with the whole world.

It’s incredible what He’s doing with the nations or the peoples of scattered Israel where they’re located, what’s taking place in Europe, what’s taking place in other areas of the world, the Middle East, what’s taking place in the Far East, in China and so forth in some of those nations, Russia, and how they think and all these things that are taking place.  God is working in the minds of people.   A lot of them are going to come through.  A lot of them are going to respond even on that last day, to acknowledge that this is of God.  They won’t see the truth, they won’t understand the truth, but they’re ready to be taught, they’re ready to be worked with, they’re ready to surrender; they want something different, they want to come through this, they want to be on the other side.

Amazing what God is doing and how He’s working with different people in different parts of the world. And if that doesn’t impress you, if that doesn’t dumbfound you, if that doesn’t put you in awe.... If you look at things in the universe and you are in awe of things you see out there that God has created then this should dumbfound you too!  It’s great!  It’s so awesome I can’t even begin to describe it!  To understand how God is working with, not thousands, but millions of people right now, of things He’s doing in their minds, preparing them for a time, preparing them for specific moments in time to respond – just like He did with so many of you who are called.  He worked with you in different ways at different times to do what He was going to do in your life.  He worked in your mind and in your environment.  He worked with your thinking.  That’s what God’s working with – it’s the mind He’s bringing through all this and going to bring into His Family in His time; even for so many at a time because there’s no other way to reach through to them to humble them, to bring them to humility.  They will one day when they’re standing there nude before God or before God’s Family!  And they’re going to be told why they’re there like that, standing that way in a body that’s a little different than what they knew when they died!  They will be humbled then and they will believe – “God did this!  There’s no other way for this to happen!  I’m ready to listen. You’ve got my attention!”  But nothing else in their world could change them, could soften their heart; but that will then.  Powerful!

And we believe that but we can’t even grasp and comprehend that, what that’s going to be like.  All of a sudden you’re resurrected... it’s an uncomfortable thing for human beings, for most human beings, to stand around a whole bunch of other human beings in their all-together, and for someone standing there before them, different ones in different parts of the world who will be there who can appear and disappear in front of them.  They’re going to get their attention!  They’re going to know they’re in God’s presence and before God’s Family.  Amazing what’s going to take place then...and God’s preparing people for that occasion by allowing them to harden their hearts to the very end.  Amazing!  God’s concerned about salvation and how people are brought to it.  They’re going to be able to see themselves and see what they did and see what brought them to their end and understand it on the day it’s told to them.  It’s awesome!  It’s a most effective way to reach that mind and that kind of thinking.

For others, God’s working with and moulding and fashioning to come to conversion now just like He did you.

Let’s go back to Exodus 8.  There’s a lot more that goes on here than just a nice little story.  It’s about how human beings respond to God in different occasions and different events in life that God places them in; because God placed them in these events.

So in the beginning, again, these plagues were to be experienced by everyone, Israelites alike.  They were a nuisance to the people of Egypt and to Pharaoh, but again, not enough to convert them, not even the Israelites.  That isn’t what it was about.  It wasn’t about turning them from their own ways.  It’s not what it was about.  Something powerfully different is taking place this time.

These first few plagues, again, were not intended to produce that kind of a response, but as it grows and as we go forward here we learn more and more about human nature.

Exodus 8:16 - And the Eternal said to Moses, Tell Aaron, Stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the land that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. And they did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with the rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice on men and on beasts/livestock; and all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. The magicians with their enchantments tried to bring forth lice, you think, “Why would you do that?!”  But even with some of their trickery or whatever it was they came to understand something, but they couldn’t do it: whatever that meant, whatever it was to them they knew there was something here that they couldn’t be a part of; so there were lice on the people, and on the animals. Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, this got their attention. This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened: It isn’t what he wanted to hear.  It’s amazing!

Human nature is an awesome thing!  And to think that the vast majority of people in this country, that that’s going to be their response as we go forward, as Thunders become greater, as Trumpets sound – they become more hardened inside?  It’s an incredible thing!  And yet God’s going to be working with others to bring them to conversion.  Incredible!  Some can’t be in this age with those things happening around them.

