Violence toward God’s Kingdom
As soon as Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness where the devil tempted Him. He defeated the enemy by quoting the Word of God to Satan, causing the devil to depart from Him for a season.
There is a pattern here for us to use today in our trials and hardships of life.
- Any kind of fresh commitment to do the Lord’s will brings a violent reaction from the devil.
- The temptations thrown at you will appeal to your flesh, to your mind, to your heart.
- The reasoning entering your mind and heart will be twisted by the enemy.
- The only thing that will build a wall around you is quoting the Truth of God’s Word to the enemy.
- Jesus left the wilderness in the Power of the Spirit. He reestablished the wall of God’s protection around Him by His obedience and profession of the Word of God.
I had a dream of a person who was in a meadow type field with trees, shrubs, green grass, and a sloping bank going down into a woods and ravine. The sun was shining brightly upon the field, a nice breeze was blowing the grass and leaves of the trees and shrubs.
There was a stone wall between the person and the sloping ground going down into the darkness of the woods and the danger of the ravine. There were stones missing with gaps in the wall.
The person was trying to repair the gap by placing stones back where they belonged, but there was another hand removing the stones as soon as this person went to gather more stones to repair the gap. The person seemed unaware of the hand removing the stones. I could not see who it was removing the stones in the dream, only the hand was visible.
The person was speaking negative words, which then allowed this hand to remove the stones which had been placed back into the wall. The wall was for protection from the darkness and the cliff, but there was always a break in the wall, caused by negative words and actions. Each negative word, each negative action, allowed this hand to remove a stone, and create an opening into a peaceful and safe world of beauty, bringing unrest, fear, doubt, and insecurity.
God and His Walls of Protection:
When God was ready to judge Israel for their sins, He spoke these words to Ezekiel:
“And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land that I should not destroy it, but I found none.” (Ezekiel 22:30)
God was looking for a man, one man, to stand in the gap, so that there would be no breach in the wall, to abate His judgment upon Israel. He said He could not find one man. Judgement did come upon Israel and they lived in captivity under foreign rule for 70 years and then were scattered throughout the nations of the world until 1948.
Jesus said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.” (Matthew 11:12)
The Kingdom of God began with the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove over Jesus as He was baptized by John the Baptist.
John the Baptist was arrested soon thereafter and was beheaded for calling out the sin of Herod for divorcing his wife and unlawfully taking his brother’s wife. (Matthew 14:1-5)
Attempts of the Life of Jesus:
- Herod tried to kill Him by putting to death all boys age two years and under.
- The devil tempted Him three times in the wilderness, once by tempting Him to jump from the pinnacle of the temple.
- His own hometown of Nazareth tried to throw Him over a 40’ cliff.
- The Jews of Jerusalem tried to stone Him for saying that “before Abraham was, I am”.
- At a feast in Jerusalem, the Jews again tried to stone Him for saying, “I and the Father are one.”
- The devil succeeded in getting the people to Crucify Him at Golgotha; but Jesus surprised Satan, by rising from the dead and destroying the power of death and hell.
“But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord.” ( I Corinthians 2:8)
The devil complained to God that he couldn’t touch Job because God had put a hedge or a wall of protection around him and all of his possessions!
“You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is!” (Job 1:10)
God Puts His Angels around those who love and obey Him as a hedge or wall of protection!
“The angel of the LORD camps around those who fear him, and delivers them.”) Psalm 34:7
“For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” (Psalm 91:11)
John, Jesus, Job, and all who try to live for God will suffer violence at the hands of our enemies used by the devil who hates Christ and those who claim faith in Him. The whole world lies under the authority of Satan’s darkness, and he blinds the minds of those who do not believe in Christ as their Lord and God.
The devil is violently taking over the world more and more each day and those who profess Christ are attacked for their stance for what is right and good in God’s sight.
The Kingdom of God is being oppressed and treated violently by many facets of society. You have to be careful of when and with whom you share the Kingdom of God today. Religious freedom in America is only for those who wish to claim intolerance for their selfish and ungodly lifestyles.
The Kingdom of God also is vigorously pressing forward and people are forcefully pressing themselves into it, especially in third world countries, and even more so among the Muslims through dreams and visions of Christ as the one true God.
Radical Islam has declared war on all Christians. Our government has declared war on all Christians who will not accept anti-God lifestyles. The Book of Revelation foretells of martyrs without number who are beheaded for their testimonies about their faith in the Blood of Christ. 50% of the world’s population will be killed during a brief period of time with the antichrist ruling the world as god.
Israel has suffered violence since the covenant was made by Jehovah God with Abraham. Israel is God’s people, whom Jesus will rule with and from where, when He returns to cast Satan into the Lake of Fire and judge all mankind for their earthly deeds. They will turn back to God under the antichrist, and so will many gentiles who have denied the one true God of all creation.
The dream showed this person removing stones by words and actions.
Jesus spoke Words of God to the devil, which kept His wall of protection in place and caused the devil to leave Him for a season.
Job was protected from Satan’s destruction by a hedge or wall of good angels who kept Satan out of Job’s life and away from his family and possessions.
David saw angels surrounding those who believe in God and obey His teachings.
The devil tried to kill Jesus many times before the Crucifixion. The devil did use Herod to kill John the Baptist. The devil did get permission to destroy Job’s loved ones, and property.
No wonder Peter said, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” I Peter 5:8)
America is in need of someone to stand in the gap.
Israel is in need of someone to stand in the gap.
Your lost loved ones are in need of someone to stand in the gap.
Your neighbors and coworkers are in need of someone to stand in the gap.
Your lost friends are in need of someone to stand in the gap.
Job stood. John stood. Jesus stood. The Apostles stood. They all suffered violence from the hands of men, who were used by Satan to silence God’s Word.
Jesus used God’s Word to silence the devil. John and the Apostles used the Word of God to silence the devil.
You and I need to stop confessing that which enables the enemy to remove stones from our hedges of protection and start quoting the Word of God in testimony and in intercessory prayer for our Nation, for Israel, for the church, for missionaries, for pastors and teachers, for unsaved loved ones, friends, coworkers, the hurt, the bruised, the wounded, the oppressed, and the list goes on and on….
“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test” (II Corinthians 13:5)
It is time to look inside and see what our motives are that bring forth the words of our mouths and the actions of our hands and feet. The wall needs to be rebuilt for America, for Israel, for our loved ones, and for all that need God.
Are you allowing stones to be removed, or using The Word of God to keep the stones of protection in place?
God blesses what is within the stones of His hedge. God allows the enemy legal rights to enter the hedge that is broken down.
Psalm 106:23 says,
“Therefore the Lord said He would destroy them had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before Him, to turn away His wrath from destroying them.”
Will you offer yourself to God to be one that will stand in the gap?