Bible Study With Jairus

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 23

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 23

Numbers 23 tells the story of Balak hiring Balaam to curse the Israelites. Although this story may be familiar to Christians, when we were having our Bible study, the Holy Spirit opened our eyes to receive new revelation. We realized that our prayers should be causing us to humble ourselves before God. In other words: we pray to change our mindset and attitude, not to change God's will.

God wants to bless us, but a wrong perspective, lies we believe, and strongholds built by the enemy are barriers that prevent us from receiving God's blessings. We must die to our flesh through fasting and prayer so that the enemy cannot continue to control and hinder us through our flesh. Through fasting and prayer, we can also cast out evil spirits, as well as experience and accept God's blessings in Christ.

Let’s look at Numbers 23 to understand this better. In Numbers 23:13 (ESV), Balak says, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” A lady asked, “Why did Balak change locations to curse the Israelites?” It appears that sending a curse from Balak’s original location was unsuccessful. Does changing the location make it successful? This is a bit incomprehensible. I replied, “I need to give you an example of fasting and prayer.”

I learned a lot about fasting and prayer when I sought healing for my wife’s medical condition and the blessing of one day having a child. One thing fasting is not is a "hunger strike." We should not approach fasting with the mentality that I will fast and argue for something and if God does not grant my request, I will no longer eat. This is not prayer and fasting. This is a hunger strike, a protest. True fasting and prayer is temporarily sacrificing one of man’s biggest physical needs through a time of abstaining, in order that our flesh will be weakened and challenged to submit to our spirit. Eventually, the noise of our flesh will diminish. When our flesh is in this weakened state, our spiritual man can rise from its suppressed place. We can then rely on the strength of our spirit and God’s Spirit within us. This is what the Lord Jesus said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (ESV, 2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul also said that, “I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (ESV, 2 Corinthians 12:9).

True fasting and prayer moves us closer to God through a process of resisting our body’s demands and aligning us with God’s will instead of trying to change God’s heart and insisting on doing things our way. A hunger strike is a religious prayer and not a means of humbling oneself to get closer to God. True fasting and prayer will make our strong flesh weak and awaken our suppressed spiritual man. It can also loosen the enemy’s strongholds on us thereby making it easier for evil spirits to be cast out.

Jesus once took the disciples up to a mountain and there He was transfigured. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus and his disciples saw a demon-possessed child. The disciples were unable to cast out the demon, so the Lord cast it out. Later, the disciples asked Jesus why they couldn't cast it out. He said that this kind of spirit does not leave except by fasting and prayer (NKJV, Matthew 17:21). We come to understand that fasting and prayer play an important role in casing out demons. Some evil spirits, for example, maintain strongholds in us through lies, deceptions, and bitterness from past hurts. These strongholds are the combination of our flesh and demonic forces. We must discipline our flesh for a time to remove the lies we once believed. This is done through fasting and prayer. Then evil spirits can be cast out.

Unfortunately, many people have experienced believing various lies and becoming bitter after being hurt. This then becomes an opportunity for evil spirits to set up strongholds in them. One of the biggest lies people believe is that God does not love them. God’s Word constantly reiterates His love for us, but when we are hurt, it’s difficult to believe this. In this kind of situation, we end up being more prone to believe the enemy than God.

A person’s upbringing may also impact one’s ability to believe in God’s love. For example, if you didn’t experience love from your parents when you were younger, when you experience suffering and harm from the world, you will be much more susceptible to believe Satan’s lies. Satan will easily feed you the lies, "you are unworthy of love" and "no one loves you."  These are obvious lies to someone who knows the truth or has experienced love from their parents, but not to the child who loses or lacks a healthy, loving relationship with their parent(s). When he or she receives these lies into their soul, they become indifferent to life and even begin to hate society. I was a reporter for a few years. I once interviewed a family in the United States whose child came from a mixed Chinese and American family. Because of his parents’ divorce, this child became extremely cold-hearted to the point of brutally killing another person. I participated in the on-site interview and felt deeply compassionate and sad when I saw this child. I thought to myself that maybe if his parents hadn't divorced, he wouldn't have ended up like that. Of course, I cannot completely blame his parents since I don't know what really happened between them, but I also do not ignore that their divorce probably hard a large negative impact on his soul. Life’s misfortunes will cause people to believe lies and distortions of the truth.

Balak, the Moabite, is another example of this. Naturally, we all hope and believe that we are the Israelites whom God has chosen and whom are the descendants of Abraham. And if Abraham’s descendants, we prefer to be the descendants of Isaac, and not of Ishmael, but the reality is often not that simple. The Moabites are descendants of the incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughter. We don't know if the society at that time discriminated against descendants of incest. If we look at humanity’s overall situation, it seems that any society would discriminate against children of incest. Perhaps, when the Moabites grew up, they inevitably faced humiliation. This humiliation and hurt became a stronghold for them.

As I mentioned earlier, in Deuteronomy 2, the Lord specifically ordered Moses not to contend with the Moabites because the Moabites were descendants of Lot and God had given those lands to the Moabites. God would not give it to the Israelites. God also specifically ordered the Israelites to pay with silver for the food they would eat and the water they would drink when they passed through Moab, and not to provoke the Moabites to war. He also reminded the Israelites to be especially careful because the Moabites were afraid of them.

God commanded the Israelites not to hurt the Moabites, but the Moabites still feared the Israelites. Although unnecessary, the Moabites allowed fear to take root in them and this was taken advantage of by evil spirits. Their fear became an open door that turned Balak and Moab into tools to curse and hurt the Israelites. Our fears often come from our wrong judgments of reality. If the Moabites knew the message of Deuteronomy 2, which was that God did not want the Israelites to fight against the Moabites, would they still have been afraid? Fear often makes us act irrationally. Out of fear, Balak asked Balaam to curse the Israelites.  

The Moabites—descendants of Lot—were related to the Israelites, so they were people associated with the holy and chosen people. However, the purpose of their prayers to God was not to humble themselves to move closer to God so as to receive God's mercy. Their prayers were instead like that of the Pharisees’ prayers which sought to justify themselves before God, asking God to do things according to their own ideas. Their purpose was to change God, and not change themselves. The correct way to pray, however, is like the tax collector who, beating his breast in the temple, said in anguish, "I am a sinner. Please have mercy on me.” Jesus said that this tax collector would be justified, but the Pharisees could not be justified because their motives were wrong (Luke 18:9-14). People in church nowadays can commit the same error. We should be careful to not just offer religious prayers and engage in religious activities but remain disconnected from God’s heart.

Now, the problem with Balak is actually the same problem evident in Christians in churches today. They have wrong perspectives and believe lies of the enemy, so the enemy maintains strongholds over them. I learned during my training in deliverance ministry that many people are possessed by demons. For example, some women who have been raped or hurt by men in their family carry deep wounds. Because of these hurts, they begin to hate men. The accumulation of their anguish turns to bitterness and hate, and it gradually opens the door to evil spirits. In order to cast out the evil spirits in them, they must learn to forgive. This is difficult, but it is necessary.

Rodney Hogue, one of my teachers in deliverance ministry, makes a great comparison between forgiveness and strongholds by evil spirits. He uses the example of pitons used by mountain climbers. When a rock climber cannot find or reach any spots to continue upward, they will use pitons to create one. The function of the piton is to expand within a crack in the rock, and with the force of expansion, it secures a stronghold for grabbing and bearing the weight of the climber. Unforgiveness, bitterness, and hatred caused by our hurts, etc., create cracks within us; they fracture our mind, soul, or body. Evil spirits are like pitons—they squeeze into the cracks and build strongholds there.

This is why in the Lord’s Prayer, the Lord Jesus taught us to pray, “God, forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (ESV, Mark 6:9-13). God’s intention is to bless us, but if we refuse to forgive our debtors, God will not forgive our debts.

Balak and the Moabites may have believed some kind of lie and thus were taken advantage of by evil spirits. My personal guess is that they believed the following lie: the reason they were not blessed was Abraham's fault, and not Lot's fault. We know that the Bible says that Abraham and Lot's servants were in conflict with each other, so Abraham had let Lot separate from him. Afterwards, Lot went to Sodom. Perhaps the Moabites and Balak were thinking it was the Israelites’ fault that they were not blessed. This is like children competing to be their parents’ favorites. The Moabites could have been jealous. They probably wanted God to bless them and curse the Israelites. Balak knew it was the Lord who was speaking to Balaam, and Balak hoped that God might curse the Israelites from another place (Numbers 23:27). This proves that Balak is not cursing God. Rather, he hopes that God will curse the Israelites. This is different from the Gentiles’ worship of false gods such as Baal. Balak is not changing his position. He is instead trying to change God's will through repeated attempts.

This is in line with the principle of fasting and prayer that we cited in the beginning. We cannot change God. We can only change ourselves. The evil spirits also know this. Satan and evil spirits know that they cannot change God's loving nature, but they can change our faith in God through lies. They can also attempt to prevent us from pleasing God by tempting us to sin. Thankfully, God responds by repeatedly telling us about His loving nature and that He loves us. Remember: not only does God love Israel, but He also loved Moab and all the nations. One important reason for God's choice of the Israelites was so that one day Christ could be born through them and become a blessing to all nations. God’s intent from the beginning was to make a way for all to come under his wings. Therefore, God was not going to change His mind, nor His choice of the Israelites because this choice would eventually become a blessing to the Moabites. Later, Ruth, a descendant of Moabites, understood this truth and wanted to return to Israel with her mother-in-law to come under the Israelite’s blessing. She married Boaz and became the ancestor of Christ. This is a foreshadowing of how God would later graft in foreigners and strangers of Gentile nations into God’s covenant and family which was first established with the Israelites.

Now, let’s go deeper into how evil spirits attack us. First, they attack by deceiving us and instilling countless lies in us. Because of my past experience in rural China and some family misfortunes, I believed many lies, and these lies became strongholds within me. Later, I was delivered from these lies through the power of the Holy Spirit, and the demonic strongholds were broken.

Many people also testify to a similar experience. I mentioned earlier that children whose parents are divorced or have no parents since childhood may be deceived by lies that say, "no one loves me" or "I am unworthy of love." These are all lies. They are not the truth. But if one believes these lies, the evil spirits will have an open door to build a stronghold within them.

This does not just happen to individuals. It occurs among races and nations as well. For example, the country of China has been wounded over the past few hundred years. These hurts and humiliation can result in bitterness and hatred and be taken advantage of by evil spirits. Some races have been oppressed throughout history. Their wounds from hatred and injustice fester and multiply when left undealt with. These races can become more oppressed by evil spirits henceforth. We must address the lies and wounds in our flesh in order to loosen the enemy's strongholds. In the case of nations and races, people groups and countries must repent and seek forgiveness and reconciliation with each other in order for the strongholds to be broken and the enemy to be cast out. Until then, evil spirits are being given the authority to remain and cause further oppression.

Since some of our small group members are seeking to be physically healed, it is appropriate to talk about the relationship between these categories: fasting and prayer, the lies we believe, demonic strongholds, and our healing. God’s truth is that we all receive healing through Jesus Christ’s wounds (Isaiah 53:5), but why do many people not receive physical healing? There are many reasons for this. One of the reasons is that we have not been able to receive and accept our healing by faith. Our unbelief, the lies we believe, and strongholds reinforced by evil spirits, prevent us from receiving God's healing. We must acknowledge, remove, and replace the lies as well as remove the unbelief and bitterness. This will create an opportunity for strongholds to be demolished. Afterward, we can believe for and receive God’s blessings for us including healing.

It’s just like we see in this chapter of Numbers 23. God wanted to bless Moab which included bringing peace between them and the Israelites, but the Moabites lost their opportunity to receive God's blessings because of fear. However, God's intention remained—to bless the Moabites and let the Israelites pass through Moab. If they passed through peacefully, it would have removed the Moabites’ fears and the anxiety they carried.

In the same way, God longs to bless our soul and body. The general principle we follow is that God always wills to heal our body. However, there is always something that can prevent us from accepting God's blessings. The lies of the enemy are often, "God does not heal people today;" "God does not perform miracles today;" or "You don’t deserve God's healing." Once you believe these lies, it will be difficult for you to have faith that you’ll be healed.

Therefore, the lie is the first method used by the enemy. Other lies like "God does not love us" or "God has abandoned us" leads to an orphaned spirit. Just like the Moabites here—they lived in fear, and not in love. The Bible says that there is no fear in love, and perfect love casts out fear (ESV, 1 John 4:18). Therefore, anything that makes you scared is not from God because the spirit God gave us is not a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control (ESV, 2 Timothy 1:7).

The second method of the enemy is to make us sin and leave the position of God blessing us. This is what is recorded in Numbers 25. After Balaam realized that he could not curse the Israelites, he instigated Balak to encourage the Israelites to fornicate with the Moabite women. They fell into this trap and sinned which aroused God’s wrath and incited a plague that killed 24,000 Israelites. Committing sin is often a result of believing lies and having an orphaned spirit. The thought process behind one’s motivation to sin is usually, "No one cares about me anyway; I’ve got nothing to lose." Yet, God loves us. There are also many people who love us, so we should not sin. Although God is gracious, we should avoid sin because sin still brings suffering in the form of unpleasant and negative repercussions and consequences. Even the Israelites who were so blessed by God were severely disciplined by Him for their error. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Let’s instead be holy.

We can learn from the lesson of the Moabites in this chapter. Let’s rid ourselves of our prejudices and judgements because of past hurts. Let’s change our perspective, demolish the strongholds within us, and let ourselves receive God’s love, blessings, and healing.

Written on December 14, 2020.

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 20

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 20

Numbers 20 is the story of how Moses did not follow God's command when asked to strike a rock to produce water. Instead of following God’s exact directions to hit the rock once, Moses struck the rock twice. God still acted mercifully to allow water to flow out for the Israelites. Later, however, God chastised Moses and Aaron for not believing in Him, nor upholding Him as holy in the eyes of the Israelites. Because of this, they were not allowed to enter the Promised Land (Numbers 20:12).

A man in our Bible study asked, “How do Moses’ actions show that he did not believe in God?” I replied, “You must use the former Israelite spies as a reference because they were also regarded as unbelieving spies by God.” The spies were regarded by God as having no faith because they exaggerated the height of the Canaanites and underestimated God’s promise. They regarded the enemy as able to triumph over God's promise to lead them into the Promised Land. The spies’ disheartened position in the face of enemy weakened the Israelites’ faith and led them to believe that their inability was greater than God’s promise and God’s power. They trusted more in what their eyes could see than in what the Lord had spoken. Thankfully, the Israelites inability did not overcome God’s ability. Caleb and Joshua are examples of those who believed. Since God had already promised that they would be brought into the Promised Land, they did not waiver in their belief. They put God's promise first. They said, “Let's go up for we will devour them.” Faith is putting God's promise first and not allowing yourself to be frightened by the immediate circumstances.

The same principle can be applied to Moses and Aaron. What did Moses regard as larger than God? Moses did not exemplify complete trust in the Lord. Moses was disappointed with the Israelites. His disappointment with the people’s inability surpassed God's promise and hope for them. Thus, he acted in disobedience and God regarded him as unbelieving. Although Moses believed the first time, he did not believe God the second time. Why? His discouragement affected his faith.

At the beginning of this chapter, the death of Miriam, Moses’ sister, is recorded. We can assume that Moses loved his sister. Without Moses’ sister, there would be no Moses. When Moses was put into the river as a child, it was Moses' sister who stood by watching him. When Pharaoh's daughter came to bathe, Miriam talked with Pharaoh's daughter and offered to find a Hebrew mother to nurse him. Miriam arranged for her mother to take care of him. In other words, without Miriam, Moses might have died.

In later years, Miriam rebelled against Moses and God struck her with leprosy. Aaron asked Moses to beg God to remove Miriam's leprosy. Moses prayed to God and God answered his prayer by allowing Miriam to be healed after her confinement outside the camp for seven days. We see that Moses had no resentment toward his sister. We can imagine that Miriam's death had a huge personal impact on Moses. He was likely very sad. Miriam's death also happened at a special time. It was right about the time when the Israelites had been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. The first generation of Israelites were almost dead. Perhaps Miriam, Aaron (who dies at the end of this chapter), Moses (who dies shortly after), and Caleb and Joshua (who entered the Promised Land), were among the few people from the first generation who were still alive.

Now, we arrive at the story of Moses and the rock. The Israelites were already tired after about forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Moses was also tired. The second generation made the same mistake as the first generation. They complained again that there was no water to drink. Tired and sad Moses became irritated by the people. At first, he remained humble before God. He fell facedown just like he had when Korah attacked him. God responded and asked Moses to speak to the rock to produce water. But when Moses came before the Israelites, he reverted to being angry. Why? Perhaps when Moses went before God, he hoped that God would avenge him as He did when He disciplined Korah the last time. God did not act the same this time. My guess is that Moses’ response was a way of venting the pent-up pain and anger he had held in his heart.

