Joseph Prince - God Is Good Even When Things Are Not
You know, God’s picture is for all of you to experience this, Zechariah 9:11 for the 9/11 generation. It says this, 9:12, we’ll come to 9:11 in a while, «Return to the stronghold, You prisoners of hope. Even today», this is God’s declaration, «I declare I will restore double to you». You prisoners of hope. What a wonderful expression. That once upon a time, we were all prisoners of hopelessness, helplessness. Remember I told you, the world says to you: Don’t raise your hopes. But I say to you: In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, do not raise your hopelessness. Because your God is called the God of hope, amen. And when you have hope for the future, whether you receive a bad diagnosis from the doctor, whether you are challenged mentally, you know, in worry and fear for your child that’s going astray or for your son or for your marriage that is breaking down, or for any concern that you have in your workplace.
Whatever it is, you’ve got to see yourself with the answer already. You’ve got to see that there’s a bright future for you, because this is not just based on wishful thinking. You have a God of hope, and for the world, without God, they hope and many a times, their hopes are dashed. But with the Lord, the Bible tells us, because he shed his blood for us, our faith, the Bible says, is the substance of things hoped for, amen. We have faith for it because we hope for it. We hope for it because our hope is based on a solid foundation. The blood of Jesus has been shed. And because the blood of Jesus, for example, you are hoping to have a healthy life, healthy body, you look forward in the future, you see a healthy body, you see a person strong. You see a person being able to do the things that he wants to do. That’s your vision, that’s who you are, amen.
But right now, you’re experiencing pain, now you’re on medication, but then there’s still hope, praise the Lord. Don’t stop your medication, keep on doing it, most of all, partake of the Lord’s supper, amen. And start looking at the future and thanking God, that’s where you’re going to be, amen. That is hope, that is hope. Now, the world says, don’t do that, amen, don’t raise people’s hopes. They’ll tell people like me, «Don’t raise people’s hopes». But they have no idea that our hope is based on a solid foundation, the blood of Jesus. Because Jesus took the stripes on his back, my Bible says, «He himself took our infirmities and bore our diseases». Can I have a good amen?
And because he bore our sicknesses and diseases, we don’t have to bear it. There’s no point in both of us bearing it. He did it because he loved me. He did it because he loved you, amen, he bore your sicknesses, he bore your diseases because he loved you. Just like a parent who sees the child suffering and the parent, in his love, if he can, he will carry that disease for the child. The child might be comforted, be at ease, enjoy the peace, amen. Nothing hurts a parent’s heart more than see a child cry through the night in pain, in tears, and there’s nothing you can do.
So God who can do something about it, but he cannot just remove it away and still be a just God, because sickness came in as a result of sin. Not necessarily your sin, but Adam’s sin. All evil, all sickness, all disease came in because of sin, Adam’s sin. This is not God’s dream for man, God never even meant for man to have one pimple. God never even want man to die. God hates sin and God hates disease. Therefore, God hates death. That’s why Jesus conquered death, can I have a good amen, church, amen, hallelujah.
God says, «I declare to you today,» and I believe this, today, is prophetic for all of you that’s listening right now. It’s a word from the Lord, God is talking to you right now, see him talking to you. «Today I declare to you, I will restore double to you». Double, amen? Look at the verse before this, this is 9:11. «As for you also, Because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit». Remember I told you just now, it’s all based on the blood of Jesus, amen. Has the blood been shed? God is restoring double to you, not because you are good, but because the blood of Jesus has been shed at the cross. And all of us qualify, amen. If we have no sin, there’s no need for us to require the blood, amen. Blood is shed, holy blood, righteous blood, divine blood is shed to wash away our sins. To give us a solid foundation because blood has been shed.
We have a solid foundation to believe for the abundant life, for a life that is victorious, for a life that’s an overcoming life, a life that brings glory to God. Can I have a good amen, people? Amen! Now this word, prisoners of hope, last week we saw the Greek word in the New Testament for hope, what is it? Elpis, right? Elpis is a positive or confident expectation of good in your future. Now in the Hebrew, the word is tiqvah. Prisoners of tiqvah. Tiqvah is hope, hope, amen, hope. You know Israel’s national anthem? Ours is «Majulah». Theirs is «Hatiqvah». Ha is «the,» definite article, tiqvah is the hope. You have heard it before, something like this… Very, very haunting, very beautiful. It’s called «The Hope,» what a beautiful title to a national song, right or not, amen? Tiqvah, hope. It’s from the idea of a rope.
