Joseph Prince - The Secret Of Obed-Edom's Blessings
Greetings, church! We are in for another exciting time in God's word. Aren't you glad that every time we feed on God's word, it is really like a feast to our spirit man? Thy words were found, and thy words were unto me, the joy and rejoicing of my heart. Not only that, the Bible says in Proverbs 4 verse 22, that God's word when found, they are life unto us and health. Healing, in the Hebrew, marpe, medicine. Healing to all our flesh. Now this time, it's not just the spirit man. This is ministering to our entire body. So every time God's word is being open to us, we receive it and have an experience like those disciples on the Emmaus Road — burning hearts. It feeds our spirit man, and it ministers health and healing to all our flesh. The Psalmist will say things like this: Quicken me according to your word. In Psalms 119. Quicken me. Make me come alive. All the dead spots in my life, in my body, in my mind, in my spirit. Cause it to come alive. Quicken me according to Your word, according to Your spirit. Hallelujah, praise the Lord. And I believe that's gonna happen to you! Right off, I'm going to share with you a testimony that just came in. This is a sister from Malaysia, and she shares:
Every time I visited Singapore before the pandemic, I would always make it a point to visit New Creation Church. I'm so thankful that I can now watch the services online every week. Earlier this year, Pastor Prince released the theme of the year, Rest and Acceleration, and talked about Amos 9:13. He mentioned the following week, the same verse in the Message version, which says that things will happen so fast, our heads will swim and everywhere we look there’ll be blessings. I believed it in my heart and prayed at that moment that my newly renovated condo unit will be rented out to a good tenant. Immediately after the service, I received a message from my dad, telling me that a couple was urgently looking for accommodation. I also received a call from my condo's security guard, that there was an interested tenant. I later received a third call from my property agent, who told me that a tenant saw my condo's photos and was willing to rent the place without viewing the unit in person and confirmed the deal on the spot. Praise the Lord! It is indeed the Year of Rest and Acceleration. Thank you, Pastor Prince, for the now word! Sit back and watch this video of the theme of the year.
The Year of Rest and Acceleration. Whatever this year holds for us, we trust our Father God. He will lead us every step of the way. But you know, God wants us to live one day at a time. With every passing moment, you know, live in the now. Because the Bible says today is the day of salvation. Now is the time of favor. Now is the time. Now means present tense. We are to live in the present. God never displays Himself as the God of the future or the God of the past. It is always God is now a very present help in times of need. You remember when Martha complained to Jesus that, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. So she was talking about her brother Lazarus who had died, and, and she, she was implying that Jesus was late. So she was trying to push Jesus to the past, that because You didn't come earlier, my brother had died. But Jesus answered her, I am. Present tense. I am the resurrection and the life. Praise the Lord.
So God is always the I am. Like how He introduced Himself to Moses in the burning bush. I am that I am. So as we live one day at a time, enjoy every moment of this year. Amen. Live it for the glory of God, be present and be aware that the Lord Jesus Christ, the I am that I am, is with you every very single moment. Amen. And He is a very present help. I have a word also, I feel that there are a number of people who look at this year and you feel like, oh my goodness, I'm getting older. And, and the word is actually from the prophecy over the tribe of Asher. And this is God's promise for the tribe of Asher, which I believe all the promises of God in Christ are yes and Amen for us to claim. All the promises of God. And this is what God promised the tribe of Asher: as your days, as thy days, so shall thy strength be.
Now that goes against everything that is natural. That goes against everything that, you know, medical science will tell us, and all the experts will tell us. The natural flow of life is decline. As you grow older, your body will grow old. You age and you decline. But with God's promise, and that's why it is God's word: the things that are impossible with men are possible with God. And God just wants us to believe it. When God says something, He wants us to believe it. Amen. And God promised, as your days, so shall your strength be. God is saying, as you… your days progress, with the days come increasing strength. As your days, so shall your strength be. And that strength also refers to what Caleb had in his old age. Amen. When he was 85, he says, "I'm as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me". And he was 40 years old at that time. So he said, "I'm as strong today". And he's no liar. Amen. He says, "I am as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me". Let's, let's believe God for that, for ourselves. Amen. As we see ourselves advancing in years. Amen.
And that's the word I feel that for many of you, rest assured that God is giving this to you and God just wants to be believed. Amen. He's, you know, God loves for people to trust Him, believe Him. And that's why the word "Amen" is so important. Because when we say "Amen", we are saying, God, what you said, I say Amen to it. You know, the angel Gabriel came to Zachariah, promising that he and his wife, Elizabeth will have a son in their old age, and he didn’t believe. He didn’t believe God. And the angel says, "I am, I am Gabriel, the angel of the Lord. And because you didn't believe my words, you'll be dumb until the baby is born". And the same angel Gabriel went to Mary and gave her the promise that she would bring forth Jesus, the Messiah. And she believed the word of the angel, Amen, who is just speaking the word of God. She believed, she said it like this, "Be it unto me according to your word".
Now that is Amen. The Bible says all the promises of God in Christ are yes and Amen. To be believed upon. Amen. All the promises of God. Don't just say, well, this is just for the Jews. And, and this is for the Old Testament, but for us, there's nothing much for us to look for, except for the things that are spiritual and inward. No, all the promises of God. When, when, Paul wrote that by the Spirit to the Corinthian, he's telling them all the promises of God, in times past until today, they're all yours, for you to say yes. And when it's spoken over you, say Amen. Amen. Amen? Praise God. Amen means so be it in my life. So be it. Praise the Lord. It is the name of Jesus in the book of Revelation. These things says the Amen, the faithful and true. It's the name of Jesus. Amen.
In fact, the Hebrew word for faith, and it says Abraham believed in the Lord and the Lord counted it to him for righteousness. In Genesis, it actually says Abraham "aman" the Lord. He believed in the Lord is the word "aman". Emunah, faith, is from the word, "aman". Aman. Emunah. Aman. Amen. You say Amen. That’s faith in the Lord. Praise God, hallelujah! Amos 9 verse 11 tells us, "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I'll raise up his ruins". So this word breaches, is the word "perez" in the Hebrew. Remember when David wants to bring the ark to Mount Zion, the place where God has His resting place; God says, this is My resting place. And I have desired Mount Zion. In fact, in another place it says that He chose Judah and Mount Zion. He says, and Mount Zion that He loves. He loves Mount Zion. It never says that He loves Mount Sinai. He loves Mount Zion.
