Jentezen Franklin - The Secret to Being Blessed
I wanna preach today on the secret to blessing, the secret to being blessed, and even prosperous in every area of your life. When a church, when a nation, when a family, when an individual decides to bless Israel, the Bible teaches that a supernatural blessing returns back to that nation, back to that family, back to that church. The secret to prosperity and blessing is given in Genesis 12: 3, "I will," everybody, out loud. Talking to Israel. Talking and speaking of the nation of Israel. "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed".
I know that's Old Testament, but that is a covenant promise for every family, for every church, for every nation, that if you bless Israel, God will bless you. The Pharaoh in the time of Joseph in Egypt, when Joseph was in Egypt, he understood this principle. And that's why he told Joseph and his family, the first Jewish family to be on that Gentile's soul of Egypt, and he said to them, "I'm going to give you the rich farming land of Goshen. I'm giving it to you, Joseph, and to your family". In doing so, he was blessing the beginning of the nation of Israel. Why did he do that? Because Joseph interpreted a dream. He saw seven fat cows, seven skinny cows. He understood that the seven fat cows were years of prosperity and blessing, and seven skinny cows represented a famine that was coming, and he needed to prepare Pharaoh and Egypt for the famine.
Joseph was given complete control of the economy of Egypt. And the Bible said that he saved Egypt and the world from starving to death. As a reward, Pharaoh said, "I'm giving you, I'm blessing you and your family with real estate, with land, and this blessing will be the land of Goshen". And Joseph during the famine made Pharaoh the richest man on the planet. I don't know any other way to say it. Do you remember what he did? He charged for the food, and then he bought all the real estate with the food. And the only one that prospered during the famine was the guy who had a Jewish guy working for him, named Joseph. His name was Pharaoh, and Pharaoh became the richest man in the world under that situation. The most powerful nation in the world became Egypt because the leader of that people blessed Israel.
You remember when Mary and Joseph were being pursued by Herod, trying to kill their baby, the infant Jesus? They fled to Egypt. Why did they flee to Egypt? Because during that time, the leadership was still honoring and blessing Israel. The Bible said there arose another Pharaoh in Egypt who did not know Joseph, did not like Joseph, did not like the Jewish people. And the Scripture says, "I'll bless those that bless you," but it also says, "I'll curse those that curse you". He enslaved the Jewish people, this new Pharaoh. He made their lives miserable. He drowned their sons in the Nile River when they begin to populate too much. And what you do to the Jewish people, God says, "I will do to you". Pharaoh drowned the Jewish sons in the Nile River, so God drowned the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. The most powerful dictator in the world, and his entire army, became fish food in one day because he cursed what God had blessed.
The same thing happened to the Babylonian Empire. Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful king and had the wealth that we cannot even imagine. But he cursed and attacked Jerusalem, and when he did, God said, "Your days are numbered". And the same thing that happened to Egypt, happened to the Babylonian Empire. The same thing happened to the Roman Empire. It looked so powerful, it had conquered the world, it had the greatest military, but when they attacked and crucified Jesus, participated in that, that empire has come and gone. The same thing happened to the Nazi empire, and Hitler, when he wanted to exterminate through the Holocaust and killed 6 million Jews. Today, Hitler and all of his Nazis lie in a boneyard of history, but Israel is still alive. Jerusalem is still standing.
And there's a remarkable story in Genesis 30 that says God blessed Laban in his personal business. There's a man by the name of Laban, he was a Gentile. And God blessed Laban because he hired a Jew named Jacob. Jacob's name would be turned by God from Jacob into Israel. God renamed him, and that was the birth of the nation of Israel. But when Laban began to hire and give a job opportunity to Jacob, the Scripture said that his business began to explode and prosper. And he lied to Jacob and changed his wages, lowered them ten times, although he was making more, and more, and more, while this man ran his business. And finally, Jacob came and said, "I'm resigning, I'm leaving. You promised me a raise ten times and you've cut my pay every time, even though I produce more, and more, and more".