In fact, the noun is tiqvah, but the verb is the word kava. Kava is used when it says, «They that wait upon the Lord,» the word «wait» there is kava. Bind yourself with the Lord like a rope, amen, and find hope in the Lord. Find your hope, hope in the Lord. Because of Him, you can see a bright future. You can see a future where your dreams are being fulfilled, amen. The world can only hope so, but deep down they think that it might not be so. But you can hope so and know it will be so, amen. Tiqvah, you will rise like wings of eagles, amen. You will run and not be weary, you will walk and you will not faint. Even young men shall fall and utterly faint, the Bible says, «But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength,» amen. They will run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Nothing about the passage talks about age except for young men shall fall. Even the youth shall faint and fall. But those that wait upon the Lord, ageless. Amen, God is a God of hope, amen. Praise the Lord, thank you, Jesus.
And I close with the first occurrence of the Hebrew word hope, tiqvah. The first occurrence is always significant, there’s something for us to learn, and the first will be the closing of our sermon today. And let me just share with you the first occurrence is a story of a prostitute. Her name is Rahab, and Rahab lived in Jericho. The first city that Joshua and his men, after they crossed the River Jordan, supernaturally, amen, God smacked the River Jordan all the way back like a pillar, like a heap of water. It stood up to the city of Adam. It’s a picture of God will destroy death. All the death that came in as a result, all the way from Adam. And they crossed the River Jordan and they came, and the first city they had to conquer is Jericho. And on the city wall, they built houses on the city wall. The walls are so thick that they have chariot races on the wall. It’s most likely as thick as this hall here, amen, slightly larger maybe.
All right, but so thick that they have chariot races, and it’s well-fortified, okay, this wall, Jericho. It was the first city that Joshua and his men were to conquer. And this was squatters in the land, the land belongs to God, the land belongs to God’s people. And they are squatters and they refuse to budge. But look at this, look at this. On the city wall, there was an apartment. Her house is built into the wall, her window looks out of the wall, and her name is Rahab, and she was a prostitute, the Bible says. And what happened is that Israel, learning the lesson of 40 years ago, instead of sending 12 spies, they sent 2 spies because only 2 came back with the right news. So now they sent 2. The names are not given to us, but I’ll tell you who I suspect is one of them in a while’s time.
So two of them came in and unfortunately they were spotted by the soldiers, and the soldiers were chasing them down, all right, trying to find them in the large city of Jericho, they couldn’t find them, and they went to one place the soldiers wouldn’t expect, because no one expects a believer to be in a brothel. Right, so they went to the brothel, which is Rahab’s house, and Rahab saw them, and the first thing she said to them is that I have heard how the Lord dried up the Red Sea, that was like 40 years ago. So probably she heard the news from someone who told her, her grandmother, her mother, whatever told her the news. It’s almost as if she said, «What took you all so long, 40 years»?
Of course, it’s Israel’s sin of unbelief, right? And she said, it’s almost like she said, I believed back then or something like that, her heart was inclined towards the God of Israel. And the man says, «Hide us». She says, «You promise me first, if I hide both of you, when you come into the land», you see, she knew they’re going to conquer the land. She knew that God is on their side, not on her people’s side. She knew that the God of Israel is a true God. Okay, that’s why the Bible says, by faith, Rahab, she believed. «Promise me that when you come in into Jericho, you will spare me and my family. My brothers, sisters, my father, mother, grandparents, you will spare them». And they said this to her, now this is the first occurrence of tiqvah, hope. They say that we will, but unless you do this, «Unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, unless you bring your father, your mother».
So she let them down the wall through this rope, and what’s the color of the rope? Scarlet. What is scarlet? Red: It’s a picture of the blood of Jesus. And the word «line» is tiqvah, tiqvah is hope. You ask any Israeli today, impress them a bit, say this, «You know the word tiqvah is rope, right, but it’s also hope». You know if you’re in a pit and it’s very dark in the pit. All of a sudden, you feel something fall on you and it’s a rope, you have hope, hallelujah. And that rope gives you hope because the color of the rope is red. And red is the picture of… and I told you, our hope is based on the blood of Jesus. By the blood, I will set your prisoners free, you prisoners of hope, hallelujah. Hallelujah, amen.
