John Hagee - The Mystery of the Prayer Shawl
The Jewish people in the time of Christ were blinded to the identify of Jesus Christ. Romans 11:8 says: they have eyes that should not see. Romans 11:10, "That their eyes be darkened", that word "Darkened" is the Greek word for cataracts, "That they may not see". Why? Because if the Jewish people would have picked Jesus as the Messiah, they would have never breathed a message to us. Romans 11:25: "Blindness in part", what does that mean? The Jewish people were blinded to the identify of Messiah, "Has happened to Israel until the fullness of the gentiles come in". When God is no longer dealing with the gentiles, then he's going to reveal his Messiah to the Jewish people. That's what that's saying. "For God has blinded them all in unbelief", speaking of the Jewish people, "That he (God) might have mercy on all".
Who's the "All" there? You. You, gentiles. We did not have the light of the gospel. We did not know it, but Paul brought it to us. Warning to the gentiles in the 11th chapter: "If you (gentiles) start boasting about your relationship now with the Lord, do not boast because the root (the Jewish root, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) supports you: you do not support the root". Think about that. People say, well I don't really understand that. Neither did Paul. Paul said in Romans 11:33, it's a mystery past the ability of the minds of men to grasp how God could love something and hate another before it ever functioned. But having divine foreknowledge and knowing everything that was going to happen in the future, he has that power. If you can see it in a dimension of faith, you can get it. If you try to understand it in any other capacity, you're not going to get there. The Jewish people come to God by revelation. And gentiles come to God by propagation.
Get those two words in your mind, "Revelation" and "Propagation". Say that with me, revelation and propagation. The Jewish people by revelation. In Matthew 13:10 through 11, Jesus is teaching his audience. And the disciples are watching. And the disciples interrupt Jesus and say: why are you teaching these people parables? And Jesus said: because the Kingdom of God has been revealed to you, but it has not been revealed to them. A second illustration of this Bible truth, the apostle Paul. At this moment, he's called Saul. Saul was a pharisee. Saul was putting Christians in jail. Those Christians were being murdered in jail. Some of them were being stoned to death. Paul was a New Testament terrorist against Christianity. You have to understand that. The New Testament church was terrified of him.
And so God looks at this man. He's brilliant. He's well trained. And he says, I can use him. Knocks him flat on his back off his horse on the road to Damascus and blinds him. He's instructing him now to go to the house of Ananias and be prayed for. And the Bible says that when they prayed for him, acts 9:18, the scales fell from his eyes. The Greek word for "Scales" there is "Cataracts". They are blinded cataracts. Literally, there is a spiritual, physical thing that God has caused to be so that the gentiles might have a day of grace. How did the gentiles come to the Lord? By propagation. The prophetic overlay of Joseph and Jesus tells us the future, the past, and the present. I want you to hear, in the next twelve minutes, 16 things that will put ancient history, present history, and future prophecy in absolute focus.
One, the names Joseph and Jesus come from the same Hebrew root word of salvation. Joseph saved Egypt from death by starvation by telling Pharaoh of the fat cows, to save the grain, and Egypt was saved. Jesus Christ saved the world at the cross from death, hell and the grave. We are here because we have a Savior and Jesus is his name. Bless the Lord.
Secondly, Joseph was the favorite son of his aged father, Jacob. Jesus was the only begotten Son of God the Father.
Joseph had a coat of many colors suited for royalty, according to the Old Testament. Jesus had a seamless robe that he wore that was valuable enough for the Romans to gamble for it, because he was royalty. He was the Prince of Peace. He was the king of all kings.
Joseph was sent by his father to his brothers with food. Jesus was sent by God the Father to planet earth as the bread of life and as living water. That bread of life is why you're here today. It's why I'm here today. It still sustains and still refreshes!
Joseph was rejected by his brothers. The Bible says: Jesus came into his own and his own received him not.
Six, Joseph was sold to the Midianites for the price of a slave. Jesus was sold for 30 pieces of silver for the price of a slave.
Seven, Joseph was falsely accused by Potiphar's desperate housewife. Hum. Jesus was falsely accused by the pharisees as being a demonized heretic, as being a drunkard. The Roman government said he was an insurrectionist too dangerous to live.
Eight, Joseph was sent to prison and was supernaturally delivered on a day certain. He was made to stand at the right hand of Pharaoh, the mightiest man on the face of the earth in one day. Jesus Christ was sent to the prison of death. There, on a certain day, the third day, he arose and was made to stand at the right hand of the most powerful person in the universe, God the Father.
Nine, Joseph prophesied the future of Egypt to Pharaoh, and it came exactly true. Jesus prophesied the future of the world in Matthew 24. I call it "The spine of prophecy". If you want to master the subject, master that chapter, because nothing is left out. And everything you need to know is there.
