THE PLAGUE SHALL NOT COME NEAR YOU
By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi
Exodus 12:13 "And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt."
The word 'token' is the Hebrew word 'owth ' which means a visible signal, a flag, beacon, evidence, miracle. The Israelites had been in slavery for four centuries and when the day of their emancipation was fully come, God sent His servant Moses as a sign to their slave master -Pharaoh : instructing him to let the Israelites go and failure to do so was met with unpleasant sanctions, one of which was a deadly plague:
Pharaoh was adamant and the plague was unleashed upon the land of Egypt. As an antidote to the plague the Israelites were instructed to kill a sheep and mark the lintel of their doors with its blood. Ancient African culture recognized this miracle as tokens dipped in animal blood could be seen hung above the doors of some homes as a memorial of this event that took place in North Africa over 3000 years ago. It is believed that by so doing plagues will be kept away from their homes like it happened to the Israelites. The scriptures says in Exodus 12:29 "And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle." Satan was given license to kill the firstborn of every family in Egypt and their livestock .
Whenever a group of persons ,community or a nation oppose the gospel, they experience a falling from God's grace (Gal.5.4 ) This is the consequence of self justification , self confidence and dependence.God's grace is what preserves us, His does not delight in the destruction of sinners, but would rather have them come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved( 1Tim.2:4). God's grace is manifested in His benevolence to humanity, the scriptures says in Matthew 5:45 "...your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. " however, a direct opposition against the truth of scriptures leads to the removal of God’s protective shield over a person or community.
Whenever God’s shield is removed from a person or community , Satan afflicts them with wars,terrorism,plagues,disaster and extreme lack (Jer.27:8,Jer.24:10,Jer42:17,1cor.5:5,Acts 5:1-10).The world is openly displaying anti-God ideologies and some have crept into the church with the twisting of the gospel of grace for the promotion of the works of unrighteousness.The message of grace leads to repentance ,love ,reconciliation (Rom.2:4) and salvation not to be repented of ( 2Cor.7:10). The theology that places more emphasis on the membership of a congregation than on genuine repentance results in instability and insecurity: this is Satan’s strategy to destroy the church from within.
Grace demands faithfulness to God and integrity, love and dedication to the community;it saves us from the effect of the plagues ravaging the world as predicted by Jesus Christ in Matthew 24: 7 He said many shall give-up on their zeal for God and embrace falsehood but the uncompromisingly righteous shall be saved (Matthew24:12-13) Serving God while making a practice of sin destroys our faith and immunity against these plagues. God promises that the plague shall not come near us ; Psalm 91:10 says " There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling."This promise is conditioned on making a commitment to live by God's word ( psalm 91:1) the scriptures says in 1John.5:18 "We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not." the plague shall not touch you in Jesus' name.
It was because of the destructive tendencies of the enemy that Jesus instituted the ordinance of taking the Holy Communion in Matthew 26:26 it is an allegory of the events of Exodus 12:13. Jesus' blood is represented by the consecrated wine or juice or water in a cup and the bread or biscuit ,the body of Christ which was broken for our healing (1peter2:24,Isaiah53:5) . These elements are the token , receipt or evidence for our immunity against plagues and disaster.The plague is a physical disease driven by Satan with God's permission (Job 2:7) the communion is a token or red flag that says "this is a no -go area " . It is the ignorance of this mystery of the scriptures that has led to many suffering from the fear of plagues (Hosea 4:6) the scriptures says in 1Cor.11 :30 "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." the incessant sicknesses and deaths in the church in Corinth was attributed to their ignorance of the power of the holy communion, it is our shield against plagues. Take the holy communion as much as possible , it was a daily practice in the early church.
The word 'token' is the Hebrew word 'owth ' which means a visible signal, a flag, beacon, evidence, miracle. The Israelites had been in slavery for four centuries and when the day of their emancipation was fully come, God sent His servant Moses as a sign to their slave master -Pharaoh : instructing him to let the Israelites go and failure to do so was met with unpleasant sanctions, one of which was a deadly plague:
Pharaoh was adamant and the plague was unleashed upon the land of Egypt. As an antidote to the plague the Israelites were instructed to kill a sheep and mark the lintel of their doors with its blood. Ancient African culture recognized this miracle as tokens dipped in animal blood could be seen hung above the doors of some homes as a memorial of this event that took place in North Africa over 3000 years ago. It is believed that by so doing plagues will be kept away from their homes like it happened to the Israelites. The scriptures says in Exodus 12:29 "And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle." Satan was given license to kill the firstborn of every family in Egypt and their livestock .
Whenever a group of persons ,community or a nation oppose the gospel, they experience a falling from God's grace (Gal.5.4 ) This is the consequence of self justification , self confidence and dependence.God's grace is what preserves us, His does not delight in the destruction of sinners, but would rather have them come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved( 1Tim.2:4). God's grace is manifested in His benevolence to humanity, the scriptures says in Matthew 5:45 "...your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. " however, a direct opposition against the truth of scriptures leads to the removal of God’s protective shield over a person or community.
Whenever God’s shield is removed from a person or community , Satan afflicts them with wars,terrorism,plagues,disaster and extreme lack (Jer.27:8,Jer.24:10,Jer42:17,1cor.5:5,Acts 5:1-10).The world is openly displaying anti-God ideologies and some have crept into the church with the twisting of the gospel of grace for the promotion of the works of unrighteousness.The message of grace leads to repentance ,love ,reconciliation (Rom.2:4) and salvation not to be repented of ( 2Cor.7:10). The theology that places more emphasis on the membership of a congregation than on genuine repentance results in instability and insecurity: this is Satan’s strategy to destroy the church from within.
Grace demands faithfulness to God and integrity, love and dedication to the community;it saves us from the effect of the plagues ravaging the world as predicted by Jesus Christ in Matthew 24: 7 He said many shall give-up on their zeal for God and embrace falsehood but the uncompromisingly righteous shall be saved (Matthew24:12-13) Serving God while making a practice of sin destroys our faith and immunity against these plagues. God promises that the plague shall not come near us ; Psalm 91:10 says " There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling."This promise is conditioned on making a commitment to live by God's word ( psalm 91:1) the scriptures says in 1John.5:18 "We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not." the plague shall not touch you in Jesus' name.
It was because of the destructive tendencies of the enemy that Jesus instituted the ordinance of taking the Holy Communion in Matthew 26:26 it is an allegory of the events of Exodus 12:13. Jesus' blood is represented by the consecrated wine or juice or water in a cup and the bread or biscuit ,the body of Christ which was broken for our healing (1peter2:24,Isaiah53:5) . These elements are the token , receipt or evidence for our immunity against plagues and disaster.The plague is a physical disease driven by Satan with God's permission (Job 2:7) the communion is a token or red flag that says "this is a no -go area " . It is the ignorance of this mystery of the scriptures that has led to many suffering from the fear of plagues (Hosea 4:6) the scriptures says in 1Cor.11 :30 "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." the incessant sicknesses and deaths in the church in Corinth was attributed to their ignorance of the power of the holy communion, it is our shield against plagues. Take the holy communion as much as possible , it was a daily practice in the early church.
Prayer : Heavenly Father forgive me for my sins against you. I believe Jesus Christ died and was raised again for my salvation. I receive him as lord and saviour and receive grace for protection from the plague in Jesus' name
Prayer / counseling + 2348098536911 + 2348035536911 Email : Michaelbensonajayi@gmail.com
Pics credit : pixabay
Pics credit : pixabay
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