And so again here, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he would not listen to them; as the Eternal had said.  He’s not going to listen to anyone.  God knew his mind; He knew what he was like.  He knew how he’d respond each time something happened.  God knows that about every single human being on earth.  He knows exactly what every human being will do under every kind of circumstance in life.  He knows their mind.  That’s hard to understand, that God knows the mind.  He knows the life of an individual, the kinds of choices that people make, will make; free to make them, but knows that in a given environment and circumstances what people will do.

So again, God was working with Pharaoh in a very specific way in order to bring about a very specific result.

The more we understand about human nature and pride hopefully the more we can see the necessity of Thunders to increase much, much more, and the devastation upon people, in order to be humbled.  So again, there are things that depend on how you see, as to the depth and the degree that you’re going to be praying for Trumpet #2 and Trumpet #3 and Trumpet #4, because each time you do you’re a part of it.  Your will, your heart, your mind... what do you see as a result?  ...the purpose?  It’s not about the destruction; it’s about what it produces, in some cases only the beginning for people to start listening.

Exodus 8:20 - And the Eternal said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; and he’ll come forth to the water; and say to him, so there’s this routine he had and they knew where it would be and so forth and so He told Moses to be there again. Thus says the Eternal, Let My people go that they may serve Me, or else, if you will not let My people go behold I will send swarms of flies upon you, not great destruction.  See, they had frogs, lice – very irritating, very irritating for everyone – Pharaoh wasn’t excluded from this – no great destruction though, just a great annoyance at this point in time.  And because of these things and because they were the kind of nuisance that they were and the way they responded, his heart just got harder and harder as he went through this.  And so it says, the swarms of flies upon you and upon your servants, upon your people, and into your houses:  Things that they looked to and worshiped and gave honour as ‘gods’.  See how much you like your gods!  ...and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.

Verse 22 - And I will make a separation in that day in the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end that you may know that I am the Eternal in the midst of the earth.  Stubborn person here!  It’s hard sometimes for us to grasp and comprehend that kind of a mind because you look at your conversion and the things you went through and how you ended up here.

Verse 23 - And I will put a division between My people and your people: this sign shall be tomorrow. And the Eternal did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt: and the land was corrupted by the reason of the swarm of flies. And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go and sacrifice to your God in the land. And Moses said, It is not proper that we do so; it’s amazing what took place here, different things back and forth, but every one of them geared in a specific way to accomplish a specific end.  And Moses said, It is not proper to do so for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Eternal our God: should we sacrifice what is an abomination to the Egyptians before their eyes, and then shall they not stone us?  Will they not turn on us and stone us?  Kill us?  But we will go three days' journey into the wilderness, so we’re not just going to go do this right here, we need to go three days journey, you really need to let us go farther out from this land, and sacrifice to the Eternal our God, as He shall command us. And Pharaoh said, I will let you go that you may sacrifice to the Eternal your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go so far away: so now, make your appeal for me.  So, same ‘ole, same ‘ole.  Go ask that it be taken away and get rid of this.

And Moses said, Behold, I go out from you, and I will appear to the Eternal that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow: but do not let Pharaoh deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Eternal.  You know there are things to be learned from this from us as well.  Sometimes you have to be careful.  Sometimes people respond to certain things for the wrong reasons.  Sometimes people will do things for the wrong reasons and you, if you’re not careful, might begin to think and entrust them with everything, in everything.  You need to wait.  You need to be careful.  You need to be wise; ‘as wise as serpents, harmless as doves,’ as we go forward in the next 15 months.  It’s going to become more important that you do so, that you don’t even rely upon your own thinking in such matters but that you ask God for help to know.  To know.  There are going to be certain times you’re going to know without a shadow of a doubt when individuals have come to conversion, they believe, they’re able to talk to you about God’s plan, they’re able to repeat things to you, things about God’s plan that they see; and you’re going to know, you’re going to know the moment you start talking to them.

But sometimes...and I’ve seen a lot of this over the years and especially the last few years...of things we go through sometimes, that we’re so eager sometimes to receive someone into our lives, into fellowship.... And I’m just saying, sometimes you need to be cautious.  You need to be sure about their conversion and the kind of trust that you entrust to people, what you tell them, what you share with them about your life and about other’s lives who are in the Church of God, others who are coming along.  You need to think about that.