Moses’ mistake is also one often made by pastors. Sometimes we feel disappointed with the people we lead and shepherd. Such disappointment must be dealt with at the cross. It should not affect our emotions and decisions. I discussed this with a classmate who is a Korean pastor. I asked him to tell me about the hardest thing he has faced since becoming a pastor. His church is not big. One time, a family that faithfully served in the church, suddenly left without giving him any explanation. I comforted him by suggesting, “Maybe God had a different direction for them, but they were too scared to tell you.  It is not necessarily that they had bad intentions by not telling you.” I tried to encourage him not to be disappointed in people, and to have faith in God. Whether it’s Moses or my Korean pastor friend, we should all have greater faith in God's ability to lead His chosen people than in the difficulties we face in the environment around us. True faith exceeds the disappointment brought by the environment. Keeping God’s promise before one’s eyes, above the difficulties, is faith. This does not mean we do not acknowledge that we will face failures in the church or in the Christians we care for.

So why did God regard Aaron as unbelieving? It seems that Aaron didn't do anything. A man in our study commented that because Aaron did nothing, that’s why he was regarded as unbelieving. I believe he was right. Aaron was a priest. He should have interceded for Moses as well as help him to overcome his weakness. But Aaron did nothing. His inaction was unbelief in the eyes of God. During the previous judgment on Korah, Aaron took the censer to intercede and it stopped the plague. This time, Aaron didn't intercede for Moses which demonstrates that he didn't fulfill his responsibilities as a priest and thus was disciplined by God. God determined Aaron’s death before he would reach the Promised Land too.

The Bible records that Moses and Aaron did not uphold God as holy in the eyes of the Israelites in this matter (Numbers 20:12). Verse 13 (ESV) concludes, "These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy." Why does it say here that God showed himself holy through them?

God’s judgment in Numbers 16 begins with Korah being swallowed up by the earth. The chapter continues to talk about the 250 elders burned by fire; 14,700 people killed from the plague; the warning of the budding of Aaron’s rod in Numbers 17; and the decreasing degree of judgment on the Israelites. We notice that God's judgment is more severe with those closer to the Holy of Holies, and with those who try to touch His authority. With those closer to the outer courtyard and whose spiritual lives are not as mature, God shows mercy. This is a basic principle of God. Moses did not represent God's disposition. Instead, he got angry. He should have showed mercy to the second generation of the Israelites when they immaturely complained. He should have taken pity on them instead of judging them, since mercy triumphs over judgment. This would have been upholding God as holy—upholding God’s holy character.

Let’s consider the difference. Moses also got angry when Korah rebelled, but God did not criticize Moses for this. Instead, God supported Moses, severely disciplining Korah and burning 250 elders with him who had rebelled against God. This included the death of 14,700 people from the plague God sent. This is an example of God's severe judgment. Thankfully, God's anger is temporary; His kindness and mercy are everlasting. Although God disciplined the first generation of Israel, he treated the second generation with kindness. The same principle exists for churches today. Sometimes we may need the courage from God to point out the mistakes of certain mature believers so that they can grow even more and serve God and others well. For immature and new believers, the reigning principle is love. If we are too strict with them, they will often stumble.

Of course, Moses knew this principle. Exodus 34:6-7 (ESV) records the Lord’s appearing to Moses. It states, "The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.’” God’s holy nature is characterized as slow to anger, especially for people whose spiritual lives are immature. His mercy prevails over His anger or judgment. Moses knew this was the character he should embody, so his disobedience was an act of deliberate sin. Moses was furious at the second generation of Israelites for violating God’s holy nature, but God, full of kindness, still gave the living water to the second generation. In this way, God upheld his own righteousness to the Israelites.

The following verses (14-22) record the story of Moses attempting to lead the Israelites through Edom. Unfortunately, the king of Edom did not allow them to pass through. When this happened, God ordered the Israelites not to contend with Edom because God gave Esau the country of Seir as a possession (ESV, Deuteronomy 2:5). Therefore, Moses requested of their king to let them pass through in accordance with the requirements set forth by God in Deuteronomy. Moses also offered to pay for the food they would eat and the water they would drink (Deuteronomy 2:6). The King of Edom still denied their request.

At this point in our bible study, the same man asked, “Are the pillars of cloud and fire going to lead the Israelites through Edom?” If God was leading them in this direction, why didn't Edom let them pass through? When Edom refused to let them pass through, what was God’s attitude? I read Amos 1 to this man, where it says that God judged Edom because Edom chased his brother with a sword. Amos 1:11 (ESV) says, “Thus says the Lord: ‘For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity, and his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever.’" We can see that God was unhappy that Edom did not let the Israelites pass through. This verse indirectly demonstrates that it was God’s plan to lead them through Edom. If God knew the king would not allow them to pass through, why did God lead the Israelites to Edom in the first place? Maybe God wanted the brothers to reconcile, or maybe he wanted the Israelites to testify to the Edomites about him, telling them how much God cares for the Israelites. Perhaps when the Edomites heard this, they would exalt God’s name and return to Him. In today’s language, we would say the Israelites were being given the opportunity to evangelize. Unfortunately, Edom refused.

Israel’s journey can be likened to a planter of the gospel. They sowed the seeds of the gospel wherever they went. As Psalm 126:5 (ESV) says, “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!” This sentence refers to the Israelites who wandered and were taken into captivity. When they were in Egypt, they sowed seeds just as Joseph testified of God's greatness to Pharaoh. When they passed through the wilderness, they sowed seeds because God’s pillar of cloud and fire went before them. They also reaped. Rahab, for example, became an ancestor of Christ. The Israelites journey went from Egypt (the world, the flesh, and the outer courtyard) to the wilderness (the soul and the sanctuary) and then to the Promised Land (the spirit and the Holy of Holies). Their journey was a continuous process of sanctification for the body, soul, and spirit. However, wherever they went, they had the tabernacle (God’s dwelling place) with them.

The same is true for New Testament Christians. Each believer is a tabernacle of God. We are constantly being sanctified. Our body represents the outer court, our soul represents the Holy Place, and our spirit represents the Holy of Holies where the Spirit of God dwells. We meet with God spirit to spirit when we pray. We also take God’s presence wherever we go, and this is the process of manifesting God to the outside world. We are carriers of God’s presence. In the end, we are all sowers and reapers.

The Israelites journey and our journeys are representations of the flowing river of life that springs forth from the throne of God (Revelation 22:1). It is alive and flowing. Edom represents our flesh (the dependents of Lot and his daughter), and our flesh cannot be dealt with by spiritual warfare or deliverance. It must be slowly and deliberately dealt with by the work of the cross. As people often say, “YOU CANNOT CAST YOUR FLESH OUT OF YOU.” The Canaanites, however, represent the strongholds of evil spirits in our lives. We need to cast these out through spiritual warfare and God's help. These are not just a matter of relying on the work of the cross. Evil spirits must be cast out through deliverance. Thankfully, God is with us. We are able to deal with the flesh and renew our souls, while also driving out the enemy and breaking the enemy's strongholds.

Let’s take a deeper look at the symbolism of the incident with the rock. God stood before Moses when He asked Moses to strike the rock the first time (Exodus 17:6). This represents the work of Christ. The first generation is symbolic of one’s flesh being dealt with by the work of cross. The second generation deals with the transformation of the soul, which is the renewal and change of the soul in the wilderness. Striking the rock the first time is symbolic of our first encounter with Christ when we receive salvation and the Holy Spirit. Speaking to the rock the second time also produces water (the life of the Holy Spirit), but this is a representation of the work of the Holy Spirit in us. As we mature, we must be prepared to speak to the rock by faith so that the Holy Spirit can work in our lives. We move from a salvation experience to mature sons and daughters.

The wilderness represents a place of trials. We are reaching the end. The Israelites' journey in the wilderness was about to end, and Moses' sister Miriam had died. The trials in the wilderness and the thirst in the desert are environments created by God to cause us to hunger and thirst in our spirits. In other words, God designed the wilderness. Because of the dryness and thirst, the Israelites called on the Lord. In fact, this is a picture of what it looks like to yearn for being filled with the Holy Spirit. This is a thirst created by God. The purpose is to cause people to pursue the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Initially, Moses didn't understand this. Whether he missed this because he was in low spirits or simply impatient, Moses suffered the consequences for it.

Christians today can experience this spiritually. When your life or ministry is brought to a point where you find yourself thirsty, suffocated, disheartened and disappointed, remember that this is an environment God created for you to allow you to see that you need the living water brought by the infilling of the Holy Spirit. This living water alone will satisfy your hunger and thirst, and it will cause you to cry out for the abundance of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, many people who carry a traditional understanding of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, fail to realize that this is a separate experience that follows salvation. Perhaps this is the mistake Moses made here. His restricted understanding toward old traditions caused him to miss out on God’s second blessing.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the second blessing Christians can receive. Many churches teach that we are filled with the Holy Spirit after we are saved, and that there is no second infilling. The Local Church Movement (LCM) teaches something similar. They believe that persons are baptized into the body of Christ once and for all because of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. They preach that it is through faith that one receives the baptism and infilling of the Holy Spirit subsequent to the salvation experience. Sometimes it’s unclear how to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit through faith. We may not clearly know what manifestations we are expecting to receive after being filled.

I tried to pursue the baptism of the Holy Spirit during my time with the LCM, but I wasn’t able to receive it. I only later received this baptism in a Charismatic church. After being baptized with the Holy Spirit, I experienced many external manifestations including stumbling (as a result of my inability to stand), speaking in tongues, receiving prophetic or other miraculous gifts, and experiencing electric currents flowing through my body. Not everyone who experiences the baptism of the Holy Spirit has the same external manifestations. I would be more concerned if there were no manifestation at all. An illustration by Derek Prince may be help us understand why this is. Prince called those who were baptized in the spirit but not speaking in tongues, elephants without a TRUNK or NOSE. It is possible that an elephant lacks a trunk due to an accident or abnormality, but the normal is that an elephant has a trunk. (After all, this is part of what makes an elephant an elephant!) In the same way, when a Christian does not speak in tongues, it does not mean they have not been baptized in the Spirit, but it should be natural that a believer can and will speak in tongues after they have been baptized. Speaking in tongues is proof that God’s Spirit has come upon them (as He did at Pentecost), and it’s important proof that one has been marked by the Spirit just as having a trunk is the marker and proof that one is an elephant. Of course, we can still tell if an animal is an elephant by seeing its big ears, big body, and other dominant characteristics, but the complete package is that an elephant has all these elements.

My experience even surprised me. When I was baptized with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit came upon me in such a way that I took a dozen steps back and fell to the ground. As I mentioned, I also experienced electric currents flowing through my head for several months. I received miraculous gifts, and I believe I can now more keenly discern things in the spiritual world. I also often have prophetic dreams of being taken to heaven and paradise. I believe that there is a second blessing Christians can receive called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I personally believe that we receive the Holy Spirit upon faith in Jesus Christ and this marks the regeneration of a person’s spirit unto eternal life. This is what is referred to in John 20:22 (ESV): “And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” However, we only receive power from on high when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit as recorded in the book of Acts. I also believe we can receive different degrees of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in various stages of our lives. It is even possible that we were baptized in the Holy Spirit without us realizing it or showing signs of any manifestations including speaking in tongues. I do encourage people to practice speaking in tongues after one is baptized in the Holy Spirit. Thankfully, if you haven’t received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you can yearn for it and you’ll be able to receive it. This experience will completely change your Christian life.

At the end of our meeting, we prayed that God would strengthen us so that we would be able to face the various trials in our lives. May we receive God’s strength and the filling of the Holy Spirit for all kinds of trials—from Egypt to the wilderness and on to the Promised Land. Let us become sowers and reapers, and never stop preaching the aroma of God’s gospel wherever we may go. The aroma lets those who reject God’s gospel to die and those who accept God’s gospel to live (2 Corinthians 2:14-15). We also pray for the Holy Spirit to fill us so that we can not only deal with the flesh but break the enemy’s strongholds. It is difficult for us to break the enemy’s strongholds without the baptism and infilling of the Holy Spirit. I encourage you to pursue this today.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                   

Joseph‘s Branches Over the Wall - God‘s Hidden Plan for America

I have been fervently praying for America. There is a fierce spiritual battle going on in this country, and it often appears that the dark forces are winning. I am convinced of a different reality, however. Defeat is not the future of America. Though our natural eyes see a bleak situation, our eyes of faith allow us to see a spiritual reality of hope and restoration. Through countless dreams, God has shown me that a great revival is coming to many countries, including America and China. The intense spiritual battles that are going on around us are the enemy’s attempt to stop these future revivals, but God’s plans will not be defeated.

 

A few weeks ago, I was invited to lead an online Chinese Christian Bible study. This group had been reading the book of Deuteronomy and learning about Moses’ prophecies regarding the Twelve Tribes. The group didn't understand the meaning of these prophecies, so they invited me to share my perspective. The Holy Spirit led me to compare Moses’ prophecies with Jacob’s prophecies in Genesis 49. Both passages offer prophetic visions about the Twelve Tribes. I believed that comparing these two chapters would give them a better understanding. As we were talking about Jacob and Moses’ prophecies of Joseph, the Holy Spirit spoke though my mouth. I began to proclaim that America is the Joseph of today and that her branches run over the wall. Each Christian who is fighting for America can also be the Joseph of today. When countless “Josephs” strengthen their bows to resist the enemy, God will begin to save the world. The difficult environment that America is currently facing will be a catalyst for change. Countless Josephs can arise making America, the collective Joseph, even stronger.

 

I felt the Holy Spirit on these words to the group. In fact, I felt as if these were God’s hidden plans for America. As we examine this prophecy deeper, it becomes obvious that the Spirit was using pictorial language based on the biblical images of trees and branches. First, I was led to Genesis 49:22 which says, “Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a fountain; His branches run over the wall.” The Holy Spirit explained this metaphor: Joseph represents America today. She is a fruitful bough. Her branches run over the wall, bearing abundant fruit all over the world. Although the archers (49:23) tried their best to attack her, her bows will be unmoved, and her arm will still be agile (49:24). God will certainly rise to help her (49:25) and bless her greatly. What a great thing to hear about the condition of America! God’s calling for America is also represented by Moses’ prophecy over Joseph: “His horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he shall gore the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth” (Deuteronomy 33:17). This verse prophetically speaks about America’s role. They should continue to play the role of the “horns of the wild ox.” That is, they should spread the gospel to every country in the world and “gore” the people and nations who resist the Gospel.

 

Joseph Is A Fruitful Vine

Let’s look deeper at the prophetic implication of these verses in Genesis. The Bible says that Joseph is a fruitful bough. He’s a lovely vine by a fountain; his branches run over the wall (Genesis 49:22). Using the same metaphor, the Lord Jesus told us, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Joseph was a branch that depended on God as his vine. Joseph was the fruit of the prayers of his mother, Rachel, after an extended period of infertility. He was his father’s favorite, a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Joseph embraced the God of his fathers and his roots were Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham. He was firmly attached to the vine of God. Even after a series of life hardships, Joseph still flourished like a vine because he was deeply rooted in the soil. We don't know how Joseph spent his years in prison, but it is not hard to imagine that Joseph stayed connected to God through prayer. Hardship and the prayer it inspires, help us root our lives and identities in God.

 

Joseph’s Branches Run Over the Wall

One of my hobbies is planting fruit trees. I also enjoy reading articles about effective horticulture. On the internet, I saw pictures of a fruit tree planted close to the neighbors' yard. A heavy bough, laden with fruit, was hanging over the fence into the next yard. In many cases, tall courtyard walls hide the branches that spill over the wall into the next yard. Because of this, the owner of the fruit tree may not be able to see the fruit hanging on the branches in their neighbor's yard.

 

Joseph originally lived in Canaan with Jacob and his eleven brothers. Suddenly, his brothers attacked him, sold him to the Ishmaelites, and brought him to Egypt. Metaphorically, we can say that the archers (his brothers) attacked him. Later, Potiphar's wife (who was another archer used by the enemy) falsely accused him of rape and sent him to prison. Genesis 49:23 describes this series of tragedies: “The archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely.” Why? Because Joseph had God’s calling on his life. God wanted to save the world through him. Because of God's calling on his life, evil spirits used humans to vigorously attack Joseph. These “archers” tried their best to attack Joseph. Psalm 105:18-19 says of Joseph, “His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron; until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.”

 

But this suffering did not knock Joseph down. On the contrary, God was with him wherever he went. God helped him, strengthened him, and turned his life into a beautiful testimony of salvation. Through Joseph, the world was saved from famine. Because of his godliness, Joseph received the firstborn rights which the eldest son, Reuben, lost because of his immorality. Joseph’s two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, received double portions of the land and became two separate tribes of Israel. This fulfills the prophecy of Genesis 49:24: “Yet his bow remained unmoved; his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel).”

 

These words of prophecy were not solely heartfelt words of blessing from Jacob to his son Joseph, but they were also words inspired by God. Jacob went on, “By the God of your father who will help you, by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents, up to the bounties of the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers" (Genesis 49:25-26). In the life of Joseph, we see an example of God’s wishes for America.

 

America, A Modern-Day Joseph

If we as Christians are rooted in the Lord, we can become like Joseph, a fruitful vine that extends over the wall. Joseph does not just represent individuals but also countries that are called by God to witness for Him. In the Old Testament, Joseph represents Israel. God wanted Israel to be His witness to the nations in order to attract them to Him.

