From the times of the Israelites, God has always used His Rhema word to give instructions to His people concerning their future.
According to the venerable Strong’s Concordance, Rhema means an utterance (individually, collectively or specifically) on a particular matter or topic. Thayer’s Greek Definitions defines the word as something that has been uttered, in either the past or the present, by God.
In the New Testament, Rhema is first mentioned in (Matthew 4:4, HBFV) But He (Jesus) answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word (Rhema) that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”
This word is often timely and comes as instruction before one enters their destiny. The Israelites, for example, had been stuck in Egypt for 430 years until Moses got the revelation (Rhema) that it was not to be so. According to the book of Exodus God spoke to Moses in a supernatural way, often referred to as the burning bush encounter and told him to go and get His people out of Egypt and Moses obeyed. This encounters where God uttered His word were and still are very significant to a Christian’s life.
Today’s Christians still receive the Rhema word (instructions about their futures and destinies) however, it is so easy to lose the Rhema, (the first instruction that God has given you about your destiny) and then revert back to your past. A good example includes the disciple Peter who following Jesus death on the cross reverted to his old way of earning a living via fishing. Peter was so disappointed by Jesus death that he forsook the earlier instructions that Jesus had given him about being his disciple, and almost missed out on his destiny, that led to him being the founding father of the church today.
Peter is just but an example of the average Christian today, more often than not we always receive divine instructions concerning our callings, businesses, careers, education and even spouses and we heed to it immediately but in the heat of a problem, we opt to refer to our olden ways. We forget our first instruction and wander away from the basic truth that we know and now have to be reminded, just like the Israelites, to go back to our basics.
In Exodus 32, God Himself spoke the 10 commandments and gave them to Moses to teach the people, but the people of Israel seeing that Moses had taken so long on the Mount decided to make themselves a graven image of a calf and worshipped it. Upon coming down from the Mount, Moses was so angered by this that he broke the tablets containing the 10 commandments and himself ended up angering God. However, because God is full of love for His people, He commanded Moses to write out the 10 commandments by himself as the Lord guided him.
What we learn from this story is that;
- It is so easy for man to forget his basics – Despite having been delivered from Egypt by God, the Israelites, when faced with adversity, were quick to create an idol and worship it forgetting their first love Yahweh that was responsible for delivering them in the first place.
Exodus 32:3-4
So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool and made a moulded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
- We learn that though man falls short, God doesn’t give second chances, He gives first chances and another chance just like the first chance He had given. We can see this from when He gives Moses a chance to rewrite the 10 commandments.
The book of Mathew 19:8 states that;
Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.
Moses may have allowed the Israelites to divorce, however, Jesus clearly points out that this was not the original intent of God when He created man. Kind of makes you wonder how many things we Christians today are doing that were not so in the beginning and are not part of God’s first instruction to us. Could it be a job offer that you accepted? or you are serving somewhere that you should not be? or you are in a relationship that you very well know you shouldn’t be in? or even maybe God has called you into ministry but you choose to ignore?
Whatever your situation may be, it is time to go back to your first love. The Rhema word of God that we were so desperately in need of before it came to be.
Though we are not any different from Moses and the Israelites, it is important for us to remember our basics, our foundations. It is time for us to retrace our footsteps so that we can understand where we went wrong. Bearing in mind that no matter how hard things may seem or how far one has fallen, just like the Israelites, God’s first chance is still open to us and it all begins with God so let’s get back to Him!
The Instructions you choose to obey will be the ones to deliver you into your destiny.
~ Firebrand Mindshare
Message by
Pastor Joshua Mwesigwa
