41 God passed His test gloriously. Israel failed its test miserably.
After the death of Miriam, when the people were camped at Kadesh, there was another scarcity of water. Again, the Rock—Christ—was present. Christ, the Rock, followed Israel through the wilderness (I Corinthians 10:4).
But there was a difference this time, a difference that portrays one of the ingredients of the latter-rain revival, a difference Moses failed to perceive and that cost him the opportunity to enter the land of promise.
On the previous occasion, when Israel first left Egypt, the Lord commanded Moses to "strike" the rock. On this second occasion, the event that typifies the end-time anointing of power, the Lord commanded Moses to "speak" to the rock. Smiting the rock is characteristic of the former-rain revival, because the Lord Jesus Christ was smitten on the cross of Calvary. But the latter-rain revival is announcing the coming of Christ the King. We still are to preach the blood atonement. But now we are announcing also the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth. We are to speak to the Rock, to the King. We are to exalt Him, and Him alone. The Lord alone shall be exalted in the Day of the Lord.
Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him.
And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. (Numbers 20:8-11)
The record of the Scriptures teaches us that the Kingdom of God sometimes advances in major changes, such as the change from the Law of Moses to faith in Christ. Change presents difficulty to the saints who have become accustomed to a certain pattern. Speaking to the rock is different from striking the rock. Moses failed to change with God.
The step forward into the humility and power of the end-time Divine testimony requires some changes in our comprehension of Christ and His manner of working. Are we able to change with the Lord? We must forgive Moses as God forgave him. There have been few men on the earth who have served God as faithfully as did this extraordinary individual.
The burden on Moses’ shoulders as he led Israel through the wilderness for forty years would have crushed most of us in the first week out of Egypt. The enormous load took its toll: Moses became accustomed to dealing with these "rebels." The Lord desired that Moses take a more gentle approach. But Moses was so accustomed to "smiting the rock in their sight" he did not perceive what the Lord had said to him. Moses failed to point the Israelites toward their Lord. He drew their attention toward himself and Aaron.
The end-time revival will be a Presence of Christ of unprecedented power and authority. No individual will be entrusted with such awesome power until God has made certain he will point people toward the Lord and not toward himself. If he points people toward himself he is antichrist.
Christ must be lifted up. Not churches, not people, not denominations, not programs, Christ must be lifted up. If Christ is lifted up He will draw all men to Himself, and whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. The mistake made by the Christian churches is to point toward some person, or program, or thing (such as a building) other than Christ. This mistake is made commonly.
And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and he was sanctified in them [revealed His holiness among them]. (Numbers 20:12,13)
Moses, being filled with presumption, struck the rock twice with his rod—the same rod with which the Lord had commenced the marvellous deliverance of Israel. God had used the rod of Moses on previous occasions.
But now it was time to prophesy to the rock, to speak to it. If Moses had done that, God would have been glorified. But by striking the rock, and referring to himself and Aaron, Moses failed to exalt the Lord in the sight of the Israelites. We notice the same admonition to Ezekiel: Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. (Ezekiel 37:4)
Many today are seeking to bring together the "bones" of the Body of Christ. In so doing they call attention to themselves. God has commanded us to prophesy to the bones, not to attempt to stick them together.
The Lord is gracious. In spite of this rash, self-cantered act on the part of Moses and Aaron, "the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also."
Why did God bring water out of the rock when He was not glorified? The answer to this question is important for us to understand.
Numbers 20:2 informs us "there was no water for the congregation." If God had not supplied water from the rock the people and their animals would have died in the desert.
We now are entering the greatest revival of history. The past few years have been a season of increasing thirst. The Word of the Lord has become precious in our day. Many Christian churches have dried up spiritually as the pastors have turned from the Word of God to preach the pre-tribulation rapture, prosperity, magical faith to acquire material possessions, and now a renewed postmillennialism—an attempt of believers to set up the Kingdom of God prior to the return of the Lord.
In addition, citizens of the so-called civilized nations are turning to Satan-worship and to African and Haitian religions that require animal sacrifice.
The true God of Heaven stands ready to bless every person who calls on Him, who claims His promises. Many are perceiving God’s willingness to bless and are setting out to deliver the Lord’s people. Signs and wonders are following the Gospel. People are being saved, healed, and taught.
Of those who are ministering, some are "smiting the rock," while others are "speaking to the rock." Some are pointing to themselves while others are glorifying the Lord Jesus. In every case the water is coming forth because the people are in need and God is meeting that need in every way made available to Him.
The difference between the two types of ministries will become evident as the thunder of God’s power is revealed in the true saints. The difference will be revealed further when the Lord comes and we "pass over Jordan" to inherit resurrection ground.
Those who have glorified Christ will move forward into the Millennial Jubilee. Those who have pointed to themselves will not be allowed to enter the land of promise.
A division between Christ-exalters and the self-exalters will take place when Christ sets up His Kingdom on the earth. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:22,23)
The ministers of the Gospel who are calling attention to their own glory are bringing water from the Rock for needy humanity. But they will not be allowed to enter the inheritance of the righteous. They have disqualified themselves by their sin and self-centeredness. Also, they will never know the thunder of God’s power of judgment during the days of the voice of the seventh angel because they have not been proven at the waters of Meribah.
As far as the Lord’s "two witnesses" are concerned, they will shake the whole earth by the power of God’s judgment. It will be Christ who is seen in them, for they will be crucified with Christ and will be living by His Life. They always will "speak" to the Rock.
It is time now to glorify God instead of men. We shall continue to glorify self until God brings us to the place of thirst, pain, bewilderment, weakness. We shall continue "smiting the rock" in the eyes of the congregation until God brings us to the waters of Meribah.