 

Today, Joseph represents America. America was founded so that Christians could worship Jesus freely. Modern-day America is like Israel in the Old Testament: a city on a hill, a light to the world, and a witness for Jesus Christ. I have often heard it said that since its founding, America is responsible for sending more financial aid and missionary witnesses than any country in history. America is a modern-day Joseph. Her branches run over the wall, bearing fruit outside her borders.

 

I came to the United States in 2002. Although there was a Gospel revival in China at that time, most of the revival took place in rural areas where the Chinese government’s control was less strict. In cities and universities, intellectuals have almost no or little chance to hear the Gospel. So, God created an environment, allowing many Chinese scholars to study in the US. It is estimated that half of the students from mainland China who came to the US received the Gospel. Almost every campus in the US maintains campus fellowship groups to preach the Gospel to Chinese students. These groups include Chinese Christians and Chinese churches but also American Christian campus ministries such as Campus Crusade. I was saved in one of these campus fellowship groups in Southern California.

 

Without America, I may not have received Christ. After I was saved, I continued to study Christian literature available in English. I am now currently finishing a Doctor of Ministry degree program. As I have studied, I realized that the richness of American Christianity rooted me more firmly in America and in the Christian traditions of Europe and the ancient church. Although we are all rooted in Christ directly, we are also rooted in our Christian traditions through our language and culture. Many Christian works have not yet been translated into Chinese, and I would not have been able to access this information were it not for English translations available in America. Through the English Christian classics, I have become rooted in thousands of years of Christian tradition.

 

Just like Joseph was rooted by the fountain, the United States is rooted in thousands of years of rich history of European Christian civilization. Their roots go all the way back to Paul's gospel work in Europe, which can be traced back to the ministry of Jesus Christ on earth. God has called America to be rooted by the fountain, like Joseph, and send her fruit-bearing branches over the wall to many nations. As a result, however, archers are attacking America severely. Evil spirits are finding numerous ways to shoot at her, seeking to lure her into sin. Through the sins of the flesh and of the worldly nations that are against America, evil spirits attack her simultaneously from both the inside and the outside. Their purpose is to cut down America, the expansive vine that is rooted in God.

 

America Will Not Be Taken Down!

After I received the revelation about America being like Joseph, I exclaimed, “Now, they are cutting America off from its roots, which is the same as cutting me off from my roots. They absolutely can’t do that! Not on my watch!” I explained to the Chinese Christians in the meeting why I felt so strongly to resist the opposition with my proclamation, “Not on my watch!” It’s not because I’m arrogant. Instead, it’s because I’ve made up my mind to become a modern-day Joseph. No matter how hard the archers try to attack us, we must remain unmoved. Our arms must remain agile because the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob will help us. He will bless us. He will bless America, just like he blessed Joseph. The all-sufficient God of Jacob will bless Joseph with blessings of heaven from above, blessings of the deep that lie beneath, and blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

 

Each Christian has the opportunity to stand as a modern-day Joseph. Meanwhile, America is the collective modern-day Joseph. Jacob’s blessings to Joseph surpass the blessings of Jacob's ancestors, reaching the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills; these blessings will be on Joseph's head and on the crown of the heads of those who are separated from their brothers (Genesis 49:25-26). These words are for Americans today. Although I thank God for using President Trump, he is not our salvation. Our salvation comes through the rising of the Church as every Christian becomes like Joseph. As each of us rises to become like Joseph, rooted in God, our branches will bear fruit, run over the wall, and make an impact on people outside the church walls. Our relatives, friends, and those who have not yet believed in the Lord will be reached by our low-hanging branches of Christian fruit and testimony.

 

Therefore, I said, “Don’t lose hope.” I encouraged the Chinese American Christians in that meeting. Because of the current difficulties, some of them were believing the lie that America was about to be defeated and abandoned by God. “God will not abandon America,” I said. America will not be defeated. America is Joseph. Although the archers are trying to attack her, her bow remains unmoved. As American Christians wake up, they will use their agile arms to fight back. The God of Jacob will help us. This is Jacob's prophecy to Joseph and it’s the Holy Spirit’s words for America today. If American Christians ever needed encouragement, it’s now. We Chinese believers are fruits of America’s branches that ran over the wall. America’s branches have borne countless fruits and have run all over the world.

 

I don't know about the rest of the world, but I know that in America and China alone, there are millions of Chinese Christians praying for America. We stand like Aaron and Hur, who held up Moses’ hands and prayed while Joshua was fighting his battle against his enemies. There are countless Christians in other countries praying that America (Joseph) will be able to fight her battles well. This battle will end with victory. God will definitely help America because God is the Shepherd and the Stone of Israel (and America as well) (Genesis 49:24).

 

Horns Of A Wild Ox

Moses’ prophecy to Joseph has some similarities to Jacob’s prophecy. In it, Joseph received all the blessings in heaven and on earth (Deuteronomy 33:13-15). Like Jacob, Moses described Joseph as a “prince among his brothers” (Deuteronomy 33:16). In addition, Joseph was described as “a firstborn bull—he has majesty, and his horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he shall gore the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth; they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh” (Deuteronomy 33:17).

 

Joseph had authority and power. He was the steward in the house of Pharaoh in Egypt. His brothers bowed before him. Joseph dealt harshly with his brothers, even throwing Simeon in jail. In the end, he led his brothers to repent of their sins. Likewise, a modern-day Joseph will not only bring the Gospel of Life to the world but will also be a majestic bull with the horns of a wild ox. America is like Joseph in this respect as well. God has blessed her, and she has become the most powerful country in the world. She upholds justice and spreads the Gospel to the ends of the world. America will fiercely gore the nations and people who resist God and the Gospel, with the horns of a wild ox. This is why nations unite to try to knock America down. Unfortunately for them, God has already ordained Joseph's future and thus America’s too.

 

Written by Sean Song on October 19, 2021. (All scriptures are quoted from English Standard Version.)

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 26

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 26

Numbers 26 tells the story of the second generation of Israelites being counted. After the counting, God divided the Promised Land by lot. Why had the land already been divided when they hadn’t entered the Promised Land yet? God’s planned time had come and the Israelites had already been wandering in the wilderness for forty years. The first generation of Israelites had already been judged, so the second generation was tired and discouraged. God's grace and mercy were manifested at this time. He led them into the land He had promised. Although they had not yet entered the Promised Land, there is no concept of time to God. Thus, God divided the land by lot before they entered the Promised Land. Also, this time was a great encouragement to their faith, helping them have more faith in fighting against the evil spirits that occupied the Promised Land. Today, we will discuss God's perfect timing and sovereignty in the lives of both generations of Israel and in our own lives today.

God’s Promises vs. Our Experiences

This chapter starts with the Lord asking Moses to count the people of Israel a second time. The first count was in Numbers 1. At that time, the number of the people of Israel was 603,550. This time, the number of people was 601,730. These were two generations of Israelites. Both generations had a chance to enter the land the Lord promised them. But after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, the first generation fell in the wilderness because of unbelief. The second generation also had God’s promise that they would enter the Promised Land.

We must look at the problem from the perspective of the second generation. Like the first generation of Israelites, the second generation also experienced all kinds of unbelief, weakness, and failure. They might have thought, “The first generation also had the promise of God, but because of their unbelief, they were not able to enter the Promised Land. We have God's promise, but we also have failures, weaknesses, and unbelief. Will we also be disciplined by God and not be allowed to enter the Promised Land like the first generation?” It’s very normal to have this kind of thinking. For example, after God sent the flood to wipe out all humanity except Noah's family, He made a covenant with Noah with the sign of the rainbow, saying that He would never send a flood again to wipe out the earth. From here we see that God knows that people understood His warning. He made this covenant so that people would not fear His judgment by flood every time it rains. Similarly, the failure of the first generation of Israelites had a negative impact on the hearts of the second generation of Israelites.

Similar ideas have also emerged in the 2020 US election. Many Christians believed the prophecies of some prophets, saying that God chose Trump to be the President of the United States for eight consecutive years. But so far (as of March 11, 2021), this has not been fulfilled. Two attitudes emerged at this time. One attitude says that these were false prophecies. Some of the prophets who made such prophecies apologized and admitted their mistakes. Another attitude says that the prophecy was not wrong. Trump was indeed elected, but the election was stolen. These people believe that God is working behind the scenes to miraculously bring Trump back to the White House.

There is a further breakdown of beliefs among the Christians who believe in the prophecy that God chose Trump. One side believes that we didn’t repent enough, so God didn’t intervene. He handed us over to the enemy so that we would repent more. Many of God’s prophetic words are conditional. For example, God wanted to destroy Nineveh. But if Nineveh repented, God would change His mind. Similarly, God promised the first generation of Israelites that they could enter the Promised Land, but because they failed to meet the conditions of having faith, God did not bring them into the Promised Land.

Others believe that we do have enough people to repent. If Sodom had had ten righteous people, God promised to not destroy it. Currently, there are more than ten people in the United States who are repenting, and there are Christians all over the world who are praying for the United States and Trump. Because the United States has been a major light for the gospel, Christians all over the world hope that the United States can continue to be ruled by those who support Christians and the gospel. Therefore, it is not that God does not interfere with what happens here on earth, but that He has greater wisdom. He does not “play chess” according to our time and thinking. God's prophecy to save America this time is not conditional, but unconditional. The time of God has come. God wants to release a great revival in the United States and in the rest of the world. His interference is unstoppable.

Conditional vs. Unconditional Promises

Is the prophecy about the second generation of Israel entering the Promised Land conditional or unconditional? Let’s consider this in detail. First, let’s review. When Moses struck the rock the first time, God was angry and punished Moses, saying that he did not uphold Him as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel. When Korah and others rebelled, God severely judged the first generation of Israel. But when Moses hit the rock the second time, the second generation of Israelites were the ones who wanted water. God was unwilling to severely judge the second generation of Israelites because they were spiritual infants, and God's grace and mercy were far greater than His judgment on them. In our spiritual experience, the first generation of Israelites represents our old man, while the second generation of Israelites represents our immature life in Christ. Both have weaknesses and flesh, but the natures of the two are completely different. In this matter, God definitely abided by His prophetic words and brought the second generation of Israelites into the Promised Land.

It is precisely because of this, and the fact that there is no time to God, that God divided the land by lot in the wilderness for the second generation of Israelites before they entered the Promised Land. This was to increase their faith and ability, and for them to be able to fight and defeat God’s enemies when entering the Promised Land. The time of God had come. He had commanded the Israelites to wander in the wilderness for forty years. Therefore, regardless of the second generation of Israelites’ weaknesses, God had to lead them into the Promised Land. In other words, God’s promises to the first generation of Israelites were conditional. They were not united by faith with those who listened (Hebrews 4:2)^[1], and therefore could not enter the Land God had promised. But this prophecy was unconditional for the second generation, because God's sovereignty arranged them to enter the Promised Land at that time.

The Location of the Second Counting

After looking at God's timing, we will look at the importance of where they were. Let's look at two scriptures that the Holy Spirit illuminated to me as I studied this passage. The first verse is Numbers 26:3, "Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with the Israelites in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho…" This verse talks about the place where Moses and the priest counted the Israelites. Similarly, verse 26:63 repeated this phrase and said, "These were those listed by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who listed the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho." We all know that one written word of the Bible is worth a thousand pieces of gold. The Bible is written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. If it is not absolutely necessary, it was not recorded in the Bible. The apostle John said, “If every one of the things which Jesus did were to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25). From this point of view, the words repeated in the Bible must have a very important meaning. Otherwise there is absolutely no need to repeat them. Therefore, from this principle, it is very meaningful that Numbers 26 repeated the place where the counting happened.

Moab is the descendant of incest between Lot and his daughter. It is a representation of our flesh and sins in the flesh. Jericho is a city occupied by the Canaanites, the enemies of God. It represents the evil spirits and the strongholds that the evil spirits build in us. The Jordan River is a dividing line that separates the wilderness from the Promised Land. The Israelites had to cross the Jordan River to leave the wilderness and enter the land promised by God. In our spiritual experience, crossing the Jordan River represents our spiritual victory of overcoming the world, our flesh, and sin; being able to enter the abundant spiritual life God has prepared for us; being able to break the evil spirits and the strongholds built by the evil spirits in us; and defeating our spiritual enemies. This spiritual representation applies not only to the spiritual experience of individual Christians, but also to the collective spiritual experience of the Church.

Therefore, the place where the Israelites were counted has a very special spiritual significance. We can imagine ourselves as the Israelites here. They had been wandering in the flesh and in the wilderness for forty years. They were full of failures and weaknesses. But they also had God's promise and His presence. On the one hand, the place where God wanted to lead them was the land He had promised. But on the other hand, it was occupied by the enemy. The fear and lack of faith of the first generation of Israelites led to God’s anger and discipline, preventing them from entering the Promised Land. The Jordan River was also in front of them. Although the Jordan River is not as big as the Red Sea, they didn't know if God would perform miracles and dry up the Jordan River for them to cross over. They had seen their parents fail. They were also tired and discouraged, not knowing whether God would bring them into the Promised Land according to what He had promised them.

Not only do many Christians in the United States feel this way about the election, but many individual Christians also have similar situations in their lives. How many people have God's words, but are still unsure if God will fulfill His promises? This includes personal prophetic words, or universal prophetic words in the Bible (for example, “by His stripes, we are healed”). Many people believe that God will fulfill His promises, but the fulfillment is delayed. I think this is many people’s experience. In this US election, some people who believed in the prophetic words about Trump’s reelection feel this way. Is it true that God promised that Trump would be re-elected? If God really promised this, is it a conditional promise or an unconditional promise? Many people are confused.

I personally feel that God’s promise to the second generation of Israelites here is an unconditional promise. In God’s sovereignty this was the time, arrangement, and place He had planned. So, no matter the weaknesses and failures of this generation of Israelites, God would sustain them as they entered the Promised Land. He does the same for us in situations we face. We may be bound by our flesh, but He brings us into His promises and helps us defeat the enemies that lie ahead. 

How God Encourages

God's comfort and encouragement were very important at this time. God had to let the second generation of Israelites know clearly that it was His sovereign plan to bring them into the Promised Land. As God was with Moses, He promised to be with them and also with Joshua. The goal of prophecy is upbuilding, encouragement, and consolation (1 Corinthians 14:3). Prophecy is not to prove how accurate someone prophesying can be or to prove that we are able to foresee what God will do. The goal of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus Christ because His testimony is the spirit of prophecy (Revelation 19:10). Prophecy is the light in the darkness. Peter said, "We have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;" (2 Peter 1:19).

When people who prophesy focus on themselves, they often make mistakes because the focus of prophecy should not be on us, but on Jesus’ testimony and on consolation, upbuilding, and encouraging the discouraged.

For example, let’s look at modern day prophecies. Although the prophecies about Trump have caused a lot of controversy, many people who prophesy have apologized for their “false prophecies”. Unfulfilled prophecies do not mean that we should no longer prophesy or pay attention to God's prophetic words. On the contrary, we need to pay more attention to God's prophetic words and the people who share them. But what we must focus on is Jesus’ testimony and strengthening, comforting, and encouraging others. When we prophesy and release prophetic words, we must understand God's heart and His love. When we rebel against God in the flesh, God will discipline us. His promises may be delayed because of our unbelief and rebellion. In this case, the prophecies seem to be conditional. It is about whether we have faith or not.

Even if we are weak in the flesh or are discouraged with ourselves and reality, God's faithfulness and power will give us strength. Although God disciplines us, His purpose is to love us and help us be spiritually mature, not to make us fall. Therefore, when we are weak, He stretches out His steadfast hand to give us support. In the end, we will win spiritual battles not by relying on our flesh, but by the mercy and faithfulness of God, who will sustain us to the end. Whether it is a Red Sea moment for the first generation of the Israelites or a Jordan River moment for the second generation of the Israelites, the prophecies are unconditional. It is about God’s faithfulness to us. Remember that the Bible tells us, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful.” (2 Timothy 2:13)

In the Flesh or in the Spirit?

So, it is not a question of true or false prophecies, but a question of whether we are in the flesh. Similarly, it is not the law’s fault, but whether the person who obeys the law is of the flesh or the spirit. If we set our mind on the flesh, it is death, but if we set our mind on the Spirit, it is life and peace (Romans 8:6). God’s prophecy for the first generation of Israelites was not wrong. But because the Israelites were in the flesh, full of unbelief and rebellion, they were not united by faith with God’s promise. So, this promise could not be fulfilled. But the flesh of the second generation of Israelites had already been dealt with to a considerable extent after forty years in the wilderness. Although they still had their flesh, God's mercy and faithfulness held them back, allowing them to manifest God’s strength and power when their flesh was weak.

As David said, "The battle is the Lord's" (1 Samuel 17:47). 2 Chronicles 20:2 records the Moabites and Ammonites attacking Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. If the Jews represent our spiritual person, and the Moabites and Ammonites represent our flesh, we can see that the disturbances and harm of the flesh toward our spirit lasts for a long time. Even after we arrive at the Promised Land, we have to face the evil spirits and strongholds (represented by the Canaanites). We also need to face the bondage of the flesh. Faced with such a situation, Jehoshaphat said to the Israelites: "Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed." (2 Chronicles 20:20) Jehoshaphat led the Israelites to pray and praise the Lord, and they won the battle. We also need this in our spiritual journeys today.