That’s why I mention so often; there are things you cannot know yourself, that you have to ask God for help to know.  Rely upon God, look to God in that way!  These aren’t decisions for us to make by ourselves.  You don’t know the minds of human beings.  When you do know, when you know and you know that you know, you can start talking to someone and immediately (someone new), and you know they’re of the same mind and they cannot give these things back and have this kind of conversation save by God’s spirit and you recognize that spirit and that moves you and it’s exciting, it’s inspiring.  That’s what makes fellowship so inspiring, because we see the same spirit, the same mind, the same Family.  But sometimes in the beginning with some people in life they’re not going down the same path and you have to be careful.

So, just a warning here because of what we’re getting ready to go into.  We’re going into some really bad times!  And so somewhere up the road, some of these things are going to happen in your life.  You can’t help it because of the magnitude of what’s going to take place and because of the numbers of people and things that are taking place out here.  So always think first and foremost about protecting God’s Church, protecting God’s people, protecting your family, and don’t give everything to someone that you don’t really know.  And ask God for the wisdom to know the difference.

That’s why I mention sometimes when people come and ask question, or talk about certain things, that I ask God for what answer to give them.  Who are we to decide that we understand so much...we have the understanding and we can answer anything and everything?!  I saw that in God’s Church and it’s deplorable; where individuals were of a mindset that they could be asked any question and it was expected they know the answer and they believed that they could give any answer.  I’m talking about leadership.  That’s haughtiness.  On the contrary, we need to make sure that we’re always plugged into God spiritually and that we’re asking God to know how to respond and what to say in some cases that affects people’s lives and decisions and choices they might make when someone’s new or when we have fellowship with someone.  We have to be careful of things we say and ask God to help us to have the right words in our mouth to edify, to help, to encourage – that it come from Him, that it be inspired as a result of His holy spirit and not just because we want to give them this, we want to give them the whole load and more, whatever it is.  Do you understand what I’m saying?  I hope so.

So the same is true here when new people come along; because we’re going to be bombarded with all kinds of situations and all kinds of people out here and you have to ask God for wisdom in knowing what to say and knowing what not to say.  And there should be a measure of fear in that.

Verse 29 - And Moses said, Behold, I’ll go out from you, and I will appeal to the Eternal that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow: but do not let Pharaoh deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Eternal. Pretty strong words to Pharaoh.  And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and appealed unto the Eternal. And the Eternal did according to the word of Moses and He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; and there remained not one. And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.  So again, over and over and over again here, things that have taken place.  It didn’t take much time for human nature to kick in and for pride and resistance to take over - truly didn’t.

And as with Pharaoh, Manasseh’s going to be brought to humility, but it’s a little different isn’t it?  It didn’t happen with Pharaoh.  Has to be something far, far greater here because there were times when Pharaoh would respond to something that was happening that he knew was greater than him, it was a nuisance, it was a pest to him and brought dishonour to him and before his people as a leader.  Incredible pride here because of his response and what continued to take place each time.

Let’s go on here and notice some others as we continue on through some of these stories here.  Let’s go on in chapter 9.  I think of the types of destruction that is to come, I think of the magnitude of the things that have to come, I think of what people have to go through before they can be shaken, before they can even begin to be brought to what you would call humility, to begin breaking through some of the stubbornness of human nature.  Because that’s what has to take place; it takes some massive things here to break through so you can get their attention, so that they can begin to listen, so they’ll have a certain fear, whatever it might be, to begin to want to listen and want answers.  But sometimes the more people have to lose, or think they have to lose, the harder it is to break through, it truly is.

Exodus 9:1 - Then the Eternal said to Moses, Go unto Pharaoh and tell him, Thus says the Eternal God of the Hebrews, Let My people go that they may serve Me. For if you refuse to let them go, and continue to hold them back, behold, the hand of the Eternal will strike your livestock which are in the field, now it’s getting different.  Now something is happening that’s much different from what happened before.  Everything else, the lice, the frogs, the flies, the things that were pesky, the things that were a pain...  maybe it wasn’t in this particular plague here, but I thought it was on one of these plagues that he went to find out what happened in the land of Goshen to make sure it was so.

So he’s telling him, but if you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, behold, the hand of the Eternal will strike your livestock which are in the field, upon your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle and sheep: there shall be a very deadly plague. Now He’s going to begin getting their attention in a different way.

That’s why God isn’t messing around with flies and lice and different things when things begin to happen, because that doesn’t have any bearing on people, it doesn’t change people – and it was for a different purpose of why God was doing it in the first place.  It was about Pharaoh at that time; to show that mind and that spirit.

