Month: December 2021

God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice [of them] and was CONCERNED ABOUT THEM [KNOWING ALL, understanding all, remembering all]. Exodus 2:25 AMP

So God looked on the Israelites and was CONCERNED about them. Exodus 2:25 NIV

Looking down upon them, he knew THAT THE TIME HAD COME FOR THEIR RESCUE. Exodus 2:25 TLB

Israel were in dire trouble because of the harsh restrictions laid on them by Pharaoh, King of Egypt. They couldn’t get free by their own efforts, but the God who brought them to Egypt was about to intervene. It’s interesting that Israel multiplied greatly while in Egypt. Pharaoh had tried to destroy the Male children, but God caused them to increase rapidly, even under such harsh conditions.

So we see the next phase of Israel’s history begins with God seeing (literally Knowing) what was happening to them and being CONCERNED FOR THEM. (Three times at the beginning of Exodus God speaks of His Concern for His people Ex. 2:25, 3:7, 4:31) Pharaoh, the harsh king, ruled Egypt, but the God of Israel and the Church of today stands far above all earthly rulers.

Then the Lord said to him, ‘Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and ILL-TREATED THERE. ¹⁴ But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterwards they will come out with great possessions. Genesis 15

God spoke to Abram when He cut Covenant with him and told him that his descendants would be enslaved and ill-treated, but that God Himself would punish their abusers and that Israel would plunder them.

So God revealed Himself to Moses and spoke to him from the burning bush regarding the Deliverance of his people. This time Moses would not be operating in his flesh but representing God before his own people and Pharaoh. By now Moses had spent so long in the desert that he was reluctant to be God’s man of Deliverance, but God gave him Aaron to help him and insisted that he go back to Egypt.

An unusual cross-reference given to God’s Concern for Israel Exodus 2:25 is indicated in Luke 1:25;

²⁵ ‘The Lord has done this for me,’ she said. ‘In these days HE HAS SHOWN HIS FAVOUR and taken away my disgrace among the people.’ 

Elisabeth, the wife of Zechariah, became pregnant with their son John, the forerunner to Christ and great Deliverer for all mankind. Apparently the expression used by Elisabeth was linked with that used for Israel, but in our New Testament, it says ‘God has shown His Favour’. Elisabeth who had waited so long for a child, was now being blessed with a son and not just any boy. Their son would prepare the way for the Messiah.

There came a time when God was concerned for His people and intervened on their behalf. They had been ill-treated, but God reached down to rescue them;

But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. Exodus 3:19

God will intervene again today, just as powerfully as He did before to set His people free.

God bless and keep you today.

We may know we’re called to somewhere or something, but not grasp the true nature of God’s Call at first. Exodus 2

The account of God’s people Israel continues with the birth of a single boy child, Moses (whom Pharaoh wanted killed). Moses, the baby in the basket ‘drawn out of’ the water by Pharaoh’s daughter; she had pity on the child whom God would use to deliver Israel. Moses was raised and trained in Pharaoh’s own palace as an adopted son.

The next thing we learn of Moses, now a grown man, is that he killed an Egyptian for beating one of his people (there was no doubt who Moses identified with).

¹¹ One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labour. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. ¹² Looking this way and that and seeing no one, HE KILLED THE EGYPTIAN and hid him in the sand. Exodus 2

Moses had a Call from God on his life to confront (Seek Justice from) Pharaoh and the power structures of Egypt. He may have felt that at some level when he killed the Egyptian – RIGHT CALL, WRONG OUTWORKING! Those with the Call of God on our lives, need to allow God’s purposes to unfold and not take matters into our own hands.

The killing of the Egyptian became known and Pharaoh, the powerful ruler sought revenge.

¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of this, HE TRIED TO KILL MOSES,  but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. ¹⁶ Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ Some shepherds came along and drove them away, BUT MOSES ‘GOT UP’ and came to their rescue and watered their flock.

