Longing For His Appearing

*Updated Info in GreenText*

Like many others, today we are both grieved by the devastation in Haiti and grateful for God’s provision in our lives as we see how much we have to be thankful for in light of so many people’s great loss.  Also, like many, we are asking “How can I help?” 

First of all, we can PRAY.  Today, I joined in with the International House of Prayer as they dedicated a time of intercession to praying for restoration and revival in Haiti.  According to IHOP’s blog, you can join them free via the live webstream to cover Haiti and its people in prayer during all of their intercession sets (12:00am, 4:00am, 6:00am, 10:00am, 4:00pm, 8:00pm) – though I’m not sure how long they’re doing this for?  If you want to view previous sets from a particular prayer meeting, you can go to www.ihop.org, click on the big button for the Prayer Room, then find the links beneath the media player next to the heading that says “Click here for Archives”.  Once you’ve selected the quality level you want, on the right side you’ll see a drop-down box where you can select the day – choose the intercession set you want to view.  Of course, you can pray and intercede for Haiti anywhere and anytime!  Some things to pray for…

1. Provision of food, water, shelter and aid to get to the victims.
2. Anointing and power upon the local churches that they could minister effectively to those in need.
3. An outpouring of the Holy Spirit for healing (physical & emotional), resurrection, and salvations.
4. Provision for Christian crisis relief and aid organizations to be able to get into Haiti and help these victims in the name of Jesus.
5. Comfort, strength, and hope for those who have lost loved ones.
6. Revival – that many would realize their deep need for a Savior and turn from their sin and turn to God.
7. For adoptions of Haitian orphans currently in process to be allowed to go through quickly – see article here.  People in Canada and the United States are speaking up on behalf of these orphans and fighting to make it possible for them to be brought home to their adoptive families.

Secondly, we can GIVE.  A warning before you donate, though, is that there are already people seeking to take advantage of this disaster through Haiti charity scams.  Check out this article for ways to avoid being scammed and how you can ensure you give to trustworthy charities.  Now here are just a few Christian organizations that have come to my attention that I think would be worthy of receiving financial aid right now who are seeking to respond to this crisis in Haiti.  I’m sure there are many more – perhaps you can leave them in the comments if you know of some – but here are ones I would recommend…

Compassion International - Because Compassion International ministers through local churches to meet the needs of that church’s neighbors, and because these church partners are respected aid workers in their communities, Compassion is uniquely positioned to assess and meet the needs of it’s sponsored children quickly. This is an advantage of their church-based model in practice for more than 50 years.  Also, Compassion has been given the highest approval rating by both www.CharityNavigator.com and The American Institute of Philanthropy.  They are a trusted charity who is committed to giving all funds raised in response to the Haiti earthquake  immediately to provide for Compassion-assisted children and families affected by this crisis. Any funds raised in excess will be stewarded by Compassion for additional and future disaster relief efforts. You can provide immediate relief to the Haiti Earthquake victims today.
• $35 helps provide a relief pack filled with enough food and water to sustain a family for one week.
• $70 gift helps care for their needs for two weeks.
• $105 helps provide relief packs filled with enough food and water to sustain two families for two weeks.
• $210 gift helps care for two families’ needs.
• $525 helps provide relief packs filled with enough food and water to sustain 10 families for two weeks.
• $1,050 gift helps care for 10 families’ needs.
• $1,500 helps rebuild a home.
• $2,100 helps supply 20 families with the basics for three weeks.

Crisis Response International – CRI is a non-profit organization that resources, trains and mobilizes volunteers, churches and other organizations to respond to disasters and other  compassion initiatives in the UnitedStates and world-wide.  Their vision is to train an army of end-time, prophetic, mercy missionaries, mobilized in the spirit of night and day prayer, to release great demonstrations of power, reach the harvest in crisis and rebuild cities on the Kingdom of God.  Presently CRI is collaborating efforts with Haitian national churches to bring relief and mobilize volunteers to the area. This is a tremendous opportunity to bring the Love and hope of Jesus Christ into this hurting area. Reports on CNN stated that people were screaming in the streets “Jesus is coming back and they were calling on God for help.”  Check out their site to see how you can help.

God’s Littlest Angels - GLA is an independent, non-denominational ministry founded to care for premature, malnourished, and abandoned children in Haiti. GLA is a faith mission relying on God to provide funding and other needs through churches and donors throughout North America and Europe.  Doctors and clinics refer babies that are in need of intensive nursing care and nutritional support to GLA. The ministry has developed from a Child Survival Center that cares only for premature, malnourished and abandoned infants under 2 years old into an orphanage that facilitates adoptions for children of all ages. Today, the orphanage is a fully functioning nursery with incubators, warming beds, and the capability to provide oxygen, intravenous fluids, and monitoring support for critically ill infants.  While at the same time, providing full-time child care for all of the children.  As I’m sure you realize, they are expecting many more orphans to be coming to them as a result of this disaster and you can help them by donating on their website – just click on the “Donate” button at the top of the right column or donate on their blog by using Earthquake Relief Fund widget in the right column.

