2019 – 5779
A YEAR OF RADICAL FAITH
JEREMIAH 12 v 5.
“IF YOU HAVE RACED WITH MEN ON FOOT AND THEY HAVE WORN YOU OUT, HOW CAN YOU COMPETE WITH HORSES ? IF YOU STUMBLE IN SAFE COUNTRY HOW WILL YOU MANAGE IN THE THICKETS BY THE JORDAN?”
C/R - Mathew 14 v 25 – 31.
I have this feeling that God has turned a page in a huge book, and at the head of the next page, is a new chapter. A new cycle has begun, not only in the spirit but in the physical too. Time is like a freight train, moving at speed, the world is changing rapidly, but praise God, He remains constant, in control and right on track.
For the past 9 years we have been looking at this period in time known as Ayin which is a symbol of the “seeing eye” a collective number of 70. This new year in the Hebrew calendar it is depicted by the Hebrew letter “TET” which has the numerical value of 9.
This Jewish Year was on the 9th day of the 9th month of the year 18. (double nine).
The number 7 is God’s perfect number.
The number 8 is New Beginnings
The number 9 is finality or the fullness of God. (we see that Jesus died on the cross at the 9th hour of the day. He said…. “It is finished”
Let’s look at the picture of the Hebrew letter TET - The explanation of this letter is twofold - Good and Evil. Hebrew letters are pictorial. One shows a picture of a baby in a womb – creation, light - new life – goodness. The other is a snake hiding in a basket – pure evil. A new cycle has begun.
We will come back to this later in the letter.....
I want us to look at this year’s title and verses – Jeremiah 12 v 5 and Mathew 14 v 25 – 31. Firstly, The Year of Radical Faith – if you thought 2018 was a difficult year – well 2019 is not going to be any easier, in fact without God we will surely give up hope. Hence the verse in Jeremiah. We have been racing on foot with men and they have just about worn us out (But for the grace of God) – now we are being challenged and questioned about how we will run with horses.
Before I continue – let me tell you that just before I left for Israel in September 2018 – I prayed about what the word for 2019 would be. The words “Water” and “Horses” kept coming up. (Mayim and Sus in Hebrew). Then I got the verse in Jeremiah - When I got back from Israel I had our board printed. I kept thinking “is it the right word”? Anyway the board was printed and the deed was done. Then on the 27th December someone sent me Perry Stone’s 2019 prophecy. As I listened I could not believe what I was hearing. He started explaining the numerical and pictorial (or symbolic) values and meanings of the numbers 779. He split that number into 700 – 70 – 9. In Hebrew 700 is Shin - 70 is Ayin and 9 is Tet. – this is what he says. Those 3 letters spell out a word in Hebrew – the word is Sh-at which means “TO STAMP OR TRAMPLE UNDER A HORSE’S HOOF” - He then went on to quote our scripture for this year – Jeremiah 12 v 5. So I have no doubt that the Lord is speaking to us.
I want to share something with you that many of you have heard from me before. When this scripture came up for this year and I saw that it was about horses ( the word in Hebrew for Horse is sus) it reminded me of a sermon that Sigi Oblander preached at the Chapel.
In the 1980’s Sigi stayed on the farm with us for a few days and agreed to minister at the Chapel. It is not very often that when a sermon is preached we remember what it was about. Sometimes we can’t even remember what was preached the week before. This sermon has stuck with me and still does. She spoke on the difference between a tame horse and one that was “broken in”. Those of you who have had horses like me will understand better what she was getting at. When my son Daniel was very young we were given a thourghbred horse from the racetrack. She was a beauty. I could groom her, clean her hooves, feed her by hand, put her saddle and bridle on. No problem. In fact Daniel as small as he was could even ride her. But many were the times that he would come home crying because the horse had got a fright and had thrown him. The problem was, she had not been broken in. My solution to this problem was to tell him to get back on her and ride. That was not the solution.
He may have learned a lesson in that, but it was not a pleasure or safe for him to ride until the horse had been broken in. You cannot take a horse into competition or war unless it has been broken in. They will let you down when you need them most. There are many Christians today that are tame…. They go to church, sing the songs, do all the right things but they are not broken in. They are the ones who go along merrily, clapping and singing until the paw paw hits the fan. Then they fall to pieces. Bolt and run away.
Why do I mention this story ? Because only those who are broken in are going to stay the course…. Sorry but that is a fact. We have been in training for what is still to come. If we have failed the testing the future will be very hard for us.
The next thing mentioned in the verse is about being safe in the thickets by the Jordan. The Lord was saying to Jeremiah – If you are safe in the country that you are living in now –what will happen to you when you find yourself in the jungle of the Jordan. In those days it was the Jordon valley was a forest and it was infested with Lions and other wild animals. A place where many writers have mentioned that people were very afraid to go.
Here is something to think of. We who live in relative peace thinking nothing will ever happen to disturb that peace, we stick our heads in the sand and hope all the noise will go away. That is not the solution. I believe that God is warning us to rise up with Radical Faith. We need to be praying and believing that our God is going to perform miracles – He is the God of the impossible. Where are the 1980’s and 90’s when we saw an incredible move of God. When people were walking and moving in the Spirit. I am afraid those days are no longer here. The churches have become businesses and a “show” of loud music and empty feel good sermons. They are not teaching the youth anything about the reverencial fear of the Lord. Everything must feel good and don’t rock the boat. The problem is we talk the talk but we really don’t walk the walk. God will respond when He sees us doing our bit. Again – if there is no sacrifice on the Altar, the fire will not fall !