My Swedish mentor Kjell Sjoberg, who led Prophetic Prayer Teams all around the world, always asked the Lord how far he could go in confronting the enemy. It would appear Moses went too far.

Like Joseph, God’s earlier Deliverer, Moses left his people and home to go out and live a very different life.

One door closes and another opens. Moses GOT UP, he stirred himself and rescued/brought justice to the shepherdesses. He also watered their flocks, reminiscent of Rebekah (Bride for Isaac), who watered Abraham’s camels. One rescue was wrong and meant Moses had to flee, the closed door. The next rescue opened the door to a new life, with Zipporah his wife and son Gershom (sounds like ‘an alien here’), in the desert of Midian.

Outside of God’s will and acting himself, Moses was in danger, but in God’s will the right door opened and eventually he fulfilled God’s purposes for his own life and for Israel.

Fathersloveministry is a faith based ministry, please Donate on our webpage today and help support the Father’s work;

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Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, FOR GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER. 2 Corinthians 9:7

The Lord is no man’s debtor, Hallelujah.

God rewards those who give to Him, don’t miss out on your blessings, give to Him today.

We are available to seek personal words of direction and encouragement for those who want them. Please contact us on our webpage above. We can also provide counselling online, contact our webpage. A donation is normally required for this service.

May God bless and keep you and give you grace to walk out His Calling on your life.

Israel were God’s people, not Pharaoh’s, but because they lived in his land he was determined to ENSLAVE them and make their lives miserable. He was also determined to KILL the next generation and he turned to the medics of the day, the midwives, to accomplish his plan. At all costs Pharaoh wanted to prevent Israel from becoming the ‘Great Nation’ God had promised Jacob when he left Canaan for the last time. Genesis 46:3

The midwives, Shiphrah and Puah (honoured by having their names recorded in scripture) refused to obey the ruler at great personal risk. The reason given, they Feared God.

¹⁷ The midwives, however, FEARED GOD and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. ¹⁸ Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, ‘Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?’ Exodus 1

THEY FEARED GOD MORE THAN THEY FEARED MAN!

They were confronted for not murdering the Male infants, but they didn’t give in to tyranny. (Fear is Faith working in reverse and Fear will give rise to Tyranny, a quote from memory by Robin D Bullock).

²⁰ SO GOD WAS KIND TO THE MIDWIVES AND THE PEOPLE INCREASED AND BECAME EVEN MORE NUMEROUS. ²¹ And because the midwives FEARED GOD, He gave them families of their own. Exodus 1

God would never allow His Plan for the salvation of mankind to be overthrown by a pagan ruler, steeped in the occult with his court magicians. This conflict would ultimately be the clash of two Kingdoms, (Egypt was destroyed, Israel were delivered) but for a time the conflict was played out on the human level with some casualties.

Are we seeing a repeat of this in our day? Government ministers, global media and the majority of the medical profession unceasingly tell people to submit to previously unheard of medical procedures. Governments in Europe have actually begun to impose lockdown on people who refuse to obey the dictates of the day. This continent, with all its western culture and technology, may be one of the darkest places on the planet.

All people, but especially God’s people, need to begin to learn to think for themselves again and not be gullible and swallowing everything presented to them. The pharaoh wanted total control and submission, he wanted to destroy the people of God, but that never happened. Only those who walked in the Fear of God were able to resist the pressures of that day, but they were known and blessed by God.

God bless and keep you today.

Times change and so must we; there’s no going back.

¹³  … but this one thing I do, FORGETTING those things which are behind, and REACHING FORTH unto those things which are before,

¹⁴ I PRESS TOWARD the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3 (Verbs, the things we should DO, are in Capitals)

The account of God’s people, Israel, continued to move on in the land of Egypt. Times had changed and their favoured position under Joseph no longer existed.

⁶ Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, ⁷ but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them. Exodus 1

God had met with Jacob as he was leaving Canaan for the last time, the land promised by God to him and his forefathers;

² And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, ‘Jacob! Jacob!’