Verse 4 – And the Eternal shall make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt: and none will die that belong to the children of Israel. And the Eternal appointed a specific time, saying, Tomorrow the Eternal shall do so in the land by this word. And the Eternal did so by this word, and the livestock; in some places they add things that aren’t there; doesn’t say ‘all the livestock’, it’s just talking about and livestock of Egypt died: but not even one of any of the livestock of the children of Israel died.  And Pharaoh sent to see, here it is, and there wasn’t any of the livestock of the Israelites dead. He wanted to make sure that this only happened here and not over there.  And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, wouldn’t you think when you see something like this – such a powerful thing – and all of a sudden people’s lives, their livestock, things that are beginning to die en masse, and yet nothing happening to the Israelites?  It’s amazing what pride will do.  That’s why there are people, when they start hating you, they’ll just continue to hate you and hate you more and more and more...and that’s why you have to be careful, that’s why you have to be wise in things you do and how you do it; and always look to God for guidance, for direction, for answers in every step of life you take along the way.

Verse 8 – And the Eternal said to Moses and to Aaron, Take handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.

Verse 9 - And it shall become small dust in the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil that breaks forth as blisters upon the people, and upon animals, throughout the land of Egypt. And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it toward heaven; and it became as boils breaking forth with blisters upon the people and on the animals.  And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were upon the magicians, and on all the Egyptians. And the Eternal hardened the heart of Pharaoh... Sometimes people have read this in time’s past and have misunderstood and it’s like, God is making Pharaoh worse!  He is the one who is making Pharaoh do these things.  No He isn’t.  Pharaoh has free will; he did it.  And the way that God hardened his heart is because every time God brought along a plague or any of these things that took place – Pharaoh would back off a little bit, he wanted to get rid of it and he would humble himself just a little bit, not all the way, but just a little bit, enough to get through to Moses, as how he thought he was getting through to Moses and maybe trying to show a little bit....  That’s why God finally through Moses began to tell him, “Don’t deal deceitfully anymore.  Don’t lie anymore.  You say these things and you don’t do them.”  Strong words.

He wasn’t going to be corrected by Moses, there’s a history there.  He wasn’t going to be told what to do by Moses... he had a lot of distain for Moses and he couldn’t break through it.  And so when He removed the plagues, then that’s when God hardened his heart, because by removing the plagues then his heart was different.  And I think about those kinds of things that are coming and I think about Thunders and I’m praying about Thunders.  I’m praying that they come with greater power and have such rapidity in them, that they happen so often in such strength that people can’t have what happened to Pharaoh happen to them, so that work can begin on the heart and the mind of more people... that’s what it takes in order to continue, one after another and they don’t have time for relief.  Not like they did over the past two years.  That’s what happened over the past two years.  That’s the evidence of what happens when you give relief to individuals and they harden their heart and they go right back into the way they were and become worse!  And they’re worse today!  Wall Street is worse today than it was two years ago when they had a little bit of humility there, and people who worked with it, and the banking systems, and the housing systems and everything else that was going on there.  But you give a little more time without anything happening and all of a sudden they see things rising a little bit more and prices and money and we’re getting these things back and we’re going to keep pushing it forward and we’re going to get it all back!  It’s pride!

That’s why over the period that comes now that same kind of thing can’t take place.  That’s why when the Second Trumpet sounds the Third is really close behind it and there are a lot of Thunders in the midst of it all making it even more difficult so that people won’t return to their pride and their haughtiness, but can continue to be worked upon and have greater humility hit them if they can be worked with.  And yet I just said earlier that there are going to be large masses of people, no matter what happens, they’re going to resist to the end.  That’s an awesome thing to understand!

And so that’s an awesome thing when it comes to your mind and how you think about people and how you think about the prayers you have about things you’re praying for; because you see an end result.  My desire, my great desire is to see, especially within the scattered church, things happen in such a powerful way in different people’s lives that it bring them to their knees in ways it never has yet – because that’s what it will take - that they can come to repentance and change.  And so that as God’s spirit is poured out upon them in a greater way that they can come to see what they have done and want to become a part of what’s taking place now.  And so there are those within the scattered church and there are those in the world and more people to be brought along.

