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Spirit of the Word - Covenant Eschatology - Introductory Note - New Stuff
OUR GOD REMEMBERS YOU!
by Ray Prinzing"O you seed of Abraham His servant, you children of Jacob His chosen. He is the Lord our God: His judgments are in all the earth. HE HAS REMEMBERED HIS COVENANT FOR EVER, the Word which He commanded to a thousand generations." (Psalm 105:6-8).
"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He has visited and redeemed His people... to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and TO REMEMBER HIS HOLY COVENANT; the oath which He swore to our father Abraham, that He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our lives." (Luke 1:68, 72-75).
The very phrase "and God remembered," is almost startling when we consider that God does not need a reminder. We speak of God as Omnipotent, meaning: ALL-POWERFUL; and that He is Omnipresent, meaning: PRESENT EVERYWHERE; and He is Omniscient, meaning: ALL-KNOWING, which speaks of His total knowledge at all times. Why then does He need to remember something, when He never forgets, and all knowledge is ever before Him? Thus we understand that the term "AND GOD REMEMBERED" is used for our encouragement, being accommodated to our understanding and need. He graciously condescends to our low estate, to meet us where we are, that He might bring us to where HE IS. So we have these terms which use our language to convey to us the assurances we need.
We also note that the Hebrew word for "remember" is "zakar" meaning: to mark, (so as to be recognized), to imprint; thus it signifies a retaining in mind, so as to continually be mindful of that one, or thing.
Through Isaiah the prophet, (49:16), God spoke to Israel, "Behold, I have graven you upon the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me." Again emphasizing that HE IS EVER MINDFUL OF US, of our needs, of our pathway, of our limitations, and to where He is bringing us.
The Psalmist also understood this, (139:2-4), and said, "You know my downsitting and mine uprising, You understand my thought afar off. You compass my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, You know it altogether." We are IN CONSTANT REMEMBRANCE before Him. No wonder the Psalmist also went on to state, "Such knowledge is to wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it." (v. 6). All of our ways, goings, needs, are continually before Him-- because HE REMEMBERS US, in the most individual, Nersonal way-- HE is continually cognizant of everything about us.
The first time it speaks of God "remembering," is found in Genesis 8:1. "And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged."
That God remembered Noah we can somewhat understand, for he had some very good credentials-- "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." (Gen. 6:9). There was a communion and fellowship between God and Noah, and God was MINDFUL of him-- having given him all the instructions for the building of the ark, etc. But the Word goes on to say that God remembered "every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark." There is not a creature in all of His creation that God does not remember. Jesus said that a sparrow "shall not fall on the ground without your Father." (Matt. 10:29). All these creatures were cramped in together in the ark-- and kept there day after day-- yearning for freedom to run and move about. Surely creation was groaning its way through the flood. Yet GOD WAS MINDFUL of every living thing, as well as of Noah.
Genesis 2:5-6 tells us that there was a time in Eden when "The Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth. - But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." At what time in history the rains began, we do not know. But certainly this was a phenomenon in creation, when the fountains of the deep were opened, and the rains from heaven were unrestrained, and the flood was on. Yet frightening as all of this would be, surely what added to the stress and testing was the "time" factor. For forty days and nights it kept on raining-- would it ever end? And then when the rain stopped, "after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated." (Gen. 8:3). And it took even longer before "the face of the ground was dry." I dare say, time often seems to be the greatest processor of all. We wait and we wait-- the trial seems to go on endlessly. And because we know not the "time factor," we are tested much. If we knew we have only so many days to go, we'd grit our teeth, and by our own efforts seek to endure until. But when we know not "how long?" then we have to moment by moment commit ourselves to HIM who holds all our times in His hand-- and be assured that GOD REMEMBERS US even when the time is long.
God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters were assuaged. Wind often serves in type of the moving of God's Spirit. "There came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and if filled all the house where they were sitting." (Acts 2:2). Let it be clear, though the time has often seemed very long, and while the vision tarries we have to hold steady and just WAIT FOR IT-- things which the Spirit spoke into our heart that He would do IN and THROUGH a people-- yet He knows the hour when the SPIRIT OF GOD SHALL BLOW ACROSS OUR LAND, a tremendous move of victory in Christ.