So, leave, «When you let us down the rope, Rahab, leave the red rope at your window so our people will know to spare your house. Make sure that you bring in your father, mother, this evangelism. Bring them in, bring them in, okay? Bring them in». Now for years, she looked out the window expecting to see Israel come any time, and she didn’t see, she’s afraid. She has the fearful expectation of evil, of bad in her future. The opposite of hope, and the moment, she saw Israel come in by the 12 tribes. And she looked out, it’s like a TV, right, your window. You look outside and you see the tribes of Israel, you see the pillar of cloud, the pillar of glory.
You see the 12 tribes all came down there, you know God is with them. You know God is in the tent over there. You know that you are on the losing side. You know you are on the cursed side. You know that you are looking at the blessing side. You’ve got nothing to look at but destruction is coming, destruction is here already. Put yourself in her shoes. Destruction is here, nothing to look at in the future. Imagine that’s the perspective a lot of people have. Just like Jacob, good old Jacob. Remember the story of Jacob? He thought his son Joseph, his favorite son was dead, and all the while, Joseph is now ruling in Egypt.
So finally, Joseph says to his brothers who didn’t recognize him, «Go, get your youngest brother here. Then I’ll give you bread. No more bread until your brother is here». So they came back and told the father, the governor says he wants to see Benjamin. What? And this is what he said, «You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon also no more, and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me». And if he’s Chinese, he will say, «Tian a»! «Tian» is like heaven in Chinese, so it’s an expression like, all these things are against me, really, Jacob? Jacob, the one that wants Benjamin, he wants Benjamin because he misses Benjamin. Benjamin is his full brother from the same mother. And the one that wants you to go over as well, he’s your favorite son.
You know what his first word to the brothers? Is your father well, is your father well? That’s his first word. No, these things are not against you, Jacob, these things are for you. God’s promise to you, child of God, things might not be good right now, but we know, you got to know this in your heart. It starts with, and we know, we know that all things work together. And the word work together in the Greek is synergial, synergy. It all is working synergy, working together for your good. Trust me, don’t be impatient with the red light. God sees the devil plan for an accident or something like that, amen. When red light is on, muse. Don’t just amuse, amen. Meditate, reverse, I mean, bring up that verse, reverse, not reverse, amen, bring up the verse. Rehearse the verse, amen.
I believe, I really believe, child of God, because of your inheritance, all things work together for you, child of God. But sometimes it looks like what Jacob saw, his perspective, «All these things are against me». If only you saw, Jacob. As pain seized the heart of Abraham, the anguish in Abraham’s heart, the emotions, the pangs that he went through as he carried his son by the hand, Isaac up the mountain. Just blind faith, you want to call it that. Just in faith in the Lord, God is good, God is good. I don’t understand what’s happening, but God is good, God is good. And all the while when he came up this mountain on the other side, a ram was also going up, amen. He didn’t see the provision, but you got to trust God. Can I have a good amen?
And back to Rahab. Rahab and her reality TV. Every time she looks outside, it’s destruction. And then now, she let them down and all she has is the Word. We are all people, you say, «Pastor Prince, give me more solid, tangible evidence, my future will be bright, things will turn around». Nothing but God’s Word. That says today, I promise you, God says, I’ll restore double to you. Even Rahab had nothing but the Word and the blood. The blood has been shed, we know that. And the Word of God, that’s all we depend on, amen. And then she starts looking outside. All the while, it’s been destruction, right? Doom, doom, doom, destruction. Doom is coming, destruction is coming, destruction is coming.
Imagine if an angel would appear in her room. Gabriel or someone. Pastor Gabriel is very happy, I said Gabriel and he’s smiling. An angel appears and looks at Rahab, «Rahab, why are you so afraid»? «I don’t think they were, I’m torn because I’m a prostitute. There’s no place for me among the nation of Israel». And Gabriel smiles at her, «Would you believe it if I tell you that you will be the great grandmother of the beloved king of Israel»? And you know that one of the young men that came up, the spies, he is the son of the prince of Judah. He is the son of Nashon, his name is Salmon. I believe that one of the spies is Salmon, you know why? Because Judah always takes the lead. The tribe of Judah always takes the lead.
