EXEMPTED!

So why does wickedness seem to abound these days? I go online or tune in to the radio and it’s bad news after bad news. Has God forsaken us? Are we as Christians not praying enough? His answer was somehow satisfying – Bro, you should know by now that we’re in the last days and all these things happening are a fulfilment of prophecy. They can’t be prayed away but you can pray to be exempted from them! The last statement immediately became an earworm all week. Sometimes the Holy Spirit has an amazing way of catching our attention. I began digging deeper on what it meant to be exempted.

In 2 Chronicles 7:13 -14, the almighty God appeared to Solomon after he dedicated the Temple to Him and from verse 13, God speaks to Solomon;

13 When I shut up the heaven and there’s no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land or send pestilence among My people, 14 if my people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn away from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

They can’t be prayed away but you can pray to be exempted from them!

Most of the time, we’re in a hurry to credit every setback, disease and plague to the devil but we read here clearly God admitting and sending judgment upon His own people. Someone once asked me, why would a loving God do these things to the people He created? Do?!, I retorted. God will do no such thing. We’re as a matter of fact, responsible for the outcome of our life and consequences of our actions. Closely look at verse 14 of 2 Chronicles 7, the cause is clearly stated in the condition – if they will turn from their wicked ways… As much as God is a loving Father, He is also a just Judge. The love of God is not exempt from His discipline (Hebrews 12:6). Most people think that the love of God is the ticket for acting irresponsibly. If you play with fire, you get burned and you reap what you sow. If we go back to the book of Genesis, after God had created everything He declared that the thing was good and after He created man, He testified that it was very good so God’s intention for us was to give us a very good life but it came to an abrupt end after sin entered the world. This is what the Apostle Paul tried to explain to the Romans in Romans 5:12 that because of one man, Adam, sin entered the world and sin then introduced death and death then spread to all men. So, if man had not sinned, we would’ve been having a very good life until now. But there is hope!

The Apostle Paul, in his second letter to Timothy, warned him of the perilous times that will come in the last days (2 Timothy 3:1). The Greek word for perilous is ‘chapelos’ which can mean harsh, savage, difficult, dangerous, painful, fierce, grievous, hard to deal with, etc. The word goes on to describe a society barren of virtue but abounding with vices. The Apostle then goes on to list a number of vices which we see happening today so sometimes I’m amazed when some Christians are still debating on the origin of Covid-19 and the cause of the virus. Our focus should rather be on the fact that it is a reminder that we’re in the last days. It is a call for us to walk in the day and not in the darkness (John 11:9).

As a matter of fact, this is not the first time there has been a pandemic. As far back as in the days of Moses, the Egyptians and the world experienced worse. The bible, being the typological book that it is, showed us by the events that occurred before, during and after the Exodus of the children of God from Egypt. It showed us how one day, we, the present Israel of God will also be taken up into God’s glorious abode or our promised land in the midst of plagues. The bible records that there were subsequent plagues occurring in Egypt yet there was a certain group who were called the children of God dwelling in the land of Goshen that were not affected by the plagues (Exodus 9:26). God sent them a leader in the man Moses. Whose name means to be drawn out of water. To be taken out of uncertainty because Moses was left alone by his mother to float on the river that perhaps, by chance, he may be rescued by an Egyptian yet God prepared for him to be taken out in the same manner in which he was one day going to take his people out of bondage and oppression in Egypt. Moses grew up as a prince in Egypt but one day had to flee because he killed an Egyptian while trying to defend an Israelite and he lived the rest of his life tending for sheep until he met God at the burning bush. After that experience, God gave him the boldness and power to go to Pharaoh to demand the release of the Israelites which Pharaoh vehemently opposed until God took Pharaoh and the land of Egypt into a series of plagues.

Then there arose the Lamb, who was to open the seals, offered Himself to be sacrificed once and for all!

Now Moses in order to consecrate the children of God from the plague which will finally release them from Egypt, had to kill lambs and spread their blood on the top and sides of their doorpost. On the top, the left and the right but the blood of bulls and goats was not enough to take away sins because Moses and the subsequent high priests had to offer the sacrifices daily. Then there arose the Lamb, who was to open the seals, offered Himself to be sacrificed once and for all! And this time around, instead of the blood being spread on the doorposts, this Lamb hang on a tree (the cross) in like manner with blood dripping from the top of his head and from his left and right hands so that He who once was smeared on the doorposts would Himself now become the Door! (John 10:9) that by His sacrifice, He will become the way to eternal life. Showing us by the events leading up to His death, resurrection and ascension, we’d have a foreknowledge of the persecutions, wickedness and lawlessness that will affect the body of Christ before we’re raptured to be with the Lord.

As the time draws near, negative news and unfortunate things will also continue to increase in our world but just like John in the book of Revelation was comforted by one of the elders, I say to you also to weep not! For the worthy Lamb who is now the Lion of the tribe of Judah; of the root of David has prevailed!! Our Jesus has overcome! Hallelujah! But like God told Solomon, “if My people who are called by My name…” in order for us to be partakers of this exemption made available to us by the Lion of Judah, we first have to be called by His name, then humble ourselves enough to admit that we need Him in our lives, then finally turn from our wicked ways. If you haven’t done this and are reading this, the time is now! Let no one deceive you my friends. Jesus is our exemption! The prayer of Salvation is at the bottom of this blog. Pray it over your life and watch the Lord exempt you and your family from these perilous times with peace that exceeds our understanding! (Philippians 4:7).

Understanding a topic or a matter itself brings within us some satisfaction or peace and we have all experienced this for instance when we finally grasp that topic that was troubling us before an exam or when we choose to ignore that unnecessarily difficult person because they do not know what we know but there is a higher satisfaction which only can be found in knowing Jesus! May the Lord breathe over you as you make this decision today. You are loved! Shalom!