There God teaches us to "speak to the rock." We have been accustomed to glorifying ourselves instead of God. As soon as we master the all-important lesson of cross-carrying obedience and humility before God, the Lord will bring us to the secret place of the thunder of His power.
Then we can hear and comprehend the voices of the seven thunders. What they declare cannot be written in a book for everyone to read. The victorious saints will come one by one to the place of the thunder of God’s almighty power.
And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time [delay] no longer: (Revelation 10:5,6)
We know by the oath of the seventh angel that God no longer will delay His promises to His saints. When the Lord desires to assure His people beyond doubt that a promised blessing or deliverance will occur He confirms His Word with an oath. We have the Word of God, which itself is verification beyond all possibility of change. The added oath establishes the fact to a degree of certainty that far surpasses the actual possession of the promise.
What we see, and hear, and touch, and taste, and smell, is dependable to a limited extent. But the Word of God supported by His oath is far more certain than our conscious existence. It is far more sure than the created universe. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: (Hebrews 6:17)
The conquering saints march on year after year, persevering in the fear of the Lord. They do not change. They are faithful to God’s Word, to the Gospel of the Kingdom. They are saved by their hope that the Lord will fulfil all His promises to them.
The Lord God is aware of every detail of their personality and behaviour. His love for His faithful saints is so great He confirms the promised blessing by His unchanging oath.
The awesome angel, whose face is as the sun because of the righteousness and holiness of Christ that will be revealed in the Divine testimony borne by the two witnesses, swore by the Almighty God that the hope of the saints will be delayed no longer. It is time now for the nations of the earth and the earth itself to come into the possession of God’s heroes of faith.
There will be delay no longer. The only persons who truly can appreciate this saying are those who have borne their cross and waited patiently for what God has promised them. The Lord Jesus Himself is One who has participated in the patience of the Kingdom of God. Although we may wait many years, the answer shall come. No good thing will God withhold from the person who walks in uprightness and integrity of heart before Him.
It appears, from the seventh verse of Chapter 10, that the seventh angel (whom we believe to be the giant who stands with one foot on the sea and the other on the land mass) speaks first and then blows his trumpet. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. (Revelation 10:7)
"The days" of the seventh and last angel suggests a period of time during which the climactic events of the last days will take place.
The "days," of Revelation 10:7, could represent several years—the fateful period of the end-time: the first half of which is devoted to the worldwide preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom; the second half of which is devoted to the coming to maturity of sin and lawlessness in the earth.
There shall be no more delay! The mystery of God, which is the forming of Christ in the members of the Body of Christ, will be complete (as to its Church-Age dimensions) "in the days of the voice of the seventh angel." God has promised His elect that He will perform His Word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short in righteousness (Romans 9:28).
So terrible, so awesome will be the spiritual operations on the earth during the closing days of the present age that if God did not shorten the time there would not be left one living human being to witness the return of Christ. God will shorten those days for the sake of His elect remaining on the earth who cry to Him continually (Matthew 24:22). It seems to indicate in verse seven that the angel of God spoke first and later blew his trumpet.
There is, however, another possibility. Sometimes the trumpet of God is a voice—and sometimes a human voice! (Isaiah 58:1; Revelation 1:10 and4:1). It may be true that part, or even all, of the speaking and blowing of the trumpet, of Revelation, Chapters 10 and 11 is referring to the Word that is to be put in the mouth of God’s saints. The vision is seen in the spirit realm as an angel, but its outworking in the earth may prove to be ordinary men and women declaring the Word of the Lord.
In our time we can hear the Word of judgment and redemption coming from the mouths of God’s spokesmen. The seventh angel is beginning to speak today, we believe.
What is "the mystery of God"? The mystery of God is Christ in us; not Christ with us but Christ in us. Today God is bringing us past the feast of Pentecost (Leviticus 23:16) to the feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:34). The Holy Spirit is bringing into view the coming of the Father and Christ into the saints prior to Christ’s coming in the clouds as King of kings and Lord of lords (John 14:18-23).
We now are entering the fullness of the mystery of God—the forming and dwelling of Christ in us. This is a step past the Pentecostal experience and is as real an experience as being born again, as being baptized with the Holy Spirit. We are commanded to "go and take" the little open book from the hand of the mighty angel—the one who roars with a loud voice and evokes the thunder of the power of God Almighty.
And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. (Revelation 10:8)
Do you want to be part of the Divine testimony that will command the attention of all the nations of the earth? Today is the day to go and get the little open book. Let go of everything in your life that is hindering you from obtaining the book. Do not let anything stop you. "Sell all." The angel will not bring it to you. You must go and take it from his hand.
This is the hour for God’s people to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. It is a time in which to move forward in the testimony of the Lord Jesus. It is the period of the latter rain (Zechariah 10:1).
The idols of men will continue to speak lawlessness and worthlessness. The "prophets" will continue to behold lying visions and false promises. God’s people will continue to wander like lost sheep because faithful shepherds are few in number.
Every saint who beseeches God for the latter (harvest) rain will receive showers of grace that will bring forth the fruit of the Spirit in his life and also in the lives of those to whom he ministers.
The Apostle John obeyed the Lord. He went to the huge angel and told him to give him the little open book. Do not expect God to come to you in some spectacular manner. It is a "little" book—so small you will never see it unless you are a person of prayer and obedience to the Word.
Never despise the day of small beginnings. The Lord Himself was born in a manger. The witness of the last days will be a "speaking," not a "striking." The glory of men is diminished when the Kingdom of God is at hand, but the Lord Jesus grows larger and larger.
When the Kingdom is here we will see no man but Jesus only.
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