In summary, when the time of wandering in the wilderness had passed and it was time for the second generation of Israelites to cross the Jordan, God confirmed His promise to them and brought them into the Promised Land. The spiritual meaning of counting the Israelites is like when the angel measured the temple in the Old Testament (Ezekiel 40:5). The purpose of it was to check and inspect the spiritual condition of the Israelites. Only God can measure us. In God’s eyes, when David counted the Israelites, he sinned seriously. When God was there to count the Israelites, the spiritual condition of the Israelites was measured on the scale. The Canaanites' sin had also reached its full measure, so God's time had come. Therefore, the scale has been tipped toward the judgment of darkness and evil. You can see this picture again in Revelation 8. When the prayers of the saints collected on the golden altar became full to a certain extent, the judgment of God poured down. We also know everything has a season (Ecclesiastes 3:1). The season of chastising in the wilderness was 40 years and it was fulfilled. So, God brought them into the Promised Land.

At the beginning of the Book of Numbers, God did a counting. That counting manifested the result of God's power in saving the Israelites from Egypt. The second counting manifested the result of God’s power in dealing with the Israelites in the wilderness for forty years. The former represents saving us from sin; the latter represents saving us from the world and our flesh. The last two verses of this chapter say: "But among these there was not one of those listed by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had listed the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. For the Lord had said of them, ‘They shall die in the wilderness.’ Not one of them was left, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.” (Numbers 26:64-65) These two verses show what we have discussed. In the eyes of God, the first generation of unbelievers had already died in the wilderness, and Aaron had also died. It was Moses and Eleazar the priest, the son of Aaron, who counted the Israelites this time. God's anger had also subsided. His faithfulness and mercy led the second generation of Israelites into the land He had promised them. The spiritual meaning of it is that our flesh has been crucified with Christ (crossing the Red Sea) and has been disciplined by the Holy Spirit (wandering in the wilderness and crossing the Jordan River).

Dear Christian, are you discouraged today by the situation of the world, politics, and the state of the church? Do you question whether God's promises will really be fulfilled? Do you think your weaknesses and flesh are greater than God's promise? I personally feel that the church has reached the end of flesh today, just like the end of the wilderness. God will lead us to experience a breakthrough, which is leaving the wilderness, crossing the Jordan River, entering the Land He promised, and defeating His enemies. The great revival is coming, and the political situation of the world is going to change drastically. Everything is for the development and effectiveness of the Gospel. Fellow believer, don't be disappointed and discouraged. God's faithfulness and mercy will never change. When we are discouraged and weak, He gives us His support and manifests His power. If we wait in prayer, praise, and belief in God and His prophets, we will surely triumph in the final battle. The battle is not ours, but the Lord’s!

We are entering a different age that God has planned for us to walk into. It is beyond a worldwide revival. Some people call it the third Great Awakening (as compared to the previous two Great Awakenings in the history of American Christianity). Others say that it is the second Reformation movement (as compared with the history of Martin Luther’s Reformation movement). It has been over 500 years since the Reformation. I personally believe that God has shifted us into a second reformation movement which may comprise a great revival in the church and societal transformation worldwide. Nothing can stop this as this is God’s sovereign plan. In prophetic dreams, God has shown me many details about the future revival of China and how it affects the world. After this revival, China will become a democratic nation that worships God. God has also made many personal promises to me about my role during the coming great revivals in both China and America. I have been preparing for this all my life. Don’t tell me they are not coming, as I have seen them in the spirit many times. In my view, the prophecies about Trump and American politics are unconditional. Though it looks backwards in the physical world right now, it is a setback that the enemy sent. It is NOT ABOUT Trump or politics. It is about stopping the coming revivals and reformation. I don’t know how or when God will change American politics to an administration who promotes God and the Gospel. But what I do know is this will happen. If you have an administration who promotes unbiblical values, it is like a train going in the wrong direction. The purpose is to stop the coming of this revival and reformation. I know this revival is unstoppable. The direction of this train must change. Please watch and see how our God will do the impossible.

Written by Jairus Bible World Ministries on March 11, 2021

 

 

 

[1] All Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

Phinehas’ in Today’s Church Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 25

Phinehas’ in Today’s Church

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 25

While preparing for tonight’s bible study, the Holy Spirit suddenly highlighted Numbers 25:4 (ESV) to me. I was drawn to the part where the Lord asked Moses to kill all the chiefs, but Moses asked the judges to kill all the idolaters instead. The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.”

Phinehas Stops the Plague

Details about how Moses and the judges killed people were not recorded. Instead, the Bible records Moses and the people of Israel weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. We assume that the plague had already occurred by this time. Suddenly, Phinehas came and killed a Midianite woman and the leader of a Simeonite family. It’s only at this moment that the plague stopped. I mentioned that the current COVID-19 outbreak is also a plague. There have been many sins committed throughout American history. These include abortion, homosexuality, the African slave trade, the Indian massacre, people straying from God, and schools not allowing the Bible to be taught. These sins bring God's judgment. The "Phinehas’" of the Church must stand up against these and say no to injustices and all kinds of wickedness. We must not allow authority to be given to evil spirits. When we strongly stand in opposition, God's anger and the plague will stop and His blessing will come.

We know from previous verses that the anger of the Lord broke out against Israel when the Israelites indulged in sexual immorality with Moabite women and when they worshiped the idols of the Moabites. However, I never noticed that the Lord asked Moses to kill all the chiefs in daylight so that the anger of the Lord would be averted.

Since the Holy Spirit had highlighted this verse, I continued reading to find out more. I realized that Moses did not kill all the chiefs, or at least it was not recorded here. Rather, he asked the judges of Israel to kill all those who joined in on worshipping idols. Strangely, the verse also does not record that the judges of Israel publicly executed the people as the verse indicates. We only read that Moses and the whole congregation of the people of Israel wept at the entrance. My guess is that neither Moses nor the judges could kill their loved ones. Since the plague may have already broken out by this time, perhaps many Israelites had already died because of the plague.

Right about this time, unexpectedly, an Israelite man brought a Midianite woman to his family “right before them.” The Bible uses the words "and behold" in the sixth verse of this chapter to describe the man’s action. In modern spoken language, this means this man was asking for trouble—he was flaunting his sinful act with the Midianite woman openly. When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation. He immediately took a spear and killed the Israelite and the Midianite woman. Then, the plague stopped. The Lord said that because Phinehas was jealous with God’s jealousy for the Israelites, the Lord would not consume the Israelites in His jealousy. That is, Phinehas’s zeal for God’s people to be holy was sufficient to halt God’s need to execute his jealousy. Therefore, the Lord blessed Phinehas and gave His covenant of peace to him and his descendants. The Lord stated, "It shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel" (ESV, Numbers 25:13).

The Covid-19 Plague

I mentioned to our group that thousands of people have died from COVID-19 in the United States. Shouldn’t this already be considered a plague? On one hand, this plague is an attack from the enemy. I believe this is from the enemy as an attempt to limit church gatherings and hinder the coming of God's revival. On the other hand, since God is allowing it to happen, it also shows that God's judgment is somewhere in it. How can we stop this plague?

Many people’s attitude towards this plague is one of blame. They want to blame certain people for poor leadership, and/or blame other countries. While some people may be responsible, this perspective focuses on the problems pertaining to the physical realm and not the spiritual realm. The root cause of the plague, on a spiritual level, is that people in this era, both China and the United States, have committed spiritual fornication. Therefore, in the physical realm, we suffer for it. People must wear masks, maintain 6 feet of social distance, and be injected with the coronavirus vaccine. Meanwhile, they ignore the spiritual root of the plague. If the spiritual root is not removed, it will be difficult to eradicate COVID-19. The spiritual root of COVID-19 is the same as the story in this chapter of Numbers. The world and churches, including the American church, have fallen because they have committed the sin of spiritual fornication.

But you might say that this virus came from China, so China should be blamed. Again, this makes sense in the physical realm, but not in the spiritual realm. Why? Because it would not be right to say that one nation would suffer for the sins of another. We can say that because of China's sins, idolatry, and its resistance to God, the plague came to China. However, if the United States was a country that lived in God’s perfect will, and Americans and churches lived free from spiritual fornication, then God would protect America from the plague because Psalm 91 tells us that those who take refuge in the Lord are people that have no fear of the terror of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday (ESV, Psalm 91:6). If we live according to God’s will, God will send His angels to protect us and He will not let us strike our feet against a stone.

America Has Sinned

We must admit that America has committed many sins. Some of these sins have penetrated society and become so-called "political correctness." Christians do not dare to speak against them. They even say that tolerating and accepting all people, even homosexuals and transgenders, is part of American culture. We are told we should love everyone. While we should love homosexuals and transgender people, as Christians, we should not accept immoral behavior. Many Christians dare not to speak up, and they continue giving in to the status quo. When we continue to compromise with fornication, evil, rejecting God, not allowing prayer and study of the Bible in schools, and aborting babies, we gradually join these people in worshipping idols.

There is a spiritual battle behind abortion, just as it was described in the Old Testament when Pharaoh wanted to kill all the Israelite boys and Baal wanted to use children for sacrifices. Satan and evil spirits come to steal, kill, and destroy. Child sacrifice is often demanded by certain evil spirits. This is just an example, but many Christians do not dare to say "no" to secular culture and cultural things that are unbiblical like abortion. Jesus described what would happen. Over time, the salt loses its taste and usefulness. Salt is meant to disinfect and cleanse. Phinehas acted as salt and his action made atonement for the Israelites.

The fundamental problem in American society is that the Church has forfeited its authority and place of influence. Therefore, when God comes to deal with America, His first method will be to deal with His Church. As the current plague judges the United States, there is a need for the Church’s "Phinehas" to stand up and intercede by saying "no" to spiritual fornication and idolatry. This Phinehas must strongly stand for what is right and be jealous for God's Church and His chosen people. Only by courageously challenging evil and sinful practices and structures, even challenging the churches and believers who have sinned, may we please God. If many Phinehas’ in the Church would stand up, we would be able to make atonement for the Church and American society. This would please God and stop the plague.

Many Christians who yearn for the return of the United States to its Christian foundations, support Donald Trump as a president because they see that Trump acknowledges God and supports and agrees with certain Christian values and principles. Many Christians were disheartened and disappointed when the election results surfaced, myself included. On January 5, 2021, I was very surprised seeing the election results. Yet, I had a dream that morning. I dreamt about a person fishing. This mysterious person held a fishing rod, but I couldn't see who he was. A fish had already been hooked, but the person holding the fishing rod was sliding the fish. A child in front of him held the line to help slide the fish. Fish-sliding is a common method in fishing. After a fish is hooked, the fish is not taken out of the water immediately. One should first slide the fish so that the fish's strength gradually diminishes. Only then does the fisher find a suitable opportunity to bring the fish up. If you bring the fish up immediately after the fish is hooked, it is easy for it to get off the hook and swim away. The revelation I received from the Holy Spirit regarding this dream was, “Do not be anxious, the fish has already been hooked, but you should slide it for a while before you can bring it up.”

I think this relates to the recent election. Many people were disappointed after Congress certified Biden's electoral votes and inaugurated him on January 20^th. Christians across the US prayed for Trump to be re-elected, but when he failed to win, they began to wonder whether it was really God’s will for him to be re-elected. They began to even criticize the prophets for making false prophecies. Many prophets even apologized afterward for making false prophecies. However, some other prophets and Christians did not. They still firmly believe this battle is not over. They look forward to the time when God miraculously intervenes and brings Trump back to the White House.

Recently, I was listening to a program on the Victory Channel called Flash Point. The host interviewed Pastor Bill Johnson and his wife Beni. Beni mentioned that when she prayed and sought God about the election, God told her to wait. Many prophets, including her and Kat Kerr, believe this battle is not over. Kat Kerr even said that God took her to the future where she saw that Trump had eventually won and God's chosen people went out to the streets to cheer. She also said that God told her to eat cake and celebrate this victory.

When Trump was in the White House, many people were against him and betrayed him. Things didn’t go smoothly. Although God raised him up to help Christians and help America return to faith in God, Trump couldn’t then and cannot now solve all our problems. Let’s consider his re-election: if Trump is successfully re-elected, and if the leftists still make things difficult for him, how much will he be able to do in the next four years? Or, if Trump is successfully re-elected and the Church is not revived after four years, won’t those on the left side continue to oppose God? Won’t they get stronger? Unfortunately, Trump cannot be president another four years after that, so who can American Christians rely on? We have to turn to God. Trump was and is simply a judge for a time. Like in the Old Testament, he was raised up by God to free God’s chosen people from control and turn their face back to the Lord. We certainly have to thank God for raising up the judges because the judges were greatly used by God for saving the Israelites and for bringing justice. But let’s not forget the fundamental reason why the Israelites were handed over to the enemy. The fundamental reason is that they turned away from God and worshipped idols. That’s why God handed them over to the enemy.

Let’s review. When oppressed by the enemy, the Israelites called for God's salvation. God helped them in the form of judges who were sent to bring justice and reverse the oppression. However, after they were saved, the Israelites returned to committing idolatry. Trump for a time served America and sought to put God back into the conversation of law and society. Now that he is no longer president, will American Christians continue to fight for what is right or will they surrender? It is not that God does not want to intervene, but God is using all these circumstances to cleanse the church and raise up Phinehas’ among the Church.

So, the Lord asked Moses to kill all the chiefs, but Moses did not take any action. Moses asked the judges to kill all idolaters, but the judges did not take action either. But Phinehas took action, and he killed the adulterous Midianite and the Israelite. His action greatly pleased God. Not only did it stop the plague, but it also moved God to promise him and his descendants a covenant of peace.

Where are the Phinehas’ Today?

What does the United States need today? You are making a mistake if you are putting all your hope in Trump. I still choose to believe that Trump will miraculously come back and fight on behalf of the Christians in the political realm, but if each believer in Christ does not learn to fight and become a Phinehas, Trump alone will not give us the results we want. However, Christians together can stop the plague and receive a covenant of peace from God. What action can we take for this to happen? We need to be the Phinehas of today's Church. Every Christian should rise and be salt. We should not compromise our commitment to God’s Word by mingling with the world, fornicating, committing sin, and worshiping idols. We should dare to say "no" to things that are not in line with the Bible. My advice is that we should be zealous for the churches in the United States with God’s jealousy, presenting churches in the United States as a pure and innocent virgin to Christ. When each of us rises and does this, it will greatly please God. God will then remove this plague and make a covenant of peace with America.

Dear American Christians: do not keep your eyes fixed on Trump. Rather, keep your eyes fixed on God. Pray, repent, and reflect on these things before God: Is there sin in our churches and among ourselves? Are we compromising the teachings of Christ? Have we been submitting to darkness? Do we testify about Christ anytime and anywhere in our daily lives, or are we afraid about what others think of us? I don't know when and how God will intervene on our behalf, but I know that we must be strong to be the Phinehas’ of today's church. I will no longer compromise with the world, nor submit to darkness. I'm not encouraging everyone to use violent methods—I am talking about the prohibition of spiritual fornication. It’s not a battle in the flesh but a battle in the spirit.

I prophesied that many Phinehas’ would soon rise up from our churches to overturn the curses and make room for God’s blessings. Behold, the victory is coming soon. As God told Kat Kerr, “Celebrate and eat cake!” The great victory will soon appear, and on the horizon are countless Phinehas’ arising. You can be one of them!

Written by Jairus Bible World Ministries on January 31, 2021

 

Requirements for Prophesying Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 24

Requirements for Prophesying

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 24

 

The verses that inspired us after reading Numbers 24 were verses 15-16. What particularly caught our attention is the description of the prophet Balaam. We realized the need for the Church and Christians to be people who replicate these verses: "whose eye is opened, who hears the words of God, knows the knowledge of the Most High, and who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered” (ESV, Numbers 24:15-16). If we become such people, we will also prophesy and help others to hear and see God. We would see Christ in everything and everyone, preach the gospel confidently, and bring people from the kingdom of darkness into God's Kingdom of light.

 

Meant To Be A Blessing

Numbers 24 is about the king of Moab, Balak. The king of Moab invited the Gentile prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites. After Balaam’s two failed attempts to curse them, he went into the wilderness. There, the Spirit of God came upon him and he blessed the Israelites (Numbers 24:3-9). After this blessing, Balak became angry with Balaam and would not honor (pay) Balaam. Balaam responded by stating that even if Balak were to give him his palace full of silver and gold, he still would only say what the Lord asked him to say.

 

Balak is a Moabite, and Moabites are descendants of Lot. Deuteronomy 2 records that God told Moses not to contend with the Moabites in battle because God gave the land of Ar to Lot’s descendants, and not to the Israelites. We recall from Numbers 23 that God wanted to bless the Moabites. The purpose of God leading the Israelites to pass through Moab and pay for their food and water was so that the Israelites and Moabites could reconcile. God was hoping to use Israel’s passage through their land as an opportunity to bless Moab.

 

Why? Because Abraham’s and Lot’s servants had fought, which led Lot to move to Sodom, and Abraham to go to the Promised Land. Later, God would judge Sodom. Since Sodom did not have 10 righteous people, the city was destroyed. Abraham interceded so that God would save at least Lot. Although Lot was saved, his wife became a pillar of salt because she looked back at Sodom in disobedience to the angels’ command. Afterward, Lot's daughters plotted to have incestuous relations with Lot which resulted in the people groups of the Moabites and Ammonites. People and races who commit incest will inevitably be discriminated against. There must have been a lot of humiliation in the environment where the Moabites grew up. We can even see and feel that this existed when we read about the Moabites in the Book of Ruth. Naomi's husband and sons were even judged and died in Moab.