You really have to examine yourself when you start thinking about prayers like that, what you pray about, because of what you’re seeking for it to accomplish.  Do you think, as I mentioned last Sabbath, that God desires... if there were any other way to chasten human beings, to see human beings suffer like they’re going to, to go through what they have to go through?  On the contrary!  Obviously not, and we don’t either; but we understand what human nature is like.  That’s why we’re going through this story, because we can see what people are like and what human nature is like, and if it takes that to break it, so be it!  If you begin to slide, if you begin to do something wrong, don’t you desire that God do something in your life to so shake you, to so correct you, whatever it takes so be it, so that you will respond in humility and not be destroyed?  I hope that’s your prayer about your own life.  Whatever it takes!  Whatever you have to go through – so be it!  And that’s love.  You pray that about others?  Whatever it takes God, please bring them through it!  Let them go through whatever they have to go through to be humbled because it’s what’s saved at the end that counts.

You’re really put to the test when you start praying about certain things, as to how you think, if you understand, as to the depth of your agreement with God of why things have to happen exactly as they do.  And the more you see it, yes it is... and that it’s good – because it’s about love, it’s about mercy.

Continuing on with the story....  Pharaoh sent to see if any livestock of the Israelites were dead and found out that none of them died.  His heart was hardened and he didn’t let the people go. And the Eternal said to Moses and to Aaron, again, take handfuls of dust, talks about the boils.  Well, he hardened his heart again, magicians couldn’t even stand before him and so forth, to appease him...

Verse 13 – And the Eternal said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus says the Eternal God of the Hebrews, Let My people go so that they may serve Me, or I will at this time send, and again it’s not (all), but something that means ‘much greater’ or ‘far more’ in the sense of far more severe of My plagues upon your heart, and on your servants, and on your people; that’s why the Second Trumpet  is not enough, that’s why the Third Trumpet is not enough, that’s why the Fourth Trumpet is not enough, that’s why the Fifth Trumpet God calls it a WOE, because it’s needed!  The world has to experience a World War III!  That’s horrible but it has to happen for large numbers of people to come through this, to be on the other side, to bring them to a mindset where they will accept what’s coming.  It takes a World War III!  That’s why God has those things come and allows them to come one right after the other.  And that’s why not too long behind that then is the Sixth Trumpet, the Second WOE – even greater!  And it says, and they go out and destroy a third of all the earth!  I can’t comprehend that!  I can’t comprehend that a third of humanity has to die, that it’s a part of a process and a part of a plan to help more to come to conversion, to help more to come to a point in time where they will be humbled!  Because if it were less than that they wouldn’t!  ...and God’s Kingdom couldn’t come!  And I want God’s Kingdom to come!  Whatever it takes!

We look at death in a different way, we truly do.  God sees the overall plan and what He’s been doing with mankind for all the time that’s gone past us and what is ahead and how to work with the mind in order to bring it into His Family; and it’s all about His love, His patience and His mercy to work with us in how we think.  It’s an awesome thing, it truly is!  God doesn’t see death in the same way.  And so people die who resist God, Pharaoh died because he resisted God – right to the end, going after the Israelites.  Pride was so great he got on a chariot and he followed them (not like the movie ‘The Ten Commandments’ where he was still on the other side and everybody else died in front of him – he was actually with them.)  He died right along with the rest of his armies.  Pride so strong and so great after all he had gone through he’s going to go after them and he’s going to destroy them because he hates them so much!  Hates them so much that he wants to destroy them all!  Kill them!  Incredible that pride can be so great!  It’s better that he died like he did and be resurrected later on.

Death is nothing; it’s just a matter of time with God.  When it’s over with it’s over with, and everybody dies, as a whole.  I’ll tell you – the more you see and understand God’s plan the more awesome God is!  Truly is!  So often we have to divorce ourselves from our normal carnal human thinking and how we see things and see the greater purpose in what God is doing and understand that there is a love that we have a difficult time comprehending sometimes – the love and the patience and the mercy of God Almighty – because when it’s all said and done, through the next 1,100 years, it’s all about bringing billions and billions into His Family, to be a part of the God Family.  Wish it could be done easier, like we talked about at the Feast, but it can’t.  Wish our nature wasn’t like it was, but it is.  And what’s more awesome is to understand our minds and to grasp and comprehend that with God’s spirit, when the time comes He can make it what it needs to be if we yield to it, if we’ll make those choices to surrender our nature to His and our will to His and to have something that lasts into eternity, or into the future into eternity.

