One of my favorite books and stories in the Bible is Nehemiah. Ezra and Nehemiah were tough guys that had a heart to see God’s purposes restored.
In their stories, their beloved Jerusalem and the temple had been destroyed. Nehemiah was allowed by the king, to leave his duties and go to Jerusalem and help rebuild the walls. During the rebuilding, the book of the law had been found. When it had been discovered, the people asked that it be read to them. Ezra stood and read the book and as he did, the people began worshipping and bowing before the Lord. They all soon realized that they were in the season of Feast of Tabernacles. So, it was decided that they should celebrate immediately by building temporary dwellings as a reminder of their time in the dessert. Ezra, Nehemiah, and other scribes stood on a platform the next day and read the book of the law all day, explaining to the people what it meant. We see their absolute dedication to re-establish God’s law in Nehemiah 8:18 "Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner." That day, one of the feasts prescribed by God, was once again re-established as a time of celebration, repentance, remembrance and restoration of God’s word in the earth! When the light of truth gets into the darkest parts of our heart, revelation comes. This revelation, brought restoration and the people WOKE UP! We recently entered into the Hebrew year of 5782. I love seeking God’s direction for the coming seasons and, for me it starts in the fall at the beginning of the Jewish year and continues into the coming year on the Gregorian Calendar in January. As I was contemplating what God may have to say about the coming year, I looked up the number 5782 in the concordance which gives us the original language the Bible was written in. I was excited to see that in the concordance, the Hebrew #5782 is the word ‘Ur’ (oor), which means -Awake, arouse, incite, stir up excited, triumphant. Isaiah 51:9 ‘Awake (5782), awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord. Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago.’ Ezra 1:5 “then the heads of the father’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and Levites rose up, everyone whose spirit God had ‘stirred (5782) to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. 5782 according to the concordance is the Bible version of ‘woke.’ I knew immediately God was showing us that He is going to ‘WOKE’ the world this year. I truly believe that we just moved into a season where the world is about to be ‘woke’ up to God’s purposes and plans. The enemy sends the false first, but God shows us truth. We are about to be awoken to the WORD OF GOD – not just the Bible, but Jesus as the mighty warrior King, to God as the Father, and to the absolute, awesome power of the Holy Spirit Then I began to ask the Lord about what He will be doing in 2022. He reminded me of what He had given me at the end of 2019, for the year 2020. Ezekiel 20:19-22 19 - ‘I am the LORD your God; walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and follow them. 20 - ‘Sanctify My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, so that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’ 21 - “But the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to follow My ordinances which, if a person follows them, then he will live by them; they profaned My Sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath on them, to use up My anger against them in the wilderness. 22 - “But I withdrew My hand and acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be defiled in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. He reminded me that 2020 was to be an opportunity to observe a Sabbath. The sabbath is a time set apart to rest and to commune with the Father. Last year He gave us a giant pause and we were supposed to use it to seek Him, but we all got wrapped up in our own garbage. Had we truly turned to you and consecrated our time with you, then things would have been very different. During the quarantine, several churches and people prayed and participated in 7:14, which was where they would read 2 Chronicles 7:14 at 7:14am and pm, then pray. However, when churches started opening back up, they went back to church as usually with no real change in the dedication. Back to Ezekiel, verse 21, we see something pretty interesting, as a correlation with what has happened this year. So maybe God has started pouring out His wrath this year. it's not a big stretch of the imagination with everything going on in the world. But what if verse 22 tells us what is coming in 2022? It says that He will withdraw His hand and ‘act’ (work, create, move, or perform) on our behalf ‘for His names (character, reputation) sake.’ He is going to preserve His reputation as a Loving Father, Almighty God. So that it not be polluted (pierced through or destroyed, wounded, disabled, profaned, cast down, made common, dishonored, disrespected) I truly believes this means He wants us to restore His NAME…if we honor Him, He will show us His glory. Just as Nehemiah and Ezra stood and it ‘woke’ the people up to who God is and what His will is in the earth, we are to do the same. We are to wake up, get serious about the things of God and restore HIS NAME in this earth. How do we do that? Romans 8:18-19 tells us that all of creation is WAITING for us to REVEAL that we are sons and daughters of God. Why? Because we have the answer, we have the truth, we have the power and authority of being seated with Christ in heavenly places. Jesus in us, makes us the salvation of the world! We are to be those who revere God as their Father, whose life and character resemble God, are governed by the spirit of God, and show the same trust in God as children do their parents. Those who wear and exhibit the dignity and honor they should, who truly reflect the true love and intimacy of God, and are obedient to His will in every area of their lives. His light, through us, reveals the bondage we are in and shows everyone the way out. We are in desperate need of restoration, just like the Israelites in the story of Ezra and Nehemiah. But we have to ‘wake up’ to this season and take it seriously. We have to stop getting overly wrapped up in all of the garbage going on. Don’t misunderstand, we need to do our part, and take a stand. But keep it at bay and let the restoration of God’s word and law be primary in your life. God is making us ‘woke’ to replace the false application of that word that we all just experienced. The absolute bondage to it. He is restoring HIS NAME and He needs us to re-image HIM in the earth because ALL of creation needs it. Restoration brings multiplication – we must restore Gods order in every area of our country, our lives. As we restore ourselves, we ‘reveal’ God’s image to our spere of influence, then they can ‘reveal’ it to theirs, and it multiplies. It isn’t about being ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ it is about who we are or should be, in every fiber of our being. Remember God’s kingdom destroys all other kingdoms. Daniel 2:44 tells us “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. I truly believe that 5782 and 2022, we are to restore and establish Gods kingdom in this earth in this way. That is the only way to destroy the enemies kingdom in the earth and in our lives. As we do, restoration by us will bring multiplication in this earth.
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AuthorI'm a wife, Mom, grandma, teacher, friend... Lived a while and still have some living to do. Archives
October 2021
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