God said to Abram, “Know this, your descendants will live as outsiders in a land not theirs, they’ll be enslaved and beaten down for 400 years. Then I’ll punish their slave masters, your offspring will march out of there loaded with plunder. Not until the fourth generation will your descendants return here, sin is still a thriving business among the Amorites.” Genesis 15:14, 16 When I look at all the chaos and challenges we are facing as a Church and a Nation, It reminds me of the what Charles Dickens wrote in Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredibility, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” His statement is full of contradictions, the best verses the worst, wisdom verses foolishness, belief verses unbelief. When a person or nation is facing historic life changing moments, I believe they have the freedom to choose how they respond to the adversity that seems to be insurmountable. A person will never be a giant killer and reign without first facing a giant. The whole Israelite army saw Goliath as a formidable enemy and hid from him, but David saw him as an uncircumcised Philistine, who did not walk in the covenant of God and when David heard him blaspheme the One True God, David knew God would give Him the victory over him. We all want to be victorious, but we do not want to face the battles that bring about our victories. Many times, through out the Bible, the men and women who refused to settle for the status quo but walked in great faith, stared down the enemy and walked in obedience to God and became the most beloved heroes in the Bible. We are in a culture that values comfort and when we face opposition, we tend to retreat into a safe place, that is really a prison that the enemy designed to enslave us. God told Abram in Genesis that his descendants would be enslaved and beaten down for over 400 years. God allowed Joseph to be sold into Egypt, so Joseph could rise in power and save the entire middle eastern nations from a great drought. Joseph suffered many hard times and setbacks, but he determined in slavery not to sin against his God, and his integrity cost him years in prison. When God plan and timing were completed, Joseph rose to be second over all the land of Egypt under the great Pharaoh. He was blessed with great wealth and honor for his faithfulness to God. All of Jacob’s family enjoyed the best of the land because of the obedience of Joseph until Pharaoh died and the new Pharaohs began to fear the blessing of God on them. They taxed the people so severely that they ended up slaves in a place that had once been a blessing. Then they people of God began to remember the promise that God had made to Abraham that after 400 years they would return and inherit the land God had promised them. They cried out for deliverance and God raised up Moses to deliver them and lead them into the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey. Deliverance is not easy and it often comes at a great price to those who are believing God for it. Every time Moses went before Pharaoh, God would harden his heart and he would make the lives of the Israelites harder. For those who were living in Egypt and suffered the repercussions of Pharaoh’s hardened heart, I am sure the first four plagues felt more like a punishment than deliverance. Then all of the sudden God began to make a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites, the plagues only affected the Egyptians. The Israelites and those who chose to believe in the God of the Israelites, were not only spared the devastation of the plagues, but came out of Egypt with the wealth of the Egyptians and eventually moved into houses they did not build and lived off vineyards and farms they did not plant. The word of God is full of examples of how the devil came to destroy God’s people and take from them the things God blessed them with. Not only did God deliver the enemy into their hands, He gave them their riches. The Israelites walked out of Egypt with their gold and fine possessions. After God promised them in Exodus 3:21 “When you leave, you will not go empty handed.” e promised in Exodus 3:21 “When you leave you will not go empty handed.”When the kings of the North attacked Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham went to battle with them to recover Lot and his army ended up with the spoils of the battle. Jacob’s father in-law took advantage of him and lied to him for over 21 years, and when God told him to return to the land of his father, he left with great wealth. Joseph was given great riches and the best land in Egypt when the hand of God blessed him for all his sufferings. God told Joshua in Joshua 24:13 “I handed you a land for which you did not work, towns you did not build. And here you are living in them and eating from vineyard and olive groves you did not plant.” David returned from battle to find the city where his family and possessions had been looted and burned, he inquired of the Lord and God told him to pursue the enemy and recover everything that the enemy had taken, not only did they get back what the enemy had taken, they got to take all the things the enemy had stolen from other people. God caused the army of the Syrians to flee and leave their tents, horses, donkeys, food, gold, silver, and garments from their battles for the five lepers to find and share with the entire city of Samaria. In 2021, several