So again, it talks about he hardened his heart. Verse 14 - For I will at this time send, in other words, much greater/far more/far more severe of My plagues upon your heart, and upon your servants, that’s what the Hebrew means here.  It definitely wasn’t all of what could come upon him, but just more and more severe, and upon your people; that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth. For now I will stretch out My hand so that I may strike you and your people with destruction; and you shall be cut off from the earth. That means death.  Talks about what can happen, what will happen, what was coming in time here. And it is for this very account/cause that I have raised you up, in order to show through you/by you My power; and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth. Because when it’s all said and done it’s a matter of honouring God, glorifying God, being in awe of God.  Going through a story like this and marvelling that human beings can be the way they are, so resistant to God, to fight against God, to be hard of heart against the Great God of the universe, when all these things are happening around them, when you think a ‘sane’ normal individual would just surrender and say, “God, it’s You!  You’re the one who made Me!  You are the God of the universe!”  But he wouldn’t.  Incredible!  So it’s all about glorifying and honouring God.  That’s why going through something like this and thinking about what God is doing – the more we go forward, the more we grasp, the more we comprehend, the more up here I am able to, you are able to, glorify and honour and be in awe of God –and to see that this is a matter of love, it’s a matter of mercy, it’s a matter of patience, it’s a matter of an awesome, awesome plan that God has for us.  It’s just that our human nature is so vile!  Our selfishness is so deep!

Are you dumbfounded how the more you grow the more you see selfishness in human nature in your being; how much you hate it, how much you loathe it and realize this can never be in God’s Family.  This can’t go into eternity because this isn’t what Family is about.  This is not what relationships are about – to where as you grow you deplore, you hate more and more your human nature?  The more that God helps you to see and the more you see the selfishness that’s within you – because of your being physical and a human being as you are – even with the truth of God and the spirit of God – that you see that nature and you loathe it and you thank God for His patience and His plan and that whatever you have to go through to become a part of His Family, whatever it takes for you to go through it – so be it?  There’s no suffering, there’s no physical suffering of life that can be compared to what God is offering you and giving to you, and the awesomeness of His love to do so?  But it takes a lot to break through this and we have only ourselves to blame.  And we can’t blame Him.

That’s why people read through stories like this and they think, “That’s not fair God!  You hardened his heart!  You made him worse!”  No, that’s just the way he was!!  And most people who say those things don’t understand their own human nature, how bad it is, how much they are judgmental even to the great God of the universe.  We don’t comprehend our own minds and how much we resist and fight against God, how easy it is to sin, and to fight against and resist God!  Are you still resisting God?  How long have you been in God’s Church?  I was baptized in ’69...and I still resist God.  I resist God everyday of my life!  I seek to surrender everything to God, but there is that within me that I see and I know and I don’t like it... but see, my choice has been, and God knows what that choice is – that I’ve rejected that.  But it’s there; I have to contend with it every day.  My wife does on occasion...far too often.  And if you’re married, your mate does with you too!  And your children, or your parents, or whatever it is.  I don’t care who it is, we’re so far from being perfect it’s not even funny!  We’re filled with selfishness and we respond to things in a selfish manner.  It doesn’t take a whole lot sometimes to bring that out in us, does it?  It takes a lot to break through this!

And so you can read through a story like this and people can get the wrong ideas about God.  They can think about the end-time.... I think about that post I just read about the interviewers.  It’s like, “How could God allow this?”  Because it’s your nature!  That’s why.  If you could only see, it’s because of you!  ...and everyone else around you, because we resist God, and we might as well laugh at ourselves and realize what we’re like and thank God that He’s patient with us.  7,100 years patient; because He sees something so great when it’s all said and done.

I cannot convey to you in words what I have grown to come to loathe in this body, to loathe human nature.  I am eagerly looking forward to the end of 15 months. I know some of you comprehend.  I am looking so forward.  I understand.  You know, we read through a story; we read through what Paul said and he talks about those things – but to really understand it... you know there are things sometimes we just don’t fully grasp until we’re there.  There are things I understand about people’s lives and prophets and different ones and things they’ve gone through in ways that I never could have understood a few months ago like I do today.  Amazing what we go through to get to where we’re going – and God’s very patient through it all.  He loves us mightily; but we’re stubborn, we kick and holler and scream pretty much all the way – our human nature does – it doesn’t want to let go.

