Do I hear someone sigh? "Oh no, not another message about finance!"

Hang in there, we are not finished yet. You will find a different message on finance here. It might just be helpful, so stay with me a little longer please. First of all, I want to remind you of what Paul said to the Corinthians:

Now all these things happened unto them (God’s people in the OT) for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
(1 Cor 10:11)

We are going to look therefore in the OT to see what God has to say about Kingdom Finance. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were God’s servants and they did not lack anything. God called them, equipped them and provided for them. All of them were rich men. Abram left his fathers house and his home country with his family. He still had a lot to learn about God and about God’s ways. The first thing that happened after God appeared to him in Haran and promised to bless him was that a famine broke out in the land. Now here he was, no place he could call his own, and he had a family to take care of. Like we all do, he tried to make a plan himself and he went into Egypt. There was no famine in Egypt. Actually he sacrificed his wife Sarai to save his own hide and allowed her to be taken into the Pharaoh’s harem. He was afraid that Pharaoh would kill him to get Sarai, so he told her to tell the people that she was his sister, not his wife. But God was there and He would not allow the Pharaoh to touch Sarai . The Pharaoh treated Abram well for her sake and he gave him sheep, oxen, donkeys and camels and also servants to work for him. The Lord scourged Pharaoh because of Sarai and the Pharaoh gave her back to Abram and also gave him silver and gold and drove him out of his country. and Abram became extremely rich in livestock and silver and gold.

What can we learn from this story? First of all Abram followed his own way and not the road to Canaan, like God had told him to do. Wow, so he was out of the will of God! Well when you get out of the will of God then God will certainly not bless you. That is the way we think. I believe that God, Who knows everything before it even happens and Who knew our lives before the beginning of the world, knew what decision Abram would make in this case and because His Name is "Redeemer", He already had a plan to redeem this situation and to bless His servant Abram according to His promises. In the NT we read how God did that. He gave Sarai to Abram and Sarai had faith in God and we as women are admonished to be like her.

Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;
(1 Pet 3:1)

Did you see that? "If any obey NOT the word".... The Amplified Bible reads in verse 6: "It was thus that Sarah obeyed Abraham, following his guidance and acknowledging his headship over her by calling him lord, master, leader, authority. And you are now her true daughters if you do right and let nothing terrify you, not giving way to hysterical fears or letting anxieties unnerve you. Sarai did not give in to fear; she trusted God and they oth came out of this experience, rich and blessed. The others that were travelling with them, like his nephew Lot were also blessed and the Bible says that their possessions were too great for them to live together. Later on Abram fought with some kings to set his nephew free and he came back with some more goods from the enemy. He met Melchizedek, king of Salem, who was also a priest and when this king blessed him, Abram gave him a tenth of all he had taken from the enemy.
 
"Aaah", you say, "he paid his tithes and that is why God blessed him". May I remind you that he was already blessed with great riches and he gave Melchizedek a tenth of what he had taken from the enemy and not a tenth of his own riches. As a matter of fact he did not even keep the rest of what he had taken, he gave it all back to the king of Sodom.
While he lived temporary in Gerar, Abram again told his wife to tell people that she was his sister, so he would not be killed, in case the king would desire her and sure enough the king of Gerar took Sarah into his harem. Sarah trusted the Lord and again they came out of this experience with more riches than they had before.

Was it because of the tithes Abram paid? No, it was because God had promised to bless him. In case you wonder why I call him Abram, God only changed his name to Abraham after he had had a son. The he became a "father of many nations" (Abraham). Isaac started off as a rich man, because Abraham gave him all he had. While Isaac travelled on to the promised land of his father Abraham, there was again a famine in the land. Isaac had heard what his father did in the past and thought to follow in his footsteps. So he planned to go to Gerar, to the king of the Philistines. Like so many young men, he had to get to know the God of his father for himself. He could not go on his father’s experience or faith.
This time God stopped him.

And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
(Gen 26:2-5)

Isaac obeyed and stayed in Gerar, but like his father he was afraid that the king would go after his wife Rebekah and so he told her to do what her mother-in-law had to do, she had to tell people she was his sister and not his wife. But the king saw him caressing his wife. I wonder if it was the same king Abimelech that had taken his mother before. Maybe it was the son of this king, but he was a wise man. He had obviously heard about the story of Abraham and Sarah, so he called Isaac and reproved him and told his people not to touch Rebekah or Isaac. Then Isaac sowed seed in that land, the land God had told him to stay in, and that same year he harvested 100 times as much as he had planted and the Lord favoured him with blessing and he became very wealthy and distinguished, so much so that the Philistines envied him and asked him to leave.

