And it came to pass at midnight, that the Lord smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the first-born of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the first-born of cattle. Exodus 12:29.
When God starts something, He does not stop with humans; He deals with everything that pertains to them. It sometimes bothers squeamish people when they read in the Old Testament that God said He was going to cut a man off, along with everyone in his house and all that pisseth against the wall (II Kings 9:8 K.J.). Have you ever read that? We do not use that kind of language today, but God meant that He would even cut off the dog that cocked his leg against the wall of the man’s house. He would get rid of anything pertaining to that man, right down to the last dog.
When God begins something, He makes a thorough job of it. Sometimes we fail to see this because we have become conditioned by the resistance of Satan to accept something less than being more than a conqueror, something less than what we ask for. We do not accept the fact that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think…. Ephesians 3:20. We are satisfied with crumbs. I find myself violently opposing that attitude because I know it came from Satan.
Even when Satan knows he is beat, he still tries to work a compromise with you. Pharaoh did that too. At first he refused to let any of the Israelites leave Egypt because he did not want to lose all that free labor. After a while he said, “The men can go, but leave your families and your flocks behind.” Later he came to the place where he said, “All right, let the families go.” But eventually he had to say, “Get out of here, all of you.”
Moses had said, “Not one hoof will be left behind.” Not one hoof. They were all going. Moses was claiming the complete and perfect victory. And God not only delivered all the Israelites, but He brought judgment upon all the Egyptians—right down to the last hoof—and against all the gods of Egypt.
And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said. Notice those words, “as ye have said.” Just the day before Pharaoh had said, “I don’t want to see your face again, Moses! If I see your face again, I’m going to kill you.” But now he is talking very differently.
Take both your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, to send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We are all dead men. And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading-troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. And they despoiled the Egyptians. Exodus 12:30–36.
You probably pictured the Israelites as poor, beaten down slaves sneaking out of Egypt. Actually they were decked out in gold and silver jewelry and beautiful raiment when they walked out. The Word says that God delivered them with a high hand. They did not go out as paupers. Their days of servitude may have been very exacting and filled with extreme poverty; but when they left Egypt, the children of Israel were wealthy people.
Exodus 35:4–10 tells of that wealth. And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying, Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord; whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, the Lord’s offering: gold, and silver, and brass, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and rams’ skins dyed red, and sealskins, and acacia wood, and oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense, and onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate. And let every wise-hearted man among you come, and make all that the Lord hath commanded (this is talking about what was needed for the tabernacle, and the priests’ robes, and the high priest’s ephod and breastplate).
And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and brought the Lord’s offering, for the work of the tent of meeting, and for all the service thereof, and for the holy garments.
And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought brooches, and ear-rings (the margin reads nose-rings), and signet-rings, and armlets (necklaces and bracelets), all jewels of gold; even every man that offered an offering of gold unto the Lord. And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and rams’ skins dyed red, and sealskins, brought them. Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass brought the Lord’s offering; and every man, with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it. Exodus 35:20–24.
And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab, and every wisehearted man, in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it: and they received of Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, wherewith to make it. And they brought yet unto him freewill-offerings every morning.
And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they wrought; and they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded to make. And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much. Exodus 36:2–7.
Have you ever wondered why God told the Israelites to borrow from their neighbors? Doesn’t it seem like larceny to borrow, knowing that you are leaving and will not return? It seems dishonest, but it was not.
In the first place, the Israelites had been slaves, laboring without wages. So it could be said that they had back pay coming to them, plus indemnity for their children who had been slaughtered by the midwives at the time of Moses’ infancy. And what about compensation for all the tortures and beatings they had endured? But God had something more than recompense in mind.
He knew that a tabernacle was to be built out in the wilderness, and He wanted the Israelites to have something to give. They may have been slaves in Egypt, but God wanted to bestow upon them the gift of the spirit of giving—a ministry of giving. And He could implement that by laying something in their hands to give. So the Israelites left Egypt with marvelous things: jewels, brooches, and ornaments of gold and of silver. Perhaps the twelve beautiful stones on the breastplate of the high priest came out of one of Pharaoh’s jewel boxes. God gave the Israelites favor, and the Egyptians were so anxious to get rid of them that they gave them of all the treasures of Egypt.
