Rod
of God
(A message of Dy. Chief Pastor
Wesely Peter on 10 Mar 12 at Chennai
Intl. Convention)
“The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou
art my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength
out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies” – Psalms 110:1,2.
This portion is a prophecy
spoken to Christ Jesus by God the Father, saying you be at my right hand till I
make your enemies your footstool. By
birth and by deed the whole humanity became God`s enemies and in order to make
them as the footstool (resting place) of Him, Jesus was sent to the earth. He lived on this earth about 33½ years and
was crucified on the cross by His enemies.
It is the will of God that the whole humanity becomes the resting place
of Jesus. God the Father is doing this
work in each ones life. Verse 2 and 3
says that He shall send the rod of his strength out of Zion so that Christ may
rule in the midst of His enemies.
Therefore, this is applicable for our spiritual life because God is
working in our life in order make us His footstool. God send his rod of power out of Zion to us
so that we may rule over among His enemies.
When God
created man, He gave him dominion over everything on this earth, so that man
may rule over everything created by God.
As long as man was obedient to God`s voice, he could rule over everything,
but when he transgressed the voice of God, man became a slave to all that
created by God and they started to obey God and rule over man. That is why now man is dominated by sin,
sickness, evil habits, evil spirits, lusts, world, and so on. God never desire to see man in such state and
wants to restore his life so that he can rule over all these things, which is
the ultimate purpose of God concerning man.
God has called us so that we may be seen more than conquerors on this
earth as well as in eternity. Almighty
God is able to accomplish His eternal plan in our life. He who promised is faithful to do it.
God shall
send the rod of His strength out of Zion.
If we want to rule over amidst our enemies, we should be seen under the
rod of His strength. When we consider
the rod of God from the scripture we can see various spiritual meanings and all
those experiences should be achieved in our life. Sin, Satan, flesh, world and the pleasures
thereof, curses, evil spirits, unclean spirits of this world, all these are our
enemies. Sicknesses, diseases,
weaknesses are also our enemies.
According to St Paul, death is our last enemy and we should conquer over
all these enemies and should rule over them; which means we should make them
the footstool of Christ.
There are
nine experiences connected with the rod of God and in order to rule over amidst
our enemies in the present world, we should make these experiences as
ours. Then they will not rule over us,
instead we will rule over them and finally we will be seated to His throne in
eternity (Rev.3:21).
1. Rod
which was in the hands of Moses: Moses stood before God with a rod
(Exo.4:2-4). God told him to cast it on
the ground and it became a serpent and Moses fled from before it. Again He said, take it by the tail and he put
forth his hand and caught it and it became a rod in his hand. In our life it speaks the power in the voice
of God. When we obey willfully the voice
of God, commandment of God, there shall be a power in it which gives us
deliverance. This rod brought
deliverance for the children of Israel and at the same time great judgment upon
their enemies – Egyptians. By this rod
Israelites were delivered and wrought wonders and judgment upon Egyptians. There is a power in the voice of God, word of
God. Psalmist says about the power of
His voice in 29 Psalms. It makes the
hinds to calve (9). St. Paul says, it is
the power of God unto salvation (Rom.1:16).
Preaching of the cross is foolishness to them that perish, but unto us
which are saved it is the power of God (I Cor.1:18).
Jesus took
all our sins, sickness and curses upon Himself and died on the cross where in
we were supposed to die. The chastisement
of our punishment came upon Him. When we
believe this truth, it works as a great power in our life unto salvation. Christ Jesus died on the cross and me in
order to deliver us from our sinful life and give peace and joy. In order to give us healing, He died on the
cross. When we believe this, our life
will be glorious and blessed. You may
have many kinds of burdens, cares, expectations but when you believe Christ`s
death on the cross, He will send the rod of His strength from Zion and will
deliver you. That is why we declare the
gospel of Christ to the whole world.
Christ died and rose again on the third day and He is alive for us. He is able to wipe away our tears and solve
all problems. You come to Jesus and call
upon His name and confess your sins unto Him.
The blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse you from all unrighteousness (I
Jn.1:7,9). Believe the word of God and
be under His rod. His Word commands us
that the times of ignorance God wink at, but now all men every where to repent
(Acts 17:30).
2.
The Rod which divided the Red Sea (Exo.14:16). When the
children of Israel came to Red Sea, there was no way for them to go forward;
behind them their enemies, left and right sides huge mountains and before them
Red Sea. God told Moses to lift up his
rod and stretch out his hand over the sea, and the rod divided the sea and they
could go on dry ground in the midst of the sea.
This speaks the truth of water baptism in our life. Water baptism is the counsel of God (Lk.7:30)
and in order to fulfill the righteousness of God Jesus took baptism in the
river Jordan by the hands of John the Baptist (Mat.3:15-17). God has commanded us to obey and when we obey
this truth, it gives us deliverance from our old man`s nature and helps us to
enter into His kingdom (Jn.3:5).