So David had a heart to bring the ark of the covenant from a place where it's long neglected and dishonored, to the place where it would be loved. The place of grace, the centrality of the heart of Israel — Mount Zion. And David had this desire since he was a young, young man. And he said this in Psalms 132: Lo, we heard of it, about the ark of the covenant in Ephrathah. During the time, the king was King Saul. And King Saul had no desire for the ark. He had no desire for the presence of Jesus. And we have established that the, the person of Jesus is illustrated most clearly in, of all the furnitures of the tabernacle, in the ark of the covenant. In fact, I want to show you this. It also illustrates Jesus in a very clear way. If you would take the ark of the covenant and do this, this is what you see. If you open up all the sides of the ark of the covenant and see how it's laid out, even long before Jesus died on the cross, this is what you see. You see the cross of Jesus Christ.
And of course the ark of the covenant, the materials speak of the person of Jesus. The wood speaks of His humanity. The gold speaks of His deity. He is the true God-man. Hallelujah. Fully God, fully man. Our God-man. The one that we love, Amen, who is right now at the Father's right hand. Don't forget you have a perfect man representing you at the Father's right hand. Just like, you know, different constituencies will have their MPs or their representative, depending on which part of world you come from, but you have it in the Congress, alright, they represent you. They are not there for themselves. They are there to represent you. So right now, you and I, we have a representative, a human, a glorified man at the Father's right hand. And as long as He's there, the Bible says, everything that He deserves, that He's able to execute, Amen, He, He's there making intercession for us. The Bible says, you and I will enjoy. Praise the Lord.
What do you reckon? Do you think Jesus doing a great job there at the Father's right hand? Yes! Amen, praise the Lord. And as He is, so are we in this world. It is not how good we are before God. It is how good our representative man is at the Father's right hand. Praise the Lord. As He is, so are we in this world. Praise the Lord. And we see that David's desire is to bring the ark to Mount Zion. So this is a message for all of us that the Lord wants us, this year, to bring Jesus back to the centrality of our lives. The centrality of our families, in our marriage, to the center of our parenting, into the center of our career, in the center of our ministry, in the center of our church, Amen.
Pastors and leaders, let's bring Jesus back to the center of our church, Amen. In all our church life and all our preaching and teaching, let's be Christ-centered. That's the Father's desire. The Father says, whatever you do with my Son, I will do to you. If you reject my Son, I'll reject you. If you accept my Son, I'll accept you. If you honor my Son, I will honor you. He that has the Son has life, praise the Lord, hallelujah. And the Father has destined the Lord Jesus Christ to be the center of everything. One day, the whole world will see that. That He will be the King of all Kings and the Lord of Lords. Amen. And He will reign on Mount Zion over all the world, and everything will revolve around him.
You know, the Father destined Jesus to be the center. Even in, when Jesus says, where two or three are gathered together in My name, where, where is He? There I am in the midst. When He was crucified on the cross, the Bible says He was crucified in the midst of the two thieves. You know, when He rose from the dead, He appeared in the Upper Room. The Bible says it like this: He appeared in the midst of them. He appeared in their midst. And then, in the book of Revelation, John turned around, and John saw Jesus in the midst of the throne. He saw the Lamb of God in the midst of the throne. God has destined him to always be in the midst. And if He's in the middle of your life, in the center of your life, everything else works. The centrality of Jesus is crucial for everything in our life. The Bible doesn't say, "Husbands love your wife". The Bible says, "Husbands love your wives as Christ loves the church".
So my, my focus, if I'm having a challenge in my marriage, is not try to recover my marriage, try to recover my relationship, try to be nice or, or, or be loving. Because when you try, you might just produce the opposite end. Have you found that out? But if you focus on the Lord Jesus, that's how you recover your marriage. Amen. That's how you restore your marriage. Focus on the Lord, Jesus Christ, Amen. And realize how much He has loved you. Amen. Experience that all over again. And then your wife will be the beneficiary. And that love will be a self-sacrificing love. Because the way the Lord loves us, like on that cross, praise the Lord, He gave his life for us. And if you fill yourself afresh with the love of Jesus, listen to sermons that are Christ-centered and talking about the love of Jesus. The, the more you realize you are the, the disciple whom Jesus loves, you know, who, who's gonna benefit from that? Your wife.
Even for the wife, the Bible says, submit unto your husband as unto the Lord. Doesn't say, submit to your husband and it stops there. That is human teaching. He says, submit to your husband as unto the Lord. You see the Lord behind it. And the Lord will make sure that when you see Him, your husband will be put together. Hallelujah, praise the Lord. And that's how Christian teaching on marriage is, is all based on the centrality of Christ. Even in our parenting our children, we should always have Jesus in the center. Put your faith in Him. Don't try to change your children by the law. And you know how you do that? By saying, you should, you should. You know, you should be studying. You should not be spending so much time playing games. You should not be doing this. You should not be doing it. You should. You should. You, you should. And the more we say "you should", the more they feel the pressure.
You see, "you should" is stress. It's very stressful for them. You should, you should. No one like to be "shoulded". So what do you do? You, you still want that change in your child. Trust God. And, and the way you trust God is your language will be like this. I believe you, you will do well for this exam. I believe you will have a heart to study. Amen. Speak that directly to him, or over his life. Amen. And, and believe God. I believe you will glorify Jesus in your studies. I believe you will know the right time. Okay? When to study and when to play games, Amen. Give him that confidence and see what happens. Praise the Lord. Because one, "you should" is stress, and "I believe you will" is supply.