Samaritan’s Purse – Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ.  Samaritan’s Purse is responding to the earthquake that devastated Haiti by providing critically needed assistance, including water, temporary shelter, blankets, hygiene kits, medical aid, and other essentials.  You can donate to their relief efforts here.

World Vision - World Vision is a Christian humanitarian charity organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. The millions of people they serve include earthquake and hurricane survivors, abandoned and exploited children, survivors of famine and civil war, refugees, and children and families in communities devastated by AIDS in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Their extensive global infrastructure enables them to respond where the need is greatest, anywhere in the world. World Vision is on the ground rushing emergency supplies to survivors of the Haiti catastrophe. Your gift now will help distribute life-saving relief supplies – including food, clean water, blankets, and tents — to children and families devastated by the earthquake and aftershocks in Haiti.  World Vision has worked in Haiti for 30 years and has some 370 staff in country. Send your gift to help them today.

On Canada Day, I heard the news about Dr. Henry Morgentaler, the “father” of abortion in our nation, being awarded the Order of Canada, the highest honor a Canadian civilian can receive.  To say that I was grieved and horrified would be a gross understatement.  I had hoped those responsible for making this decision would take note of the poll done at the Globe and Mail which had shown that 92% (over 300,000 votes) of Canadians opposed the idea of him receiving this award, but sadly they did not.  They also seem to have forgotten about the poll done by CBC which showed that the top wish of this generation of Canadians was to see abortion ended in our nation.  I was then confronted with the question – how should I respond??

A friend of mine mentioned to me in a recent email her desire to “stand in the counsel of the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:18) and to be one who is His friend, who hears what is on His heart and what He is saying.  This moved me to go before the Godhead and ask them – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – what is Your counsel for me?  I was overwhelmed with so many emotions – mourning, anger, confusion, uncertainty – what was the right way for me to respond to this injustice?  There were many options before me – more polls that I could participate in, government officials that I could email or call, ways to spread awareness for this issue and seek to have this decision revoked, etc.  I began to ask myself what God’s messengers had done in the scripture and I was reminded of those who stood up to corrupt leadership and spoke boldly against the sin that was taking place in their nations.  I thought of the prophets who confronted the spirits of godlessness and rebellion with fiery words straight from God.  And then I thought of those who simply prayed…and wept.

I believe that there are those who are called to be a voice before the people, those like Faytene Kryskow of 4MyCanada, who I greatly honor and admire for the ministry she is doing among the politicians and in government circles.  I greatly encourage you to write letters to the media, to email and call our nation’s leaders, to make your voice heard on behalf of the unborn who are being murdered daily.  This is a completely valid and important way that we as Christians can make a stand for righteousness and holiness and calling the people to return to the Lord.  As for me, I may or may not do any of those things, but I am writing this blog post to share with you that last night, as I pictured myself sitting with the Trinity, I heard the Father ask me this question, “Weep with us, Jacquie?”

“Yes,” I replied. 

Yes, I will weep with You. 

As Joel said, “Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, ‘Spare Your people, O LORD’.” (2:17)  And as Jesus said, “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?” (Luke 18:7) 

So I wept.

I wept for the lost destinies of aborted babies.  I wept for the soul of Dr. Henry Morgentalar.  I wept for the leaders of our nation.  I wept for the grief in my Father’s heart.  I wept for the brokenness of those women who are suffering from regret and physical pain from their abortions.  I wept for the sinful condition of Canada.  And I asked Him to spare us and to show mercy.  Forgive our sin and heal our land.  Relent from Your anger and bring us back to You.

As I cried, I received a fresh revelation of my God – from eternity past, He chose to be known as a loving Father, and this is one of the reasons why His heart is so intricately interwoven with these precious babies who have been lost.  He is a Father who loves children, who created each and every one with tender affection, and who had dreams in His heart for them.  He weeps for what could have been, and so I wept with Him.  I also saw Jesus, the Son, who is always interceding for us, asking the Father with meekness, love and passion to end abortion in Canada, and so I wept with Him too.  And then I saw the Holy Spirit, the One who helps us to pray when we don’t know what to pray, the One who also intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express, and I wept with Him also.  Seeing this picture of the Trinity – the tender Father who desires to see abortion ended in my nation, the loving Son who gave His life for the sins of the world, and the Holy Spirit who collects the very tears I was crying – it caused my heart to swell with love for Him all over again.  He is truly beautiful and good and He will make things right again.  As we cry, He will bring justice.  As we weep, He will shift things in the heavenlies.  As we pray, He will listen and answer. 

As I later shared this with my husband, he asked me the question, “Have you wept like a virgin yet?”  He was referring to the verse in Joel 1:8 which says, “Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the husband of her youth.”  Joel was saying that the judgment coming was so severe that they would mourn like a bride who lost her husband on their wedding day.  The tragedies are comparable, for we weep for the unborn who never had the chance to live, just like the bride who never had the chance to enjoy the love of her husband.  I know I haven’t wept yet with that level of mourning, and yet if this is what is required, then I ask again for the grace to weep.