 

It is not difficult to understand why the Moabites regarded the Israelites with so much hatred and prejudice. God told the Moabites over and over through the Gentile prophet Balaam that He had blessed Israel. Yet, God wanted Israel to reconcile with Moab so that blessings could come to Moab. Even the birth of Christ through the Israelites was intended to be a blessing to the Moabites. This was God’s plan. However, because of the Moabites’ distorted mindset and fear, they were taken advantage of by the enemy to believe that God would not bless them. The Moabites even became Satan’s tool to attack God’s chosen people. After repeated refusal to repent, God's curse came upon Moab. God really wanted to bless Moab, but because the Moabites were obstinate and refused to forgive and accept the Israelites, they were tricked by Satan into engaging in sexual immorality and a plague followed. The plague was punishment aimed at dealing with the sinful activity they engaged in; the Moabites suffered for this sin.

 

Beware of Spiritual Fornication

Today, the spiritual situation of many people in churches is the same as those in Moab. We commit errors of spiritual fornication by harboring unforgiveness and entertaining ungodly thoughts and prejudices. We give the enemy and evil spirits the opportunity to build strongholds in us, even to the point of us being used to oppose God and His anointed people. For example, I read a true story about a woman who was harassed by her father and other men. Afterward, she became full of hatred toward men. This hatred turned into a stronghold reinforced by evil spirits and she became possessed by demons. In the case of this woman’s deliverance, the first step to her freedom was leading her to forgive the men who hurt her. When she released forgiveness, she dispossessed the evil spirits. She removed their authority to possess her and abide in her. On the contrary, if she had refused to forgive, the deliverance ministers would have been limited as to what they could do since she would still be granting the demons a home. No matter the conflict, if we do not learn to forgive, we will be opening doors to the enemy to set up strongholds in our lives. Everyone must learn to forgive and accept people according to God’s perspective so as not to commit the same mistakes as the Moabites.

 

Blessings in Disguise

In many cases, things that come to us are brought by God to bless us, but these blessings are often blessings in disguise. They may not look like blessings on the surface, but God’s hand is actually behind them. I have had many experiences like this. For example, for a period of time in both my work and family life, I repeatedly had to deal with people who were strict and stern with me. At the beginning, I complained to God asking Him why He allowed such things to happen to me. I later understood. God used those people to become a blessing to me by allowing me to examine my shortcomings, repent and confess, and learn to become a more mature and humbler follower of Jesus. In the end, I was helped and blessed. As Hebrews 12:11 (ESV) says: “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

 

The first reaction of the Moabites when they saw the Israelites was fear. They did not expect that God wanted to bless them through Israel. If the Israelites had been given water and food and were warmly received and cared for by the Moabites when they passed through Moab, God would have greatly blessed the Moabites. We know this because God established a principle when He made a covenant with Abraham that whosoever blesses Israel will be blessed and whoever curses Israel will be cursed. God's purpose of allowing the Israelites to pass through Moab was to give the Moabites a chance to treat the Israelites kindly and receive a blessing. Deuteronomy 2 records that God even commanded Moses to buy water from the Moabites instead of freely consuming it from their land. God hoped that the Moabites would respond by treating the Israelites with generosity and respect.

 

Elements of Prophecy

Let’s continue with Numbers 24:17-19 (ESV). It says: "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!”

 

A man in our group asked, “To whom are these words directed to?” and “Who is ‘the one from Jacob who shall exercise dominion’ in verse 19?” I pointed out what Balaam said to Moab. Verse 14 (ESV) says: "Now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.” Balaam left and returned to his hometown, but before he left, he prophesied again telling Moab how the Israelites would treat the Moabites and other nations in the future. This prophecy includes salvation and punishment. Salvation in the sense that Christ, as a star, will rise from Jacob, and Christ will become a blessing given by God to all nations through Abraham. Christ will bear all the sins of the world as well as the sins of Lot and Moab. The punishment part is referring to God’s judgment which would also rise through Israel to other nations. Discipline will come to nations such as Moab and Edom. In verses 18-24, Balaam’s prophecy also mentions the judgement of other nations, including Edom, Amalek, Kenite, and Asshur. Then, it is recorded in verse 25 that Balaam went back to his place, and Balak also went his way.

 

Prophecy often has two aspects to it. One aspect to prophecy is like a close-up camera shot. It’s the part of prophecy that addresses the here and now, or soon-coming state-of-things. Balaam’s close-up prophetic word addresses the history of Israel and includes God’s impending judgement on Moab and Edom through Israel. Verses in the book of Numbers support that God specifically ordered Moses to punish the Moabites for inciting fornication. God punished Moab through Moses and later Moab (Edom) would become subject to King David. The other view of prophecy is like a far-off camera shot. In the case of Balaam’s prophecy, this would be the reference to Christ coming in the future. Moses even also said that one day God would raise up a prophet like him, and the Israelites must listen to him. Those who do not listen to Him will be cut off (Deuteronomy 18:18). This is talking about Jesus Christ. Jesus even affirms this himself when he says, "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he (Moses) wrote about me" (John 5:46).

 

Prerequisites to Prophesy

Verses 15-16 tell us three things: the kind of person who may prophesy for God; the kind of person that we need to be to become the channel of God's prophetic words and blessings to others; and the kind of person that we need to be to better understand God's prophetic words.

 

Verses 15-16 (ESV): "The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered..."

 

Many prophetic words of the Bible appear in the form of hymns. The Holy Spirit uses hymnal form to prophesy, and these hymns often have a special meter or rhythm. We can learn how to distinguish which prophetic words are God’s true prophecies by checking whether these prophecies have a meter. Do these meters exceed what the person who prophesies can do? Balaam’s prophecy is a hymn. I have highlighted all the meters in bold and I share my thoughts on each.

 

First, we must be someone whose eye is opened. When the prophet Elisha and his servant Gehazi were under attack by the enemies of Israel, the servant became afraid. Elisha told him, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Elisha prayed that God would open Gehazi's eyes. Afterward, Gehazi saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (ESV, 2 Kings 6:15-17). We too have to look with spiritual eyes. We need to see God’s work amidst our complicated world. We cannot be like Moab who failed to see or recognize the hand of God or His work through the Israelites. We cannot be blind. Society is full of chaos, and social media is full of rumors. As Christians and churches, are our eyes open? Are we people who can see what God is doing in the Spirit? Or are we people who just simply follow the crowd and become panic-stricken when there’s a straw blowing in the wind?

 

God has given me prophetic dreams about a major upheaval that will come to the world, and the purpose of it is to shake all the nations that can be shaken so that people will repent and seek God. In one prophetic dream, I saw an angel stretching out a huge stick from heaven straight into the ocean, and he began to stir. After which, I saw surging waves rise from the ocean and many houses were destroyed. I understand that God will raise up upheavals to break humanity from the status quo. To those who live according to God's will, God will guard them. We should take advantage of these upheavals to preach the gospel and bring many people into God’s Kingdom.

 

We must see through appearances to perceive the essence of things as they are in the unseen realm. We should perceive God’s hands in the things happening in this world and see God working through people and things. We need to see God's perfect plan amidst the imperfect exteriors. We have to be able to see past the sinful surface to find God's beautiful and good nature. We need to see the beauty of God in the ugliness of people. We need to overcome the weaknesses of our flesh to become spiritually capable of fathoming things in the Spirit. We need to be people whose eyes are opened in the Spirit. Are you such a person?

 

If you are, you will be a blessing to many people around you. If the Church becomes like this, it will also become a great blessing to the world. Let’s not be blind with covered eyes, unable to receive and fathom spiritual things. We don’t want to be the blind trying to lead the blind. Naturally, both will fall into a pit (Matthew 15:14). One of the main reasons why society remains sinful, blind, and unaware of God and His salvation is because the Church has yet to mature and embrace their calling of giving light and reconciliation to the world.

 

Second, we must be a person who hears the words of God. Do you often hear the voice of the Holy Spirit? Do you treasure hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit? If you have not heard it recently, when was the last time you heard his voice? If you have never heard it, have you ever fasted and prayed to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit? Are there any obstacles between you and God? Do you have any hidden sins that prevent you from approaching God and listening to His voice? Have you repented of and confessed your sins? As Christians we should always hear God speaking to us. The Bible is “logos,” the sure Word of God. We must consistently meditate on the Scriptures and eat God’s Word so that it turns into rhema (timely words of God). We can do this by reading and praying (pray reading). Do you pray read and meditate on God’s Word every day?

 

At the same time, churches must admit the existence of prophets nowadays. They must humble themselves and listen to God's words through the prophets. Many people think that there are no more prophets today. This is a false teaching. God has recovered a lot through the prophetic movement today. Although the prophetic movement is still immature, and many prophets have flaws, God is still speaking through them. The Lord Jesus said, “The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward” (ESV, Matthew 10:41). The Lord did not say that this sentence only applies to the Old Testament. Perhaps one of the rewards of the prophets we can receive today is to hear God's words for this age. We know that "where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint" (ESV, Proverbs 29:18). When the church neglects the gift of prophecy or the office of prophets, it often loses its prophetic vision. The New Testament also teaches us that we should not despise prophecies, but test everything and hold fast to what is good (ESV, 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21). Let’s continue to strive to be people that hear God’s words, especially through the prophets He has given.

 

Third, we must be someone who knows the knowledge of the Most High. In the Local Church Movement, we use a term called "God's economy," which means "God's plan." What is God's plan? What was God's plan for people throughout history until now? God's plan was and is to redeem us in and through Christ—to become His chosen people, prepare Christ's bride, and in the end, become Christ's army and reign with Him.

 

What is God's plan for this age? Are we facing the last days? Is the Lord Jesus coming soon? Many people believe the end of the world is near. The darkness we are facing is unprecedented, so the end of the world must really be getting closer. Rumors of the coronavirus, vaccines, and various wars are all portrayed as scenes of the last days. However, I personally don’t think that we have reached the end of the world yet. An American prophet, Katt Kerr, believes that the heavenly Father told her that the last days are still far away. The enemy hopes that the last days come in advance, but God has a beautiful plan for this age—for a great revival to come to the world.

 

In 2016, I sought God’s healing due to my wife’s infertility and I went to a prophetic conference. After I got home, the Holy Spirit asked me a question about China's great revival that was mentioned in the conference. In my conversation with the Holy Spirit, I understood that God is planning to bring a great revival to China, and perhaps more than 100 million people or more will be saved. A Korean prophet also told me that the 21st century is the time that God will evangelize China. There are about 100 million Christians in China. If 100 million more are saved, that’s 200 million people in total. If more people are saved in this great revival, China will still only be 80% Christian like the United States once was before. Evangelization in China will take several generations. God is not in a hurry to bring the end of the world. He will give us enough time to evangelize. The Church is far from being spiritually mature enough, and the glory of God has not yet filled the whole earth as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). But this day will come. Before the glory of the Lord fills the earth, the end of the world will not come.

 

Fourth, we must become someone who can see the vision of the Almighty. “Almighty” in Hebrew is elyon, meaning the Most High God. We must see God. Many people know God in terms of knowledge and doctrine, but they lack personal experience from encountering Him. This is a big shortcoming. In particular, many traditional churches devote more attention on gaining biblical knowledge than on believers having personal encounters with the Lord through pursuing the gift of prophecy or other supernatural gifts. Traditional churches even discourage the use or pursuit of the gifts and the supernatural. The result of this is a withering Body of Christ.

 

On the other hand, I’ve observed many people having personal encounters with the Lord in Pentecostal churches. As a result of these encounters, a new culture was created—one that focuses on encountering God. Many people now term this culture “Encounter Culture.” The emergence of this kind of culture is based on many people’s lack of personal encounters with the Lord in traditional churches. I have seen that this kind of experience blesses the people who engage in it. Many people in the Toronto Revival experienced God personally too. My own personal encounter with God when I was in the Local Church Movement changed me a lot. My experiences with the Lord in tangible and supernatural ways have only increased as I have sought to pursue the gifts of the Holy Spirit and engage more in a Pentecostal church. This includes experiences of being taken to heaven and talking with Jesus. These experiences have become great blessings to me.

 

But the pursuit of personal encounters with the Lord cannot replace our study of Bible. These two are interconnected and they need to complement each other. Pursuing only personal, subjective experiences will result in a weak foundation of biblical truth and will leave us gullible to deception by evil spirits. Pursuing only knowledge and biblical principles while denying and neglecting subjective experiences will cause us to wither and lack in zeal and prophetic vision from the Lord. Let us be willing to pursue both.

 

Fifth, we must be someone who falls down with our eyes uncovered before God. In another prophetic dream, I was taken to heaven to see the Lord Jesus. While waiting in line, I was given a robe to put on. Before I could even enter the door, I fell to the ground by a tremendous force, and it left me unable to stand. Then I heard the powerful voice of the Lord say, "Get up." I immediately gained strength. Upon entering, I saw the Lord sitting inside and He called me by my English name, Sean. This was a very shocking experience for me; it is an indescribable feeling when you hear the Lord Jesus personally calling your name. I have an idea of what it means to fall down before the Lord. Do you?

 

A person who can prophesy for the Lord or understand God's prophetic words more deeply will be someone who satisfies the above conditions. It’s only when we become such a person can we speak or understand God's prophetic words. And it’s only when we become this person that God will entrust prophecies to us. Otherwise, our understanding of the Bible will likely only scratch the surface of things we could know. Our knowledge of the Word will help us have more subjective experiences of Him and our subjective experiences and personal encounters will bring us to a higher spiritual level in the Spirit to better understand His Word. These two coexist in a complementary relationship. Valuing only one and neglecting the other will cause us to become biased in understanding God's Word. However, if we combine these two, we can prophesy better and understand the prophecies in the Bible better as well. Concluding, we should avoid being like Balaam who had a heart of greed while being gifted in prophecy. Likewise, we do not want to be the Moabites who could not hear the words of God because they maintained a veil of hatred and prejudice over their heart. How wonderful it is to have a pure heart in service to God and be followers who are willing to listen to Him!

 

 

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 12- A Discussion of Gifts

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 12- A Discussion of Gifts

Our discussion in Romans 12 begins with a focus on verse 3. This verse says, "For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned." A man asked me a question about this. He said, “What is the direct relationship between this verse and the previous verses? Why does Paul mention this here? What does it mean to think with ‘sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned’?”

We must understand that the background of the book of Romans is the fierce conflict between the Jews and the Gentiles. This conflict caused all the Jews to leave Rome in the time of Claudius (Acts 18:2). At that time Priscilla and Aquila left Rome and traveled to Corinth. Corinth is where they met Paul, the apostle. Since all three of them were tentmakers by trade, Paul remained there and helped to build tents.   Perhaps it was prior to the time that Paul was burdened to write the Roman Church. He was also urged to write the book of Romans because he was determined to go to Jerusalem, and he was uncertain if he would leave Jerusalem alive and eventually visit Rome.

Racial conflicts in society usually penetrate the church. Therefore, in our study of Romans, we have also mentioned that one of Paul’s burdens was a hope that both the Jewish and Gentile believers of the Roman church could accept each other and live in peace. This may also help us understand Paul’s words in the highlighted text. Paul is admonishing both Jewish and Gentile believers to see each other’s strengths and not to think highly of themselves.

Spiritual Gifts in the Body of Christ

I shared that there are two great problems with Christians or churches. The first is that they think highly of their own gifts or callings but belittle the gifts and callings of others. Secondly, they look down upon their own gifts and callings but admire or even envy the gifts of others.

First of all, this is true among individuals. Paul uses the different parts of the body as a metaphor in Romans 12:4-8. Each of us is a member of the body of Christ, and each of us has our own function. Both the mouth and tongue are parts of the body, but they have different functions. With regards to the function of speaking, they are both indispensable. But if the mouth thinks too highly of its gift and acts like it does not need the tongue’s cooperation, it cannot speak alone. If the tongue feels that its work is less efficient than the mouth’s, it may belittle itself, become envious of the mouth, and give up its function. Again, the mouth would not be able to speak.

This is what “to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” means. We need to know and understand the measure of faith, the calling, and the gifts that God has given us. First, we need to do our part. When we do our part, we can complement each other and accomplish God's work.

From the body’s perspective, it is important that the mouth does not attempt to control the tongue or likewise. To produce a cohesive outcome such as eating or talking, the two must agree to work together.  The same must also be done spiritually. Therefore, when Paul talked about us being different members of the body of Christ, he specifically mentioned that we use our gifts “according to the grace given to us.” Romans 12:6-8 lists these gifts and how we should use them: “if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. When we are faithful to the talents and gifts that God has given us, God will multiply our gifts.

For example, you may only have the gift of preaching at first. You have shared the gospel and people were saved so you are now an evangelist. As you begin to teach these newly saved believers the truths of the Bible, you gradually develop the gift of teaching. Because you need to shepherd them, you will also develop the gift of pastoring. When the number of people or even churches you lead increases, you will become an apostle. Of course, if you pursue the gift of prophecy, you might be an apostolic prophet.

