"Biblical characters and their dramatic encounters with God, before AI"

Biblical Characters and Their Dramatic Encounters with God Before AI.

Welcome to the weekly broadcast of Jeshurun Ministry GB's program preach the gospel. Trouble is coming to the earth. It is the program designed to help you live victoriously in times of trouble.

Have you ever had an encounter with God? Are you sure it was Him? If you have not, then I suggest that you ask Him, "Why has He not shown Himself to you?" The purpose of this message is to help enrich your walk with the Father, with the Son, and with the Holy Spirit. He has given us His phone number, which is 333. Yes, His phone number is Jeremiah 33:3. The fact that He says in this text, "Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know should make it clear to us that He wants to be in touch with us." He wants us to call Him. He wants us to have encounters with Him. And this is a clear invitation from the One who created us to seek Him out and develop a line of communication with Him.

Here's another question for you. If you do not have a personal encounter with Him on this side of life, can you be assured of an eternal and personal encounter with Him on the other side? It is very important to make note of the fact that when this Word came to the prophet Jeremiah, he was locked up in a prison. Meanwhile, Jerusalem was under siege because the Babylonian army was breaking down the city walls. And our Yahweh God told Jeremiah that if he would call out to Him, He will be faithful to answer him. And not only will He answer him, but He will show him some marvelous things, some awesome and wonderful things. God is here promising to reveal hidden and secret things to those who believe in Him if they would only exercise their faith and call out to Him.

Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Creator of the earth and all within it. I pray that every listener to this message will have a genuine encounter with You. I pray that the enemy will not be able to deceive them by appearing to them as an angel of light. Give them the ability to discern Your voice and to recognize the truth of Your Holy Word. I pray this prayer in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Let us be mindful that the enemy is also attempting to open channels of communication with us 24/7. He's working hard to communicate with us, pretending it is the voice of God. The principle and safest way that God speaks to us, therefore, is through His Holy Word. This is always safe. There are also many other ways that He speaks to us, and we'll talk about some of those. But beware that in the meantime, Satan is busy using every avenue to try to get into our head. Therefore, it is important for us to be able to tell the difference between the devil's voice and the voice of our great God. The more we study the Bible, the more we study His Word, the easier it becomes for us to recognize the Father's voice. You see, He will never contradict His Word. So there'll never be something that He says in your ear or in your heart that is contrary to His Word.

Scripture gives us one of the most outstanding examples of a great obstacle to hearing and understanding the voice of God clearly. We find it in numbers 22. And it is simply the case of A, leaning to our own understanding or B, the case of a made-up mind. You be the judge. These two ungodly positions will prove to be roadblocks that cause us to miss out on a priceless encounter with our God.

The story is about the dangers of a love for the wages of unrighteousness better known as the wages of sin which brings about death. The scene is set in the steaming hot desert of Moab, not far from the place where the children of Israel were camping while on their way from Egypt to the promised land. The players are number one, a non-Jewish diviner called Balaam. He was a prophet for hire. Number two, a wicked Moabite king called Balak, son of Beor. Number three, the donkey that Balaam was riding upon. Fourthly, the angel of the Lord.

King Balak had summoned Balaam to curse the children of Israel. Because when the elders of Moab looked down upon them from the mountains of Moab, they were afraid and said, "This horde of people will lick up everything around us like an ox licks up the grass of the field. The size and splendor of Israel, my friend, was so awesome that Balak and his people became afraid of them. He thought that if Balaam would curse them for him, he would be able to defeat them and run them out of their country.

But the Lord told Balaam not to go with the officials that had been sent to him by the wicked king Balak. Further He told him that he could not curse Israel because they were blessed. Of course we know that numbers 23 verse 8 tell us whom the Lord blesses no one can curse. Balaam knew this also. But there are many Christians so-called believers in Christ who do not understand this. Balaam wanted the money and the honor promised him by Balak. So he went along anyway.

On the road, the angel of the Lord stood in the pathway with his sword drawn to stop Balaam and his donkey from this suicide mission that Balaam was on. Balaam's donkey was able to see the angel and move to the side in order to save their lives. However, Balaam, driven by greed, could not see God's angel. He was blinded. And when his donkey moved to the side twice, Balaam beat him severely each time. And the third time, the donkey had no room to turn and went down on all fours, refusing to go forward, even though Balaam beat him ferociously again.

At this point, the Lord opened the donkey's mouth and in one of the most humorous scenes in the entire Bible, the donkey asked Balaam why had he beaten his faithful donkey. The donkey asked him if he had ever behaved this way before.

And Balaam said no. At this point, Balaam's eyes were opened and he saw the angel of the Lord before him with his sword drawn to kill him. He then repented to the Lord of his folly. My friend, greed for filthy lucre will blind us and cause us to miss out on an encounter with God. A generous heart will cause God to open the windows of heaven for us and He will bring us into His presence.

Sometime God is silent in our life in the same way that he has been silent in the earth at various times. According to 1st Samuel 3:1, when Samuel was still a young boy being trained to be a temple priest by Eli, the Word of the Lord was rare in the land and there were not many visions. Scripture tells us. Not many were hearing from God or having encounters with God. It was a rarity. In other words, our Yahweh God had gone silent. The sons of Eli were wicked priests of the Lord's temple, committing sins of greed and sexual sins in and around the temple, defaming the Word of God and disrespecting His dwelling place. And God warned Eli more than once. But Eli loved his sons more than he loved God. There are some believers in Christ who are guilty of the same sin. Loving their children too much to tell them that they are wrong. Afraid that their children will go away from them if they would tell them the truth. So Eli refused to discipline his sons properly and the Lord was angry. He became silent in the lives of His priests and His people. Unfortunately.