That is, that is rest. So one is stress. One is rest. One is demand: "You should, you should". The other is supply. I believe, friends, this year God wants to repair the first breach. And the first area is family blessings. Amen. Your family life. How do I know that? Because do you remember when David was gonna to bring the ark back, the moment he became king, one of his first priorities is to bring the ark back straightaway. He consulted all his men, his captains and all that. And, and they all went to get the ark. Now, David had the right motive, but he was not in obedience. He did things the way of the world. Like God wants us to do things, but do things His way. Like the way of the world will say, just love, be romantical with your wife and all that. But the way of the Lord is, love your wife as Christ loves the church. So the focus is on Christ. Amen.
So here we have an example of David wanting, wanting a good thing. In fact, the best thing he could ever do is to bring the ark to Mount Zion, which he desired for many, many years. Now that he's king, he has the power and the resources, and the manpower to bring the ark back. And yet, he did not obey God. He did it the way of the world. He thought like the world and acted like the world. And what happened is that the Philistines, that represents the world at that time, they put the ark… because the ark was a constant trouble for them. You know, they treated the ark with disdain, putting it in the house of Dagon and Dagon fell before the ark. And until his head was decapitated and the idol's hands were, were, were destroyed. And then they realized that, oh no, you know, this, this God of Israel, you cannot mess around with this God.
So they moved it to another Philistine city. And from Philistine city to another Philistines city, all of them were afflicted with, with, hemorrhoids. And then they sent to another city, another Philistines city. And they said, oh, oh, oh no, no. Don't bring, bring the ark here. But the ark was, was defending itself. You don't have to defend the ark. We see an example here when Jesus was captured, right, in the Garden of Gethsemane. When the soldiers came to arrest Him and they said, we seek Jesus from Nazareth. He says, I am. What happened to them? What happened to the soldiers? They fell before Jesus. The, the captive became the captivator. Hallelujah. No one can take Jesus' life from Him. He wasn't murdered. He laid down His life. No one has power to take away His life. He laid down His life voluntarily at the cross because He loved the Father and He loved you and I, and gave His life on that cross so that our sins can be forgiven, so that we can have an experience, this zoe, eternal and abundant life forever. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus.
And David did it the Philistines’ way. And the Philistines, you know, when they wanted to get rid of the ark, they put it on an ox cart driven by two milk cows all the way to Beth Shemesh. And you know the story, from there you know the story of the sin of Beth Shemesh, which many believers are committing today: removing the mercy seat to look into the Ten Commandments, the law, and no man can look at the law in its purity and remain alive. No one, that’s why God says, take the law and put it under the mercy seat. And put the blood on the mercy seat, Amen. God doesn’t want to see man breaking the commandments and man coming short. And that’s why when you go back to the law, you fall from grace. Mercy seat, grace, is higher than the law. And Jesus came, the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. And the Bible says that, "Christ has become of no effect unto you, whoever of you are justified by the law, you are fallen from grace". Doesn’t say "whoever of you sin".
Now sin, we are all against sin, but there in that verse it says, "Whoever is justified by the law". If you are trying to be justified by the law, you are fallen from grace, which means grace is higher. Don’t fall from grace, my friend. Those who fell from grace, like the Pharisees they boast in the law. They pride themselves in their self-righteousness. They were around Jesus and many of them I believe were sick but none of them received from Jesus. In fact, one time they were all gathered around Jesus in Capernaum and there was a man lowered from the roof. And the Bible says, "The power of the Lord was present to heal them". Not one person, heal them. So even the Pharisees had access to the healing power of Jesus, but none of them were healed except for the paralytic. Why? Because self-righteousness, trying to be justified by the law causes you to fall from grace. And healing is a grace.
So, friend, remember this. The problem that happened later on when David did it the wrong way, there was Uzzah, there was death. Uzzah fell. Now, if you look at the name ‘Uzzah’, names in the Bible have meanings. And sometimes it will open up that whole passage to you, even in the names. Like the Bible says, "In the valley of Achor I will open a door of hope". It doesn’t make sense until you realize what is Achor in Hebrew. What is the meaning of Achor? And it means ‘trouble’. So God is saying in your valley of trouble, if you are going through a valley of trouble, God says, "I’m gonna open a door of hope". Hope means what? Good in your future, positive expectation of good in your future. In other words, you will come out of the valley. And the valley of Achor will become the valley of blessing, valley of Beracah. Hallelujah, praise God.
So, here the name Uzzah, he reached out his hand, Uzzah reached out his hand and touched the ark because the oxen stumbled. Of course, it will stumble because David did it the wrong way. He followed the world. He copied the Philistines who put it on the ox cart driven by the two milk cows. But hey listen, the Philistines did not know any better. So, they say that, you know we will hook this ox cart to two milk cows who have their young in the barn, okay. And the natural tendency of these two cows, because they are milk cows, alright, they have young and they will always want to feed their young.
So, the Philistines said if these milk cows go all the way to the land of Israel, which is Beth Shemesh, he said that, then we’ll know that the afflictions that happened to us came from God that we cannot mess around with this ark. It belongs to Israel. But if the milk cows turn around to their young, which is the natural tendency, alright, of these animals, then we know that whatever happened to us is by chance, it has nothing to do with God, the God of Israel. Of course, the milk cows went a beeline straight to Beth Shemesh, the land of Israel. And the Philistines knew it was of God. So, God allowed them to do that and none of them died. The oxen didn’t stumble in that case because they didn’t know any better. But God’s people, God expects us to learn, God expects us to honor His Son. Amen. And Uzzah, his name means: power, man’s strength, man’s power. Man’s strength, Uzzah. You know the Israelis they have a gun they call Uzzi. Uzzi, from the word uzzah, alright. Uzzah means his strength. So, he put out his strength, uzzah, it’s not uzziah. Uzziah means: the strength of Yah, God’s strength. This is uzzah, it means his strength. He put out his strength and he died.
Now, the problem with us today is not so much sin. Now we are all against sin. I’m against sin. In fact, this teaching will help you to overcome sin. And people are just, you know, they are blinded by the fact that they think that well, unless we preach holiness strong, unless we tell people to keep the law and make them conscious of that, they cannot but sin. Actually, it’s the opposite. The more you preach the law, it’s like putting wood on fire. "By the law is the knowledge of sin". 1 Corinthians 15:56 tells us, "The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law". The Bible says, "For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under the law, but under grace". So that tells us if we want to preach our people into a place of holiness, into a place of victory over sin, we got to preach grace. Because when we preach grace and they are truly under grace, sin will not have dominion over them.