‘Here I am,’ he replied.

³ ‘I am God, the God of your father,’ he said. ‘Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I WILL MAKE YOU INTO A GREAT NATION THERE. ⁴ I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.’ Genesis 46

But as we said, times and circumstances had changed for the people;

⁸ Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. ⁹ ‘Look,’ he said to his people, ‘the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. ¹⁰ Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.’

¹¹ So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labour, Exodus 1

The new king, the Pharaoh, was determined to destroy this numerous people who were living in the land of Egypt, representing the world. First of all he enslaved them and made their lives ‘bitter with hard labour’.

¹² But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites Exodus 1

The same thing was also said of the Church Martyrs, the more of them that the devil killed, the more the Church grew.

¹⁵ The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, (interesting that the midwives’ names were recorded in scripture) ¹⁶ ‘When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.’

Pharaoh now ordered the midwives to murder the Male children, but they refused, at risk of punishment or maybe death;

¹⁷ The midwives, however, Feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.

These two ladies had TO MAKE A CHOICE, Kill the Male Children or Fear God (the God of Israel) and allow them to live. Pharaoh has been and is still killing many people to this day. The midwives took a stand and God rewarded them;

²⁰ So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. ²¹ And because the midwives FEARED GOD, He gave them families of their own. 

May God bless and keep you today, even as He kept these faithful midwives.

This HOPE [this CONFIDENT ASSURANCE] WE HAVE AS AN ANCHOR OF THE SOUL [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever pressure bears upon it]—a safe and steadfast hope that enters within the veil [of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place in which the very presence of God dwells], Hebrews 6:19 AMP

THIS HOPE IS A SAFE ANCHOR FOR OUR SOULS. IT WILL NEVER MOVE. This hope goes into the Holiest Place of All behind the curtain of heaven. Hebrews 6:19 NLV

Today, Storm Barra, the second major storm of winter is passing through Ireland. The storm has eased somewhat and we trust the worst has passed, despite a power outage. Storms test things in greater measure than day to day life. Weaknesses may be exposed and repairs needed after the storms have passed.

The verse in Hebrews 6:19 prompted a lady called Priscilla Owens, a Sunday school teacher in Baltimore, Maryland to write a famous hymn in 1882;

“Will Your Anchor Hold”, or “We Have an Anchor”.

Even in the Old Testament, under Law, God was known as a God of Love. Don’t let the enemy deceive you into believing He won’t forgive your failures – He always does if we sincerely repent (Turn away from).

He said: ‘O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth – YOU WHO KEEP YOUR COVENANT OF LOVE with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 2 Chronicles 6:14

Eternal God of Israel, You are unparalleled among the gods of heaven and earth. You honor Your covenants with Your servants and GIVE LIMITLESS LOYAL LOVE (limitless loyal love) to those who faithfully follow You. 2 Chronicles 6:14 VOICE

This was part of Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication at the newly built Temple in Jerusalem, which was received by God on behalf of the people when His Glory came down.

When we read on in the chapter we see Solomon was kneeling down on a bronze platform, interceding for God’s mercy upon Israel WHEN, NOT IF,  they sinned. Solomon knew Israel would need God’s Forgiveness, over and over again – we all do.

We are God’s Temple today, His Spirit LIVES IN US!

DISPUTE – When a man wrongs his neighbour and is required to take an oath before your altar – hear from heaven and judge between them. 2 Chronicles 6:22

DEFEATS – ²⁴ ‘When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you and when they turn back and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple, ²⁵ then hear from heaven and FORGIVE the sin of your people … and bring them back to the land you gave them. (Restore Your People) 2 Chronicles 6

DROUGHT – ²⁶ ‘When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray towards this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, ²⁷ then hear from heaven and FORGIVE the sin of your servants, 2 Chronicles 6

DISEASE & DISASTER – ²⁸ ‘When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, ²⁹ and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel … ³⁰ then hear from heaven, your dwelling-place. FORGIVE, and deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know the human heart),