3.
The Rod used at Rephidim
(Exo.17:5): When
the children of Israel reached this place, there was no water to drink. People murmured against God and Moses and
they were about to stone him. God told
him to take the rod and smite the rock.
God stood upon the rock and when he smote the rock, water came out of it
and they quenched their thirst (v.6). It
speaks the truth of baptism of the Holy Ghost.
In order to quench our thirst both spiritual and material, we should
drink from the river of the Holy Ghost (Jn.7:37,39). It also helps us to enter into His kingdom
(Jn.3:5). The sign of receiving the
baptism of the Holy Spirit is speaking in unknown tongues (Act.10:44-46). In order to rule in the midst of our enemies,
we should come under this rod. Our inner
man should be strengthened day by day by this power. Believe His promise and wait for it.
4.
Rod of Prayer: While Joshua and his men fought the battle with Amalekites, Moses
alongwith Aaron and Ur stood on the top of the hill with the rod of God in his
hand. When Moses lifted up the rod,
Israelites got victory (Exo.17:9-11). It
speaks the prayer life God has given to us.
In order to rule over our enemies, we should come under this rod. Men everywhere should lift up the holy hands
and pray (I Tim.2:8). When the hand of
Moses were up, Israelites prevailed and enemies got defeat. It shows the war of flesh against our
spiritual life. God appointed prayer
life which is the rod of God from Zion.
Psalmist says, let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and
the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice (Psa.141:2). Our prayer and praise are seen as our hands
lifting up. Our weak knees must be
strengthened. Before going to Calvary,
Jesus went into the garden of Gethsemane and prayed. An angel came and ministered and strengthened
him. With that strength He went into the
cross and destroyed the power of enemies.
It was not an ordinary prayer.
Jesus Himself said that this kind of spirit goes not out but by prayer
and fasting (Mat.17:21). In order to
prevail over the works of demonic power, we should fast and pray. We should be seen under this rod to overcome
sickness and weakness in our body.
5.
The rod enlightens our eyes: While the battle was going on Saul emphatically charged the
children of Israel not to eat anything till he avenge their enemies. But in the forest they saw the honey dropped,
but they all feared the oath and did not eat.
However, Jonathan put forth the end of his rod and dipped it in an
honeycomb and ate; and his eyes were enlightened (1 Sam.14:26,27). St. Paul prayed for the people of Ephesus so
that their eyes of understanding may be enlightened in order to know what is the hope of his
calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe
(Eph.1:17-19). In the fellowship of
saints God is enlightening our eyes of understanding (Acts 20:32). Then we will not go after the perishing
things of this world, vanity and fashions of this world. We have a glorious incorruptible inheritance
in heaven.
6.
Rod of Tithes : It was the commandment of God concerning tithe of the herd or of
the flock, whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the
LORD (Lev.27:32). It speaks about our
giving tithes and offerings unto the LORD.
Out of all the blessings we receive on this earth, the tenth part
belongs to God. He has appointed this
rod so that people of God may be blessed on this earth. God says, if you are not coming under this
rod, you are cursed and you are robbing God.
He says, bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be
meat in His house and thereby you prove Him.
He asks, “will I not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a
blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Mal.3:9,10). If we want to be seen blessed among our
enemies, we should be seen under this rod. Be faithful in paying tithes and
offerings unto the LORD.
7.
Rod of correction : “I will be his father, and
he shall be my son. If he commit
iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the
children of men” (2 Sam.7:14). When
we walk contrary to the word of God, He corrects us. He says, withhold not correction from the
child (Prov.23:13). When father beat the
child with the rod for the mistakes he does, he delivers his soul from hell
(v.14). When God chastise us, it proves that He loves us. But for the wicked, correction is for his
destruction. If He do not correct us, it
proves that He hate us (Prov.13:24).
Therefore in order to prove that God loves us, He chastises us too. Take the correction of God in the right
spirit and surrender your life to the rod of correction.
8.
Aaron`s budded rod: Moses kept one rod each of every tribe in the tabernacle of
witness and on the morrow the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded and
brought forth buds, bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds (Nos.17:8). It speaks the calling and election of God
given to us. We should make sure our election and calling every day (2
Pet.1:10).
God is
sending His powerful rod from Zion so that we may obey the voice of God and get
delivered from all spiritual battles, obey to the truth of water baptism and
receive the Holy Ghost, and pour out our heart before the LORD in prayer, being
in the fellowship of saints our eyes of understanding may be enlightened to know
the riches of the glorious inheritance in heaven, obey the truth of giving
tithes and offering and receive blessings of God, to receive the chastisement
of God and love Him more and get ready for His soon return. If we are seen under the rod of God now, in
eternity we shall reign with Him with his rod (Rev.2:26,27). He is giving grace and power of the Holy
Spirit in these days for all who desire for that.
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