My Gifting

Allow me to use a personal example to further explain. I left the Local Church Movement (LCM) in 2015 to study in the charismatic church. There I encountered many people with prophetic gifts. When they met me for the first time, many people said, “You have the gift of teaching. God has given you a gift in which once you understand a truth, you can express it in a language that others can understand.” Many people have prophesied to me like this. They have the gift of prophecy and I can confirm this because they do not know about my experience in the Local Church Movement. The LCM practices prophesying in the way of forth-telling [see note at the bottom] and PSRP (pray-reading, studying, reciting, and prophesying). It encourages every brother and sister to learn to speak for the Lord. Therefore, many brothers and sisters in the Local Church Movement have the gift of teaching. The Local Church Movement’s position is that everyone prophesies. If speaking is not your natural talent, everyone will say amen and encourage you. Everyone dares to speak over time, and everyone is granted the opportunity to learn to speak. Everyone is afforded the opportunity to speak with boldness.  Since the church encourages everyone to study the Bible diligently, many people have the ability to teach to some extent. Everyone can speak boldly.

In 2015, I had been attending meetings in the Local Church Movement for 13 years. My wife and I had been married for almost 10 years but we were infertile. Therefore, it was my hope to seek help from some brothers and sisters who were attentive to the voice of the Lord and could help us understand God’s will. We needed direction on how to be healed. But no one could help me in the Local Church Movement.  Later, under the leading of the Holy Spirit, I visited some charismatic churches and met some Christians with prophetic gifts. They could see prophetic visions or receive miraculous revelations after praying. Some people even saw in their prophetic vision that we would have a child and shared that with us, which became our comfort in difficult times. Some of these prophetic words have yet to occur. But in general, there was indeed some hope and comfort for us at that time. Later, God also spoke personally to me. After this, we had our miracle baby! During the process, I realized that the gift of prophecy is real and that I was very eager to pursue it. I studied and completed the prophetic class offered by Randy Clark’s Global Awakening. I continued to learn and practice. Gradually I was able to activate the gift of prophecy. Although the gift has been stirred up within me, it must mature. I have started to have many prophetic dreams and some prophetic visions. Although these gifts are very controversial for many Christians, my experience is real, and I did experience an increase in my measure of faith and in my gifts.

Because the Local Church Movement does not acknowledge, understand, or teach the gift of prophecy (in the sense of foretelling), it was naturally impossible for me to learn or grow in the gift of prophecy in its meetings. Using your gifts is like exercising.  if you exercise a muscle often, this muscle will be naturally strong; but if you do not exercise or never use a certain muscle, this muscle will not be strong.

The reason why the Local Church Movement does not teach the gifts of prophecy in terms of foretelling is based on the inaccuracies of many foretelling prophecies in the Pentecostal churches, including revivals or earthquakes that did not come as prophesied. This judgment is true, but the gift of prophecy was immature at that time when the leaders of the LCM made such conclusions. There have been more developments and progress since that time. But the Local Church Movement completely closed this door based on its bad experience from the past. As the saying goes, they “threw the baby out with the bathwater.” Another saying, “Misuse is not the excuse to not use," does a better job of explaining what they should have done. There are many misuses of gifts in the history of the Charismatic Movement, but the misuse of gifts is not an excuse for us to neglect gifts.

The Local Church Movement does not advocate for or teach miraculous healing because they believe that pursuing miraculous healing will make believers pay less attention to spiritual life and growth. However, on the other hand, if our bodies cannot be healed, it would conversely limit the spiritual growth of believers. My own needs were not met in the Local Church Movement. Didn’t this prove that I was missing something? My experience is unique to me, but common to the body of Christ. I shared my experience on YouTube and WeChat, and believers from the Local Church Movement in the United States and China wrote to me to affirm my experience. They also discussed with me how to get healed. Although the gift of healing is new to me, it is being developed so that God can use me to help others. After talking to others who share similar beliefs, we all agreed that the Local Church Movement does not teach or exercise the complete five-fold gifts as described in Ephesians 4:11-13.

Therefore, in addition to the gift of prophecy, I also pursued the gift of healing. I went to New York to attend the healing meeting of Kenneth W. Hagin, the son of Kenneth E. Hagin, and asked him to pray for me to receive the gift of healing. After some hesitation, He said “This is entirely up to God.” He reluctantly prayed for me. However, I had a prophetic dream that night. In the prophetic dream, I saw Jesus telling me from a high place that He had given me the gift of healing. I said, “I didn’t receive it.” Then the Lord said, “Raise your right hand.” I then raised my right hand. A current flowed through my hand. Then the Lord Jesus asked me to raise my right arm again. This time the heat current flowed through my entire arm. Later, many people with prophetic gifts said that God has bestowed on me the gift of healing to help me steadfastly pray for my wife. God healed my wife through my prayers which resulted in a miraculous pregnancy!

Just as my prophetic gift is currently dormant, my gift of healing is also limited. In addition to my wife, I have prayed for many other people. Not many have received healing. However, when I look back on my experience over the past few years, my measure of faith and my gifts have indeed increased. Although there is still room for improvement, I have made progress.

I am thankful to the Local Church Movement for its help of activating the gift of teaching and spiritual growth.  I also thank the charismatic church for helping me activate the gift of prophecy and the gift of healing. My gifts may be limited, but God’s gifts are unlimited. We cannot think highly of the gifts of our teachers and belittle the gift of prophecy in other people (or vice versa).

How Teaching and Prophecy Fit Together

Rick Joyner, a well-known prophet in charismatic churches, compared the gift of teaching with the gift of prophecy, thinking that these two gifts need to balance each other. He said that prophets often receive revelation from God, but if there is no balance with the gift of teaching, they often are in danger of teaching heresy. For example, in history, "Mountainists" paid a lot of attention to the gift of prophecy. They declared that they had received special revelation. In the end, they taught wrong truths, which had a great impact on the misunderstanding of the gift of prophecy by Christianity in later generations. Another example is William Marrion Branham, who was a prominent figure in the healing and charismatic revival in the 1950s. He had a keen gift of prophecy. He could often tell the symptoms of patients and heal them. But in his later years, he taught heresy and wrong truths, even calling himself Elijah. Therefore, the gift of prophecy needs a balance of the gift of teaching so as not to go to extremes.

The gift of teaching also needs the balance of the gift of prophecy. Many traditional churches only give importance to the gift of teaching. They deny, neglect, or belittle prophetic gifts. Gradually, teaching tends to become dogma. If the church lacks prophetic vision, it will gradually face spiritual death. This is the result of over-emphasizing the gift of teaching and neglecting the gift of prophecy. The Bible says that, “Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint.” (Proverbs 29:18). Many people may feel that “casting off restraints” here may be too serious, but the fact is that many churches are spiritually dead. The reason is that they have too much teaching. They lack fresh words from the Lord or fresh encounters with the Lord. It is not that we don’t need the gift of teaching. But if we only value the gift of teaching, the situation that Solomon said will happen: "My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh” (Ecclesiastes 12:12) This does not mean that we should not study, but that studying should be combined with experience. Prophetic visions and prophetic dreams are our subjective communication with the Lord. They belong to the category of prophetic experiences. They are to know the Lord through subjective experience. Meanwhile, reading the Bible and studying are to know the Lord in objective truth. They belong to the category of the gift of teaching. They are to know the Lord through knowledge. These two need to balance each other. We need both the knowledge of the Lord and experiences with the Lord.

The Gifts In Practice

After I left the Local Church Movement, I visited many churches. I observed that every church has a different assignment before God. Some churches focus on teaching the truth. Some churches focus on worship. Some focus on 24-hour prayer and worship. Some focus on fasting and prayer. Some focus on religious ceremonies. Some focus on saving the children's ministry. Some focus on caring for the poor, and so on and so forth. Every church and every denomination has a call from God. But the disagreement between churches is often because they regard God’s call to themselves as God’s most relevant call. Actually, this is not the case at all. We might reverence our own call as the most important, but it does not necessarily mean that what we are called to do is the most important thing to God. Because each of us has a limited energy, we can only focus on one thing. God has a titanic size workload.  Therefore, in God's eyes, different churches are different members of His body. They work together to accomplish His perfect plan.

If we regard God's calling to us as God's entire work, or as God's most central work, and neglect to learn, understand, and cooperate with other people's callings and gifts, we will easily wither or become biased. Because we are different members of the body, those of us with the gift of teaching need to balance those with the gift of prophecy. Those who have the gift of prophecy need to balance those with the gift of teaching.

If you pay attention to the situation of different churches, churches that value gifts but are not solid enough in God’s Word are often prone to have wrong teachings on the truth or not have enough spiritual maturity. This type of church falls apart easily as they tend to be lukewarm, unrooted, and not disciplined.

The churches that value the teachings of the Bible, but not the gift of prophecy, have a lot of knowledge, but without God’s anointing and not exercising gifts at the appointed time, they tend to be confined to their ivory towers. Such churches often think they know the truth, but many of their teachings are full of tradition-based knowledge. Often, they are not strong enough in the operation of the Holy Spirit. They, along with their followers, often die and wither spiritually. Such churches are often prone to legalism.

I just cited two gifts -the gift of teaching and gift of prophecy for comparison. There are other gifts that are also vitally important. For example, many churches do not attach importance to the work of deliverance ministry, which will gradually lead to many problems. There are controversies about the gift of apostleship and whether there are apostles in the church today. But I believe the apostolic ministry is still vital today. Due to time constraints, we will not discuss other gifts in detail here.

Unity in the Body

Therefore, in addition to individual Christians needing to admit that their faith and gifts are limited and thus need to be paired with those of other members of the body, churches must also admit this fact. Unity in the church is not conformity. In order to achieve unity in the church, the church must recognize the diversity in churches and their different callings before God. The unity in the church does not lie in any one method. It comes from a oneness in the understanding of the knowledge of God's truth.

Let’s consider the following example. In the early years, the Local Church Movement practiced gathering in Los Angeles in accordance with the locality’s principles and on the basis of oneness. A group that advocated speaking in tongues had gathered with the Local Church Movement on the basis of oneness. But in the end, everyone had a different understanding of speaking in tongues. This caused a separation. Although the leader hoped that everyone would put aside their differences and attend meetings on the basis of oneness, they still could not be at peace with each other. 

I left the Local Church Movement and went to the charismatic movement in 2015. After experiencing the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues there, I realized that speaking in tongues is an important truth in the Bible, which is essential to a Christian’s spiritual experience. Speaking in tongues is not what many people think, the smallest gift among the gifts. Speaking in tongues is a very important gift and a requirement for the growth of other spiritual gifts. Many people need to pass this requirement first before they can pursue more gifts, and even spiritual maturity (though speaking in tongues itself will not guarantee spiritual maturity). If used properly, speaking in tongues can help believers to obtain more maturity. There is a lot of controversy about this truth, but remember that Paul specifically asked the church not to forbid speaking in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:39). He said that he spoke in tongues more than anyone else (1 Corinthians 14:18). But many churches have actually forbidden speaking in tongues, which is inconsistent with Paul's teaching. I don’t have time here to explain the truth about speaking in tongues. But for people who understand its importance, it is difficult to stop speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues is a gift.  Although I don’t need to speak in tongues in meetings, I know that people who don’t speak in tongues lack knowledge of certain spiritual truths and spiritual experiences regarding tongues. I do not force others to speak in tongues, so others do not need to force me to quit praying privately in tongues. The difference in understanding of this basic truth caused the church to split into two major divisions. Who says that speaking in tongues is the smallest gift? If it is, why does the smallest gift cause the biggest split in Christianity? Does this make sense? It is evident that speaking in tongues is a very important truth. It is a truth and gift that the enemy strives to prevent Christians from knowing and practicing. The purpose is to prevent Christians from growing up in their spiritual life and receiving spiritual gifts to fight him.

Of course, counterfeit tongues and the fleshy situation of Christians who are speaking in tongues have always existed, whether in the Corinthian church or the modern church. There are also many wrong teachings about speaking in tongues. For example, the statement that “speaking in tongues is necessary for salvation” is not in line with the Bible. This will cause the people who don't understand about speaking in tongues to stumble. But as we said earlier, “Misuse is not the excuse to not use.” In fact, this is another method used by the enemy to attack the truth about speaking in tongues to make people misunderstand it and to stigmatize it. When anything is stigmatized, it is often more important.

Consider the example of speaking in tongues. I pointed out that the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movement, which is comprised of 600 to 700 million Christians, cannot be in oneness with other evangelical denominations which have around same number of people. This is because everyone’s understanding of the truth is not in oneness, and everyone’s lives are not mature enough. Under this premise, any method, including the basis of "oneness in our locality" (which may be a good method and in line with the Bible) won’t bring people into oneness. The problem does not lie in the method but in us.

Under these circumstances, if you insist on oneness, there will be two results. One is organizational unity, such as the Catholic Pope and the different levels of religious systems trying to maintain oneness. The other is trying to unite us in a coalition. But often you are friends only on the surface. Neither method can achieve true oneness.

Andrew Murray said that the division between churches and denominations lies in the fact that they have not allowed themselves to be filled more with God’s Holy Spirit. He gave the following example. He said it’s like when the tide goes down, shoals appear one after another. Each shoal is like one denomination. There are fish in it. Everyone does their own thing there; they shepherd their own fish. The barriers of the shoals are like the barriers of the denominations. Only when the tide rises will all barriers be removed and will oneness be achieved. The true oneness is for the Holy Spirit and the Lord’s glory to fill the earth. People's knowledge of the Lord fills the land as when the water fills the sea. Before this, no method can let us achieve oneness.

I told the brother who asked this question that there is no need to pursue oneness just for the sake of pursuing it. Our oneness with the Lord is enough. Slowly, as the body of Christ grows in stature, a better understanding of the truth will slowly bring about oneness. Oneness is made by the Holy Spirit, not by us humans. Before that, learning to love one another is the most important.

In conclusion, let us review the four sections of Romans 12, which sums things up well. The first section tells us to “present our bodies as a living sacrifice, which is our spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). The second section tells us we should “be transformed by the renewal of our minds” (Romans 12:2). The third section tells each of us we should look at ourselves “according to the measure of faith God has assigned.” We should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, and we must use our gifts alongside those of other believers. But at the same time, we must also yearn for an increase in the measure of faith and an increase in gifts. The fourth section is a reminder that there should be love in everything. Love one another with brotherly affection, love your enemies, and live in harmony with one other. (Romans 12:10, 14, 18) When we live out love, we live out oneness.

Perhaps this was Paul's burden for the Jew and Gentile believers in the Roman Church.

 

Note on forth-telling: “Foretelling is the declaration of future events as revealed from the Lord, pertaining especially to the kingdom of God

Forth-Telling is to utter forth, declare, a thing which can only be known by divine revelation; declare the divine will, to interpret the purposes of God, or to make known in any way the truth of God which is designed to influence people. It can only be uncovered and revealed through prophets.”

Source: https://joycewaiwai.wordpress.com/2016/11/23/prophecy-foretelling-vs-forth-telling/

Understanding God’s Gift of Free Will Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 7

Understanding God’s Gift of Free Will

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 7

The Process of Spiritual Growth and Maturity

Romans 7 is a very relatable chapter for many Christians, especially verse 24 (ESV), where Paul sighed and said, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" This type of expression is familiar to many Christians while they are in the process of pursuing spiritual life.

We received new inspiration when we read Romans 7 in our Bible study. The Holy Spirit illuminated the words in Luke 2:34-35, which covered the birth of Jesus and gave us new revelation. Just like a baby in the womb, Jesus will enter our spirit and dwell in our hearts, and we have a choice to make. If we choose Jesus and let Him grow in us, it brings life and peace. But if we choose to live according to the flesh, it leads to death (Romans 8:6).

Therefore, every descendant of Adam must make a choice. They can either choose the tree of life or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and one will result in life, the other, death. The power we have, especially our free will, is very important. It determines whether we have life or death. Since God has given us free will, our choice is the determining factor. This is why Jesus came to the world as a baby and why the divine life we receive after believing in the Lord can also be likened to a baby. The life of this baby is in us, revealing many of our thoughts and leading us to fall and rise (Luke 2:34).

One question we had was why did Jesus come into the world as a baby and not as an adult? Couldn’t God have come into the world as an adult and gone to the cross immediately to accomplish redemption? Of course, He could have. In the same way, at the moment we are born again, why is it that Jesus also comes into our hearts as a baby? Why doesn’t He allow us to go to heaven and become spiritually mature instantly so we could avoid all temptation? Could God do this? He is omnipotent, so if He was willing to do so, He could. However, this is not His will.

His will is to give us divine life that starts out small, just like a baby.  Jesus Christ first came into the world as a baby. Similarly, the spirit of Jesus Christ that is born again and dwells in our heart (Ephesians 3:17) is also just like a baby. How we treat this baby within us reveals the thoughts of our soul. If we are unwilling to believe that Jesus Christ came to save us and are unwilling to accept Him, we are choosing death, and we will face eternal punishment. If we choose to accept Jesus Christ and be reborn in the Spirit, He will dwell in our hearts. However, how we treat the spiritual baby-like life of Christ within us also determines whether we will be rewarded or disciplined in the future. If we set our mind on the Spirit and on things above (Colossians 3:2), we will have life and peace (Romans 8:6); If we set our mind on the flesh, we receive death.