major news sources predicted a major wealth transfer, articles like: What the Great wealth transfer means (Yahoo finance!), Ready or not, Here comes the Great Wealth Transfer (PNC), The Greatest Wealth Transfer in History (Forbes) and The Wealth Transfer Trifecta (Wells Fargo). Each of these articles talked about the death of the baby boomers and the transfer of their wealth to their children. Yes, the generational transfer of wealth is part of the greatest wealth transfer our world has ever seen, but it will be a small part of the wealth transfer we are about to see God orchestrate. The great wealth transfer will be like the transfers of wealth found in the Bible when evil people took the things that belong to God’s people, and God judged their actions and not only gave back to the righteous what was theirs, but also rewarded them with the spoils of the enemy. In John 10:1, Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.” Jesus exposed the devil for who he really is, a thief, a murder and a destroyer. When you look at all the destruction going on in the world we live in, remember that the devil has always tried to destroy God’s family. Last week we talked about God being the righteous Judge who restores righteousness and punishes sin. The evil that seems to be so rampant, has not gone unnoticed by God and He will hold those responsible for their actions. God’s word promises what will happen to a thief, in Proverbs 6:31 “yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold. He may have to give up all the substance of his house.” The devil has been caught stealing from God’s people again and he will have to repay seven-fold. The evil people who have schemed and tried to steal our nation have not been hidden from God. He knows who they are and what they have done, and God will take what they have wrongfully gained by stealing from the American people and they will have to return all that has been stolen and it may even cost them the things that are rightfully theirs as they repay the seven-fold restoration God requires. The wealth transfers that God sets in place always change the course of history. As believers we should never be envious of anyone else’s possessions or covet what belongs to another. God told the Israelites in Deuteronomy 8:18, “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” When we try to get riches without the blessing of God, we often find ourselves in difficult places with many problems. Proverbs 10:22 “The blessings of the Lord makes one rich and He adds no sorrow to it.” J.D. is teaching the Dave Ramsey “Financial Peace” to our staff. One of our employees made the comment that money just does not interest him; he has no desire to have wealth. I believe many people in the church have bought into the lies of the enemy and have convinced their selves that they should not be blessed, but settle for the bare necessities of life. When we buy into this false belief, we get so distracted with just making a living and we are unable to be a blessing to anyone else. God told Abraham in Genesis 12:2 “I will bless you and make your name great and you will be a blessing.” It brings me great joy when I am able to bless someone else with my finances or my time. Money and riches become a problem when they own us instead of us owning them. Wealth should never be our God but should be used to provide and inheritance for our children, to bless others, and to proclaim the good news of the Gospel. Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Fulfilling the great commission cost money. Sadly, to many of the best preachers and pastors of our generation have to work a secular job to provide for their families because the finances in the church cannot pay them a decent wage. Outreach is expensive. I believe the main reason we are about to see a great wealth transfer is to fund the end time harvest. “The gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14. I would not be surprised if circumstances do not get worse before we see the great wealth transfer. Just like it did for the Israelites before Pharaoh finally let them leave Egypt. Apply the precious blood of Jesus over your household and your family for protection from the judgement that the wicked are about to receive. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus instead of the circumstances that are going on around you. Remember He promised to never leave or forsake us. Decide that you will allow God to bless you so you can bless others. Do not hoard the blessings of God, but be an open conduit to allow the blessings to flow through. The Bible teaches us to be cheerful givers with a generous heart. Remember, you cannot out give God. Listen for the voice of God and be quick to obey all He commands you. Deuteronomy 29:9 “Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.” Lastly walk in your God given authority. Refuse to buy into mans money beliefs and practices. Look into God’s word and see what He has to see about living a life of abundance including financial blessings. Your perception and the beliefs you hold determine whether this is the best of times or the worst of times. I chose to be excited about what God is doing and look expectantly to the great outpouring of the presence of God our world is about to experience like never before as the gospel is going to be preached to every nation and Jesus comes back for His bride.
Cathy Nesmith