When the time seems long, people will often drift off into other things, as they find other involvements because they cannot wait and walk out the time span which God has appointed. But I assure you that GOD HAS NEVER FORGOTTEN the truths which He quickened in your Spirit, they're as a covenant between God and you. He has never erased, disannulled, set aside the revelation He has imparted to you of what you are to BECOME IN HIM, and what He purposes to fulfill in your life. OUR GOD REMEMBERS YOU, and He will yet cause His Spirit (wind) to pass over the waters (people), and all shall be fulfilled.
I know that we have our "doom-casters" in this day, and they rehearse only the darkness of the night. "Darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people." "In the last days perilous times shall come." They know every verse which speaks of negative conditions. But we would declare with all our heart-- while these things are here, shall come, etc. yet they are but A MEANS TO AN END, they are not an end in themselves. They are but the travail, the birthpangs for the bringing forth of a NEW ORDER IN CHRIST.
He will pour out of His Spirit upon all flesh-- "And all flesh shall see the salvation of God." (Luke 3:6). For He has promised, "The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." (Hab. 2:14). Full well God knows all about the DARK WATERS, every negative flood. He has promised, (Isa. 59:19), "When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him."
But, it can also be rightly translated, "When the enemy comes in, LIKE A FLOOD THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD shall lift up a standard against him." HE can produce HIS POSITIVE FLOOD which swallows up all negatives, even as Aaron's rod swallowed up all the rods of the magicians of Egypt. (see Exodus 7:12).
Praise God for His WORD-- "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you." (Isa.43:2)
Finally the waters were gone, the ark emptied out, and Noah built an altar unto the Lord, and offered his offerings. The Lord was mindful of this also, and He gave promise both to Noah, and to every living creature, that never again would the earth be destroyed by a flood such as this, for "I do set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth. -- And I WILL REMEMBER My covenant .... the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth." (Gen. 9:13, 15-16).
Obviously God does not have to see a rainbow in the cloud to be reminded not to flood all the earth again. All of this is for our benefit-- we see the rainbow, and however severe the storm might have been, we are reminded that it does not last-- the sun shines again. But God accommodates man's need for constant reminders of His grace. God makes His covenant, and HE KEEPS IT. Yet so often we think of Him in terms of our own frailty and weakness. "You thought that I was altogether such an one as thyself." (Psalm 50:21). So, mindful of our thoughts-- HE REMINDS US with a bow in the cloud, that He is ALWAYS IN CONTROL, and remembers our every need even as we pass through our times of trial, purging, and development.
Second time the word "remembered" is used is in Gen. 19:29. "And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that GOD REMEMBERED Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt."
Just prior to this occasion God had revealed to Abraham what He purposed to do with the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. And then Abraham made his intercession-- would God destroy them if there were fifty righteous in the city? And God said He would spare the city for their sakes. But Abraham was not sure there were fifty, so he worked his way down to ten, and then he left off praying. Much could be said regarding intercession, and how we do not change the mind of God concerning a matter, but we bring ourselves into harmony with His will, but that would be another message in itself. We do see that God stopped Abraham's praying before it would have been contrary to His plan. But we also see a positive truth in this record, for as it came time to execute judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah, GOD REMEMBERED ABRAHAM-- God remembered the prayers of Abraham, and He brought Abraham's kinfolk out of the city, before the judgments were wrought on those cities.
Betimes God gives insight to some of the chaos before us-- the judgments He will send, so that "the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." (Isa. 26:9). It is not the whole of our vision, it is only a part thereof, because we now see beyond the judgments, "looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." (Jude 21). We know HIS SPIRIT (Wind) will yet blow upon the waters, bringing the fulness of salvation to all mankind. And so we earnestly pray for our loved ones, and for a time nothing seems to happen. There was no revival down on the plain. Lot was not raptured out of the city. Everything seemed to carry on, getting worse. Yet, in the hour of crisis GOD REMEMBERED-- He remembered Abraham, remembered the deep heart-felt prayer, then at the last critical moment, GOD brought Lot and his family out of the city-- sparing them from the destruction. Ah, we will not tell God HOW to do it, WHEN to do it, WHERE to do it, etc. but we will hold these names of our loved ones before Him, assured that "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Gen. 18:25), as Abraham prayed.