And do you know what the Bible said was Laban's response in Genesis 30:27? He said, "I have learned by the experience that God has blessed me. Stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me because," the King James says, "Because of you". "The Lord has blessed me, a Gentile, because I had you on my team. My business has grown. He blessed me because I blessed you". And Jacob started out, the Scripture said, with nothing but a stick. And when he finished working for that man, he had so much wealth that the Bible said he could not keep up with his cattle, his sheep, his gold, and his wealth, God changed his name. Why did God bless him with all that stuff? 'Cause he was about to start a whole nation, and you need some resources when you're gonna start a nation.
I wanna tell you, all of you, what you do when you support this ministry. I went to Israel a few weeks ago, and I dedicated four community centers that are reinforced bomb shelters that serve there. There's one of them. And this is what I did not know, and this so blessed me and all those people that, I just don't have time to tell you. There it is in the back. We built that building. It's just beautiful, but they have also turned them into, on Saturdays, their synagogues. And so, we built... I didn't realize it and I was standing there, and I felt, "So, you're telling me that you use the big open space as a synagogue"? And they said, "Yes sir, it works perfect". And I said, "Well, how about that? We love your nation".
And I opened my Bible, when I dedicated that place, I opened my Bible to the New Testament, which you don't do if you're preaching to a group of Jewish, out of respect, you know, you're not supposed to that. But I went to Luke 7, I could see 'em get a little tense, and I said, "Maybe I can get a blessing today from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because I'm a Gentile that loves this nation, and our church has built you a synagogue". And they gave me a standing ovation, and they were crying. They were crying. You better hear me. And can I tell you that we had the greatest year this past year in the history of ever, ever, ever, we've ever had, because we build a school, and we build four of those community centers, and we are building a hospital on the Sea of Galilee next. Hallelujah. Breaking news. Clap your hands like you believe God honors. God blesses. That's our school. That's our school. That's the school you build for the glory of God. Hallelujah.
You see, the Jewish people have given us the word of God. Every word in this book was written with Jewish hands. In Romans 11:8, this is so important to understand, Romans chapter 11. "Do not boast against the branches," See, what was happening was people under the New Covenant, the blood, the blood of Jesus Christ, they were boasting against the, "Do not boast against the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not support the roots, but the roots support you". Well, what's the roots of our faith? The roots of our faith is Judaism. The roots of our faith is the Old Testament Law. The roots of our faith, and he said, "You branches who are bearing all this fruit, don't get so high minded that you act like you don't need your roots anymore".
I don't live in the roots anymore, I'm out here, and I'm under a new and better covenant, but I am to be vitality connected to my roots. I am to stay connected to the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. I'm gonna explain why in a moment. The twelve disciples were Jewish. The Apostle Paul... John 4:22 is an astounding New Testament verse that most Christians don't even understand why we support Israel. He said, "You worship, you do not know why but we worship for salvation, for salvation is of," you'll read right over that, "for salvation is of the Jews". Salvation, we know, comes only through the blood and the cross, and Jesus was a Jew. And that blood was God's blood but He was housed in a Jewish body. Christianity cannot exist without Judaism. Without the contribution of Jesus, there is no salvation. And it's time to stop praising all the Jews who have died in the past and ignoring all the Jews who are alive now. You know your future when you look at the past.
Joseph and Jesus both have the same root Hebrew name. Joseph, in the Old Testament, means savior. Joseph saved the world from starvation. Jesus came and said, "I'm the bread of life and I'm here to save the world from sin, death, and hell". Joseph was his father's favorite Son. Jesus was His Father's favorite Son. Jospeh was rejected by his brothers. Jesus was rejected by His own. Joseph had been sent to the world to save the world. Jesus was sent to the world to save the world. Joseph was thrown into a pit and left for dead. Jesus was thrown into a tomb and left for dead. Joseph was raised to the right hand of Pharaoh and was given the ring and the keys to the corn and the whole kingdom. Jesus was raised and sits at the right hand, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Now, this is so important, let me teach this. When Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, he was dressed as an Egyptian. They did not recognize him. He spoke through an interpreter as an Egyptian. He had so much garb, so much disguise on. They had not seen him for decades. And when they came, Joseph's brothers, the ones who threw him in the pit, the ones who did him so wrong, they did not recognize him. I'm sure he kept his distance, and they were looking at him, and they might have seen a little familiarity or something maybe in his eyes, but not enough to recognize him, never in their wildest dreams would they think that's their brother. The brothers did not recognize him until the third visit. They came three times, and the third time they came, he revealed to his Jewish brothers he was not Egyptian, but he was their brother.