Ten, Joseph was given a gentile bride. Listen. This is where we come in. Joseph, once he had risen to power, was given a gentile bride. Jesus was given a gentile bride at the church, you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and me. At the cross, we became the bride of Christ. Before the cross, we were nothing. Paul said we were outside the covenants of Israel, without God, without hope, of all men most miserable. Joseph was given the gentile bride.
Now that we have been adopted, we have received the blessings of Abraham. On the cross, Jesus Christ took our sin and gave us forgiveness. And now we've made whiter than snow. On the cross, he took our poverty, and he gave to us the riches of Abraham. On the cross, he took our sickness and disease, and gave us divine healing. By his stripes, we are healed. At the cross, he took our guilt, and he took our shame, and he gave us joy that is unspeakable and peace that surpasses understanding. All of this, we received at the cross! At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burdens of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith, I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day. Thank you God for the cross of Jesus Christ, the Son of God! Give him praise in the house of God.
Joseph and the gentile bride had two sons. The names were Manasseh and Ephraim. You can read the Old Testament, and the Bible leans over backwards to prove that these two boys received an equal inheritance in Israel. Beloved, when the Bible says that we are heirs and joint heirs of Jesus Christ, it means that everything we had, he got, and everything he had, we received. We got the best of the trade in that situation. We are heirs and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. We are royalty. We are sons and daughters of the king. We are royal ambassadors. His love has no limit! His grace has no measure! His power is greater than the greatest! He is higher than the highest! He is wiser than the wisest! We are the sons and daughters of the Most High God! Shout for joy!
Fast forward now to the 20th century. Joseph's brothers came into the land of Egypt three times looking for food. Nothing in the Bible is accidental. Every word, every jot, every tittle means something. You just have to figure out what it is. They are looking at their brother and they don't know who he is. He's dressed as an Egyptian. He's speaking Egyptian through an interpreter. It's a perfect description of the Jewish people now. They don't know who Jesus is. They do not. But they're in the country for the third time looking for food. The Jewish people have now entered the land of Israel for the third time. The first time, they came with Joshua. The second time, they came from Babylon after 70 years of captivity. The third time, they came back in 1948 when Israel became a state. The point is it was on the third time into the land when Joseph identified his brothers as to who he was. It is the third time into the land for the Jewish people. And the king of glory is getting ready to reveal himself to his people. The king is coming! The king is coming! The king is coming!
How did Joseph convince his brothers that he was the younger brother that they had sold into slavery? The answer is circumcision. The Egyptians did not circumcise. Only the Jewish people did that. Why? Because that's a confirmation that you've entered into the covenant for the land. How are the Jewish people to believe that Jesus is the Messiah? By the scars of his body. The Bible says: and when they see him whom they have pierced. The word "Pierced" means riven side in the Hebrew. When they see the one with the riven side, they're going to know that that's their brother. Before Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, all of the gentiles were made to leave the palace. Why? I've heard lots of sermons that he was royalty and he didn't want the other people to see him crying. Not true. The message is God is going to take the gentiles out of the world before he reveals himself to the Jewish people. The king is coming!
When Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, what did they do? They fell on his neck and they wept. What's going to be the response when the Jewish people discover Messiah? The Bible says in Zechariah 12:10: and when they see him whom they have pierced, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for him as if it was the death of their first born. For seven days, there will be national mourning. Think about that. Sixteen, the story ends with Joseph eating with his family. They were given the rich lands of Goshen in Egypt where the Jewish people prospered, but here's the key phrase.
Joseph said to the 70 members of his family: and you shall be near me. Say that with me: and you shall be near me (speaking of his family). In the millennial reign, the golden age of peace, the Jewish people are going to be center stage with the Messiah, not rejected, not replaced by the God of heaven. The church will also rule and reign with the King of kings and the Lord of lords. But we will be there together as a family of God, unified around the sovereign grace of an amazing Lord that has brought us together. The two shall be one forever! And we shall rule and reign as the lion lays down with the lamb! And every man shall put his sword down! And we will celebrate for a thousand years! The king is coming! Hallelujah to the Lamb of God!
Both Israel and the church will gain their inheritance by fighting, not each other. I want to tell you, if Christians fought the devil as hard as they fought each other, the devil would have peptic ulcers in the back end of hell, sucking a Maalox bottle. Let's start living together in the love of God. How about that? The church is going to gain its spiritual inheritance with spiritual warfare. 2 Corinthians 10:3: for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Say the word "Stronghold". Stronghold, what does that mean? In this scripture, it means the fortress of Satanic power. It can be demon power. It can be powers and principalities in the heaven. But you have the authority and the power to wage supernatural warfare in the heavenlies, for what you do on your knees in prayer determines what happens in the air. And what happens in the air determines what happens on planet earth. You are somebody! You have real power! You have the authority of Jesus' name! You have the authority of the word! You have the authority of the blood! Use it! Use it! Use it, in Jesus' name! Give him praise and glory in the house of God.
