A Fast of Silence
PSALM 46:7-11
7 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. (A refuge is a secure stronghold, a place of safety in the time of trouble or pending trouble – like the ark was a refuge to Noah and his group, and like this revealed word is the refuge to the bride of this age – the refuge is always Christ in the form that he is revealed in in the day that you live in)
8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
11 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
(Notice that it repeats verse 7 again to emphasis this point – God is with us, he will be our protection, so we can be still, we can relax in his promises concerning us for this age)
Verse 10 “Be still, and know that I am God”
This word “still” - Hebrew word raphah = to relax, to be quiet
*When we think of relaxation and quietness we think of a place where there is not a lot of noise, a place of silence…
A Fast of Silence
(The Lord willing we will pick up our subject of Demonology after this – this will be a background to our next topic)
We are living in a world where there is usually very little silence.
Noisy cars, buses, factories, machinery, TV’s and radios blearing out rock and pop music – everywhere you go that is populated in the world there is noise.
People have become totally addicted to noise – many people have to have the radio or TV going to sooth their nerves.
So in this age, it is not the natural sounds of nature of the trickling brook and the singing of the birds, and the sound of the wind rustling in the trees, and the call of the wild animals that people have become accustomed to, those sounds quieten you and align your spirit to God.
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E-17 I can think of the greatest times of my life (I'm an outdoor person) is to get out on the mountains and watch the sunset, listen to the call of the wild animals, hear the birds. It's inspiring, it's something that does something to you.
But in this age there is another type of noise that people use to sooth themselves – Rock concerts, television shows, hot rods, the sounds of city life - the sounds of many voices.
**The sounds and music and noise of this age has been designed by the devil not to draw a person closer to God, but to drown out the real sound of the word that has been sounded by the seventh angel’s voice.
But we will notice in the scriptures, just before the people of Israel conquered Jericho, Joshua (a type of the Holy Spirit of today) pronounced a fast, not of food, but a fast of silence.
JOSHUA 6:8-11
8 And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people (Notice that this is after the prophet Moses had died – Moses was the one who had led them out of the denominational systems of Egypt under the slavery of the false teachings of many gods – so there is a perfect parallel for us today under this third exodus), that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns passed on before the LORD, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them. (The ark contain the word, so these people had the presence of the word being among them just as we have the word restored to us in this hour and is among us also)
9 And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. (Remember that the blowing of the trumpets were to gather the people for a message)
10 And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.
11 So the ark of the LORD compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.
God instructed Israel to use what would seem like a very “strange” plan of attack. To march and to be silent – a fast of silence.
God commanded them to march around the city of Jericho once a day for six days. Then on the 7th day they were to go around the city seven times (a type of this seventh age where all those other 6 ages have been revealed in this age), and then at the end of the seventh day and the seventh march around the city, the priests were to blow their trumpets and following that, all of the people that were commanded to be silent were to break their fast of silence and shout with a great shout.
To the natural thinking mind, and as a military manoeuvre, this was a completely illogical and ridiculous strategy, but that was God’s battle plan strategy and method of attack.
***What was the plan? A shout at the end of a fast of silence – that is what brought victory to the people of God.
God does not need our advice or our philosophies or our wisdom or our logic.
ISAIAH 55:8-9
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
A shout in the bible is symbolic and is connected to victory and resurrection – but before the shout of victory we notice that there is also a period of silence.
We see that God used a similar strategy in the book of Judges.
JUDGES 7:17-22
17 And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do.
18 When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.
19 So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. (They are breaking a fast of silence)
20 And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.
21 And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled.
22 And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.
When the fast of silence is broken, then victory follows the fast of silence.
____________
Prior to the resurrection of Lazarus we also notice that there was silence that foreran that victory because Jesus remained silent after that he had been asked to help - he never came or sent word for two more days after receiving the call for help.
Many times we will pray and ask God for help, but then there seems like no response from the Lord, there is no apparent evidences that he has heard us or that he will help us – that is when we have to be still and know that he is God, that is when we enter into a fast of silence before we see the victory.
JOHN 11:1-7
1 ¶ Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
2 (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)
3 Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.
4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. (Just the same as he loves you and I)
6 When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. (Notice that this put Mary and Martha into a fast of silence in relation to them receiving help from the Lord – he remained silent towards them in their most desperate hour of need)
7 Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.
JOHN 11:20-21
20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.