Whatever you do, I encourage you to stand in the counsel of the Lord.  Ask Him how He would have you respond and then be obedient.  Whether your voice is heard before the courts of man or before the courts of heaven – it matters. 

Here are some links that will give you direction on what you can do practically:

• Cast your vote in online polls & read the article submitted by Faytene Kryskow
• Call or email government officials
• Write a letter to your local media
• Join the Facebook group

Also, if you haven’t already, you might be interested in reading my series “Weep Between the Porch and the Altar“.

Lately I’ve been confronted with the question of when does life begin as it pertains to several comtroversial topics.  As I’m sure you are aware, there are many differing opinions out there about when a human fetus achieves the status of being more than just a bunch of cells and can be called a person.  The spectrum of theories is especially vast when you ask those on the pro-life side versus those on the pro-choice side of the argument.  The extremes from both ends range from the moment of conception to the moment of actual birth and breathing air and then everything in between.  But what does the Bible say?

The scripture is pretty clear that God is intricately involved in the process of creating a human life and even determining that individual’s calling and destiny within the womb long before actual birth.

“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works and that my soul knows well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed, and in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16, NKJV).

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5, NIV).

“But when He who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through His grace . . .” (Galatians 1:15, RSV).

But is there a certain point in the development of an embryo or fetus where they achieve the right to life?  I found only two convincing arguments – one being more scientific in nature and one drawing more from scripture to prove their viewpoint.  The first opinion states that life begins at the moment of conception, since this is when the full DNA needed to create a human is formed as the genetic code from the egg and sperm meet.  At that moment, everything needed in order for a human life to come forth is present – the sex, hair color, skin color, personality, etc. are all determined - as this miraculous fusion takes place.  All this one-celled zygote needs is the proper nutrition, oxygen and a safe environment in which to grow into a more mature version of itself.  This is the view held by most pro-lifers and which motivates them to protest the destruction of this life through the following means. 

1.  Abortion – the destruction of a human life anywhere from embryo to a full-term fetus
2. “Morning-After” pill – used to prevent a pregnancy or abort a fertilized egg
3. For the purposes of stem cell research – fertilized eggs are killed when the stem-cells are retrieved from the embryo
4. In-vitro fertilization – many fertilized eggs are discarded or destroyed when they are no longer needed to produce a pregnancy for the couple

The second opinion is not much different than the first, differing by mere days, quoting Leviticus 17:11 which says that “the life of the flesh is in the blood” and that it is the shedding of “innocent blood” which the Bible condemns, therefore making the destruction of bloodless embryos morally acceptable in the eyes of God, blood only being created after a fertilized egg has successfully become implanted within the wall of the mother’s uterus.  This view would therefore approve of all of the above procedures except abortion, since abortion usually takes place long after blood is present in the embryo or fetus. 

But there is one more issue that I have not mentioned and which is the purpose of this blog entry.  If your view of the beginning of human life is at the moment of conception, then would it bother you if you discovered that your method of birth control was also potentially aborting a fertilized egg?  This issue was brought to my attention when reading my cousin’s blog where she explained that many forms of birth control work by not only preventing an egg from being fertilized, but also in the case that an egg is fertilized, it will prevent it from being able to implant into the uterus.  I won’t go into all the facts and statistics on this, but I would highly recommend you read her blog entry for more information on this.  Now, if you decided to take the viewpoint of life beginning when blood is present, then this isn’t an issue, but if you believe it occurs at conception then you have a difficult moral and ethical decision to make.  When I first read about this, it was news to me and I am now having to reconsider how I approach the topic of birth control.  From the research that I have personally done, virtually every method of easy and convenient birth control appears to work either partially or entirely on the mechanism of preventing a fertilized egg from being able to implant into the uterus, meaning that it will require more effort and make it more incovenient to try and prevent pregnancy using natural methods or methods that strictly prevent fertilization.

What do you think??  I have no idea how many people actually read this blog, but I would love to hear your opinion on this subject.  When do you believe life begins?  How does this affect your choices for birth control, whether you are presently using it, will use it one day, or are already done using it?  If you are not personally affected, how would this affect the way you would counsel somebody who is considering birth control options?  I’d love to hear from both men and women – and if it’s too personal to discuss in a comment, feel free to use my contact form and send me an email instead.

Welcome to the third and final part of this series!  I would encourage you to read Part 1 and Part 2 to get the background and setup for this concluding piece.  However, to briefly recap…

In Parts 1 & 2, we are introduced to the verse in Matthew 23 where Jesus says to the Pharisees, “upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.”  I then go on to explain the differences in opinion on which Zechariah Jesus is referring to and my reasoning behind choosing the Zechariah found in 2 Chronicles 24 who we find was stoned in the temple court.  We then linked this with the verse in Joel 2 where the prophet sends forth a call to the priests to “weep between the temple porch and the altar” – the exact same location as Zechariah’s brutal murder.  We see the strong connection between the sins of our forefathers and the need of the present generation to acknowledge, repent for, and turn from these sins. 