Jacob was the youngest son of Isaac who received the blessing of the firstborn son by deceiving his father. God meant to bless him, he was a good son, but he had many lessons to learn. Esau had sold his birthright to him for a pot of soup and so he felt quite justified in what he was doing. But Esau was angry when he found out what his brother had done and wanted to kill him and so his parents sent Jacob away to his uncle Laban. On his way there God met him. God promised to protect him and bless and prosper him and bring him back to his own land and he said to Jacob, I will not leave you until I have done all of which I have told you. That promise should have been enough, but Jacob did not yet know God for himself , he knew the God of his father Isaac. So he made a vow unto God. I believe he did not have to do that. He said, if God will be with me and keeps me and gives me clothing to wear and food to eat and brings me to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. Who was making the conditions here? He then added, if God does all that for me I would give Him a tenth of all He gives me. Oh Jacob, you still have much to learn. You cannot buy God’s blessings.

God is not looking for a reward, He wants a relationship with us, God wants us to know Him and love Him. And when we love God, we want to obey him! Jacob arrived at his uncle’s place and he worked for him several years. He married Leah and Rachel and God blessed him with many sons and one daughter. All the while he was working for Laban and Laban acknowledged that God was blessing him because of Jacob. This is also something we must remember. It is confirmed in the word that God will bless your employer or the firm you work for, when you are God’s child and have a relationship with Him. When your employer does not treat you right, God will remove His blessing and give you another job. The Bible says:

For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another. (Ps 75:6-7)

I believe that it says here that God will promote us and when we have to move and find another job, God will put someone down to make room for us, His children. The time had come for Jacob to return to his own home, like God had said. So he told his uncle about his plans and asked him for his wages. Laban wasn’t too pleased about it. When Jacob asked him if he could have all the speckled and spotted and black animals of his flock, Laban thought of a plan to make sure that no more speckled and spotted and black goats and sheep would be born. He removed all the he-goats and sheep that had specks and spots and were black, from his own flock, the flock Jacob was looking after and he put those animals in the flocks of his sons. But he forgot one thing; God was on Jacob’s side! And sure enough, the flocks that Jacob looked after began to bring forth speckled and spotted lambs and kids. Also these proved to be stronger than Laban’s other sheep.

How did that happen? Jacob told his wives that Laban had deceived him and changed his wages ten times, but God did not allow Laban to hurt him. God spoke to him in a dream and gave him instructions. Jacob obeyed the instructions, even though they seemed so ridiculous.
In the natural these things could not have happened. Where have you heard that goats and sheep conceived speckled offspring just from looking at some peeled rods, while drinking?
People must have thought he used magic or something. But he didn’t. God was with him and that was all he needed. He believed what God said, obeyed and received the results he was looking for.

Does God still do those things for us today? I believe with all my heart that He does. I actually know of people who trusted God in their jobs and had dreams wherein God gave them wisdom and instruction how to handle certain situations. The result was that their employers looked at them and saw the wisdom they had and decided that they were a valuable asset to the company and rewarded them accordingly.

Joseph
The next person we are going to look at is Joseph, the son of Rachel and Jacob. Rachel was the woman, Jacob loved and this son was hers and his father spoiled him. We would call him today a spoiled brat. His brothers had to work hard and look after their father’s flocks. But he stayed at home. His father also gave him a beautiful coat of many colours. God had a plan with Joseph and he gave him two dreams wherein he saw how his brothers bowed down before him. His brothers hated him for those dreams and planned to kill him. But his brother Reuben saved his life and thought of another plan and so this young boy who had never worked in his life and who wore the finest clothing, was sold as a slave and brought to Egypt where he was sold to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. God was with him and he succeeded in everything he did. Potiphar saw this and made him supervisor over his house and put all that he had in his charge. God wants to bless us and make Himself known to the world through us, just like he did with Joseph. So we can expect, when we are God’s children and we have an intimate relationship with Him, that He will bless the work of our hands. God will give us wisdom and skills to do the work where He places us. Remember Joseph never worked in his life before, yet he was now put in charge of Potiphar’s house and over all that he had and the Lord blessed Potiphar’s house for Joseph’s sake. Here it is again.