Saint Paul is the one who brought us the word. It was saint Paul that said: fight the good fight of faith. Say that with me, fight the good fight of faith. Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. He also said: engage the enemy with weapons of warfare. Attack the adversary in the power of the name of the Lord, the blood, and the authority of the word. Put on the whole armor of God. Put on the helmet of salvation. Take the sword of the spirit. Pick up the shield of faith. Put your feet in the gospel of peace. Paul says: having done all, stand. Stand. Stand! Church of Jesus Christ in America, take a stand! Be bold! Be strong! Be aggressive! Be fearless! The victory is ours through Christ the Lord! Stand up, speak up, look up! Our redemption draweth nigh! Fight to win! Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered!
America is in a moral and spiritual crisis because we have presented to America a Christless Christianity that dodges the tough issues, cowers from controversial issues: that retreats from the righteousness of God: that has a form of Godliness but denies the power thereof. And so we have an anemic church across this nation. The nine revelations of God in the prayer shawl. I'm going to start and just give you one. Turn to numbers 15:37, numbers 15:37: again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, speak to the children of Israel. Tell them to make tassels on the corner of their garments throughout their generations and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. And you shall have the tassel that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and to do them: and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined: that you may remember to do my commandments and be holy for your God. This is a prayer shawl. It was designed by God Almighty.
Why did the Lord give this to Israel? Israel, for 400 years, had been in captivity to Egypt that had hundreds of Gods. And they were all physical. But this was something that God gave to the Jewish people to say who he was, to say where he lived, to remind them of the word. And I'm going to go into just a few of those, but one of those today. First, this band is called "The lips of heaven". It's blue because our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. It says where God lives. You place this on and quote the Psalms: you have covered yourselves as a garment covers the sky. And then they placed this on their neck. Moses wore a prayer shawl to his funeral. David wore this the day he fought Goliath.
Daniel wore this into the lion's den. Elijah wore this. It was the mantle that fell. Remember when Elisha, the associate of Elijah, said he wanted a double portion of God's power. How many of you remember that? Elijah said: if you see me when I'm taken up, you'll receive it. And sure enough he saw him going up, and he took the prayer shawl, it was made out of leather, and threw it down, and Elisha caught it. And with it came a double portion of God's power.
In the Old Testament, Elijah had seven miracles, and Elisha had 14 miracles. You may have a hard time finding 14 but when they threw the dead body in the cave on the bones of a righteous man, he got up and lived, and that was miracle 14. God did it just like he said. Fast forward to Jesus Christ and his disciples. They're standing on the Mount of Olives. Jesus Christ ascends into heaven to God the Father to give an account of Calvary and the resurrection. The mantle of power fell to earth in acts 2 when the power of Pentecost filled that room and cloven tongues of fire sat on each of their heads. And they received the anointing of the Holy Spirit. They went into the streets speaking 70 languages. And people heard the gospel like never before in all of their perfect languages.
The power of heaven was released and the church was reborn, because there was a supernatural anointing that came the moment they received the mantle of the power of the Holy Spirit. Fast forward. Fast forward. Jesus Christ wore this into the darkness of the tomb. It was wrapped around his head, which was a common thing to do in the 1st century. Bible proof that Jesus wore it into the tomb is John 20:6: then came Simon Peter, the impetuous one, the one who was always talking when he should have been listening, and running a little farther than he should have been running. Then came Simon Peter and he went into the tomb, and he saw the linen clothes lying there. "The linen clothes" were the grave clothes of Jesus.
Now in verse 7: it says: and the handkerchief, it was prayer shawl. The gentile translators of the text had no idea what a prayer shawl was. And the handkerchief (the prayer shawl) that had been on his head, not lying with the linen clothes, listen, but folded together in a place by itself in the corner. The prayer shawl of Jesus Christ is proof of the resurrection. How? If the Romans had stolen his body, they didn't know how to fold this. They didn't want to fold it. There was no reason. But the prayer shawl folded in the corner, said, whoever folded this was Jewish, whoever folded this was alive, whoever folded this had plenty of time. He was not concerned about anybody taking him.
When Peter saw it, he knew Jesus had not been stolen. But he knew that he had left a message and that message of the folded prayer shawl in the corner was, I am the resurrection and the life. Because I live, you shall also live. And he that believeth in me shall never die! Lift up your heads and rejoice, church. Eternal life is given to every man who believes on the Son of God! Give him praise and glory in the house of God today! Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.