21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
The period of silence and delay from the Lord was the thing that brought confusion to Martha’s mind because she would have interpreted this as the opposite to what she thought should have been done – it was so against her reasoning of how things should have happened.
***And it will always go against our reasoning unless we learn the ways of God, we must understand the strategies that God uses, then we will understand what is going on in our lives when it seems like God is silent – the silence is preceding the shout of victory.
***After the silence comes the shout, and then comes the victory.
JOHN 11:43-44
43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
Silence preceding the victory of a resurrection
**After the book of Malachi, between Malachi and Mathew – it is often referred to as the 400 silent years where it seemed like God was silent and did not speak, but then at the end of that silence he sends the shout of the voice of a prophet that preceded his first coming.
REVELATION 8:1
1 ¶ And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
REVELATION 10:7
7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel (notice – not in the days preceding the voice – we are not living in an age where God is still silent, for some of us we may still be in a state of a fast of silence when it comes to the revelation of the word of this hour, we might be still marching around Jericho, we might still be listening to the sound of the mourners of the dead like Mary and Martha before Jesus came, but to the elect of this age there has been an awakening by the shout of a voice that has broken the silence), when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
That sounding of the seventh angel’s voice is what is going on now. So where is that voice sounding, where is the shout taking place?? It is sounding in the heart of the elect of God for this age – it is the revelation of the word in the heart of the elect that have heard the voice of the prophet of God in this hour. *This is the ministry that we are under right now.
**The world is in a condition of the sounding of many voices all saying different things, but the bride is under the sound of a different voice.
I CORINTHIANS 14:7-11
7 And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped?
8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?
9 So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.
10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification.
11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.
“Barbarian” Greek = one whose speech is rude, rough and harsh (this evil age that we live in as believers is an age of curse words and of harsh speech, and that to us is Barbaric, it is of a lower culture to that of the kingdom of God)
.. One who speaks a foreign or strange language which is not understood by another. It was used by the Greeks of any foreigner ignorant of the Greek language
When you tell them you don’t like rock and pop music, and you don’t watch TV, that seems harsh to them, and when you speak the truth of the word about moral living etc. then that is like a different language and a lesser culture to them, it seems harsh to them. But their swearing and often crass talk and ways of life are offensive and barbaric to us – so we are barbarians to them, and they are barbarians to us.
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E-74 You know, that's the way to get God close to you, is think about Him, talk about Him. Just keep Jesus... Don't talk about the things of the world; talk about Jesus. That's the way to do it. People may think you're a little funny, but that's all right. Just keep on, let your conversation be about Him. Here...
I want to stop here a minute. My son, Billy... He's around here somewhere. Here about three or four years ago, we were in a meeting. And he... They was playing some kind of music or something. We went in after service at Wood River, Illinois. And we went in to get some--some food. And they was playing some kind of a song. I don't know what it was.
And he said, "Daddy, ain't that a pretty song?"
I said, "What song?"
And I despise them little old juke boxes, ever what you call it. I've went into a many restaurant and said, "Lady, I'll lay two dollars down here; I got my family, if you'll pull the plug out of that filthy thing there, 'till I can let my family eat. You just pull the plug out."
E-75 Them old rock and rolls, and boogly-woogly, and every that kind of stuff, it's a disgrace. It makes me so nervous, you can't eat. I--I--I don't mind it myself, 'cause I got a little gear I can pull myself in and just keep thinking about God, and I don't hear it at all.
So after awhile (He was single then, before he was married.), some little lady would tip by, and he said, "Daddy, hasn't she got pretty hair?"
I said, "Who?"
He said, "Daddy, all you think about is the Bible and God."
I said, "Thank you, honey. That's a very nice compliment. That's all I want to think about." That's right. Think... If I can just keep my mind settled on Him all the time, that's all that's necessary.
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333 ..And someday, with your eye single-looking, He will come from the sky with a Shout, the Voice of the Archangel. The dead in Christ shall rise. And these mortal bodies will take on immortality, and we'll go to be with Him forever. Till then, watch and pray. God bless you. Amen.
A Fast of Silence
The fast of silence has now ended for the bride, it is morning time for the bride, we have broken our fast, the Lord has come in the form of the revealing of the Son of Man, we have heard his voice in this age and we will soon see the resurrection of the dead in Christ.
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E-5 ..We are looking forward to that time when the Lord Himself shall descend from the Heavens with a shout, and the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise. And then we which are alive and remain shall be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, and be caught up together with them to meet Him in the air. How that thrills our hearts.