When you work for a company, God will bless that company for your sake. Of course the enemy of our souls, Satan, was not so happy about this and he found a way to get rid of Joseph. The wife of Potiphar fell in love with Joseph, because he was fine-looking and she thought of a way to get him into her bed. When she didn’t succeed, because Joseph was a man of integrity and he respected his employer, she accused him falsely before her husband and Joseph was thrown into prison. The same way the enemy will try and tempt us at our work. We need to give our best and be people of integrity at our work, because God is watching us.

And if the enemy does not succeed, he will try and discredit you with your employer. Others will get jealous and try and frame you or accuse you and before you know it, you might lose your job. In Daniel’s case, which we will see later, God made the false accusers fall into the ditch they dug for him. But God was with Joseph and it seems to me that he knew God a bit better than before and he trusted God. So his attitude stayed right. He did not feel sorry for himself and took the decision to make the best out of the unfavourable situation he was in. And again God gave him favour, with the warden of the prison this time and again he was put in charge over all the prisoners and the work that was done there and he prospered, even in prison!

He must have been there awhile and he met the Pharaoh’s butler and baker. Both had a dream and God gave the interpretation of those dreams to Joseph. Sure enough, what Joseph told those two, happened. The baker was executed and the butler got his job back. Joseph asked him to put in a good word for him with the Pharaoh. But the butler forgot about Joseph . There is a saying in the business world: "it doesn’t matter, what you know, but who you know". That’s right, only we are not talking about men here. When you know God and He is on your side, He will make a way for you. Two whole years went by, nd then one day, Pharaoh had some dreams. God’s plan for Joseph’s life began to unfold. It was God Who sent those dreams to Pharaoh. Nobody could interpret those dreams and suddenly the butler remembered Joseph. He told Pharah about this Hebrew slave in prison who interpreted their dreams and how everything he said came to pass. Pharaoh sent for Joseph. Joseph was wise and shaved and dressed himself properly before he went to see Pharaoh. Joseph made sure that Pharaoh knew that only God could interpret those dreams and when he had heard the dreams God gave the interpretation to him and with it also wisdom what to do with those dreams.

Joseph advised Pharaoh to provide a man discreet and understanding, proficient and wise to set him over the land of Egypt as governor and let him make storage places for the food that would be gathered in the years of plenty, so they would have enough to survive the years of famine that were to come after that. Pharaoh thought that was a good plan and he said to Joseph, Seeing that this plan came from you, you would be the right guy to do it. He actually said to Joseph, There is no one as intelligent and discreet and understanding and wise as you are, and he made him second in command over the people of Egypt, the land which he had entered as a slave. Can you see what God can do? How big He is!!

Moses
As we move on in scripture we come 400 years later in Egypt and find God’s people there in slavery. It was time to bring them back on course, back on the road to the Promised Land. So God met Moses, (the man He had set aside from his birth and had protected all his life), in a burning bush and told him He had heard the cries of His people and He would bring them out with great signs and wonders and they would not go out empty-handed. Mmmm, interesting! God actually said that they would strip the Egyptians of belongings due to them.

And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn. (Ex 4:22-23 )

The message, Moses had to bring, was a strong message. But Moses also had to learn Who God was. He was afraid and watered down the message God gave him. Fear of man is a snare, the Bible says. So Pharaoh was not impressed and gave the Israelites heavier work to do. They in turn were angry with Moses. They wanted to believe his words, that God was going to set them free but when this happened and their labour was increased they tried to stone Moses. It would be helpful to see how God builds faith into our hearts. That is what I love so much about God. Not only does He give us beautiful promises, but also after that He moves on our behalf in signs and wonders to sow faith in our hearts so we can receive what He has for us.

Each plague made the Israelites wonder, until they saw a miracle, which no magician could do, it was an act of creation. God made lice out of dust and it was then that faith was planted into their hearts. They knew, God was the Creator. And that faith grew as God made a distinction from that day, between them and the Egyptians and the plagues that followed had no effect on them. Until finally they left Egypt in God’s time and loaded with the riches from the Egyptians. The Egyptians actually had become so scared of them (and their God) that they begged them to go away and gave them what we would call in the business world, "a golden handshake".

