THE SECOND TIME
JOB 33:14.
"For God speaks once, yea twice, yet man perceives it not."
Within the Bible there runs a theme we call the "Second
Time." It seems that God has to repeat Himself to us before
we get the message. Let me explain:
GENESIS 41:5.
"And he awoke then slept again and dreamed the second time."
Though God spoke twice it still needed an interpreter.
Vs 25 "And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream is one. God
hath showed Pharaoh what He is about to do."
Vs 32 "And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice."
JONAH 1:1-2.
"Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the son of Amittai,
saying, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city and cry against it;
for their wickedness has come up before me."
JONAH 3:1-2.
"And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time saying,
go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching
that I bid thee."
The message is still the same. But he didn't obey until the second
time.
ACTS 7:25
"For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that
God by his hand would deliver them; but they understood not."
The first time Moses was rejected, the second time his brethren
accepted him.
GENESIS 37:8.
"And his brethren said unto him, shalt thou indeed reign over
us and have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for
his dreams, and for his words."
GENESIS 45:1.
"Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that
stood by him; and he cried, cause every man to go out from me. And
there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto
his brethren."
Like Moses and David, Joseph was rejected, sold into humiliation,
and finally reconciled with his brethren the second time.
ACTS 7:13.
"At the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren."
NUMBERS 14:34.
"After the number of days in which ye searched the land, even
forty days, each day for a year, ye shall bear your iniquities,
even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise."
God withdrew from His original intention to take them into the
land of promise because they rebelled in that they refused to believe
His word.
JOSHUA 1:2.
"Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this
Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give
them, even unto the children of Israel."
After they had served their sentence of forty years, and all the
rebels had perished, the Lord spoke to Joshua to take the children
of Israel into Canaan land. The message to Joshua was the same as
was given to Moses. It was the word of the Lord coming the second
time.
MARK 8:25.
"After that He put His hands again upon his eyes, and made
him to look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly."
Jesus led him by the hand, and then He spat on his eyes, and laid
His hands upon him. When He asked the man what he saw he replied,
"I see men as trees walking." After that Jesus laid hands
on him the second time and he saw clearly. Thank God for
what we have seen, but now He wants us to see more clearly.
At the turn of the century, the Holy Spirit began to be poured
out world wide in an experience now known as the Baptism of the
Holy Spirit. Not everyone accepted what God was doing but many did,
and the Pentecostal Movement was born.
Then God began to move again among the main line churches, and the
Charismatic Movement came into being. The message was the same as
in 1900, namely that Jesus Christ was not only Saviour, but also
baptiser in the Holy Spirit.
What was happening? It was the word of the Lord coming again the
second time, although it was the first time for many. The
word of Lord with regard to the priesthood of all believers is coming
again the second time, as is the command to the ascension
gift ministries of Ephesians 4:11; to
be mobile as God intended; and not entrenched in the seat of power
controlling a local congregation under the title of “Pastor”.
In conclusion the return of the Jews to
Jerusalem is for a particular purpose.
They became unclean and defiled by their rejection of Christ. They
have been on a long journey ever since. The word of God is coming
to them the second time.
In these last days God has been gathering them back to Jerusalem
to visit them again (the second time) to embrace Christ their Passover.
Numbers 9:6-12 “And there were men, who
were unclean through the dead body of a man, and could not hold
the Passover on that day; and they came before Moses and before
Aaron on that day. And those men said to him, we are unclean by
reason of the dead body of a man: why are we kept back, that we
may not present the offering of Jehovah at its set time among the
children of Israel? And Moses said to them, Stay, and I will hear
what Jehovah commands concerning you. And Jehovah spoke to Moses,
saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, if any one of
you or of your generations be unclean by reason of a dead body or
be on a journey afar off, yet he shall hold the Passover to Jehovah.
In the second month, on the fourteenth day, between the two evenings,
shall they hold it; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs shall
they eat it. They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor
break a bone thereof: according to every ordinance of the Passover
shall they hold it. (DBY)
THREE KINGS
The failure of Samuel to restrain his sons paved the way for a
new order, “A Monarchy” before his death
When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The
name of his first-born son was Joel, and the name of his second,
Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. Yet his sons did not walk
in his ways, but turned aside after gain; they took bribes and perverted
justice. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came
to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “Behold, you are old
and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint for us a King
to govern us like all the nations” but the thing displeased
Samuel when they said, “Give us a King to govern us”.
And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Hearken
to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they
have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king
over them”.
Kings on route to Babylon
SAUL the son of Kish was the first king over Israel.
He was a choice young man as he stood head and shoulders above all
in Israel.
Samuel was an old man when Saul came seeking his help.
It’s amazing that Saul had not heard of Samuel the famous
Seer before his servant told him. He appears to have had no more
awareness of Judge and Prophet Samuel than he had of the whereabouts
of his father’s asses that he had been sent to find. When
it appeared the asses were hopelessly lost his servant told him
there was a Seer in the city that could help him recover them.
Upon meeting Saul Samuel anointed him to become the first King of
Israel whereupon Saul immediately received another heart; and the
spirit of the Lord came upon him and he prophesied. When God calls
men and women to service He makes them fit for it, but sadly it
was not the case with this stubborn young man as we shall see. He
was crowned king over Israel even though he was as ignorant of God
as he had been of Samuel.