DISTANT PEOPLE – ³² ‘As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm – when they come and pray towards this temple, ³³ then hear from heaven, your dwelling-place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that ALL the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you,

DANGER, WAR – When Your people go to war against their enemies… then hear from heaven their prayer and uphold their cause. 2 Chronicles 6:34

DEPORTED, EXILED – When they sin against You – FOR THERE IS NO ONE WHO DOES NOT SIN – hear their prayer and their pleas and uphold their cause. And FORGIVE Your people who have sinned against You. 2 Chronicles 6:36, 39

May your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation,
        may your faithful people REJOICE IN YOUR GOODNESS

Solomon asked that ‘God’s people might Rejoice’ in His Goodness. We serve a Good and Loving God, Rejoice in Him today.

May God bless and keep you today.

God wanted Blessings Spoken Over His People (not curses) and it occurred twice in their history, by Jacob and later Moses. Genesis 49, Deuteronomy 33

It was important in the purpose of God for Israel that their Patriarch blessed them and spoke over them before leaving the scene of time. Words do have power, both for good and unfortunately for evil.

The tongue has the power of life and death,
    and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21

Words kill, words give life;
    they’re either poison or fruit—you choose. Prov. 18 MSG 

Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, lost his place for intimacy with his father’s wife;

⁴ Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel,

Simeon and Levi were also demoted because of their anger,

Let me not enter their council,
    let me not join their assembly,

Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
    and their fury, so cruel! Genesis 49

(Levi’s future changed dramatically when they stood with Moses on the Lord’s side when Israel rebelled. Ex 32:26, 29)

Then we come to Judah (Hebrew – Praise); Judah the fourth born received the mantle of leadership and a powerful word concerning the distant coming of Messiah.

⁹ You are a lion’s cub, Judah;
    you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
    like a lioness – who dares to rouse him?
¹⁰ The sceptre will not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he to whom it belongs shall come
    and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

King David came from the tribe of Judah and Jesus Himself is known as the ‘Lion of Judah’. (I have shared before that every manhole cover on the streets of Jerusalem has an engraving of the Lion of Judah). Judah was already marked by God to be at the centre of His Plan to free the earth and it’s people from bondage and provide a bride for His Son.

²² ‘Joseph is a fruitful vine,
    a fruitful vine near a spring,

Joseph, including Ephraim and Manasseh, was twice spoken of for fruitfulness (Ephraim means doubly fruitful).

²⁴ But his bow remained steady,
    his strong arms stayed supple,
because of the hand of the MIGHTY ONE OF JACOB,
    because of the SHEPHERD, the ROCK OF ISRAEL,
²⁵ because of your FATHER’S GOD, who helps you,
    because of the ALMIGHTY, who BLESSES you
with BLESSINGS of the skies above,
    BLESSINGS of the deep springs below,
    BLESSINGS of the breast and womb.
²⁶ Your father’s BLESSINGS are greater
    than the BLESSINGS of the ancient mountains,
    than the bounty of the age-old hills.
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,
    on the brow of the prince among his brothers.

Joseph, the governor of all Egypt, was marked by the Blessings of God throughout his life. May we know the Blessings of our God on our lives today and may we too bless and not curse. In Jacob’s early life his name was  twister or schemer, but through God’s dealings he became a Blesser.

Fathersloveministry is a faith based ministry, please Donate on our webpage today and help support the Father’s work;

fathersloveministry.co.uk

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, FOR GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER. 2 Corinthians 9:7

The Lord is no man’s debtor.

God rewards those who give to Him, don’t miss out on your blessings, give to Him today.

We are available to seek personal words of direction and encouragement for those who want them. Please contact us on our webpage above. We can also provide counselling online, contact our webpage. A donation is normally required for this service.