God’s Gift of Redemption

In other words, we must use our free will to make this choice. God is righteous and just. Therefore, if we were disciplined in the future, we could say to God, “If it’s Adam who sinned, why would you let me, the descendant of Adam, bear this sin? Adam is the one who made the wrong choice. I did not have the opportunity to make my own choice. So if you convict me, I do not have to accept the consequences.”

This statement is fair and would make sense. Therefore, God gave the world His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and allowed him to die and accomplish redemption on the cross to bear the sins of Adam.  This opened up our way to the tree of life. As 1 Corinthians 1:30 (ESV) said, "But you are in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption." The teaching I received in the Local Church Movement was that the redemption that Christ accomplished opened our way to the tree of life. They teach this because Genesis 3:24 (ESV) says that after the man was driven out of the Garden of Eden, God “placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way of the tree of life.” The cherubim symbolize God’s glory, the fire symbolizes God’s sanctification and the sword represents God’s righteousness. Thus, God’s requirements for glory, sanctification, and righteousness render us unable to get close to the tree of life. But Christ accomplished righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (the redemption of the body represents the glory we received, which is our glorified body). Therefore, through the blood of Jesus Christ, we can come to God's throne with confidence and receive mercy and grace in times of need (ESV, Hebrews 4:16). Ephesians 2:18 (ESV) says, “For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” These verses prove that we can come to the tree of life (which is the life of God embodied in the life of Jesus) through the blood of Jesus.

God did not allow Jesus Christ to accomplish redemption on the cross for all men to be automatically saved. That’s not how it works. Instead, God created everyone with free will to make their own choice. If you choose Christ’s redemption and accept His life by faith, you will have eternal life. But if you do not choose this redemption, it is not God’s heart to condemn you. Condemnation is the natural consequence of not choosing redemption, and you will be heading towards death. When we preach the gospel, we often share an example. In this example, we are all sitting on a train that is heading towards death. It lines up with what Jesus said; “you have been condemned already (John 3:18)”. Because the wages of sin is death, everyone is naturally heading towards death. But Jesus’ train of salvation has arrived, and you must board this train to have life.  Jesus’ train of salvation is not here to convict you but to save you.

Jesus’ Entry into the World as a Baby

After Jesus was born as a baby in Israel, He was circumcised and cleansed for eight days.  After this, Mary and Joseph took Him to Jerusalem and presented Him to the Lord. The Holy Spirit had revealed to a prophet named Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. He praised the Lord and said that he could now die in peace after seeing His redemption with his own eyes. He blessed Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, and said to Mary: "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” (ESV, Luke 2:34-35).

In other words, when Jesus Christ came as a baby, it was quiet and low-key, so much so that he was born in a manger. He could have chosen to come into the world in a more noticeable way, but He did not. Instead, He chose to come into the world quietly as a baby. This baby was appointed for the fall of many in Israel. For example, many people thought that He came from Galilee and despised Him because there had never been a prophet that came out of Galilee. This baby was also appointed for the rising of many. Because many people believed in this baby, they followed Him and were appointed as apostles. Even a thief who was crucified with Jesus believed that he would enter paradise with Him. The baby Jesus became a sign to be opposed. Whether you accept or oppose Him, the thoughts in your heart will be revealed. God can test your heart through your attitude. He knows whether your heart chooses life or death. Everyone who is saved today can be likened to Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus. Because of the life placed within her, she was persecuted, and her soul was pierced by the sword. This happened not only when Mary saw her son Jesus being crucified but also when every Christian suffered and was persecuted because of their faith.

Paul’s Struggle with the Flesh

When we were reading Romans 7 this time, the Holy Spirit illuminated this verse in Luke to help us understand Paul’s experience in Romans 7. In this chapter, Paul’s experience had paved the way for Romans 8, which talks about spiritual reality: “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” (ESV, Romans 8:6).

Paul's distress in Romans 7 stemmed from him not being able to discover the mystery of this choice at the time. Each one of us has three parts that can be likened to three different people. One is the old man, which symbolizes living in our flesh. This old man has been crucified with Christ, but his hold on us is still very powerful. The second is the good man that God created in our soul or the "inner being" that Paul mentions in Romans 7:22. This man loves the law of God. But the law of the flesh (Romans 7:23), which is the law of sin and death, waged war against Paul’s mind, so he felt overcome by the law of sin and death and his flesh. Although his "inner being" or mind wants to serve God, his old man is serving the law of sin and flesh (Romans 7:25). This was the cause of Paul’s distress. Many Christians have the same feelings as Paul. The Bible clearly says that the old man has been crucified with Christ. If this is the case, why is it that our old man’s influence still seems so strong in our lives? This question brings us to the revelation that we received during this discussion while reading the previous verse from Luke.

Because God has made a way for our old man to be crucified with Christ, why is our old man still so strong? This can be explained by the lesson of re-election given to us by God. The law of sin and death in our body is still trying to influence our choices and get us to choose death. But the "law of the Spirit of life" (Romans 8:2), like the tree of life in Genesis, is hidden in our spirit. The Bible says, seek, and you will find (ESV, Matthew 7:7). However, whether we seek or not, the thoughts in our hearts will be revealed. Many people wonder why the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden is in an obvious location, but the tree of life seems to be hidden. It is symbolic because life is found only by a seeking heart. Sin and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil are very easy to find. Finding life requires a seeking heart, and Jesus promises, “Seek, and you will find.” (ESV, Matthew 7:7).

Choosing Life or Death

Today we must make a similar choice as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. Our soul, which is our thoughts and mind, must make a choice. We can choose the life of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that is readily available. Or we can choose the baby-like life of Jesus Christ hidden in our spirit, which is the tree of life. Our choices will result in either life or death.

At the beginning of Romans 7, Paul compared our old man to a husband. If a husband dies, the wife will be free. In the same way, we have died to the law (Romans 7:4). As wives, we are not subject to the control of our original husband (which represents our old man). Instead, we live for our new husband (which represents Christ) so that we may “bear fruit for God” (Romans 7:4). Romans 7:5-6 (ESV) says, "For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code." Here it says, "While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions were aroused by the law." What does this mean? It means that if we choose the flesh, sin, and death, the law of God will convict us, and we will die. The law itself is not wrong, nor is it sin (Romans 7:7).  However, the law convicts us of sin (Romans 7:7). In other words, the law reveals, convicts, and kills our flesh. But if we choose life, the law will not convict and kill us. Rather, it will help perfect us. The greatest commandment in the Law is to love the Lord and to love your neighbor as yourself. When we choose life, we will satisfy Jesus Christ’s requirements of this law.

The Function of the Law

The function of the law is to bring death when we choose sin and the flesh. The purpose of it is to turn our hearts towards the Lord and choose life. The law itself is not wrong, but the reason why the law kills is because a veil lies in our hearts. But when our hearts turn to the Lord, the veil is removed. The Lordis a Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (ESV, 2 Corinthians 3:16-17).

If you were driving a car on the highway in the United States, you would notice that there are white or yellow lines on the side of the highway, and there is some very bumpy pavement outside the yellow lines. If you accidentally drive your car over the line, it will make a loud noise and your car will shake. The purpose of this is to remind you that if you do not readjust the steering wheel, you could be in danger once you cross this line, and your car could go off the road. This is exactly how the law functions. The law itself is not wrong. Rather, it is the behavior of your flesh that is wrong. The law acts like the bumpy pavement.  It doesn’t cause your car to crash, it is your own driving mistakes that cause the car to crash. But the function of this highway border is just like the function of the law. Once you cross this border, your car may go off the road. This is what Paul meant in Romans 7:7-17. It is not the law (border) that caused you to sin (crash), but the behavior of your flesh (driving) caused you to sin (crash). With this being said, if you fail to obey the law or drive across the border, you may crash, or die.

Just as you can deliberately drive over the borders you set, the law of sin and death in your flesh can also overcome the law of goodness in your soul. In Romans 7:18-23, Paul begins to talk about how powerful this law of sin and death and the flesh is, and how it can overcome the law of goodness in his soul. Paul found that the law of God was with those who were willing to do good, but evil was right there in his flesh. The members in his mind wanted to follow the law of God, but the law of sin in his flesh often seemed to take him captive. He felt like a passenger in a car. He didn't want an accident to happen, but the driver was driving very recklessly. Fortunately, passengers are not required to ride in this car and they can choose a good driver. Just like when Americans are riding in an Uber, they usually choose a highly rated driver. In the same way, you have the opportunity to choose Christ today. If you set your mind on the Spirit and choose God and the Lord Jesus Christ, you will have life. But if you set your mind on the flesh, you will die. If you entrust your life to the Lord and let Him drive the car which represents your life, He will lead you to the path of life. But if you choose to live according to the flesh, and let the flesh and the law of sin and death act as the driver you will be taken to the path of death.

The Spirit of Life

This is the experience that Paul talked about in Romans 7 and the preparation he did for the revealed truth that he saw in Romans 8. This truth is "The law of the Spirit of life has set me free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death." (ESV, Romans 8:2). But just as I mentioned earlier, this law of the Spirit of life will not automatically allow us to have life. It is up to each person, you have to make a choice! The choices you make will have different results. If you are feeling distressed like Paul in Romans 7, it means that somewhere along the way you made a wrong choice.

Of course, we must acknowledge the fact that it takes a period of time between making these choices and seeing positive results. For example, let’s say you were a farmer and you planted crops in a field. These crops are like the law of the Spirit of life, but the weeds are very powerful. If you fail to get rid of the weeds in time, they will grow very quickly and dominate and kill your crops. I have a garden at home but I didn't attend to it very well for period of time because of my hectic schedule. When I went back to check on it I found that the weeds had grown so tall that they had taken over many of my plants. Some of my plants had even died.

Because these crops, or the life of the law of the Spirit of life, started out as babies we must harness our thoughts and choose the spirit of life and continue to weed out the behavior of our flesh in order to mature spiritually. It is only after becoming spiritually mature that we can truly experience freedom through the law of the Spirit of life.

Our soul is created at the beginning of God’s creation. After God created us, He even said, it was very good (ESV, Genesis 1:31). God then allows us to choose again, which is the process of saving our soul. We must make the right choice in order to have life. Christ's redemption gives us the opportunity to choose again, but it is up to us to make the right choice.

 

Choosing Life Every Day

In the beginning, the life of Jesus Christ was still a baby in us and needed to grow and mature slowly. The choices you make and your attitude towards this life will reveal your thoughts and determine whether you will receive salvation and God’s rewards. I pray that God works in your heart and that you make the right choice, and become a child of God. If you have already received salvation, I pray that you choose life every day, so that the life of Jesus Christ will continue to grow in you, allowing you to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Many people have received salvation in America, but many of them have still not chosen to set their minds on the spirit to receive life and peace. Rather they have chosen to set their minds on the things of the flesh. This is why they reap death. People, wake up! Don’t make the wrong choice as Adam did! Yes, you were saved, but you will not be automatically saved from everything! You must make the right choice just as you made the right choice when you decided to accept Jesus Christ into your heart! The life of Jesus in you is still a baby. Give Him room to grow!

Settling Legal Matters Between Believers Bible Study With Jairus - 1 Corinthians 6

Settling Legal Matters Between Believers

Bible Study With Jairus - 1 Corinthians 6

 

1 Corinthians 6 contains three distinct paragraphs. The first paragraph is about lawsuits among Christian believers. A man in our Bible study inquired whether Paul’s perspective on lawsuits between believers is still relevant today, especially given the increasing number of lawsuits between believers in the United States. It is, in my opinion, highly controversial. Some people believe that Christians should not sue one another even if they are wronged. Others use Paul’s appeal to Caesar as an example, believing that we can make an appeal to Caesar too or, in other words to go to court. They believe Christians can file an appeal in a court of law to resolve issues of unfair treatment. We always thought about cases of lawsuits between Christians when we read this chapter in the past. Should we sue to protect our benefits, or should we accept being wronged?

 

The inspirations that we will share today while reading this chapter are not from this perspective. It is only when Paul mentions that the lawsuits could involve immoral behavior that the church felt ashamed. And in their case, the law may have been used to wrong others instead of protecting their own lawful rights at the time. This is probably why Paul advised us not to file lawsuits against other believers. On the one hand, it tarnishes the church’s image. On the other hand, believers should not use the law of this world to harm others, particularly our brothers and sisters in Christ. Please continue to read my explanation as I share a verse that touched us today.

 

Should Believers Rights be Protected in Court?

We were moved by 1 Corinthians 6:8 in today’s reading. It states in verse 7, “To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?” This is the background for verse 8. Christians often use this phrase to argue that we should not protect our rights in court. But this verse does not contain the full picture unless we read it in context with verse 8. Verse 8 says, “But you yourselves wrong and defraud - even your own brothers!” According to this verse, Paul condemns Christians who wrong and defraud others and file lawsuits against other believers. According to these verses, Paul condemns not only those who have been wronged but those who have wronged others in court. Paul does not say that even if our legal rights are threatened, we should still be submissive. This was not the intended meaning. Paul could be trying to say it is not good for those who have already committed offenses to bring lawsuits against others, especially other believers. Perhaps what he said about “Why not rather be defrauded?” was directed at those who defraud others in court.

 

Paul Warns the Church About Sin

Furthermore, we will discuss the conditions of the eight sins mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. In these verses, we will look at why Paul discusses the conditions of these eight sins. One fundamental principle must be followed when we try to understand the Bible, and that is the relationship between previous and subsequent verses. We often overlook the relationship between verses like these, especially if the previous verse appears to be unrelated to the subsequent verse. If the correlation between two verses is not obvious, it can be very difficult to see any connection. This is the case with the verses we have been discussing. For example, let’s take a look at Chapter 6 verses 1–8. This paragraph discusses lawsuits between believers. The main topic in verses 9 through 11 is prostitutes and sexual immorality. Why does Paul bring up prostitutes in this chapter after talking about lawsuits? Is the matter of prostitutes related to lawsuits in any way?

 

My guess is that some believers who filed lawsuits may be guilty of one or more of these eight sins mentioned here. This is just a guess but let me explain my reasoning. These are the eight sins mentioned in the second section of this chapter: “sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, men who practice homosexuality, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, swindlers” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Paul also says, “the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10) When Paul wrote letters to people, including the Church of Corinth, he was probably aware of their situations. More than likely they understood what he was saying without him having to go into detail. Paul obscures details for them and does not mention their names or the sins they have committed. I believe he did so under the leading of the Holy Spirit and because many of the believers repented. Although Paul was lead by the Holy Spirit and did not reveal their wrongdoings, this does not mean that the wrongdoings did not exist. Those who filed lawsuits may have committed some of the aforementioned sins. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense for Paul to mention them right after talking about the lawsuits. Although Paul does not discuss the details of their lawsuits, I assume it’s because he didn’t feel it was appropriate to address them publicly.

 

The reason I assume this is because in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, Paul specifically mentions two weaknesses in our flesh: gluttony and sexual lust. He only mentions gluttony briefly, but he spends a lot of time talking about sexual lust. In verse 15, he says our bodies are members of Christ, and those who join themselves to a prostitute become one body with her, and the two will become one flesh (6:16). However, those who join themselves to the Lord become one spirit with Him (6:17).

 

 

Paul withholds the names of those believers who are involved in lawsuits, as well as the content of the lawsuits, and whether or not these believers committed one or more of the eight sins, he mentioned in verses 9-11. However, sexual immorality was one of the special sins mentioned in verses 12-20. As a result, my guess is the lawsuits between these believers were related to sexual immorality. We do not know for certain what the lawsuits were about, but they could be about prostitution.

 

We know that the city of Corinth was a thriving commercial city. There was a lot of idol worship and sexual immorality. Mark Allan Powell, a theologian, says, according to some ancient historians “throughout the empire, the expression ‘to act like a Corinthian’ came to be Roman slang for engaging in sexual promiscuity.”[1] In Corinth’s society, sexual promiscuity was part of the cultural background. Some believers had grown up in this culture, and their spiritual senses were not strong enough to pull them away from it. So Paul reminded them that while some of the believers had previously committed these sins, they had been sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (6:11). As a result, they had to learn not to join in sin and instead learn to join with the Lord, because joining with sin caused them to become one body with sin. He who is joined to the Lord is one Spirit.

 

This is just my best guess, seeing as we will never know the exact details of the lawsuits mentioned in this chapter. However, one point stands out, and that is the distinction between joining with a prostitute versus joining with the Lord. If a Christian joins with sin, the flesh, or the world, he will more or less think, act, and behave according to the world’s laws. He will solve his problems in a worldly manner, not a in spiritual manner.

 

A Dispute Between Believers

Not long after I became a believer, one older man who we shall call Adam in my church told me a story. This story took place in our dorm which was called the Brothers House. There were two students that we shall call Bob and Chris, who came from China. Bob had been a believer for a longer period of time than Chris, who was a new believer. One day, Chris accidentally hit the bumper of Bob’s car, resulting in minor damage. This accident caused an argument between them. Chris begged Bob to settle the dispute privately because if the accident was reported to the insurance company, Chris would be charged a higher premium later. Bob plainly refused and insisted on reporting the accident to the insurance company. The older man, Adam, attempted to resolve their disagreements, telling Bob, “Chris is a new believer. If you insist on reporting the accident to the insurance company, this may negatively impact his newfound faith. Please think about resolving the incident in private. Furthermore, this was a minor accident with very little damage.” Bob did not follow Adam’s advice. He persisted and reported the accident to the insurance company.