Revelation 5:8, speaks of the "Golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints." And the Psalmist prayed, "Let my prayer be set forth before You as incense ..." (Ps. 141:2). When those vials are poured out, and the incense arises before Him-- HE REMEMBERS-- and He gives answer in ways that will far supersede all that we can ask or think. The prayers might be bottled up for some time, held as it were until the appointed hour of worship-- when all of our heart is truly poured out before Him in spirit and in truth-- and then there is a REMEMBRANCE-- and a working of God that is far beyond what we might have asked, and in ways far different than we are capable of thinking-- but which causes us to magnify Him all the more.
The next time the phrase "And God remembered" is used, is in Genesis 30:22. "AND GOD REMEMBERED Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb."
Rachel had been barren, and suffered a lot of persecution and distress from her sister because of this, but all was WITHIN THE KNOWING OF GOD, He was remembering her all the while. Likewise Hannah shared in the experience, as we read in 1 Samuel 1:19, "And the LORD REMEMBERED HER." Rachel had her two sons, Joseph and Benjamin. Hannah had her Samuel. All in God's time!
How does that apply to us today? Ah, how often have we felt so barren, so unproductive, so empty and useless. Your prayer was to be fruitful for Him but it all seemed to be of no avail. You read about the vine being purged, "that it may bring forth more fruit." (John 15:2). But it seems you only become more barren with all the pruning, purging within. How we long for the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT to be in evidence, to His glory and praise. Truly, there shall come a day when GOD REMEMBERS-- and He will open the womb as it were, HE will cause us to become FRUITFUL UNTO HIM. We cannot bring forth this desired fruit by our own self-efforts. It is the fruit of THE SPIRIT that we desire, that it might be of enduring quality. "I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain." (John 15:16). It is His Word, HIS COVENANT WITH YOU, and HE SHALL REMEMBER YOU in this matter.
How often we feel like Isaiah, "O Lord, We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen." (Isaiah 26:18). We have our gatherings, sing and worship, hear a good Word, and praise God for the privilege of confirming one to another of His inworkings-- but we are NOT bringing deliverance to the world. These tremendous changes which we desire can only be wrought by God. So we continue to cry out before Him concerning our barrenness. And then deep in your heart He whispers, "I am remembering all this." And so He continues the processings, but with a view to when HIS LIFE will flow out of us to bring the deliverances so desperately needed. And in moments of quietness before Him, His Spirit quickens again, "Sing, O barren, you that did not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you that did not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate, than the children of the married wife, says the Lord." (Isaiah 54:1).
One thing is sure, while we wait before Him, He is teaching us not to yield to any other spirit, to bring forth of its kind. All these many kingdoms and programs of man, if they are gendered by the spirit of Babylon, they are producing Babylon's children. And as one godly leader once said, "God forbid that we birth any more babes in Babylon." Yet constantly new ones rise up with their organizational efforts, and infuse their spirit into men around them, and continue to reproduce after their own kind. And because they appear so fruitful, you question your own barrenness all the more. But He says again, that we need to "Take heed to your spirit," for "He seeks a godly seed." (Malachi 2:15). Thus we would be cleansed from every spirit of the world, and every religious spirit of Babylon, until only the Spirit of God implants within us HIS SEED OF LIFE, that we might bring forth of His kind-- a godly seed to His glory and praise. And desolate as we might appear now, yet He promises that "MORE are the children of the desolate," than the children of the married wife-- those who are married to the many systems of man. Strange words? There is a spiritual truth here that only HE can reveal, and we trust it becomes life and encouragement for you.
Another prophecy of Isaiah takes on tremendous meaning for us, for while we have been stripped of all past fruitfulness, He promises much blessing, and "Then shall you say in your heart, Who has begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been? Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up Mine hand to the nations, and set up My standard to the people: and they shall bring your sons in their arms, your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: ... and you shall know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me." (Isaiah 49:21-23).
Truly, all of this time, while you have been feeling so desolate and empty, stripped of all the works of the flesh, UN-joined from the systems of man, while your prayers, crying, groaning, has been ascending upward, He has been gathering all these prayers in a golden vial. And the Word declares, "He makes small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapor thereof." (Job 36:27). All this time, while we felt we were doing nothing for God's kingdom, just WAITING BEFORE HIM, daily yearning for the fulness of His reality-- cut off from all else, so that we minister only to the Lord Himself, to worship Him, praise Him, offer all that we are to Him, all of this AS A VAPOR ASCENDS, and in His own time He will POUR OUT OF THE GOLDEN VIAL all of this prayer, INCENSE, and it will distill into rain to bring forth LIFE in the far corners of the earth-- and then they shall come-- multitudes which are reckoned as your sons and daughters, born out of the travail which you have experienced so deeply. Who has begotten me these, seeing I am desolate? It is GOD IS WORKING, turning the vapours into showers of blessing-- producing a harvest to His glory and praise.