After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is WILD BY NATURE, and contrary to nature were GRAFTED INTO a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be GRAFTED INTO their own olive tree! Romans 11:24 (Paul used term ‘Grafted in’ five times in just eight verses)

The account of Israel continued with Jacob living seventeen years in Egypt, but when he knew his time to leave was drawing to a close and he called for Joseph.

‘If I have found favour in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, ³⁰ but when I rest with my fathers, CARRY ME OUT OF EGYPT AND BURY ME WHERE THEY ARE BURIED.’

‘I will do as you say,’ he said.

³¹ ‘SWEAR TO ME,’ he said. Then Joseph swore to him, and Israel worshipped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

These things were important to Jacob, the patriarch, as he neared the end of his life. He had to be in the land God had given Israel on oath (not the land of Pharaoh Slave System).

Joseph heard his father was ill and brought his two sons to be blessed by Jacob, again something important for their future destiny. Jacob repeated the Lord’s word to him at Luz;

³ Jacob said to Joseph, ‘God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me ⁴ and said to me, “I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.” Genesis 48

Immediately followed by Jacob declaring that Joseph’s two sons born in Egypt would be counted as his, brought into the Covenant with God right at the end of Jacob’s life. God can sometimes settle important issues just before the time closes e.g. Rahab and all her family delivered from Jericho. Late in the day, but never too late for God.

Not only did Jacob adopt Joseph’s sons as his own, but he reversed the natural order of their births as he blessed them, significant for the outworking of God’s purpose in their lives. Ephraim’s name means ‘TWICE FRUITFUL’.

. ¹⁴ But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.

¹⁵ Then he blessed Joseph and said,

SLAVES to Pharaoh or SUPPLIED by the Lord. Genesis 47

A system of commerce and government is next established throughout all of Egypt, where the people became enslaved to the ruler(s), ultimately Pharaoh, of the land. Some may have prospered within the system and others may have failed in it, but ALL WERE UNDER THE SYSTEM. What system are we living under today?

¹⁴ Joseph collected ALL THE MONEY that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and HE BROUGHT IT TO PHARAOH’S PALACE. Genesis 47

Pharaoh took all the people’s money, for selling them food.

When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said, ‘Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is all gone.’

¹⁶ ‘Then bring your livestock,’ said Joseph. ‘I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone.’ Genesis 47

Then they sold all their livestock to Pharaoh to survive the famine, they had no choice.

‘We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord EXCEPT OUR BODIES AND OUR LAND. ¹⁹ Why should we perish before your eyes – we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and THAT THE LAND MAY NOT BECOME DESOLATE.’ Genesis 47

Pharaoh would need some people to work the land, but only the strong and healthy and not the masses.

The land became Pharaoh’s, ²¹ and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other. ²² However, he did not buy the land of the priests, (PAGAN PRIESTS WHO BELONGED TO PHARAOH) because they received a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allowance Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land. Genesis 47

There were only three groups of people in Egypt, the public masses, the pagan priests and God’s people. God fed His people through Joseph, their Deliverer (Christ is our Deliverer today).

²³ Joseph said to the people, ‘Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground. ²⁴ But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. (GOD ONLY ASKED FOR A TITHE OR TENTH PART) The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children.’ Genesis 47

The whole of Egypt (the world) now lived under a system that controlled their lives. Pharaoh took his cut off the top and the people lived on the remainder.

²⁷ Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number. Genesis 47 Hallelujah!

THE ONLY WAY OUT OF THE WORLD’S SYSTEM WAS TO BE UNDER GOD’S SYSTEM – HE SUPPLIED FOR HIS PEOPLE!

¹¹ ‘The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her (Babylon, a trade system governing this earth) because no one buys their cargoes any more – ¹² cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; … ¹³ cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; AND THE BODIES AND SOULS OF MEN. Revelation 18

This world system is set up to control and trade the bodies and souls of men and apart from the Lord, they would do it. The plan in Genesis 47, so long ago, is clear and hasn’t changed, but God’s people flourished in Egypt, the land of slavery.

May God bless and keep His people in this day.