And I will guarantee you, that those who believe in keeping the law today, the more they try, they are failing. Their failures might not be seen publicly, one day it may be revealed. It might come forth, alright, but there’s definitely struggles; private struggles that they are having that they are not telling you about. And the answer is grace, and grace is all about rest. Grace is not about human effort. In fact, grace is defined as unmerited favor, undeserved favor, unearned favor. Praise the Lord. And we all qualify. If it is unmerited, undeserved and unearned, we all qualify. It only have to be received. It only have to be believed, Amen, for us to walk in it. And then the effect of that favor is amazing, the effect of that grace is just stupendous because we are going to see results we never dreamed possible. All of a sudden, we are overcoming sin in our lives. All of a sudden, we are no more drawn in that area of that habit we used to have. All of a sudden, we find our lives we are getting more intimate with Jesus, we are seeing more of Him, we are falling in love with the Lord. And all of sudden we realize that hey, this is not my works. What I desired for years and I tried my best to do it and tried to accomplish it. Just by resting in God’s grace, it’s all happening for me.
So, remember this, people say revival stopped because of sin. If revival can stop because of sin, it would never have begun because revival is needed and God sends revival where there’s a lot of sin. And the people of God are crying out for revival because there has been a lot of sin and they can’t stand it, they are asking God for revival. So, revival happens where there is a lot of sin. Where sin increases, grace super-abounds. I tell you what stops revival. What stops revival is man’s efforts coming in. Control, there’s a committee usually that comes in, they want to control the move of God, they want to control. They bring in their own laws, and their own governance and all that and they try to control the move of God and it stops. But listen, friend, even in the gospels you can see Jesus, sinners will touch Him, even the extremities of His clothes and they will be healed. And these are sinners, some of them hardcore sinners. Prostitutes can receive from Him, tax collectors can receive from Him. But the Pharisees cannot even though the power of the Lord was present to heal.
So, remember this friend, the biggest problem that we have in the body of Christ today is this blindness, that it is our uzzah, our strength, that is stopping us from receiving all that God has for us. And we think it is sin, sin, sin, sin. No, listen my friend, when you activate your strength, the result is sin. When Israel said to God, even before they heard the Ten Commandments, they said, "All that God says we will do it". The moment they put themselves under law, the next thing you see, the very first commandment they broke it. "Thou shall have no other gods before Me". You see a golden calf right there. How come? Were they not sincere? I believe they were. But they did not realize who they were in their flesh. They don’t see how sinful they are, they have no realization that they were sinners. And that’s something that all of us need to come to. And the law was given to show us that. Amen, the law is holy but it cannot make you holy. The law is righteous, it cannot make anyone righteous.
So, the more you try to come under the law, alright, it was designed to show you your sin. Your sin will come forth. And that’s why it says, "The strength of sin is the law". And that’s the argument about the Tabernacle of David being restored in Acts 15. Remember in Acts 15, the whole argument is about should the Gentiles keep the law. We Jewish people, Peter was talking and all the rest, you know, the Jewish people and all that, and there were some Pharisees who were saved then in the book of Acts, in the early church. And they were arguing about now the Gentiles are also receiving the gospel of Jesus Christ, they are saved and all that, should they keep the law? It is not just about circumcision there, it is about keeping the law.
How do I know that? Because Peter stood up and said, "Why are you trying to put a yoke on their neck that neither we nor our fathers were able to bear"? If it’s just circumcision alone, and Jewish babies were circumcised on the eighth day, what does Peter mean when he says, "That neither we nor our fathers were able to bear"? You were not even conscious, Peter, right? So, Peter was trying to prove a point to them. It’s not just about the circumcision, it’s about whether the Gentiles should keep the law. And of course, there the pastor of Jerusalem was James. And he stood up and he said, "What Peter says not to put the law on the Gentiles who were saved is in agreement with what God said through Amos". And he quoted Amos 9:11 where it talks about in the last days God will raise the Tabernacle of David. And what’s going to happen? The rest of mankind will seek after the Lord. Souls will be saved. And these Gentiles are a fulfillment of Amos 9:11. Hallelujah. And that’s the beginning in the early church.
So, the church of Jesus Christ, or the Tabernacle of David has got to do with the church. Praise the Lord. And God promised He will repair all the ruins. Amen. So, the first area of the ruin, like I was saying just now, when Uzzah put forth his hand, he died. And David called that place Perez Uzzah, the breach of Uzzah, the point where it was broken, Amen. The point where something came in that was destructive that brought death. That is a picture of Perez, a breach. And God promised that when He restores the Tabernacle of David, He will repair the breaches. The word there is ‘Perez’, He will repair all the areas of Perez, all the broken areas, all the breaches. And the first area is your family life. How do I know? Because right after that, David was afraid to bring the ark to Mount Zion. Now he’s afraid. Instead of seeking the Lord and saying, "Lord, where did I miss it? I know You’re a good God and I know that we missed it somewhere". Instead of humbling himself, he had the same attitude like many people, "Ah, I just don’t want to deal with God".
And this is servile fear, there is a fear that is not the fear of the Lord. People talk about fearing God and all that, there is a slavish fear of the Lord that is not based on the Bible. It brings bondage, that’s why I call it servile fear. A servile, a slavish kind of fear of God that Apostle Paul said in Romans 8, alright, "You have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear," and that’s referring to fearing God, "But you have received the spirit of sonship by which we cry ‘Abba Father’". Now that’s the true fear of the Lord. The true fear of the Lord is not slavish. It is a wholesome dread of displeasing someone that we love. Just like a child that is growing up under loving parents. Usually the attitude of the child is that, "I don’t want to displease my parents because they love me so much".
