Isaiah 60:22 A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time.
Zachariah 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
Luke 1:23-38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Zachariah 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
Luke 1:23-38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Luke 1:28-38 (KJV)
And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
- Mary actually did nothing but accept the word of God that was given to her.
- Mary abandoned herself unto that word; it was a reckless abandonment to the word of God.
- Mary did not discuss this matter with anyone; her other friends who were also virgins but who has not received the same word, her parents, even her betrothed Joseph.
- Mary simply waited for the word of God to show forth in her body, then she wen to Elizabeth, who also had received a similar word from the Lord.
- Note that it was the same word of God that pointed at her Elizabeth so both of them can watch , wait and believe God together.
- MARY SIMPLY BELIEVED GOD.
Believe meaning:
To accept that (something) is true, especially without proof.
Hebrew 3:7-19 (KJV)
Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, today if ye will hear his voice,
Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, they do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So, I sware in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest.) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end; While it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So, we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Hebrews 4:1-3 (KJV)
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
What were Their fears?
- We are going to die in the hands of these giants in this wilderness.
- Actually, if death is the end for us, it was better if we died in Egypt.
- We were actually dying in Egypt but not in the numbers that will happen here.
- Our wives will become casualties of our folly to abandon all and follow this God and we are meant to protect our wives.
- Our young children will become another man’s child, servant or slave if they are not killed.
- We should have known there is no God that can do this; we have been fooled; our previous life of slavery although bad was better than this.
- At least, we still could farm a little and after a day’s work we still had food, cucumbers, onions; and we still had each other.
Number 14:11
The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me disrespectfully and reject Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the [miraculous] signs which I have performed among them?
And the Lord said to Moses, How long will this people provoke (spurn, despise) Me? And how long will it be before they believe Me [trusting in, relying on, clinging to Me], for all the signs which I have performed among them?
They forgot all these…
Aaron's rod is turned into a serpent.
Moses hands became leprous.
1. Water Is Turned into Blood
2. Frogs
3. Lice
4. Flies
5. Gnats
6. Boils
7. Thunder and Hail
8. Locusts
9. Darkness
10. The Firstborn Are Slain
The Spoiling the Egyptians
The Parting of the Red Sea
Pillar of cloud day and Pillar of fire by night
Healing the Bitter Waters of Marah
The Manna from Heaven
Water from the Rock at Rephidim
The Death of Nadab and Abihu
The Burning of the Congregation at Taberah
Clothes and shoes did not wear out for 40 years
Dangers of Unbelief
- So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
- They did not enter, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
- God was grieved with them, so He swore in His anger that they will not enter that rest.
- They perished in the wilderness; estimated 1,078,000 adults (600,000 men, 400,000 women, 45,000 Levite men, 33,000 Levite women, plus adults among the mixed multitude).
- They delayed their children whom they originally said would die entering the Promised Land.
- God was still feeding them, clothing them, protecting them, shielding them from the elements, even though they were been kept for death.
Are we also forgetting something?
Romans 8:32
He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (KJV)
He that did not hesitate to spare his own Son but gave him up for us all—can we not trust such a God to give us, with him, everything else that we can need? (PHILLIPS)
Luke 1:45
And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
John 20:29
Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Who is going to believe God for Europe?
Prayer Points | Search Me O Lord!
Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (KJV)
Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about; See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong— then guide me on the road to eternal life. (MSG)
Prayer Points | Deliver Me from an Evil Heart of Unbelief
Hebrews 3:12
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. (KJV)
Take care, brothers and sisters, that there not be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to trust and rely on the Lord, a heart] that turns away from the living God. (AMP)
[Therefore beware] brethren, take care, lest there be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to cleave to, trust in, and rely on Him], leading you to turn away and desert or stand aloof from the living God. (AMPC)
Prayer Points | Let Me Labour Correctly to Enter This Rest
Hebrews 4:11,12,16
Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. (KJV)
Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest [of God, to know and experience it for ourselves], that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience [into which those in the wilderness fell] (AMPC)
The two legs of the labour:
- For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
- Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need
Prayer Points | Help Me to Labour in the Word of God
Hebrews 4:12,13
God means what he says. What He says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defence, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what. (MSG)
And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenceless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do. (AMP)
Prayer Points | Help Me to Labour in Prayer
Hebrews 4:16
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (KJV)
Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with fullest confidence, that we may receive mercy for our failures and grace to help in the hour of need. (PHILLIPS)