I am believing for the spoils of Egypt. Despite the heavy battle, there is a witness of victory. I am constrained within my spirit to step out and say, “This is the irrevocable position I take. I believe God has lifted me up and set me in a large place, and I believe it is mine. I believe no man can take it from me, for no man gave it to me or could have given it to me. The Lord has positioned me in His bounty.” I believe we have come to grips with mammon, and we are going to leave with the spoils of Egypt. I believe we have come to grips with the enemy, and he is ours.
Why is God doing this for us? What are we standing on in the Word? Isaiah 61:4 tells us about the restoration remnant: And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
This famous passage also tells us that we are going to have a double portion: And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord; men shall call you the ministers of our God: ye shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. Instead of your shame ye shall have double; and instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be unto them. Isaiah 61:5–7.
I want that. And if we believe that we are walking into the blessings of the Kingdom, we must believe that the fortunes of the Body are being suddenly and completely changed. This has nothing to do with the fact that we are dedicated to live lives of sacrifice, because God has not given us His abundance to spend upon ourselves. He has given it to us for another purpose: He is going to bless us so that we can build the sanctuary of the Lord throughout the world.
I have watched God bless many people in this walk, making them much better off, while at the same time, Satan does everything he can to hit at their finances. But that is of no consequence because we know what we are doing. Look back for a moment, to the preceding chapter in Isaiah: Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And nations shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: they all gather themselves together, they come to thee; thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be carried in the arms. Isaiah 60:1–4.
God is sending out the word, and people are coming in. If you listen carefully you can hear the little sheep, bleating and skipping over the hills as they come and drink at the fountains of the living word. One wears a little cowbell that rings Methodist style, another rings Baptist style, another rings Catholic style, and so forth. How did these little sheep all get loose? They were hungry and thirsty. Thy sons shall come from far. Then thou shalt see and be radiant, and thy heart shall thrill and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned unto thee, the wealth of the nations shall come unto thee. Isaiah 60:5. We should begin learning ways to get the wealth out of the oceans, for God is going to make wealthy those who have that wisdom. The Lord will lead and direct them in it. Invaluable treasures—precious foods and metals—can be found in the ocean. And God will bring them forth.
The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praises of the Lord. …Thy gates also shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the wealth of the nations, and their kings led captive. Isaiah 60:6, 11. You say, “This speaks about Israel.” Yes, it is about the spiritual Israel of God. The more you read passages such as this one and the one in Isaiah 61, the more aware you become that they were not to be fulfilled on the natural plane alone because they are speaking of spiritual things also. These passages refer to a spiritual people, God’s true Israel.
For thus saith the Lord of hosts: Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations; and the precious things of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, saith the Lord of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts. Haggai 2:6–9.
Was this prophecy fulfilled in Zerubbabel’s temple? No. It never had all that gold and silver. Was it fulfilled in Herod’s temple? No. Although there was gold in Herod’s temple, you will remember there was no glory. There was no glory in Zerubhabel’s temple either. This prophecy refers to something that will occur in the end time. The latter glory of this house (pointing down the ages to our time) will be greater than the glory of the former. Today God is building a temple of living stones, and we are that temple. He will adorn His temple with gold, both literally in the material realm and in the spiritual realm.
God does things in the spiritual realm first. God has taken the poor of this world and made them rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which He has promised (James 2:5). With a dedicated people, the fulfillment of a word starts on a spiritual plane. Then God begins to lay in their hands that which is necessary to build His temple around the world.
David was not a true type of the end-time remnant, for he was not allowed to build the temple because he was a warrior—a man of blood. In the end time it will be men of blood who will build the temple of God. They will have a double portion, ministering both the mercies of the Lord and His judgments. The judgments of all ages are going to fall upon this generation, and we will go to the ends of the earth building the temple of the Lord. Therefore it will be necessary for the Lord to lay in our hands the means with which to do it.