That is like a picture of the true fear of the Lord. Whereas a master and a slave, a slave does not want to displease his master because he might get punished for it, alright, he has that slavish fear. Whereas the child has the fear of the father or the mother because he don’t want to displease them. Now this is a picture of a child under loving parents. And the fear of the Lord always prolongs days, the Bible says, Amen. And Jesus defined the fear of the Lord as in the wilderness temptation, as the worship of God. "Thou shall worship the Lord thy God". Well you look at that verse He quoted from, it’s from Deuteronomy where it says, "Thou shall fear the Lord thy God". So, Jesus defined the fear of the Lord in the Old Testament as worship. Hallelujah.
So, friend, David instead of responding with an attitude of humility and seeking the Lord, he said, "No, I’m not going to let the ark come to me". Well, guess what happened? He removed the ark to the house of a man called Obed-Edom. And the Bible says, the Lord blessed Obed-Edom so much, blessed him and all he had and all his household that people get to see it. I mean it was so evident for all to see. So I want to tell you this, that the first area right after the first breach, having to do with the Tabernacle of David, the first breach was a death that came in and in this very first restoration was actually the blessings of God on the house of Obed-Edom and on all his household. So we see that the first thing God wants to do in repairing the breach is blessing. And if we see how David, seeing the blessing of the Lord on the House of Obed-Edom, isn't it interesting that all the while whilst David was afraid of God, Obed-Edom was being blessed. Isn't that amazing?
Obed-Edom was being blessed. All the while David was afraid of God, Obed-Edom was being blessed. Now that tells us something. That tells us that God wants to be good. God wants us to receive His blessings, believe in His mercy, believe in His goodness, believe in His love for us. Yes, He is a holy God but listen, the holiness of God has got to do with us not pretending to be the one who can supply for ourselves, the one who is able, and our strength is the very hindrance to His goodness because if you believe you are strong, it is hard to believe in His goodness, in His mercy because you are always taking the place of God to save yourself, to deliver yourself, to protect yourself, to supply for yourself. Well, God wants to do all this for you. Are you listening, people? Amen? So we see that the blessing of God was on the house of Obed-Edom, the very first area this year where He wants to repair the breaches this year is in the area of your family life.
If you look carefully at the blessing of Obed-Edom, many years ago I sought the Lord, I believe it was the year 2003 because I preached my first sermon about the secret of Obed-Edom’s blessings in 2004, that was my first sermon on the secret of Obed-Edom, in 2004. In 2003, we went to Israel and I sought the Lord because I really wanted to know what’s the secret of Obed-Edom’s blessings. It doesn't tell us why the Lord blessed him. Whereas, we see in Uzzah there was a death but in Obed-Edom it was blessing after blessing. In fact, Josephus tells us, Josephus is a Jewish historian that lived during the time of Jesus and he was a personal eyewitness to the destruction of the Temple by the Romans. And he wrote the Jewish history and when he came to Obed-Edom, he explained the blessing of Obed-Edom like this — he said that when Obed-Edom brought the ark to his house, he was a poor man to begin with. But the Lord began to prosper him, enlarged him and enlarged his territories and blessed him with every blessing. And many, many Jewish scholars tell us that the blessings on Obed-Edom were in the area of wealth as well as children. But he was blessed in everything. The Bible says he was blessed in all that he had and on all his household.
If you look at 2 Samuel 6, it says that "the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household". Notice all his family got blessed. There are two accounts of the bringing back of the ark in 2 Samuel 6 here, as well as 1 Chronicles 13. "The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house three months and the Lord blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that he had". So in Samuel’s account, the Lord blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all his household but in Chronicles it says, "God blessed all that he had". So it is a total blessing, it is a total blessing. In fact, Josephus says that Obed-Edom was so blessed to the envy of his neighbours. So it is something visual, something that people around can see, Amen, so much so that someone brought the news to David and told King David this. "Now it was told to King David this, saying, 'The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.'"
Notice the source of this blessing — because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness. Hallelujah! So what is the secret of Obed-Edom? If we know that secret, we can perhaps walk in it even for our family life, Amen? So in 2003, I started seeking the Lord and the Lord began to open my eyes especially in Israel, I began to ask around. First of all, I looked at the name Obed-Edom, the name doesn’t mean much because Obed-Edom, alright, obed means "servant", edom is actually a name Edom, Esau, Amen. Edom, Edom means "red". Servant of Red, what does that mean? I went to Israel with this name "servant of Edom" and I began to ask around about Edom and is there any meaning? Well, even with my Jewish guides and all that it means red, that's what it means.
As I went around and I began to study during that time the Lord began to show me that Edom is from the word Adam, which is the word dam. Dam is "blood". Blood. Even in the prophecy of Jacob over his son, Judah, he mentioned the blood of grapes in Genesis 49. He says, "He washes his garments in wine, and he washes his clothes in the blood of grapes". When I found that out, I asked my Jewish guide, you know what do they call the juice of grapes, it says dom. It’s really dom. So the word Adam, dam is actually "blood". Dāmîm, usually you say dāmîm, it’s the plural of blood. So Adam is literally "red-blooded man". Adam. Adam is "red-blooded man". Dam, from the word blood, dāmîm, so edom is also from this word. The root, the etymology of edom is from this — blood. So he is the servant of the blood. Hallelujah. He understood the importance of the blood on the mercy seat. I believed he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings and God began to prosper him so that he had more and more burnt offerings to give and to sprinkle on that mercy seat.
How do I know this? Is it just based on the name Obed-Edom? No, my friend, it’s also based on what David did when he came to recover the ark from the house of Obed-Edom. The moment he heard about the goodness of God and the blessing of God on Obed-Edom and all that he had, on all his household, David said, "Hey, I don't want the blessings of God to be confined to one family. I want it to come to Zion where it will spread out across all Israel. I realize my mistake right now, I'm on the wrong side of God. I need to be like Obed-Edom". And do you think for one moment that David studied what Obed-Edom did? Because this is the first time David did this, right after he took the ark from Obed-Edom, I believe that it was a sad day for Obed-Edom when David came with his army, Amen, to the household of Obed-Edom and one of David’s men will call out for Obed-Edom, "Obed-Edom, Obed-Edom"! And Obed says, "I am not in"! "Obed-Edom, open the door". "I am in bed". "Obed, I know you are in bed, but King David summons you". And he opened the door and David just said one word, "Ark".