Samuel's heart, however, was pure, and he found favor with God, and Yahweh decided to break His silence. He began speaking to Samuel one night shortly after they had gone to bed. Samuel was not yet familiar with the voice of the Lord. And therefore, when he heard the voice, he went to Eli, thinking that Eli had called him. After the lad came a third time, Eli then realized it was the Lord attempting to speak to Samuel. He told Samuel, "When he heard the voice again, he should say, "Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears."

When Samuel answered, the Lord proceeded to speak to him, telling him that He would do something in Israel that would be so serious that it would cause the ears of everyone who hears it to tingle. I feel it in my spirit right now. It was about the judgment of the house of Eli, which the Lord had promised Eli that He would do because of the wickedness of his sons and Eli's refusal to discipline them properly. And this would be the first of many rich encounters that Samuel would have with the Lord. God visited him because he was obedient and humble and his life was right.

The time between the prophet Malachi and John the Baptist was 400 years. This was another season in which the Lord had gone silent. 350 years before this silence happened, the prophet Amos prophesied, saying, "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord God, that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a famine of thirst for water, but of hearing the Words of the Lord." Amos 8 and 11. God's silence would be a judgment upon the children of Israel. It happened because of their persistent sins, their rejection of His prophets and mistreatment of the poor.

That famine did indeed come more than 300 years after the prophecy of Amos. God's silence on the earth lasted 400 years. It was a very dry period when there were no prophets sent by Him. The silence of Yahweh continued until the arrival of John the Baptist, forerunner of Jesus Christ, called the greatest prophet that ever lived.

We must be vigilant because the enemy comes to establish a pathway to trap us into doing his bidding. He tries to get into our head. He comes as an angel of light and attempts to appeal to our vanity, our greed, and downright sinful desires. He comes and tells us what he thinks we want to hear. He may say something like, "God is going to make you a great man or a great woman of God or he might say, "God is going to make you rich, famous, and powerful." When he comes in this way, he's trying to establish a channel in us for him to operate in and speak to us continually. He's trying to build a rapport with us and his aim is to blind us so that we never learn to discern the voice of God's Holy Spirit. If we are not careful, we may latch on to every deceitful and vain thing that he teases us with, all of which would be lies. And this would prevent us from ever seeing the face of God.

Persons claiming to have had encounters with God sometimes claim that God told them something that is clearly not of God. It simply does not line up with His Holy Word. Yet they believe it. For instance, I've heard people say many times that God have told them to leave their wife or leave their husband. This is very doubtful because God says that He hates divorce. I assure you He will not go against His Holy Word. Maybe for their temporary safety, this person needs to move away from the home. If violence is there, however, God cares about what we're going through. He will find some other way of escape for you when He's ready to give you some relief. And this will only happen after He's tried and tested you, of course. Perhaps He would say something like, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength." Or maybe He'll say, "You will win your spouse without saying a word. Simply by your chaste conduct, you will win the victory." This is what He tells us in First Peter 3 verse one.

On the other hand, the devil knows how to punch our button. He knows how to feed us what we desire most because he's listening to us 24/7. We are often so untrained in God's Word. So undisciplined with our mouths that we blurt out our ungodly thoughts and even our secrets. When Satan hears them, he latches onto them and feeds us more and more of what we want to hear. These are things that he does to block us from having genuine encounters with God.

Is God about to go silent again? Or is He about to go silent in your life? Or is He already silent? Does the fall away of the last days mean that there would be no open visions and that the Word of God would not happen frequently? In fact, that it would happen very rarely. Well, not according to Joel 2 verse 28 and Acts 2 and 17. In fact, during these last days, God has promised to be more present than at any other time in the history of the world. Not only will we experience His presence, but the whole earth will be feeling the effect of His great power and His great might.

And the Word of God says, "It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of My spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams, and on my servants, and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my spirit, and they shall prophesy."

Yes, friend. This can be a rich season for your encounters and your relationship with God. If you would only be obedient and draw closer to Him, He will draw closer to you. God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty name. Amen.

You've been listening to this message and perhaps you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Well, we want to give you an opportunity to make that commitment today. Please engage your heart and say this prayer after me:

• Father, I am a sinner.

• I'm sorry for all my sins.

• I crave Your forgiveness.

• Please help me.

• Thank You, Lord, for Your forgiveness.

• I have decided to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

• Dear Lord Jesus, welcome to my heart.

• I give You the key to my heart because I now belong to You forever.

• Please keep the key.

• And please give me the Holy Spirit to lead me into all truth.

• To give me wisdom, knowledge, and understanding and to help me be true to my commitment.

• Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul. Amen.

Welcome friend to the body of believers in Christ. There are many of us here awaiting the return of the Good Master.

Be encouraged. Let your pastor know that you've committed your life to the Lord and you want to be baptized the way Jesus Christ was baptized.

Begin reading the Word of God every day. Begin in the book of John and then go to Matthew, Mark, and Luke reading audibly as often as possible because faith comes by hearing the Word of God.

Pray daily. Attend at your local church and one glad morning the Savior will come and receive us all unto Himself and we shall indeed forever be with the Lord. God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty name. Amen.