And it is for this very account/cause that I have raised you up, in order to show through you, in other words, by you My power; and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth.  And it has been ever since that time.  Amazing what took place!  There are people throughout those countries that knew the Israelites were out there wandering around and they weren’t real excited when they saw them coming in their direction; they knew some of those stories.  They knew what happened to Egypt.  They heard the stories of what happened to Pharaoh’s army and to Pharaoh and they weren’t real keen on the Israelites coming their direction when they finally started coming their way.  That’s why they boarded up Jericho.  Amazing what took place!  And that just spread more and more through time and it’s spread ever since that time.

But most people don’t believe it.  They believed it at that time because it happened in their age, in their time, and they had evidence and people that carried the stories around. But as time went on, primarily only, obviously, through those who are called, through those who are in the Church and we come to believe and we see these things and we’re in awe of stories like this because they glorify God, they show the might, the power of Almighty God to work with human beings, to bring us to conversion, at least in one way or another through time, through whatever that part of that plan is.

Verse 18 - Behold, tomorrow at about this time I will cause it to pour down a very heavy hail storm, such as has never been in Egypt since it’s beginning even until now. Now therefore, send and gather your livestock, and all that you have in the fields; so all hadn’t died before like the one (King James) says it, there were some still alive.  There was just more and more that were dying as we went forward here through time; for upon every person and upon all livestock which shall be in the field/found in the field, and shall not be brought into shelter, the hail shall come down upon them and they shall die.  So anything that’s left out.  If you don’t do this you’re dead, servants are dead, animals are going to die.

Verse 20 - Those who feared the word of the Eternal... how many things have to happen before measures of fear begin to come into people’s lives, before people begin to take note.  I am looking forward to fear being stirred up in people.  I’m praying more now to that end because now is the time for these things to begin happening in a greater way so that more within the scattered nations of Israel first – because that’s where it’s going to start happening first – will be brought to such a point that they’re going to begin to fear and realize that 2008 and the crash that took place then might have been quite minor in comparison.  And the more of that fear they have in their minds that something greater is happening on this earth the more they’re going to begin asking questions just like some of you did when you wanted some answers and you started plugging in for certain word searches on the internet and all of a sudden a book popped up in front of you.  Multiply that thousands upon thousands upon millions of times and that’s what I’m looking forward to.  And that’s going to be an exciting time!  But the excitement comes because of what we see, because it means that people are being brought to a moment in time where they’re listening, where they’ll listen.  Right now as a whole they’re not listening!  That’s why we’re not putting a lot of money into the advertisements on Google and so forth – because people aren’t scared enough yet, they don’t have enough fear yet.

Human nature is a dumbfounding thing, it truly is!  And so I look forward... if it means people can be changed, if people can become a part of your fellowship... what does it take to get them here?  Thunders!  Thunders!  Powerful, powerful, powerful Thunders with one after the other after the other!  Trumpets!  To put such fear into people that they will start looking for answers and God’s going to use that, just like He did for you, for those of you who’ve come in the last three years.  But He’s going to multiply that so many times more.  But it takes that.  So I pray confidently, more boldly, that God make the Thunders so much greater day by day, so much more powerful.  I look forward to the Second Trumpet coming – not because of what’s going to happen to people – but because of the response that can come in no other way in people.

Pharaoh went back and forth in certain things.  We see an incredible mind here.  We see servants that begin to change as we went along here in their thinking, just a little bit.  It takes so much to get through, it truly does.

Those who feared the word of the Eternal, among the servants, and this is speaking of the chief servants here in this case, of Pharaoh made their servants and their livestock flee into shelter.  There weren’t many, but they were pretty smart, otherwise they, along with their livestock, would have been destroyed – because it happened to a lot, because a lot wouldn’t listen.  But there were enough things that happened by this time that some were recognizing this has never happened in Egypt before and they knew what was going on with Pharaoh.  They knew about Moses and these different plagues that kept coming on them.  They knew the Israelites weren’t suffering and they knew that something far more powerful than they’ve ever heard stories of in all their lives with any of their gods or anything in history that was happening...and they were starting to take note, just a little, enough to save their own life and that of their livestock.  Amazing!