For the Pharisees that Jesus was talking to, they honored the prophets of old whom their forefathers had killed, believing they would have acted differently had they lived in those times, not recognizing the darkness of their own hearts and the spirit of murder within them which would lead them to crucify Jesus.  Yet Jesus promised them that they would be proven guilty and that the state of their hearts would be exposed as he sent them prophets and teachers whom they would persecute and kill, thus filling up the measure of the sin of their forefathers.  This would seal their judgment for eternity and would occur in response to the cries coming from the blood of every righteous person slain.  So how does this apply to us today?

I have found it quite significant that recently a billboard advertising campaign has been launched across Canada that is bringing attention to the issue of abortion in our nation, asking the question, “Have we gone too far?”  AbortionInCanada.cais putting this issue in front of our eyes, reminding us that we cannot ignore this injustice in our land, for currently the unborn have no protection from being aborted right up into the 9th month of gestation!  According to AbortionInCanada.ca, “more than three million unborn babies have died from abortion since 1969, when abortion was first decriminalized in Canada”with the annual average being somewhere around 100,000 abortions.  On Wikipedia’s article for Abortion in the United States, they quote the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as saying “there were 854,122 legal induced abortions in the US in 2003″.  The Bound4Life website says that in the USA “an estimated 48 million babies have been aborted since 1973. Approximately 24% of all U.S. pregnancies end in abortion”. 

Is it possible that the same thing Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees for is occurring today in North America?  How many prophets, teachers, evangelists, worship leaders (or to sum it all up – prophetic messengers of all types) have been sent to us by the Lord to preach the message of Joel 2, “Return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning”?  And how many of these messengers have been killed before they even saw the light of the sun or said one word?  How many millions of aborted babies and aborted destinies are crying out for justice, even as Abel’s blood cried out from the ground, and are testifying against us in our perceived innocence?  How can our generation think we are any different than our forefathers who condoned slavery and persecuted and killed out of racist hatred, when at our core we are just the same – maybe even worse – for on our hands is the blood of countless babies?

But if their blood is crying out for God’s just judgment to come to our land, what is our hope?  Can we escape or lessen the judgment that is surely coming?  Can we appeal to the heart of Jesus that longs to gather us under his wings, if only we were willing?  As he said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.”  (Matthew 23:37)  Can we touch the heart of God who declares Himself to be “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and [who] relents from sending calamity”?  (Joel 2:13)  I believe we can.

The message of Joel is for us today – both the church and unbelievers are being called to return to the Lord with all our hearts, with fasting, weeping, and mourning, to rend our hearts, to gather in solemn assemblies, consecrating and purifying our hearts (Joel 2:12-16).  Yet we as the church are called specifically, as priests (for we are a “royal priesthood” – 1 Peter 2:9), to weep and mourn in the place of identifying with the sins of the shedding of innocent blood.  Between the temple porch and the altar, where a prophetic messenger was slain, the priests were to cry out to God, “Spare your people!”  (Joel 2:17)  In the same way that Nehemiah wept, mourned and fasted on behalf of Israel, confessing the sins of his forefathers, his own generation and himself personally, appealing to God for mercy, we can stand in the breach between our nation and God’s wrath (Psalm 106:23). 

While we may or may not be able to go directly to the location of the abortion clinics, we can go there in the spirit and operate in this priestly function, interceding for our nation and taking a stand for life.  We can ask the Lord to give us the spirit of travail and to impact our hearts with this burden, that we would be able to weep and mourn with the heart of Jesus over these lost lives and destinies.  For “the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express” (Romans 8:26).  Even as Nehemiah was praying before the Lord day and night, this is the kind of response Jesus is looking for to the injustice in our land, for he said in Luke 18:7, “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?” 

Some of you may have a feeling or know that this is something you are called to do full-time, to be a priest that ministers before the Lord in the temple - or in more modern-day terms, to function as an intercessory missionary in a house of prayer.  This is just one of the ways God is raising up the prayer movement across the globe, but regardless of whether you are being called to this kind of role in a full-time capacity, we all have a responsibility to pray and be willing to be a voice on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves.  A simple way to start is to make the Bound4Life Covenant to Pray, Vote, and Obey. 

1. PRAY – There is a simple 22-word prayer you can pray whenever the Lord brings this topic to your remembrance, or whenever you see the LIFE bracelet, should you choose to get one.  The prayer goes like this: “Jesus, I plead Your blood over my sins and the sins of my nation.  God, end abortion and send revival to [your nation]“.
2. VOTE – Covenant to vote for candidates that are actively pro-life. We cannot pray for abortion to end and promote those who support it.
3. OBEY – Covenant to obey God as He leads you into works of compassion and justice. We must always be willing to be the answer to our own prayers.