Christendom has taught us to think horizontally-- "Go out to WORK, WORK, WORK, according to the many programs of their design." But the challenge is vertical-- to worship HIM, and let the vapours ascend. To follow the principle our Lord gave when He said, "I do only what I see my Father do." To hear His voice, and live out His revealed will each day. He comes FIRST as we seek His face, to pour ourselves out before Him. Then He can move those clouds of vapour anywhere He wills, and distill the showers of blessing to bring life to the desert-- salvation to the nations. GOD REMEMBERS our barren womb, and the fruitfulness He has purposed is beyond all that we can ask or think. How shall it all come about? By the power of His grace!
Israel was travailing in Egyptian bondage, "And God heard their groaning, and GOD REMEMBERED HIS COVENANT with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them." (Exodus 2:24-25). Note the word "respect" for it literally reads, HE KNEW THEM. All this time God knew where they were, their walls were continually before Him. He heard every sigh and groan. He knew what they were going through because He had purposed this time of sojourn in Egypt. But He also HAD RESPECT UNTO THEM-- He had knowledge of all that was taking place, and HE REMEMBERED HIS COVENANT with Abraham that He would bring them out again.
Romans 8:22-23 tells us that "The whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now," and "even we ourselves grown within ourselves." But it is also written, "From heaven did the Lord behold the earth; to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death." (Psalm 102:19-20). GOD HEARS and HE KNOWS all about the weeping, groaning, and HE has purposed an hour of LOOSING-- a redemption which will set every captive free, impart LIFE to every one appointed to death. HE HAS RESPECT for His creation, and therefore all creation "shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." (Romans 8:21). God has a covenant with all creation for total redemption.
Leviticus 26, speaks of the dispersal of Israel because of sin-- how they would be scattered among the heathen, for their discipline and correction. But He promised, "I WILL REMEMBER My covenant," "I WILL REMEMBER the land."
Praise the Lord! With all of God's remembering, He has not forgotten THE LAND. "The earth mourns and fades away, - the earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof ..." (Isaiah 24:4-5). God knows all about the environmental concerns of our day. And He has purposed a time when earth itself shall be purified and cleansed. But beyond this literal working, we have the symbolical application. Our "earthen vessels" are in need of HIS REDEMPTION. "For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust." (Psalm 103:14). And He has promised that "HE will change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body..." (Phil. 3:20), for HE REMEMBERS OUR LAND. God has made a covenant with our land, and HE will REDEEM OUR BODIES (land) just like He said. Your very physical being has not been forgotten-- HE HOLDS YOU IN REMEMBRANCE, and you shall be loosed from the bondage of corruption, into His more abundant life. There are so many curses upon our land (bodies). Besides the prevalence of cancer, and the growing epidemic of aids, one of the greatest plagues in our nation is that of allergies. People are suffering with allergies for everything that can be mentioned-- and the discomfort, distress, illness resulting from all these allergies, etc. is causing the LAND TO MOURN. But God is MINDFUL of all this, and He has planned redemption for every earthen vessel, therefore "This corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality.'' (1 Cor. 15:53). Beloved friend, OUR GOD REMEMBERS YOU, holding in mind all your present processing, and all the victory He's purposed.
Yes, God doth remember His cov'nant with man,
Our walls are before Him, engraved in His hand.
And though He has purposed our time of travail,
The vict'ry is certain, His grace shall prevail.
How wondrous the promise, this Word of our hope,
That God doth remember the way we must cope--
The trials and testings that come like a flood,
Shall never overpower His cov'ring of Blood.Full well He remembers how barren we feel,
The pruning and purging can only reveal
That of our own selves there is nothing to claim,
'Tis only in Him that we've hope of a Name.
But He doth remember the bow in our cloud,
As we wait before Him, so humbled and bowed,
And He sends His Spirit to blow upon men,
Transforming and gathering us to Him again. AMEN!BACK - Spirit of the Word - Covenant Eschatology - Introductory Note - New Stuff