 

I’ve never met Bob and Chris but heard their story from Adam, who regretfully told me that because Bob did not follow Chris’s suggestion, Chris had not attended any gatherings since. From the way it sounded, I believe Adam was sad. If he were Bob, he would have definitely treasured the fact that Chris, who had just received salvation, could feel the love of brotherhood more than his own insignificant loss.

 

By contrasting the attitudes of Adam and Bob, we can see that Bob was following in the footsteps of the world. This is not incorrect. In the United States, reporting a car accident to an insurance company is a basic step. To Adam, who was more mature and passionate, acting in a worldly manner was not wrong, but rather it lacked the love of God. He valued Chris’s spiritual life and didn’t want his faith to be hurt through this small incident.  Is there anything wrong with reporting an incident to an insurance company in this example? Certainly not! Does Chris feel loved if Bob reports this incident to an insurance company? Of course not!

 

I shared this story to explain Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 6 and to provide a better understanding of Paul’s attitude towards lawsuits. Assuming that Adam in the above story is Paul and that the car accident between these two believers occurred in the Church of Corinth and is recorded in 1 Corinthians, can I assume that “Paul disagreed to report the car accident to the insurance company”? Or am I correct in assuming that Paul preferred “resolving the incident privately” following the car accident? It would not be reasonable for me to interpret Paul’s words in this manner. But, if we explain Paul’s attitude towards lawsuits in 1 Corinthians 6, we might make the same mistake.

 

Love Among Brothers

Paul was more concerned with whether or not there was “love among brothers” than with whether or not filing lawsuits in court was appropriate. Paul says, “can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers?” (6:5). Paul may not have objected to believers filing lawsuits in court, especially if believers were forced to do so or their rights were violated. If that was the case, Paul might have advised making an appeal to Caesar, similar to what he did. Paul was concerned that the believers of the Corinthian Church were still living in the flesh. Apart from having possibly committed some of the eight sins he mentioned in verses 9-11, the spiritual life of these believers was still immature as they were still living in their flesh.

 

Paul said, “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food.” (6:13). This verse contains a lot of meaning. It reminds me of the phrase: “Man eats for the sake of being alive, but man does not live for the sake of eating.” Eating is a necessary part of life, but it is not the center of our entire life. Our lives should be guided towards something more meaningful, much like human sexuality, which is not only for human reproduction but also many other rightful causes. Sexual lust is not all we want in marriage, and it is not right to have lust outside of marriage or with a prostitute. If some Corinthian believers committed sins out of lust, resulting in lawsuits as a result of these sins, this is not what Paul would want to see. Paul hoped the Corinthian believers realized that although some of them committed similar sins, they could experience the redemptive power of Christ that is mentioned in this verse: “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.” (6:11). These words appear simple, but they are difficult to put into practice. How many Christians today live in sin, despite the fact that they have already been sanctified and justified by the Spirit of God? Why do they live with this contradiction? However, in our own journey, we must learn to overcome the temptations of sin and stay away from evil by the power of the cross and the strengthening of the Holy Spirit.

 

How do you overcome evil? Do you have an experience similar to Paul’s in Romans 7? The more you want to overcome sin, the more sin defeats you. The key to defeating evil can be found in Romans 8, where Paul discusses “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:2). How can we have “the law of the Spirit of life” within us but still lose the battle against sin? This is due to a lack of union with Christ.

 

That is why, after sharing something negative, Paul followed it up with something positive about how to join with the Lord and become one spirit with him (6:17).

 

The Spirit of God Unites Believers

One of the men in our Bible study shared his heartfelt thoughts. He believed that the Corinthians’ lawsuits were merely a problem on the surface and that the main reason for this was that they did not practice joining with the Lord. He felt they would be one spirit with the Lord if they practiced joining with Him. He believed we would also have more unity with other members in the body of Christ if we were joined to the Lord as one.

 

What this brother shared was extremely good. The Lord Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35). However, we are constantly separated by different denominations and teachings and we cannot always love one another. Although we do not file lawsuits against one another in court, the nature of our relationship among different denominations is similar. Conflicts and disagreements between different denominations cause Christians to not have a good witness in the eyes of the world. If Paul was still alive, he probably would have agreed with this.

 

The ability to get along well with one another, whether it was believers of the Corinthian Church or Christians of different denominations, all depends on their ability to unite with God. We are members of the body of Christ, and like the members of a physical body, we are linked to one another. All members of a physical body are connected to the brain (or head), which sends instructions to each of the limbs, and the limbs must first follow the brain’s instructions before they can interact with other limbs. Suppose a person has Parkinson’s disease or another disease that affects the nervous system. In that case, this person’s limbs will be unable to function, perhaps even paralyzed, and his limbs will be unable to coordinate properly.

 

The same principle applies to the spiritual realm as well. We must connect with our head, Jesus Christ. We will become one spirit with God if we unite with Him.  As we become one spirit with God, this unites us in spirit with fellow believers as well. However, if we do not unite with God, it will be difficult for us to unite with  other believers.

 

Ezekiel 37 portrays such a picture. As Ezekiel prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. (Eze 37:7) And there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. (Eze 37:8) And the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. (Eze 37:10) Paul also said, “and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.” (Col 2:19) If we are unable to become one in Christ and hold fast to the head, we will not be fully nourished and knitted together.  We will not be able to grow with a growth that is from God, similar to Ezekiel 37’s description of rattling bones. We must first unite with God and receive abundant supplies from our head, Jesus Christ, just as our body parts receive instructions from our brain. Then we can unite with one another and grow and mature and experience the life of God within us.

 

In this chapter, I do not believe Paul is focusing on whether Christians should file lawsuits in court, but rather on the maturity of a Christian’s life and being one with Jesus Christ. His concern is that we should be good witnesses of one another’s love to the world so that the world may know that Jesus has sent us. Paul’s words are the inspired Word of God; however, it does not mean we need to take it literally.

 

[1] Mark Allan Powell, Introducing the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2009), 278.

Be Ready to Discern God’s Plan Bible Study with Jairus – Acts 10

Be Ready to Discern God’s Plan

Bible Study with Jairus – Acts 10

 

Are visions important?

In Acts 10, the Lord gave Peter a fascinating vision. God showed Peter all kinds of unclean animals and asked him to kill and eat them. He refused, saying that he had never eaten anything unclean. Nevertheless, God gave him permission to eat, saying he should not call anything unclean which God has made clean. God’s words were not merely referring to unclean animals; God was guiding Peter to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, whom the Jews deemed impure.

I was saved in a church that emphasizes the life and teachings of Christ much more than it emphasizes visions or similar topics. However, as the Lord has led me into learning more about the Charismatics, I have come to understand that Charismatics place great emphasis on visions.

How should we resolve this discrepancy?

There are dangers on both extremes of the spectrum. We should avoid being overly cautious with visions and emphasizing the Bible alone, and we should also avoid an over-acceptance of visions that dismisses and neglects the written word of God.

First of all, let’s look at Peter’s experience. We must acknowledge the fact that it was not easy for Peter to evangelize to the Gentiles. His mind was filled with preconceptions and prejudices. However, we must revisit this question: why didn’t God grant this vision to John, James, or others? We do not know the answer to this question, but we can speculate that Peter was probably more flexible. Compared to those who more strictly adhered to Jewish traditions (such as James), perhaps it would have been easier for Peter to make a concept shift.

We know that Peter had a high spiritual intellect. He understood and acknowledged Jesus as the Son of the living God. He also committed frequent mistakes, saying that God would not let the Lord be crucified. Peter was criticized by the Lord frequently, but he also rectified his wrongdoings. Possibly Peter’s personality was more receptive to changes and corrections.

Despite this flexibility, however, it was still difficult to instill in Peter the idea that God had cleansed the Gentiles and was determined to preach the gospel to them. Because Peter found it hard to believe that this vision was really from God, the Lord had to send the vision to Peter three times in a row.

Traditional churches put aside visions, mainly for fear that if the visions are not from God but from the enemy, they would cause mistakes or harm to the church. This is a valid concern. Throughout church history there have been many who have seen so-called visions that turned out to cause a lot of damage to the church or even endanger the lives of innocent believers. These concerns are real.

However, if Peter had then dismissed the vision, saying, “I’m not going, let me take a year’s time to scrutinize whether this vision is coming from God or Satan,” then God’s plan to evangelize to the Gentiles would have been compromised.

Imagine Peter as a present-day believer. As a new believer, he was taught and instructed in the Christian faith. He believes the truths he’s learned are in perfect alignment to biblical truth. Nevertheless, one day somebody challenges him and tells him that the truth is outdated, and that God has updated this truth. What was not permitted before is now permissible; what was considered wrong before is now correct. Facing this major change, do you think a church member nowadays would be easily persuaded to change his mindset? Based on my personal experience and observations, this would be very difficult.

I recall hearing a preacher explaining why God needs to speak to us through dreams and visions, and I think his explanation makes sense. He said, “God also speaks to us during the daytime through our mind or other channels. However, if there is a concept which does not align with our pre-existing conceptions, our minds would become a barrier to God’s conversation with us, thus hindering God’s words from penetrating our souls. Therefore, when God speaks to us through dreams and visions, He is using a pictorial language to bypass or get around our minds.” At night, when our souls are relatively restful with a lower activity level, speaking directly to our spirits would achieve God’s aim to communicate with us.

For instance, the Lord might use a dream to remind us that a certain action might cause us danger, especially if the action is directly related to our personal interest. In our souls we might have various excuses telling us that it is okay to move forward with a dangerous activity, and that it would be beneficial to us or even to God. God might have warned us several times, but we have not received the message. However, if in a dream at night we do the action and encounter sudden danger, such as a dog jumping out to bite and startle us, we might start wondering if we are really justified in doing the action. We might give the dream some consideration, reflecting on whether the Lord is warning us about the decision we are about to make, which might bring us danger or a predicament.  

Job 33:14-18 gives us the following insight:

“For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings, that he may turn man aside from his deed and conceal pride from a man; he keeps back his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword.” (ESV)

This passage is frequently quoted by teachers in Charismatic churches to illustrate the importance of God speaking through dreams. That is, God does speak to people in many different ways, and yet oftentimes people ignore his communication or do not understand what He means. Hence, God speaks in dreams and visions at night. He speaks in their ears and imprints the messages directly onto their hearts. In this way the spirit’s hindrance is bypassed and the objective of communication is achieved.

This passage says that dreams take place at night, while visions occur mostly during daytime. Some people say that, compared to visions, dreams contain more pictorial language that is more difficult to comprehend than visions. I think this belief makes sense. If you compare this vision seen by Peter and the dream Daniel had, you will easily reach this conclusion. Nevertheless, in principle, their methods and aims are the same: to give you a pictorial depiction of ideas that are not easily expressed by words.

Why does God send a message that is beyond words? Hasn’t God asked Peter to preach the gospel to the Gentiles through other means, such as through the leading of the Holy Spirit? Yes, God has probably communicated this multiple times. Peter may have felt inspired by what he learned, but he wasn’t motivated to carry it out because the idea was too radical for his Jewish ideology. In order to break through this ideology, God had to speak to Peter through visions, even multiple repetitions of the same vision. Finally, Peter is forced to pray to God and ask him about this message. God once again revealed that He had already purified the Gentiles and that it was the right time to preach the gospel to them.

 

God uses our weaknesses for his glory.

I once heard a Charismatic preacher give the following insight: “Paul was committed to preaching the gospel to the Jews until death. He was even willing to die eternally for his Israelite brothers and sisters. In Romans 9-11, he swore that it if his own eternal damnation could bring his people to salvation, he would not hesitate to accept eternal death. Nevertheless, once he had been saved, God did not allow him to preach the gospel to the Jews; instead, God sent him to a faraway place as an apostle to the Gentiles.

“Paul would have been a powerful preacher to Jews. He had studied under Gamaliel and was a Pharisee of the tribe of Benjamin. As a highly qualified Jew, he would have been a powerful tool to bring Jews to Christ. His testimony was a convincing and effective message for the Israelites. He could have been an excellent apostle to the Jews. However, God did not make him an apostle to the Jews.

“On the other hand, Peter was a fisherman. We don’t know for sure whether the Gentiles despised him, but the Jewish rabbis, teachers of the law, and Pharisees must have looked down on him. He was raised in the Galilee region where Jews mingled with Gentiles. How fitting it would have been to make him the apostle to the Gentiles! Nevertheless, God chose him as the apostle to the Jews and had him preach the gospel to Israelites!”

This preacher believed that in our work for him, God sometimes uses our innate weaknesses instead of our innate strengths. In this way, we are forced to rely on God’s power instead of our natural gifts. Paul is an example of this concept: When Paul went out to preach the gospel, people’s first reaction was to recoil. They knew that he had been a persecutor of Christians, so they rejected him. When God sent Ananias to speak to Paul, Ananias raised this objection. However, through God’s wisdom and sovereignty, Paul became the apostle to the Gentiles, while Peter became the apostle to the Jews.

This concept gives important insight into Peter’s apostleship to the Jews. If people like James had seen the same vision, it might have been more difficult for him to understand what God was trying to convey. This is because James and the others were deeply immersed in the sense of Jewish privilege. A breakthrough to reach the Gentiles might have been more difficult if God had used James or other disciples. Peter seemed to be the most malleable one and the weakest link among these apostles. He lacked the higher education in Jewish religion, and at the same time he had a more flexible character. Because of his flexibility, Peter sprang into action as soon as God spoke to him in a vision. In other words, in order to pass on to the Gentiles the salvation He had prepared through the Israelites, God seemingly chose the most vulnerable and open individual, Peter. He placed the most open individual when placing the “water line” of salvation to the Gentiles, so that His grace of salvation could flow out most easily.

 

God’s perfect plan

To substantiate these ideas I’ve been sharing, compare Peter’s story with the story of God’s choice of Cornelius. God truly has sophisticated plans.

After I was saved, I used my salvation testimony to evangelize my parents. Nevertheless, my mother constantly argued that someone in the village who had be baptized as Christian was constantly stealing from others. She asked, “Are you Christians more moral than others?” She refused to accept Jesus Christ because she saw the hypocrisy of some Christians.  Christians commonly encounter this objection to their beliefs. Living out our Christian values really does matter.

In other words, if God were to choose a flawed and imperfect Gentile to be the first to accept his gift of the living water of salvation, his plans would have been severely hindered. I’m not saying that God couldn’t have accomplished his plan through a flawed vessel (with God all things are possible). I am just saying that this would have caused significant challenges to God’s plan.

Now let’s look at how the Bible describes Cornelius:

“At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. Cornelius your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.” (ESV)

This passage shows us that Cornelius was probably affiliated with Judaism. In modern church vocabulary, he was a “friend of the gospel” or “seeker of the truth.” He was a Gentile, but he prayed continuously to God. His whole family feared God, he was generous with the common people, and he was respected by all, even among the Israelites. The Israelites did not have complaints or even false testimonies against him. The angel also praised him. He was such a blameless person that he seemed perfect.

Can you see how amazing God’s plan and provision was? If Cornelius had had any moral issues, or if his family had had any flaws, the Jews who were against evangelizing the Gentiles would have caused quite a stir. God’s plan to bring the gospel to the Gentiles was perfectly orchestrated. With redneck Peter as the spigot and the perfect Cornelius as the water hose, God’s plan was executed in perfection.

 

Discerning attentiveness to God’s plan

When we serve the Lord, we should not block, neglect, or completely deny God’s revelations through dreams and visions just because of previous incidences of fake visions, fake dreams, and fake prophecies that were used to harm the church. We must be discerning and cautious, but not overly cautious. Being overly cautious is a lack of faith, and lacking faith in God is a sin. This is a concept which we must grasp properly.

Let me say this again: Imagine that God had devised this perfect plan of how the gospel would be transmitted to the Gentiles. Each part was in place. Imagine that Cornelius was standing by for a seamless transition, but Peter dropped the ball at the critical moment, saying, “What I saw was only a vision which might have come from God, or from Satan, or I just had too many cheese pizzas (this is a popular joke among Charismatics about dreams). Let me spend some time to check it out and see.” In that case, wouldn’t Peter be saying that God’s plan was unreliable? God is not an unreliable God; He does everything according to plan.

When Peter had seen the vision and heard God’s words, he took a bold step of faith. We need to acknowledge that this was not easy for Peter. Today if we face the same scenario and a difficult choice, we must take the risk in faith. If you slip, people will be eager to call you a “false prophet” or even attack you with stones.

In the end, we must stress the other side of the coin. If we are overly cautious, we lack faith. It is not right to be doubtful. However, it is also not right to be too trusting and believe everything without scrutiny. I’ve been learning about Charismatic beliefs for about three years, and I’ve seen many fake dreams, fake visions, and fake miracles. I’ve become acquainted with many Christian brothers and sisters attending Charismatic churches. Most of them are true Christians who have been saved. However, many of them tend to focus on the exercise of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and not on the discipline of reading the Bible. These two need to be balanced.