And those who did not regard, or as the word means, ‘to put no weight on it’, the word of the Eternal left their servants and their livestock in the field.  In other words those who did not put weight on, or regard the word of the Eternal left their servants and their livestock in the field. They died.  And the Eternal said unto Moses, Stretch forth your hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon the people and on the livestock... Wasn’t something that was enjoyed.  It wasn’t something that was done in retribution.  It wasn’t something done with vengeance.  It’s to get to a certain end of something that God said, “It would take this over and over again in order to finally get to a point where you can obey Me, where you can be let free as a nation, as a people.”  They saw what was going to take; and so Moses did it...he stretched forth his hand toward heaven just like God said.  He was told to do this upon the people and the livestock and upon every herb of the field, throughout all the land of Egypt.  And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: You know, sometimes we read through a story like this and we think, “That’s not that hard to do.” Yes it was.  Yes, it was – just like your prayers and things you’re going to be praying about more and more and come to pray about even more fervently and more zealously as we go forward because you’re going to see things and grasp things about God and why the necessity is there and why your prayers are important in that and why your mind being at one with God is so important in all this.  And to realize just as Moses did here, of the purpose that’s being accomplished.  It’s not about destruction; it’s not about wanting to see people suffer!  On the contrary, it’s about wanting to see people saved.  It’s about wanting to see God’s Kingdom come and be established and those in it who will respond, who will start listening, can be worked with.  And even then it’s not easy.

God talks about the Egyptians if they don’t come up year by year, if they want to hold onto some of their beliefs.  They’re humbled enough to a point, but there is still going to be resistance in some areas.  It’s hard to give up ideas about Mohammad, about Abraham.  It’s hard to give up certain ideas about your ancestry.  It’s hard to give up certain ideas.  It’s hard to accept and come to a point in time where you say, “It was Isaac and not Ishmael”  Those aren’t easy things for people to give up sometimes, even when they’ve seen the power in a very great way, of God, upon this earth.

And Moses stretched forth his hand toward the heaven: and we pray toward heaven and we ask God that these things be done because we’re in unity and harmony with Him, because we realize what it takes to bring people to repentance.  To have a great harvest in front of us we know what it’s going to take in order to come to that great harvest and to be able to baptize thousands of people, to be able to see others come along so that they can enter into a new age by the millions. Can’t happen any other way.  Sadly, it’s human nature.

And so Moses stretched his rod toward heaven and the Eternal sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the Eternal rained hail upon the land of Egypt.  So it was coming down – it was like there was fire on the ground when this was taking place at the same time.  Awesome sight of things that people saw!  And there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous/burdensome, such as there was never anything like it in the land of Egypt since it became a nation. And God says that things are going to happen at this end-time, are going to be so powerful that it’s going to be like nothing that’s ever happened in all of human history, nothing like it.

Verse 25 - And the hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt, and all that was in the field, both of the people and livestock; and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.  In other words, branches, things upon the trees and so forth – not a one escaped.  Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail. And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, I have sinned this time: look at what it took to bring him to this point, to where he would say something like that, finally his people and a lot of his servants who were dying, or who died, livestock – massively – food in the field destroyed.  I have sinned this time: the Eternal is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.  Appeal unto the Eternal (for this is enough) so that there will not be any more mighty thunderings and hail; he wanted it taken away; and I will let you go, and you will not have to stay any longer.  It’s amazing what happened!  A little bit of time passes, not very much, about as much as it does to take it away – just a little bit of time thinking about it – because he wasn’t brought to conversion.  He wasn’t brought to true repentance by any measure.

This shows the depth!  Sometimes it’s so hard for us to read a story like this and grasp the depth of human nature and how much human nature can resist God!  And the key to understanding that, truly, is in your own conversion, and truly coming to see more deeply, spiritually, your own human nature, and thanking God for the mercy and the patience that He’s given to you, the opportunities He’s given to you, the power of His spirit to see the things that you see so you can make the kind of choices and decisions that you do in a very powerful way.  Because He has a purpose for you and a job for you to accomplish and He’s worked with you for a long, long time to bring you to this day.

Let’s stop there.  We’ll come back here to this point next Sabbath.  Mediate upon some of these things – all about human nature, why we have to go through the things we do to the degree we do on this earth in order for God’s Kingdom to come.

~~~end

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