For me, this has become very personal lately, being pregnant with my first child, whom we have chosen to name Justice (you can read the story of how we chose this name here).  It feels so real and there is such a conviction in my heart that this little one could be one of these prophetic messengers that the Lord is sending to my nation to call the people to return to Him.  This has put such a resolve and a fight within my spirit to pray for the protection of the unborn from the spirit of this age that would seek to “kill, steal and destroy” (John 10:10) these precious lives.  So will you join with me?  Will you weep between the porch and the altar? 

(For more resources on the issue of LIFE and ideas on how you can get involved through prayer in the courts of heaven or through action in the courts of the earth, visit my LIFE page, where I will be collecting relevant links to pro-life websites)

If you haven’t already, I would recommend first reading Part 1 of this series, but to briefly recap, in Matthew 23 Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees for their hypocrisy and their false belief of their own innocence in regards to the slaying of the prophets of old.  He then prophesied judgment, saying that they would persecute and kill the messengers he was going to send them, as a way of filling up the measure of their forefathers’ sin “and so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar” (verse 35).

I have chosen to relate this to the story of the priest Zechariah in 2 Chronicles 24 who is described as having been murdered “in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple” (verse 21), but as I mentioned in Part 1, it could also be referring to the prophet Zechariah, although we have no record of him being killed in this manner. 

After reading this passage in Matthew 23, I was immediately reminded of Joel’s prophecy in chapter 2 verse 17, which says…

Let the priests, who minister before the LORD,
weep between the temple porch and the altar.
Let them say, “Spare your people, O LORD.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”

To me there appears to be an obvious connection between this verse and our story of Zechariah, as Joel is calling for the priests to weep “between the temple porch and the altar”, which is the exact same location of Zechariah’s slaying.   Now, depending on which view you take on when the book of Joel was written, as well as which Zechariah you believe Jesus was referring to, this can affect how we interpret this passage and connect the dots.  Again, as I mentioned in Part 1, I have chosen to take the standpoint that Joel was writing just prior to the Babylonian invasion, which puts him between the two different Zechariahs. 

Now, regardless of which of the 4 viewpoints you take of when Joel was written (from the early 9th century BC to the same period as Zechariah the prophet), if we were to go with the view that Jesus was referring to the prophet Zechariah, then it’s possible that Zechariah would have been familiar with Joel’s writings.  Also, as was mentioned in Matthew Henry’s commentary, if he was taking sanctuary in the court of the priests from his persecutors, he could have been in the very act of intercession, “weep[ing] between the temple porch and the altar”, crying out for mercy upon Jerusalem just before he was murdered.  This is powerful imagery if you were to preach on martyrdom and praying even for your enemies as Jesus did on the cross or as Stephen did while he was being stoned.  However, there are a lot of “ifs” in this scenario that don’t make for a very strong connection in this way.

If we take the story of the priest Zechariah from 2 Chronicles 24 who was stoned in the temple court, then again, regardless of the 4 viewpoints of when Joel was written, Joel’s prophecy would have probably come after Zechariah’s murder.  In this case, there is a strong reason to believe that this call to intercession was closely linked to the need for repentance for the sins of their forefathers.  It seems very symbolic and significant that the Lord would call the priests to weep and mourn and cry out for mercy in the exact location that a brutal act of injustice occurred.  This also ties in with what Jesus had against the Pharisees – they were able to acknowledge the sins of their forefathers in slaying the prophets, but they could not identify with them or realize that this same darkness was in their own hearts and acknowledge their need for repentance.  Nehemiah was a great example of someone who was able to see the sins of his father, his nation and himself personally, praying…

…let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you.  (Nehemiah 1:6)

The Pharisees however, perceived themselves to be innocent of the blood on their forefathers’ hands, blind to the fact that they were about to crucify the very son of God and many of his followers and apostles.  In fact, Jesus would ensure that they would be proven guilty and that the state of their hearts would be exposed by his promise to send them prophets and teachers whom they would persecute and kill, thus filling up the measure of the sin of their forefathers.  This would seal their judgment for eternity and would occur in response to the cries coming from the blood of every righteous person slain.  In Genesis 4:10, the Lord says to Cain regarding the murder of his brother Abel, “Listen!  Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground”, and Zechariah, as he lay dying, cried out, “May the Lord see this and call you to account” (2 Chronicles 24:22).  This is not unlike the prayer in Revelation 6:9-10 of those who had been murdered because of the Word of God, who called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”

So how does this apply to us?  The answer to that question is coming in Part 3…

Recently I have been reading the book of Zechariah, which is a fascinating book, to say the least.  Zechariah had some pretty intense visionary experiences and insight into the end of the age, as well as a unique glimpse into the jealousy of God for Israel.  On a completely different note however, I became especially intrigued when I stumbled across a verse in Matthew 23 that appeared to reference this Old Testament prophet.  In verse 35, Jesus is coming to the end of a rather harsh rebuke to the Pharisees for their hypocrisy and their false belief of their own innocence in regards to the slaying of the prophets of old.  He proceeds to dispense judgment by prophesying that they will persecute and kill the messengers he is going to send them, as a way of filling up the measure of their forefathers’ sin, saying “and so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.”