Ark please, haha. Praise the Lord. And he knew that David had come for the ark. He was enjoying the blessings of God on all that he had — on his household, his wife became younger and more beautiful, his kids became brilliant and sharp, and he realized that his body was increasing in health and strength, he had more energy at his age than he had all the years in the past, he began to see the blessings of God on his crops. Everyone who steps into his house, you know, felt the peace and the joy in that environment and he realized that the blessing on God is because of the ark and he said to his children, "If the ark is leaving, we are following the ark". Hallelujah! And you know he became the door keeper of the ark. That is so amazing.
Now I said just now, how do I know? Is it just based on the name Obed-Edom, that he knew about the value of the blood? And friend, without the blood of Jesus we cannot be made righteous. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. Without the shedding of blood, the Bible says we are made righteous, justified by His blood, we are sanctified by His blood. By the blood of Christ, we are made near to God, hallelujah. God makes us perfect in every good work and word and work through the blood of the everlasting covenant. Amen. The blood is everything, for Israel on the Day of Atonement when the blood is sprinkled on the mercy seat, all their sins are forgiven. They can expect bumper crops, they can expect victory over their enemies, they can expect blessings on their household. Why? Because the blood is on the mercy seat.
As long as the blood is on the mercy seat, God cannot see the broken law of all the people and the blessings keep on keeping on for another year, hallelujah. But for us today, for them they have to renew that every year with the blood on the mercy seat but Jesus shed His blood once and for all. By one sacrifice, we are sanctified forever. Praise the Lord, Amen, we are sanctified by the body of Jesus Christ, once and for all. Amen. Christ crucified, what does that mean? That means that He shed His blood. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins, no remission of sins. Jesus took the cup of the Communion and He said this to His disciples, on that night He was betrayed, He said, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, do this in remembrance of Me". So the more we value the precious blood of Jesus Christ, the more we will partake of the Lord’s supper. It was that blood on the door post of Israel throughout Egypt that caused the destroyer, the angel of death to pass by. It was blood on the door post that protected them all. Amen.
God says, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you". And that is why they celebrate the Passover. God didn't say when I see your good works, when I see your great character, when I see your good family name, God never said all that. God says, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you". Hallelujah. Without the blood, friend, we cannot be saved, we cannot be healed, we cannot be justified, we cannot be sanctified, we cannot do anything without the blood. Why the blood? Because the blood means we deserve death but because there is blood, that means there has been a death. And it all depends on who is the one who shed the blood and because it is the God Man who shed that blood, that blood avails for us forever. Amen! We are justified once and for all by the blood of Jesus Christ. Amen! And we show our appreciation by partaking often.
The more value we have of the blood, listen! The more you esteem the blood of Jesus Christ, and that comes from studying about in the Word of God about the Blood of Jesus. The more you esteem the blood of Jesus, the more faith you have in the Lord. The more you esteem the blood of Jesus, you would want to take communion often. Jesus says do this as often, and we do it as seldom. Friend, the more you see that, the more you value the blood, the more you partake of the Lord’s supper, Amen! Proclaiming His death until He comes for us. Praise the Lord. So Obed-Edom always offered blood of the sacrifice, he says, "I am a sinner, I deserve death as much as Uzzah but the blood of an innocent lamb, because of the blood". You know what happened to Obed-Edom? He stands in the place of a righteous man. God sees him in the righteousness of His Son, Amen, and God blessed Obed-Edom and his household like Jesus would deserve it. Because God treated him like Jesus.
That’s how we are blessed today, friend. God blesses us as if we are Jesus and you know what, we are in Christ Jesus; we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and whatever we deserve that is bad because we all deserve it, Amen, Jesus took for us at the Cross. He took our place so that we take His place and whatever He deserves we get, hallelujah! And that’s the story of Obed-Edom’s blessing, Amen. Some people say the secret of Obed-Edom’s blessing is that he understood praise and worship. Remember my friend, there was praise and worship before the oxen stumbled and Uzzah died. There was praise and worship then. Didn’t stop the oxen from stumbling. So friend, it is not the praise and worship because David had praise and worship before Uzzah died and then when he came to take the ark, there was praise and worship. But there was something else that David did for the first time when he came to recover the ark from Obed-Edom’s house. What was it? This is what the Bible says, "So David went and brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness and so it was when those bearing the ark of the Lord had gone six paces that he sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep".
Wow, this is the first time we see David sacrificing oxen and sheep. In Chronicle’s account, it says seven bulls and seven rams. So every six pace, think of it this way, every six pace, when they traveled, every six pace, he sacrificed burnt offering and peace offerings. Every six pace, he offered burnt offering, and, you know, that journey, all the way from Kirjath Jearim, all the way to Jerusalem, Mount Zion in Jerusalem, all the way there, you know, you’ll see like pillars of cloud, pillars of columns of smoke, alright, from the burnt offering. David offered all the way. Now would you say that’s radical? This is the first time David did this. He didn’t offer burnt offerings before Uzzah’s death. There was praise and worship before Uzzah’s death, as well as after when David came to recover, but the only difference is that he started offering burnt offerings and that means blood is shed. Where did he learn that from? I believe he learned it from Obed-Edom.
Now, he learned it, of course, when he was young. He knew about the importance of blood sacrifice, Amen. God says, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood and I’ve given it to you for an atonement for your souls". David knew this, David knew this but sometimes, like many of us in our own lives, God used the goodness that He bestowed on someone else, the blessings of God on someone else to recover all of us, Amen, to cause all those of us who are backslidden, Amen, to come back to Him. Amen. We see the goodness and the blessings of God in someone’s life, Amen, and then we feel like, "Hey, I used to know that. Where is that wonderful peace, where is that sense of favor on me? Where is the goodness of God in my life"? And we see someone’s life and we become even jealous and we want to be there. You know, friend, may your life be so blessed that you provoke all the backsliders and those fallen from grace, all around you to want to know the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. All to come back to Jesus Christ. Amen. Praise the Lord. May your life, your family life be an example. Another thing that we need to see is that, is the fact that the Bible says "Obed-Edom, the Gittite", right? Obed-Edom, the Gittite.
