Wild Animals
Greetings in the Lord!
On April 14th I felt led to read the book of Revelation, which quite surprised me, as it is rare that I read from that book of the Bible. In fact, one time the Lord put it on my heart to read the whole Bible, and I did, up to the 16-17th chapters of Revelation. Then it was like a hit a wall and could not go on.
Well, this time was similar. I read to about the 10th chapter and hit that wall again. So, instead of trying to continue, I re-read the notes I took for the 1-10 chapters and examined some of the things that jumped out to me this time; namely, I took note of how often seas and rivers were mentioned, most specifically in chapter 8 where at the 2nd and 3rd trumpet blasts the rivers and sea were struck with plague-like calamities reminiscent of the plagues in Egypt.
The other verse that stood out profoundly to me was Revelation 6:8:
"I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth."
"Wild beasts of the earth?" I asked myself. I wanted to move on, putting that little bit of Scripture away for a rainy day of reflection, but the Holy Spirit kept tugging at my heart to study it out. So I did. Actually, it was not the first time I came across that phrase of Scripture and wondered about it. I recalled how in Jeremiah (and Ezekiel I soon found out) had decreed that as part of the judgment to come upon Judah because of their idolatrous ways. Sure enough, with a little study I found there were several other Scriptures to mention this combination of "sword, famine and plague," with two of them directly mentioning "wild beasts" as part of the plague and disaster.
"Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it (Noah, Daniel, and Job), they could not save their sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate."
Ezekiel 14:15-16
"Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath upon it through bloodshed, killing its men and their animals, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in ti, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness."
"For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dreadful judgments--sword and famine and wild beasts and plague--to kill men its men and their animals! Yet there will be some survivors--sons and daughters who will be brought out of it. They will come to you, and when you see their conduct and their actions, you will be consoled regarding the disaster I have brought upon Jerusalem..."
Ezekiel 14:19-20, 21-22.
Now here's the interesting part, in Ezekiel 34:25-29 the prophet Ezekiel gives a word of restoration, a reversing of the judgments that were sent against Jerusalem:
"'I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety. I will bless them and the places surrounding My hill. I will send down showers in season, there will be showers of blessing. The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and they they, the house of Israel, are My people declares the Sovereign Lord.'"
Ezekiel 34:25-30.
Again, notice how the "wild beasts" judgment is reversed. I've wondered at times why the Lord always gives me words of judgment, correction, warning and lastly encouragement to give to people, but when I look back at my "Holy Spirit mentoring" years, it was in the trenches of nations that live under the curses of Deuteronomy 28 that I was taught. The Lord was showing me firsthand how the Untied States was a blessed nation versus the many other nations of the world who live under curses as a nation from day to day...and that how things could change if America chooses to go her own way. Well, she has made those decisions and we are living out a transition from blessings to curses as listed in Deuteronomy 28.
For those Christians who say, "I don't believe that. We live under the new covenant," I must remind them that even Jesus said he did not come to change the law, but to fulfill it. So, what does that mean? Well, I also saw firsthand in these other nations the Lord's plan of restoration and revival being carried out. The plan of the Lord is that people will return to Him in the aftermath of judgment. To realize and acknowledge the He is Sovereign and just in His ways and that repentance and relationship with Him is the goal. For three years now I have been ministering in the United States and by far will say that the American Church and people in general are the toughest crowd yet. In less than three years, people--those who have eyes to see and ears to hear will understand and see clearly the wrong choices our nation has recently made and the direction we now sail. Pray that the Holy Spirit will bring conviction to this nation so that people will come to repentance and return to God.
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
On April 14th I felt led to read the book of Revelation, which quite surprised me, as it is rare that I read from that book of the Bible. In fact, one time the Lord put it on my heart to read the whole Bible, and I did, up to the 16-17th chapters of Revelation. Then it was like a hit a wall and could not go on.
Well, this time was similar. I read to about the 10th chapter and hit that wall again. So, instead of trying to continue, I re-read the notes I took for the 1-10 chapters and examined some of the things that jumped out to me this time; namely, I took note of how often seas and rivers were mentioned, most specifically in chapter 8 where at the 2nd and 3rd trumpet blasts the rivers and sea were struck with plague-like calamities reminiscent of the plagues in Egypt.
The other verse that stood out profoundly to me was Revelation 6:8:
"I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth."
"Wild beasts of the earth?" I asked myself. I wanted to move on, putting that little bit of Scripture away for a rainy day of reflection, but the Holy Spirit kept tugging at my heart to study it out. So I did. Actually, it was not the first time I came across that phrase of Scripture and wondered about it. I recalled how in Jeremiah (and Ezekiel I soon found out) had decreed that as part of the judgment to come upon Judah because of their idolatrous ways. Sure enough, with a little study I found there were several other Scriptures to mention this combination of "sword, famine and plague," with two of them directly mentioning "wild beasts" as part of the plague and disaster.
"Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it (Noah, Daniel, and Job), they could not save their sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate."
Ezekiel 14:15-16
"Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath upon it through bloodshed, killing its men and their animals, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in ti, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness."
"For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dreadful judgments--sword and famine and wild beasts and plague--to kill men its men and their animals! Yet there will be some survivors--sons and daughters who will be brought out of it. They will come to you, and when you see their conduct and their actions, you will be consoled regarding the disaster I have brought upon Jerusalem..."
Ezekiel 14:19-20, 21-22.
Now here's the interesting part, in Ezekiel 34:25-29 the prophet Ezekiel gives a word of restoration, a reversing of the judgments that were sent against Jerusalem:
"'I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety. I will bless them and the places surrounding My hill. I will send down showers in season, there will be showers of blessing. The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and they they, the house of Israel, are My people declares the Sovereign Lord.'"
Ezekiel 34:25-30.
Again, notice how the "wild beasts" judgment is reversed. I've wondered at times why the Lord always gives me words of judgment, correction, warning and lastly encouragement to give to people, but when I look back at my "Holy Spirit mentoring" years, it was in the trenches of nations that live under the curses of Deuteronomy 28 that I was taught. The Lord was showing me firsthand how the Untied States was a blessed nation versus the many other nations of the world who live under curses as a nation from day to day...and that how things could change if America chooses to go her own way. Well, she has made those decisions and we are living out a transition from blessings to curses as listed in Deuteronomy 28.
For those Christians who say, "I don't believe that. We live under the new covenant," I must remind them that even Jesus said he did not come to change the law, but to fulfill it. So, what does that mean? Well, I also saw firsthand in these other nations the Lord's plan of restoration and revival being carried out. The plan of the Lord is that people will return to Him in the aftermath of judgment. To realize and acknowledge the He is Sovereign and just in His ways and that repentance and relationship with Him is the goal. For three years now I have been ministering in the United States and by far will say that the American Church and people in general are the toughest crowd yet. In less than three years, people--those who have eyes to see and ears to hear will understand and see clearly the wrong choices our nation has recently made and the direction we now sail. Pray that the Holy Spirit will bring conviction to this nation so that people will come to repentance and return to God.
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
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