The Jews have come into the land of Israel three times in history. Joshua took 'em in the first time. After the Babylonian captivity of Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah prophesied it, and they all came home from Babylon back into Israel. And then on May, 1948, Israel was born in a day. There's a Scripture in Isaiah 66:8 that says, "A nation shall be born in a day". It had never happened before in history, but the United Nations felt sorry for Israel, and in a moment, in one day, a nation was born. They voted to give that little piece of land to fulfill Isaiah 66, "Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such a thing? That the earth would give birth in one day, a nation will be born at once".
That happened in 1948, and we are the generation that is alive, still alive, to see that miracle. I don't get it when Christians can get... my dad and the preachers of generations before would preach things. If they saw the prophecies being fulfilled about Israel like this generation has seen, they would be going crazy saying, "Get ready, Jesus is coming". We just have things happen every day. We see the bear, the Russian bear moving in. We see what's happening in The Ukraine. We see all kinds of signs of the times happening, and we sit sleepy and not really informed. But I've come to preach today that this is an exciting time to be alive.
I'm not worried about the Antichrist. The book of Revelation is not a horror story. It's a book of how we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. It's a book about how Satan, the Antichrist and the false prophet are gonna be bound with a chain and thrown into a lake of fire. It's a book about the Rapture. It's a book about us meeting the Lord in the air, and going to a place called Heaven, and then coming down and ruling and reigning, not in London, not in Washington, not in New York but in Jerusalem. Oh, I'm trying to... I said I was going to teach. Take a praise break, everybody, everybody. And it's happening. It's happening. It's happening. You don't understand. It's happening. I'm almost done.
How do you find the blessing and the favor of God? How do you know that God will fight for you? How do you see God supply all your resources? How do you have favor shine on you like never before? Here it is, if you don't get nothing else out of this sermon, write this down. Find out what God wants blessed and bless it. And if you will find what God wants blessed and bless it, the favor of God will outshine any attack the enemy brings on your life. Stand up on your feet and act like you're the bright star right now, and just raise your hands and say, "Lord, I'm so thankful you engrafted me into the kingdom". Let's just praise Him a moment. Let's just thank Him a moment. Let's just thank God for His blessings and let's just pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
And I don't know exactly why I felt led to preach this message today, but I do believe that God is wanting His favor on His church and His people like never before for kingdom purposes. And I wonder today, with every head bowed, and every eye closed, and every person still and reverend in the house of God, I wonder today who in this room... I wonder today, who is not ready for the coming of the Lord? Who is not prepared for the trumpet to sound? I'm old fashioned in that way. I believe you must be born again. And His Spirit is here right now. "Pastor, I need to get right with God. I want the blessing and favor of God on my," God had such a plan that He chose a nation that was least of the nations, and people that was least of the people, and He said, "I picked that place, I picked that people, and I will do my purpose".
And that's exactly how He feels about you. You may feel inferior. You may feel there are others, but God chose you to be here today to save you and to use you for His purpose. But He never comes where He's not invited. "Pastor, pray for me. I need to get right with God". If that's you, boldly lift your hand, I wanna see it. All over the room, at every campus, raise it high and unashamed. Yes, yes, yes, yes, wonderful, yes, yes, yes. Anyone else? Raise it high and unashamed. High and unashamed. This is your moment. Pray this prayer with me, all the way across the campuses. Lay your hand on your heart, everybody under the sound of my voice, everybody watching online. And say:
Lord Jesus, I thank you for the blood. I thank you for the blood that you shed. You gave me a new and better covenant. Salvation is of the Jews, and particularly of one named Messiah, Jesus. And I put my faith in His blood today. Wash me and cleanse me.
Now, raise up both hands. And I want everybody who has a job, business, you want God to bless and prosper you, raise your hands up high and say:
Lord, today, I am going to obey and be a blesser of the nation of Israel. I'm going to pray for Israel. I'm going to support Israel. I'm going to back people who support Israel. I'm going to do what I can do, because I've heard a clear word from you. In Jesus might name.