Now, the Jewish scholars are divided on this because the word "Gittite" actually means belonging to Gath, from the city of Gath. Remember Gath? Goliath of Gath. The Philistines, one of their cities is Gath, alright? It’s a Philistine city. And someone says you are a Gittite, alright, it always means belonging to Gath. You’re a Philistine. In fact, Jewish scholars are divided on this. Some Jewish scholars says, "Yes, he’s a Philistine from Gath," but they’re some who say, "No, no, no, no. He’s from Gath Rimmon. He’s a Levite from Gath Rimmon". Now, Gath Rimmon, my friend, doesn’t hold water because Gath Rimmon is many miles away. There’s no way David, after Uzzah’s death, would go and, you know, all the way to Gath Rimmon and bring the Ark there. Gath Rimmon is many miles away, further than Jerusalem that David was intending to bring the ark to. So, it must be a house nearby and there was a man there, Obed-Edom, who was a Gittite.
Now, that fulfills that part of Amos’ prophecy where he talks about the rebuilding of the tabernacle of David will cause the Gentiles to come in. The word "Gentiles" is used there. The Gentiles will come in. The word hidden there in the King James is Gentiles, "Goyim". The Gentiles will come in and here is a picture of the blessing on the Gentile. Now, I submit to you also that Obed-Edom just knew about the blood of Jesus. He’s, in other words, he’s a picture of believers who are conscious of the Lord Jesus Christ and of His finished work, which is the shed blood. Amen. He may not, in fact, I believe he’s not someone cognizant with all the laws of God. All he knows is the wonderful person of Jesus, Amen. In other words, he valued the ark, Amen, the wonderful person of Jesus, as well as the importance of the shed blood. And that’s something that was taught from the beginning, from the Garden of Eden, God shed blood.
God was the first one to shed blood and clothe Adam and Eve. Amen. Adam provided for himself, you know, fig leaves to clothe himself, because it is his own providing and there’s no blood, his covering wasn’t complete until God clothed them. And God, Bible says God clothed them with coats of skin. What does that mean? That means that God had to kill the animals that He had created. So, God was the first one to clothe man with blood. In other words, "Because there has been a death, you both don’t have to die". Hallelujah. "In fact, all the innocence and the righteousness of that lamb goes to you both". And God was able to accept them. So, remember, from Garden of Eden, people knew about this, even the Gentiles knew about it, alright. It’s not, it’s not universal as it should be but they knew it from the Garden of Eden, the importance of the shedding of blood to cover a sinner, Amen, an innocent blood to cover that of the sinner’s.
So, friend, there’s something here that we need to learn and cherish before we can see the family blessings in our lives and that is the appreciation of the blood of Jesus Christ which Obed-Edom had. Two things, he wasn’t law conscious. Why? He’s a Gittite, he’s a Philistine. In fact, during the time of David, David actually had 600 Philistines in his army, 600 of them! And if God is restoring the tabernacle of David, He’s going to restore Gentiles because at that time, in Israel, under the law, the salvation message is only for the Jews, only for the nation of Israel. But then, David, David is a… How do I explain? How do I say this? I always like to say it like this: David is an old covenant man with a new covenant mentality. And God allowed him to have that new covenant mentality and he lived his life like that. And you know, those 600 Philistines surround him, they became mighty warriors. One of them is called Ittai and Ittai was in-charge of one-third of David’s army. He divided his army into three parts and Joab was in-charge of one-third, and Joab’s brother Abishai was in-charge of another and then the third one was actually a Philistine, a Gittite, by the name of Ittai, who was faithful to David, the Bible tells us. Amen.
So, Obed-Edom the Gittite, he wasn’t law conscious, he was Jesus-conscious. Because he wasn’t law conscious, he was not sin conscious. He was Jesus-conscious, Hallelujah and he knew that whatever sins he had, the blood will take care of it. Hallelujah. Amen. And the blessings of God fell on him and just fell on him. If we look at Obed-Edom, when he says, "Okay, kids, we’re moving to Mount Zion". Amen, he realized that wherever the Ark goes, Amen, blessings will accompany the ark. Amen. He says, "Let’s pack up, we’re all following the ark". Amen. So, they followed the ark. How do I know that? Because the Bible says God made him a door keeper in the tabernacle of David. Hallelujah. Amen. And this is what it says, let’s read on about his children. "Moreover, the sons of Obed-Edom were Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sacar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth, Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peulthai the eight; for God blessed him".
So, remember, God blessed him with many children, not just the quantity, even the quality of the children, Amen. Look at the children that he had. "Also to Shemaiah his son were sons born who governed their fathers’ houses, because they were men of great ability". These were his grandsons, they were men of great ability, Amen. "The sons of Shemaiah were Othni, Rephael, Obed and Elzabad," they’re all "-bad" dudes, man, I’m telling you, "Whose brothers Elihu and Semachiah were able men. All these were of the sons of Obed-Edom," so they are all able men, Amen. And the word "able", you know, is really the word "chayil", which is actually the word for "Who can find a chayil woman? Who can find a virtuous woman"? Amen. It has an idea of not just virtue or moral character, it’s also a picture of wealth. Read it up. For example, it says, "You shall remember the Lord your God who gives you power…" Deuteronomy 8:18, "You shall remember the Lord your God for it is He who gives you power to get wealth".
Well, the word there is "koach", power to get what? Wealth, "chayil", Amen, "chayil". So "chayil" is translated for wealth in many places in the Bible. So it is both moral strength as well as wealth. Amen. This is able men, all these were of the sons of Obed-Edom, they and their sons and their brethren, able men with strength for the work. Sixty-two of Obed-Edom, so God blessed him, God blessed his sons, God blessed his grandsons. Hallelujah. May that be true for you and your families, Amen. May the blessing of Obed-Edom rest in your house. Hallelujah. This year, it will manifest. Amen. And let it rest in such a way, let it manifest also in such a way that people will talk about it, Amen, just like Obed-Edom. Obed-Edom’s blessings, people will talk about it and they will talk about it so that it’s God’s ways of sharing the good news, Amen, so that others would be drawn to the God that you serve, Amen; the God who has blessed your house like the house of Obed-Edom. Amen, Amen, Amen, praise the Lord. Thank You, Jesus.