Whenever there’s a battle, Judah goes first, praise always goes first. And there’s an oral tradition given by the rabbis that says that when Moses raised his hand to open up the Red Sea, God opened up the Red Sea of course, but the first one into the Red Sea was the prince of Judah, his name is Nashon. He’s the father of Salmon and he rode into the water, the water came up to the horse’s legs, came up to the horse’s body, came up to the horse’s neck. When it came up to the horse’s mouth, bang, the whole sea opened up. It’s very much like the River Jordan which is recorded that the moment the priest stepped, only when the priest stepped, the moment he stepped, God opens up. God waits for faith. Can I have a good amen?
It was Nashon, the prince of Judah. In the list of the princes of the 12 leaders in their giving in Numbers, Judah again led, Nashon led in the giving. So always, he’s leading. So I believe the two spies, Israel’s army is like that. Their officers go first, it’s always in front. It’s a lot more, among all the armies of the world, more officers are killed among the Israeli army than any other armies combined because they lead by example, they go first. So I believe one of them is the son of the man who went to Red Sea, first, Nashon, and his name is Salmon. He married, and what did the angel say? «Rahab, your future is bright. You look out there and you see destruction. I look out there and I see the great grandmother of David. And not only that, you’ll be the great grandmother of the Messiah of the world. Not just Israel, the Savior of the world».
Her name is mentioned in the genealogy of Matthew, Jesus’s genealogy. Not bad for a prostitute. And she hears all this, all this good news of hope. Then she looks at the angel, «Are you a cult? It’s too good to be true,» amen. «You will marry Salmon, the son of Nashon, the prince of Judah, and you will bring forth a son. His name is Boaz. Boaz will marry Ruth. They will bring forth a son called Obed. Obed brings forth Jesse. Jesse is the father of David,» hallelujah, thank you Jesus. And in that line came our Lord Jesus Christ, the greater son of David, amen. She made it into the genealogy of Jesus Christ, hallelujah.
You know, you can look out the same window, same window, previous days, destruction; now, deliverance. Previous days, no future, hopelessness; now, what a future for a prostitute to be a mother of Israel, wow. Then, for another seven days, she saw Israel march around the wall of Jericho. Around the wall, around the wall, around the wall. They didn’t say anything, just carried the Ark. Lifting up Jesus, lifting up Jesus, lifting up Jesus. On the seventh day, they blew the trumpet, they shouted.
And the Bible says this, friends, the walls of the city… uh-oh. It says the walls fell down. Her house is on the… So how? La, leh, lor? No, friends, even archaeology has found that there’s a part of the wall that never fell. All the walls fell, now this is not man’s doing, this is God’s doing because of the blood. There’s one part of the wall that did not fall, and it has a window on it, hallelujah, amen. When the walls fell flat, her house was on the wall. Her house did not fall. She and her family were saved, hallelujah. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved and your house1 Amen, come on church. Give him praise, come on. Hallelujah, thank you Lord Jesus. Perhaps you look outside there and you see nothing but hopelessness, helplessness, things are dark. Well, God’s going to transform you into a prisoner of hope, a prisoner of tiqvah, amen.
Lift your hands all across this place. This coming week, regardless of the news you hear and what is going on in the world and all that, you can’t handle it, switch it off, all right? Weighing you down, causing you to be depressed. Sometimes you cannot because your work involves being kept abreast. I understand that, but make sure you put on the helmet of salvation, amen. As far as you personally are concerned, you are not the world, you are not in Egypt, you are in the land flowing with milk and honey. You are in the world but not of the world.
This coming week, the Lord bless you, the Lord bless your families, because it is the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich. It is the blessing of the Lord that adds no sorrow. When it comes, the blessing has nothing attached to it that brings sorrow or pain. And the Lord opens the door of hope for all those of you who are bound in a sense of helplessness and hopelessness. God opened the door of hope and what God opens, no man can shut.