This walk in the Spirit will not follow the movements that have gone before, which, because of their commercialism, became just additional expressions of Babylon. Hear me when I say, “God deliver us from commercialism!” We will not have any part of it. We will believe the prophecy: “The gold is mine, and the silver is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former” (Haggai 2:9). We must make a dedication that we will not move in the flesh, attempting to complete what was begun in the Spirit. Remember Paul’s warning to the Galatians when he asked, Having begun in the spirit, are ye now perfected in the flesh? Galatians 3:3. We will not perfect anything nor build anything according to the flesh.
The remnant will not think as men who have become slaves to numbers and bigness and size, believing they have value and meaning in the sight of God. No one will shove us into that kind of thinking. We do not need any more people. We do not need to be any bigger. God is not limited to save by many or to save by few. There are enough of us now to move the world. We will stay the size we are or even become smaller, if that is what it takes to be what God wants us to be. We are going to come to the place, as in the book of Exodus, where God will deliver us by a high hand, with all the spoils of Egypt. When we build God’s temple, both materially and spiritually, we will present ourselves as those whose hearts have been stirred by the Lord. As we continue to lay everything we have before Him, God will say, “Stop them; they have given too much.”
Our financial deliverance must not be promoted by man. We must believe for God to move by His Spirit. There have been times when we have been led by the Lord to raise money for some projects that God has set before us, and we have enjoyed giving for them. But at this point we must either come up with the greatest promotional drive for finances ever or start living by miracles every single day. We cannot do anything else but walk before the Lord with a purity and live by a miracle.
The glory of this latter house is going to be greater than the glory of the former. I am not accepting as valid any limitation on the remnant of the Lord. I am not accepting any limitations upon my health or upon my finances. I am not accepting any limitations upon the spiritual ministry and upon the depth of revelation that is necessary to meet the hearts of the people. I am not accepting any limitations upon the ministries that are needed to stand wherever God indicates. I believe there will always be a man of God to stand where God calls for one. We will wear the spoils of Egypt about our necks for a little moment, until it pleases the Lord to set before us something for which we can lavish it back upon Him again. It is all His, anyway—every part of it!
We have been promised enough authority and power to take the Kingdom. That must also include the gold and the silver—the spoils of Egypt. It must mean everything that God has set before us. Without that, the deliverance is not complete. In the name of the Lord, the remnant must start believing more than ever before, and it must position itself in a place of victory. It must throw the lie back in the teeth of Satan, for he is a lie and the father of it. We cannot accept anything less than the abundance that God has promised. We can accept nothing short of exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. That must be our claim before God.
With such a declaration, we may be putting the whole remnant in jeopardy. It is easy to say, “That’s an extreme position. It’s sort of fanatical. Use wisdom and compromise. Stay in the middle of the road.” But the middle of the road is a dangerous place to move. Very dangerous. Many times it seems much easier to take another course, but we must set ourselves in a place in God today. We must position ourselves in the victory of the Lord. We know that He loves us and that we are His. We know He has made us to be chosen servants unto Him. We will be those ministries of the Lord. We will not be sectarian leaders, organizational promoters, or administrators.
We have passed a crisis hour in our walk with God. We have forsaken the organizational method of the world, and that which made Laodicea an abomination and caused God to say, …I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. Revelation 3:16–18.
We have turned away from all of Babylon’s methods. We will have no part of her stench. We will have no part of that which from the beginning has been just promotional and organizational. We will be the New Testament Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will be an apostolic company. We will walk in great sacrifice rather than make a business out of the house of God. Nevertheless, we are believing to be positioned as the army of the Lord with His provision of the plunder and the spoils of Egypt in our hands. We may have been spoiled and plundered by devil power and Babylon, but still we are going to come out with a high hand!
And the passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And he found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: and he made a scourge of cords, and cast all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew their tables; and to them that sold the doves he said, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise. His disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for thy house shall eat me up. John 2:13–17.
It is fitting that this message should come during the Passover. The house of the Lord cannot be a house of merchandise.