Now, to start off, I’m going to take a rather scholastic approach to this subject in this first blog entry with some research information to help set the foundation for the more applicable content that I will write about in the subsequent entries.  Ready?  Here we go!

At first it seems obvious that Jesus is referring to the prophet Zechariah who in his book, in the first verse, is identified as the “son of Berekiah”.  Logically, this also makes sense for Jesus to start his account of shed blood with the first murder of Abel and end with one of the last of the prophets recorded in the Old Testament.  And although there is no record of Zechariah being murdered, here is a possibility mentioned in Matthew Henry’s Commentary…

Perhaps what Zechariah spoke in his prophesying concerning Christ of his being sold, his being wounded in the house of his friends, and the shepherd being smitten, was verified in the prophet himself, and so he became a type of Christ. Probably, being assaulted by his persecutors, he took sanctuary in the court of the priests (and some think he was himself a priest), and so was slain between the porch and the altar.

Alternatively, some find Jesus’ reference to be obviously connected to the story of Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, found in 2 Chronicles 24.  According to Matthew Henry, the name Jehoiada is very similar to the name Berekiah and it was common for Jewish men to be referred to by more than one name.  The clincher however, is that there is a clear account of this Zechariah being murdered “in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple” (vs. 21), or as Jesus said, “between the temple and the altar”. 

So which Zechariah is it?  I don’t know - and I don’t think anyone can prove either case conclusively.  For the sake of this particular series, I will mostly refer to the priest Zechariah, son of Jehoiada in 2 Chronicles 24, but may reference the prophet Zechariah as well, just for argument’s sake.

The next scripture I want to introduce is found in Joel 2:17, which says…

Let the priests, who minister before the LORD,
weep between the temple porch and the altar.
Let them say, “Spare your people, O LORD.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’ “

I think you can already see where I’m going with this, noting the obvious connection this verse has with our story of Zechariah, as Joel is calling for the priests to weep “between the temple porch and the altar”, which is the exact same location of Zechariah’s slaying.  However, before we can go there, I want to examine yet another dilemma we encounter as to the differing opinions on the timing of Joel’s writing… 

1. 9th century BC- During the time when Joash was too young to govern and the priest Jehoiada did so in his place (2 Kings 11; 2 Chronicles 23-24).  One of the reasons for this argument being the focus on the elders and priests as being the leaders Joel appeals to, instead of a king.  This also happens to be the same period as our priest Zechariah.
2. 8th century BC- Roughly contemporary with Amos who prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah (also called Azariah) of Judah and Jeroboam II of Israel (Amos 7:10; 2 Kings 14-15).  This school of thought is due to Joel’s placement in the Bible and some similarities in language used by Joel and Amos.
3. 7th-6th century BC – Roughly around Josiah’s reign (2 Kings 22-23; 2 Chronicles 34-35).  Since Joel prophesies only to Judah and Jerusalem, it implies a timing after Israel was no longer a political kingdom (722 BC).  This school of thought would argue that Joel’s references to the temple are because it was written before the temple was destroyed by the Babylonian invasion in 586 BC.  Many of Joel’s references to the “day of the Lord” and the warnings of a great army also point to the coming destruction of Jerusalem at this time.
4. 6th-4th century BC - Roughly contemporary with the prophet Zechariah.  This opinion uses the same argument of the lack of mention of a monarchy, since Judah had no king after the exile.  This opinion believes that the references to the temple are actually the second temple which was rebuilt around 515 BC.

Now, I read many different articles on the dating of Joel and nobody seemed to agree with each other.  Everybody has their reasons for believing one of the theories above.  I found it particularly interesting that two of the opinions line up with both of our Zechariahs, yet ironically I have chosen to go with neither of these, and will be writing from the point of view of the third theory, which places Joel’s writings just prior to the Babylonian invasion – the view that is used in Mike Bickle’s Studies in Joel as well as David Malick’s article (see sources below).

So, I realize this was a lot of facts and possibly uninteresting information, but I wanted there to be an understanding of where I am coming from and the research and reasoning behind my particular point of view for the next parts of this series.  Stay tuned!!

Read Part 2
Read Part 3

Sources:
Matthew Henry’s Commentary – Zechariah 1, Matthew 23
Bible.org – An Introduction to the Book of Joel - by David Malick
Hosea, Joel and Amos – by Bruce C. Birch (pg. 126)
Studies in Joel- by Mike Bickle (pg. 4)
Wikipedia – Book of Joel

As you may know, the Dr. Seuss book “Horton Hears A Who” has been adapted into a computer-animated movie coming to theatres this March. If you’ve never read the story, you can read it here, but the general plot of the story is as follows (quoted from The Internet Movie Database)…

One day, Horton the elephant hears a cry for help coming from a speck of dust. Even though he can’t see anyone on the speck, he decides to help it. As it turns out, the speck of dust is home to the Whos, who live in their city of Whoville. Horton agrees to help protect the Whos and their home, but this gives him nothing but torment from his neighbors, who refuse to believe that anything could survive on the speck. Still, Horton stands by the motto that, “After all, a person is a person, no matter how small.”