Now the 2nd scripture mentioned for this coming year is in Mathew 14 v 25 – 31. The story is about Peter walking on water. Here the disciples are in a boat on the Galilee and they see Jesus walking on the water towards them. Jesus tells Peter to get out of the boat and come to Him on the water. Peter does not hesitate, he climbs out of the boat and walks on water! What looks like an impossible thing is possible and happens, until he looks around him and sees the storm and the waves. We are going to have to have radical (ridiculous) faith. Where we have been going through boot camp on solid ground, we now have to move up a level to walk on water.
We are living in the times of Noah – History is repeating itself. Everything that was going on in his time is going on right now on planet earth. The world is in a mess. We see anti-Semitism on the rise like never before. Countries are in rebellion with right wing parties taking over – Russia and China are moving into position – there are wars all across the middle east – people are being scattered across the nations fleeing for their lives with nowhere to go -plagues and famine – floods and drought – earthquakes and tsunamis – corruption and murder - filth like you’ve only heard of in Sodom and Gomorra – Same sex marriage, LBG and transgender and Homosexuality are blatant. Law and order no longer exists.
Just when you thought it could not get any worse you see that they are not going to put male/female on birth certificates because they don’t want to deprive children from changing their sex. Or the way they are even bringing out new Bibles where they don’t want to discriminate about the fact God is referred to as HE so they are changing the gender – The other day I was listening to someone on TV talking about his yacht and referring to it as “she” – the thought came to me – “when will they decide it is discriminating to refer to a ship or boat as she. How will you survive what is still to come if you have not passed the test. ?
No more running with man – now running with horses – which to the ordinary person seems impossible. Our biggest challenge is going to be – not to look at the circumstances or situations that we find ourselves in. Yes it will be a great challenge (and by the way – the name of the horse that we got was “Glory”and her fold was named “Challenger”)
Makes me smile.
So back to the beginning – the word TET depicts good and evil. As I said before, the pictorial of TET is shown as a snake hiding in a basket. We as believers are going to have to be on our guard, vigilant and wide awake to the whiles of the devil. Discernment will have to be the order of the day. He wants to stamp on or trample us under horse’s hooves. We need to be praying that God will bring his plans into the light and expose the things that are in the dark. If we are doing this then we will see things start to change. Doing nothing, will lead to destruction. It is a year to be very aware of Satan’s tactics and to be doing spiritual warfare.
May I say this while on this subject. You need to once again clean house. There may be something that you have missed.
Now let’s look at the other side of the coin. A baby in the womb, new life, and light new creation - This is the goodness being shown to us for this next year.
A new cycle - A new Season – Light – This year you have a clean page and a new chapter. You can start all over again. It is time to start believing God for big things. God is looking for people who do not limit Him – Stir up your faith. You can walk on water if you believe. All things are possible - You can either accept it or reject it. God is a good God. He only wants the best for us.
Some of us think we are too old to be of any use. That is a lie of the devil. We just need to have our spiritual antenna out to hear what the Spirit is saying and be obedient to His voice and He will do the rest. Noah was old – He heard God and he kept building even when people ridiculed him and thought he was crazy – until it began to rain ! Then when the rain was over God turned the page and a new chapter began – old as he was he continued in what God had in store for him. Sometimes all we have to do is keep sowing….. we may not even be here to see the fruit but at the end of the day we will be fulfilling God’s purpose.
This is the year of Radical Faith so let’s talk about that.
The Hebrew word for Faith is EMUNAH. Fear is the opposite of Faith.
Hebrews 11 v 1 says NOW (not sometime in the future) FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR – THE EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN. My definition is like this. A farmer wants to grow wheat. He takes his seed into a field that has been prepared and puts the seed under the ground. That seed cannot be seen. The rains water the ground and under the earth something is happening. He still cannot see anything but he is believing and trusting that he will soon have a crop. While waiting he does not go dig up the soil to see what is going on – he waits patiently and then one day there is a green shoot and soon there is a field for harvest. Faith is like Job 22 v 28 YOU SHALL ALSO DECIDE AND DECREE A THING, AND IT SHALL BE ESTABLISHED FOR YOU, AND THE LIGHT OF GOD’S FAVOUR SHALL SHINE UPON YOUR WAYS. Lesson to be learned with faith…. Don’t doubt, don’t look at circumstances or situations, don’t listen to man’s opinions, don’t look at the time, keep believing and you will see the glory of the Lord.
There is one more thing I would like to say about this new year. I feel we are going to be faced with major decisions this year. I am not talking about things like, “ do we go to town today or not”…. It will be make or break life changing decisions which have really bad consequences. Before you do anything major – fast and pray – be in agreement ! Make sure. We need to be like the tribe of Issachar…. Hearing what God has to say and knowing what to do. So many people cause their own downfall or grief or disappointment because of wrong decisions. Believe me….. there will be consequences. So weigh up the cost carefully and prayerfully.
A LAST WORD……
To all my dear friends – true Believers – Rise up with Radical Faith – know that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel is your Father and Husband. He will not fail you in any way. Do not put your faith in man for he will surely let you down. Let Faith overcome fear. Run with Horses and learn to walk on water. Make right choices this year. God back to the Old Path’s – Jeremiah 6 v 16 “STAND BY THE ROADS AND LOOK, AND ASK FOR THE ETERNAL PATHS, WHERE THE GOOD OLD WAY IS, THEN WALK IN IT, AND YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS”……
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face shine upon you.
And be gracious to you
May He lift up His countanance upon you
And give you His Shalom.
Have a year of RADICAL FAITH.
SONIA
Mount Zion Chapel
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