It’s true the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul for mighty
feats of valour, but never for a change of heart. It matters not
how high you can jump, but on how straight you walk when you come
down. Saul prophesied true enough but whatever he said was not thought
worthy of being recorded for posterity. No matter how miraculous
the acts that he performed were, when the Spirit lifted off Saul
he remained an even bigger fool than before. No, he was more than
a fool, he was a stubborn fool.
Bible words must be understood in the context of the facts they
declare. A preacher must be judged by what he practices not just
by what he proclaims. So often have we heard this protestation,
“but he brings a good word”. The word of God
is never in question but the always man is? Profession
must be judged by practice just as faith is by works. Jesus said
by their fruit and not their feats you know them. Most Pentecostals
would follow a miracle worker anywhere he led them regardless of
his character.
His oath before Israel to give the man that slew Goliath his daughter’s
hand in marriage would never be honoured. Many were the times he
sought to pin young David to the wall with his javelin, that by
his death he would no longer have to honour his oath.
When finally his sins had found him out, Saul’s request to
Samuel was not for pardon and forgiveness but that he might honour
him before the people. 1Samuel 15:30
“Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee,
before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again
with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God”. It never dawned
on him that he needed to repent. It mattered more that the people
thought well of him.
God gave Saul a great opportunity when He gave him a new heart,
but he failed to use it.
Under Saul’s reign they made no attempt to recover Urim and
Thummim which had been stolen by the Philistines; that had to wait
forty years for David the King after God’s own heart. The
king of the people’s choice, Saul, was eventually slain and
sadly sweet Jonathan with him.
The failure of the reign of Saul terminated the royal House of
Benjamin. Is there a Saul in your life? (It may be a man or a thorn)
Does he stand between you and the high calling of God? Has he thrown
a javelin at you to destroy you, mark him, and leave him to God?
Move on, the sceptre has passed to David.
DAVID the son of Jesse was the second King. David
was a man after God’s own heart.
He was a man of humility and great faith. One only has to read his
prayers to know how true this is.
I wonder if it wasn’t David that Jesus had in mind when he
told us the parable of the “prodigal son”.
David recorded for us many Psalms and Prayers that we are so privileged
to sing and pray.
Oh how we identify with the son of Jesse almost more than any other
mortal that ever lived.
Under King David came the greatest revival of them all to that point
in time. Everything was in ruins, (the Ark was lost) when Jehovah
took him from the sheep folds, and made him King over his people.
In David at Mount Zion He gave Israel a new start in grace and favour.
Then at long last the Ark was back in Jerusalem among God’s
people. It was a time of great joy and jubilation.
The ordinance of David to bring back the Ark is found in 1
Chron 15: 22-28. However the effects of this like every revival
since were only temporary and completely transient. David like most
of us was a mixture of grace, virtue, and wilful disobedience. As
such God would not allow him to build Him a house. Solomon at the
dedication of the Temple says these words; “he did well that
it was in his heart” but that wasn’t enough because
he had too much blood on his hands.
SOLOMON the son of David was the third King. He
succeeded his father to the throne.
With all the advantages of birthright; endowed by God with wisdom
and wealth at a very young age Solomon soon became lifted up with
pride. Shortly after Solomon dedicated the house he built, God in
all His glory came down for all the people to witness, and although
His visible presence was in their midst it wasn’t long before
they went whoring after idols. Solomon commenced his reign with
such promise but soon rebuilt the “high places” for
his wives which were to pave the way for idolatry to be re-established
in Israel. Solomon was the last monarch to reign over the twelve
tribe kingdom in its undivided state.
The Division of the Kingdom
A struggle over money, prestige and power commenced. (And it has
never ceased to this day)
In the days of his son and successor Rehoboam, a revolt occurred
under Jeroboam, son of Nebat the Ephraimite, who rebelled against
Judah splitting the 12 tribes into ten led by Ephraim; and two tribes
led by Judah. The division and final destruction of the Kingdom
under Solomon was predictable. In 220 yrs nine different dynasties
succeeded to the throne as a result of suicide conspiracy and assassination.
After the kingdom had been divided there was a revival under Jehoshaphat,
but like its predecessors and all those that followed it was short
lived. Solomon’s legacy was a divided Kingdom which was ultimately
defeated by Nebuchadnezzar. By 600 BC the city of Jerusalem and
the Temple were destroyed, and apart from Jeremiah and a ragtag
remnant that were left behind the bulk of Judah had been carried
off to Babylon.
The Kings that were taken captive to Babylon remained there, and
died there in captivity. One further effort to rebuild the waste
places was made when a small number of exiles returned and rebuilt
the temple only to go into apostasy once more. God never spoke to
them again for 400 years; then John came preaching repentance for
the Kingdom of God is at hand. Then Christ the King came and they
killed Him.
The Jews today still look for a King and a Kingdom. Both were taken
from them. The Monarchy was never restored physically.
But we find two prophets of Judah's Babylonian exile, Ezekiel and
Jeremiah prophesied the future reconstitution of the 12 tribes,
something physically impossible ever since the 10 tribes were scattered
about 120 years before Judah went to Babylon. Hindsight is 20/20.
There is undeniable historical and archaeological evidence to show
that they were completely scattered and lost; they never returned.
To ignore the evidence is tantamount to saying the “Holocaust”
never took place.
The apostles clearly understood the reconstitution of the 12 tribes
took place spiritually not genetically, under the power of the resurrection
of Christ through the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom. It
is still taking place right now. Three apostolic witnesses, James
(Acts 15) Peter, and Paul preached this
'Holy nation' this 'New creation’, this ‘Israel’
of God. Every promise of God is yea and amen in Christ Jesus.
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