In recent years, Horton’s motto has become a popular phrase adopted by pro-life groups to support their message that even the unborn have a voice, if you would only listen. Even though we cannot see them or hear them, they are alive and need people who, like Horton, are willing to protect them, even when others refuse to believe in their right to life. In some circles, there have also been some prophetic words linked to the release of this movie and it’s significance for the fight against abortion.

Now to go back several months to July 7, 2007, there was an event titled “The Call” where thousands of people gathered to fast and pray. Just one of the many issues they touched on that day was about praying for the ending of abortion and Lou Engle gave a riveting talk on the parallels between “Horton Hears A Who” and our call to stand for life. This was followed by an introduction of two young women who God called to be prophetic messengers by writing another children’s book that would teach this upcoming generation about praying for the unborn. Their book is titled “Justice Loves Babies” and they went on to describe how the Lord led and equipped them to write this book about a little boy named Justice who was praying for the safe entry of his sister Destiny into this world.

This event occurred just a few days before my husband and I discovered that we were pregnant, but it wasn’t until almost two months later that I was reminded of this story and I had the thought that Justice could be a good name for our coming baby. I mentioned it to my husband, who wasn’t convinced at first, but over the next few days, we both couldn’t shake the idea and separately, we were both being prompted by the Lord that this was the name we were supposed to give to our child, whether it was a girl or a boy. So, ever since then, we have been praying for our baby Justice and the destiny that God has given this little life, believing that he or she will be one who will be a prophetic messenger of their generation, standing up for those who cannot fight for themselves and speaking up for those who do not have a voice of their own. We believe there is much significance to this name of Justice, as there are many profound scriptures on this topic in the Bible, yet it will remain to be seen exactly how God unfolds this theme in the life of our child. However, here are 3 keys verses that God has highlighted to me…

“The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.” Psalm 33:5

“In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.” Isaiah 42:4

“And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.” Luke 18:7-8

As you can see, Jesus loves justice and is very committed to establishing justice on the earth, yet he has ordained it to be connected to the unceasing prayers of the saints. This is just one of the many reasons why my husband and I have chosen to give our lives to worship and intercession at the house of prayer in our city that one day hopes to go 24/7.

But to go back to how I started this blog entry, with “Horton Hears A Who” – it was only this week that I found out the release date of this movie would be on March 14th, the same day our baby Justice is due to arrive! Some may find this a coincidence, but I believe it is only confirmation of our baby’s name and destiny, as well as an encouragement that the Lord will bring forth justice and defend the cause of the oppressed, including the unborn who are at risk of being killed before ever having a chance at life.

I believe that there are people whom God is calling to be prophetic messengers, both those who are already alive on this earth and those who are living in the womb. I desire to be used of God in this way and I hope our child will answer this call as well. Yet, I also have the conviction that these messengers will find themselves in much the same predicament as Horton, who was mocked, ridiculed, persecuted, and even imprisoned for his beliefs and his message. Answering this call will not come without a cost. Choosing to give yourself to a life of prayer and proclamation of God’s Word is not an easy one – there are risks, obstacles, and opposition in both the spiritual and natural realms. Yet I believe that the reward in the age to come will be more than worth the price we may pay now! As Paul put it…

“I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:8-11

I’ve been reading and meditating on Psalm 106 over the last few days and my thoughts are still very incomplete, but I’m going to attempt to make sense of them through writing…

They exchanged their Glory
In verse 20 and 21 it says, “They exchanged their Glory for an image of a bull, which eats grass. They forgot the God who saved them…”  This hit me personally and I felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit, for how many times have I had the choice directly in front me to either choose communion with Glory or exchange Him for something so much lesser and I have chosen the lesser?  When I choose to give my time, energy or resources (essentially, my worship) to something other than the Lord, how often do I reflect on the immense, infinite value of what I am giving up in exchange?  I don’t think I have a true revelation of the Glorious One, the God who has worked miracles and awesome deeds on my behalf and who saved me from the most horrific eternal destiny of hell that was my lot. 

