Could these blessings actually be a punishment?
June 29, 2008
Could it be that the signs and wonders, the manifestations and the unusual behaviour so typical of the big ‘revivals’ in the US and now occurring much closer to home here in the UK are actually PUNISHMENTS from God.
Could it be that those who promote, encourage and lead groups of people into these ‘experiences’ are actually bringing down God’s judgement on them?
GOLD DUST
Read Exodus 32, the account of Moses coming down from the mountain and discovering that the people were worshipping a golden calf.
“When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it”
The gold dust was not a sign of blessing, but a punishment for faithlessness. Read the whole chapter.
‘SLAYING IN THE SPIRIT’
Being Slain in the Spirit typically means falling backwards at the laying on of hands or the speaking of certain words or phrases (I have experienced this personally and I’ll write about it some time soon).
Of the (very) few verses used to explain this phenomenon, none tell of the sort of experiences supposedly connected with being ’slain in the Spirit’ – a gentle falling backwards into a state of bliss, blessing and healing. Check them out for yourselves…
Genesis 15:12
Genesis 17:3-8
Numbers 22:31
Numbers 24:4
Joshua 5:13-15
Ezekiel 1:28
Matthew 17:5-6
Revelation 7:11
Revelation 11:16
Acts 9:3-4
These scriptures variously talk of a man going to sleep and having an important dream, people realising they are in the presence of Almighty God and prostrating themselves in worship or people in fear for their lives because they were experiencing judgment. The last reference is Saul on the road to Damascus. He wasn’t refreshed by that experience. He went blind!
As with many attempts to justify weird manifestations and practices by referring to the Bible, why are the references so weak and/or oblique and/or a complete re-interpretation based on lifting single verses?
There’s not a single reference in the Bible to someone falling gently backwards under the power of the Holy Spirit, having been ‘given’ an impartation by another person, then experiencing a time of blessing, healing and soaking in God’s presence. Not one. And yet this is what is taught and repeated week after week in far too many churches.
Instead, when the Bible talks of people being unable to stand (as opposed to those who prostrate themselves in worship) it seems to be because they are in opposition to Jesus (Saul, the soldiers in the garden) and the power of I AM causes them to fall.
Not a blessing, but a judgement.
I pray that those who crave these experiences, who see them as some sort of confirmation that God is at work, or simply find them an interesting distraction would stop and think about what the Bible has to say.
On those rare occasions when Bible verses are used to justify these activities, go and read the whole chapter, put the verses in context. God is ready and waiting to show you the truth. It is not hidden from you, it’s in the pages of the Word.
Don’t let your leaders drip-feed you Scripture – tuck in!!