Someone, I see someone just received some bad news from the doctor, it’s got to do with your stomach. I see more like the intestinal area, that area and it’s bad news and the doctor has told you that you need to go for further checks and you’re making another appointment. But here, right now, as you are watching just now, you felt like a heat went right into your stomach, your intestinal area and right now, God is effecting a cure. He is imparting healing to your body right now, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Would you receive it right now, Amen? All you got to do is just believe it, Amen, like Mary, "Be it unto me according to Your word". Amen, just receive it. Praise the name of Jesus. Thank You, Lord Jesus.
Someone, you injured your right, you know, your right… It’s not exactly your right shoulder but connecting to your right shoulder, all the way up to your upper arm here and you cannot move your right hand freely. Amen. Would you do that right now? Move your hand, move your hand about, do a 360-degrees turn. You know the Lord has healed you, Amen. Please write to us and let us know about this, okay? Praise the Lord, Hallelujah. Thank You, Lord Jesus.
There is someone, and I see like a growth and you have been to the doctors and all that and there is a growth under your neck and it’s growing and it’s caused you concern and I think that there is an operation that is in the future and all that. But, right now, you can feel that is something happening to that growth, and in the name of Jesus, I curse that growth, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. "Growth be thou removed from this body, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and be thou thrown into the sea, in the name of Jesus Christ". Amen, praise the Lord, Hallelujah, for the name of Jesus, the name that makes the things that are impossible possible. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. For it is He who gave His life for us because He loved us. Amen. Praise the name of Jesus.
And someone, it’s like, you have a problem with your nerve, I think, your right eye and it’s moving in a way that it’s involuntary and you’re having problems there. God is healing you right now, you feel like a healing balm coming on that area. Receive your healing. Remember, all you got to do is just say, "Amen, I believe it, Lord". Just receive it in Jesus’ name. There’s that healing, praise the Lord. Thank You, Lord Jesus. Thank You, Lord Jesus. Yes, Lord, Amen. Praise the Lord.
There’s a recovery of something lost, something that I believe you were cheated of a large sum of money. I see you losing this amount, it’s got about like a five-figure sum and I see like it’s a huge sum, five-figure sum and you lost it. I think you were cheated into it and this is what the Lord is saying, it’s all coming back. The entire sum is all coming back. I do not know how but that’s what the Lord says. As far as you are concerned, He’s repairing that breach in that area. Amen, praise the Lord, give Him glory, give Him praise. Thank You, Jesus, Amen. Amen.
There is someone, your child has been diagnosed with ADD and it caused you to be very affected. I see you not sleeping well and you’re always asking the Lord why and you’ve been discouraged. Well, my friend, I see that the Lord’s hand is reaching out to your child right now, in the name of Jesus, effecting a cure. Now, this cure will be seen like this, 30-fold, 60-fold, a hundred-fold this year. You will see it more and more. It will manifest, God will repair the breaches there of. Praise the name of Jesus.
I see a sister very concerned because your hair has been dropping and you prayed just now, in fact, you just prayed recently, just now, you said, "Lord, I just want to, my hair to be thick, I want my hair to be abundant". Well God has heard your cry, He has heard your prayer and He’s causing you to recover your hair, to be restored. Amen. I hear this word all the time, Amen, "restoration", Amen, "repairing", "recovering", Amen. Have you heard that from the Lord, today? Amen. Repairing, restoring, recovering, rebuilding. Amen. Praise the Lord. Ah, you can recover your hair, your crown of glory. Receive that in Jesus’ name. Praise the Lord. Amen, Amen, Hallelujah.
And if you’re suffering in any way in your body, Amen, or in your mind, place your hand right now on your afflicted area or on your mind and let me pray for you right now. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, not by might, not by power but by your Spirit, Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pronounce them right now healed from that affliction, totally made whole, by the blood of Christ. Amen. In the name of the Lord Jesus, I command that foul spirit of infirmity that holds your body in captivity to be loosed from you and to depart from you, in the name of the Lord Jesus’ Christ. I see so many people receiving healing right now, Amen, please write to us and let us know about it, okay? Praise the Lord.
If you have never received Jesus, pray this prayer with me right now, put your trust in Jesus Christ, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved and your entire household. Amen. Pray this. Say:
Heavenly Father, I thank You for Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son. I receive Him, I accept Him into my life, as my Savior, as my Lord, as my King. Thank You Father God, that You raised Jesus from the dead and I thank You, Father God, that Jesus Christ is my Lord now and forever. In Jesus’ name.
Pray that, Amen, and once you have prayed that, you are saved. Know this, you are forever saved, praise the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. Stand to your feet, church, praise the Lord, Hallelujah. Be expecting, Amen. It’s a year of acceleration, so be expecting, Amen, things to happen fast, even family blessings, this first area God says He’s going to repair the breaches thereof. Just like right after Uzzah was a family blessing on Obed-Edom but God doesn’t want it confined just on Obed-Edom alone. God want to bring it to the entire body of Christ, all Israel, Amen, all the body of Christ, everyone, every household can experience this because we have a greater sacrifice that Obed-Edom’s, Amen, than David’s. It’s not the blood of bulls or sheep or rams, right, it’s the blood of His own Son, Jesus Christ, and that blood will give us greater blessings, just as God has promised us a greater and new covenant for you and I. Amen.
Lift your hands to the Lord, wherever you are, let me pray this over you for this coming week. The Lord bless you and your families. Let the blessings that were on Obed-Edom and his household be upon you and your houses, upon your families, upon your little ones and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, may that blessing be so manifested that people will talk about it, that you’re someone to be envied, that they will desire the God that you serve, that wonderful Savior Jesus Christ, that they will hunger after Him. Even this coming week, may the blessings of God begin to manifest in an accelerated way, in the name of Jesus. And this coming week, the Lord grant to you and yours His wonderful shalom, wholeness, and peace and tranquility to lead and govern your lives, Amen. All is well, this week, for you and yours. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. God bless you.