I then was listening to a teaching by a woman of God name Shelley Hundley who was “coincidentally” (read “divinely”) speaking from this very same passage and she went back to the telling of this story in Exodus where the Israelites are getting a glimpse of their beautiful and terrifying Glory in a way they had not yet seen.  In 20:18-21 they are trembling in fear as they gaze upon a mountain shrouded in thick darkness, surrounded by thunder, strikes of lightning and engulfed in smoke.  While they had been invited by God to come close, up to the boundaries He had set for them, they shrank back in their fear and remained at a distance instead of embracing this gift of the fear of the Lord that God wanted to give them in order to keep them from sinning and keep them in intimate relationship with Himself.  As a result, in Exodus 32, when Moses takes too long to return from the mountain, Shelley proposed that the reason they created the idol was for the simple reason of boredom!  They had been given the opportunity to gaze upon the Glory of the Lord and be completely fascinated by His power and beauty, yet instead they distanced themselves and grew bored, exchanging Him for a lifeless golden calf crafted in the image of a soulless creature that eats grass!  Again, I ask myself, how many times have I exchanged the opportunity to be fascinated and captivated by my heavenly, eternal Glorious One in order to give my affections to something that is earthly, temporal and fading away?  Too many.

They shed innocent blood
The next thing that pierced my heart was verses 37-43 which starts off by saying, “They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.  They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood.”  It doesn’t take a genius to make the connection with this verse and the spilling of innocent blood that is occurring today through the abortions of millions of babies in North America.  While it may seem to some that abortion is only the removal of a piece of tissue, the reality in the spirit is that these living babies with a soul and spirit are being sacrificed to the gods of this age – convenience, selfishness, fear, lust, call them what you like, but there are real demons feeding off the blood of these innocent ones.  I know it sounds harsh, but we must see abortion for what it is – demon worship and murder. 

The passage goes on to describe how the Lord was angry with his people for these horrible acts and brought judgment upon them, yet still they would not turn from their sin and were “bent on rebellion”.  Another reality is that there is real judgment coming in response to our sin.  We are naive to think that we will escape judgment, for even if we die before the end of the age and miss the end-time judgments, we will certainly face it when we come before the throne of God.  I truly don’t mean for this to be a doomsday post, but I want the reality of the Word to grip our hearts!  I don’t want to read this and gloss over the weightiness of what it says - we need to be pained over this and understand what lies ahead if things don’t change!

Moving the heart of the Judge
And yet, while judgment is imminent, there is hope.  When the Israelites built their golden calf, Psalm 106:23 says, “So he said he would destroy them–had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them.”  The Lord is longing for a people, like Moses, who will walk in intimacy and friendship with Him to such a depth that when they stand in the place of intercession on behalf of a sinful and wicked nation, that their weak words actually move the heart of God and turn away His wrath!  He is crying out for this generation to respond to the call of Joel 2:12-14, “‘Even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.’  Rend your heart and not your garments.  Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.  Who knows?  He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing…”  I long to have revelation of Jesus as a Righteous Judge who will not allow injustice to go unpunished, yet who is fiercely in love with people and is more merciful than we know.  We must know this so that we will approach His throne of grace with boldness as Moses did and stand in the breach that He might have mercy on us.  The cry of repentance for exchanging our Glory and shedding innocent blood must ascend to heaven, as a people who are friends of the Judge rise up in intercession to move His heart…

“But he took note of their distress when he heard their cry; for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.”  (Psalm 106:44-45)

The Great Canadian Wish List
CBC News has started a group on Facebook called “The Great Canadian Wish List” where anybody can make a wish for Canada, invite their friends to support it & then on July 1st, the top results will be reported about on CBC TV, CBC Radio, CBC Newsworld and online at cbc.ca/wish.

Their hope is to provoke discussion and the free expression of ideas and they have certainly succeeded, as the debates and arguments abound regarding several issues such as abortion, gay marriage, our nation’s spiritual condition and saving the environment. It has also evolved into a sort of competition for the top 2 spots on the list – pro-life vs. pro-choice.

We Are Not Our Own
As I browsed the pro-choice group, I think I was most bothered by their main image which portrays a female icon with the phrases, “My Mind, My Body, My Choice“, for herein lies the greatest deception of them all. I happen to be reading the book “Body By God” by Dr. Ben Lerner, which is a book designed to help you improve your body and health by applying principles found in both science and the Bible. The very title itself is a clear statement about our body – it’s by God – designed, created, and shaped by Him (see Genesis 1 and Psalm 139). As Dr. Lerner puts it, “No person can make another. The body is not by man; the body is by God”. Yet he continues to go even further by saying, “Your body is not your own! Your body is not only by God, it is for God, and it is God’s.” In other words, “Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his…” (Psalm 100:3) or as Paul states it, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

This deception that our bodies are our own, when truly they are God’s, is a terrible and destructive line of thinking that has invaded our society’s paradigm, yet not only with our bodies – we think this way about everything. We think our possessions are ours, our money is ours, our time is ours, our mind is ours – yet the Bible also says that “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1) Yet we are primarily selfish creatures looking out for #1 – ourselves – with little regard to how our decisions affect others or how they line up with God’s ways. David Sliker, an author and intercessory missionary at the International House of Prayer recently wrote a post on this very topic of humanism on his blog (wordcast) where he quoted Psalm 2:1-3, which says “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. ‘Let us break their chains,’ they say, ‘and throw off their fetters.‘” David goes on to expound this text and what that will look like in the coming days…