And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, we be all dead men. (Ex 12:33)

And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed (requested, demanded) of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent (gave) unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians. (Ex 12:35-36)

I have heard before how certain people were asked to leave a company, even promised a golden handshake if they did, because they wanted to get rid of them. Maybe they were a threat to their superiors or maybe their righteousness showed up too much how unrighteous their own works were. So the Israelites left with much wealth and ofcourse God was making provision for the tabernacle to be built, but they did not know that yet. They were slaves and now they were rich. You want to know how rich? Have a look:

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass, And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood, Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate. And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it. (Ex 25:1-9 )

Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass, (Ex 35:5)

And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD’S offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. (Ex 35:21)

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. (Ex 36:5-6 )

The people were restrained from giving. Have you heard that before? God had blessed His people so much with the goods of the Egyptians, that there was more than enough to build His church, the tabernacle. So it was, they went from slavery and poverty to God-given faith (to ask the Egyptians to give them what they were worth), to riches. This is what God wants to do now. He has not changed. Jesus said, I will build My church. Jesus is the Author
The Bible tells us:

Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith;… (Heb 12:2)

Jesus is the Author (The One Who begins) of our faith!! And the Finisher. Jesus came to shew us the Father. Father God will move on our behalf and plant that seed of faith in our hearts that we need, to receive our miracle of provision. This happens when we seek His face with all our hearts. There are many more examples in the OT. What about  ing Solomon, who asked for wisdom and got riches and fame with it. He did not have to bring together the materials that were needed to build the greatest temple that was ever built. He was the son of king David.

David was a type of Jesus in this story. He was a man of war, a man who had shed blood (1Chron 28:3). Jesus shed His own blood on the cross. He became poor that we might be rich. Rich for what? So that God’s house will be built. It’s yet another benefit of the cross. David said to the people, I have provided with all my might (Jesus with His life!) for the house of My God. And then David talked about the exact weight of gold and silver and other materials that were needed for the building of this temple. The exact weight was given. What does that mean? I believe that God has a certain provision for each ministry that is built according to His will and design. It is important that we build according to His design, or otherwise we might find that we are running out of funds. For example, what happens if God has not called us to have a Bibleschool, but it seems to us the right thing to have one, because everybody else has one? The people in our church will go there or send their children there and the money they have to pay in, will not be put into the offering, so the money God has assigned to the church will be put into another bag and the church runs short.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained (planned beforehand, ahead of time) that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:10).
 
The finance needed to build God’s Kingdom is there, all we need to know is which way God will use to transfer those riches into His Kingdom. In the books of 2 Chronicles we find another example.

And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim; But sought to the LORD God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel. Therefore the LORD stablished the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in abundance. And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD (2 Chr17:3-6 )

When the temple was to be rebuilt in Jerusalem, after 70 years of captivity, the Israelites came back , loaded with silver and gold from the king’s treasury. There was enough to build the temple and there was even more than enough.

And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do after the will of your God. The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, those deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem. And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king’s treasure house. And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily, (Ezr 7:18-21 )

Daniel
Daniel is another example. He is called a major prophet, but did you know that he never worked fulltime for the Lord. He was a prophet who worked in secular work. Four different kings employed him. Daniel was one of the young princes, which was taken as a captive o Babylon. God allowed this to happen, because He was dealing with His people. They had persistently sinned against God and against their fellowmen .They had been building their own kingdom and worshipped other gods before Him. Apparently Daniel was a wise young man, because he was chosen to serve in the king’s palace and to be taught the literature and the language of the Chaldeans. They went to the university of Babylon. One of the major subjects there was Astrology! Have you ever thought of that? That’s the truth, they were taught the literature etc and astrology was part of the culture of the Chaldeans. Their god was Nebo, the god of education and learning.

When we were youthleaders a few years ago, I noticed a division amongst the young people. The young people, who were going to go to Bible school after High school, looked down upon the other young people who wanted to go to College or University and get an education and work in secular work. They were considered to be less spiritual. This was so wrong, but that is how they were taught. We need to teach our young people about Joseph and Daniel and what an important part they have to play in God’s Kingdom. So Daniel went to university and was trained there. But…..Daniel had a relationship with God and the Bible tells us he ate the seed (lentils etc.) and drank water. The seed is the word of God. Daniel was a young man who was a doer of the Word, he ate the word of God and applied it to his life and he drank the water. Jesus said when we drink of the water He gives us, out of our belly shall come rivers of living water. So Daniel was a man of the Spirit. That is what made him different. He and his three companions did not partake of the things of the world, they lived a clean life.
As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. (Dan 1:17)
 
And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm. (Dan 1:20 )

When it was God’s time, He gave Nebuchadnezzar a dream, which no one could interpret. The king wanted to kill all the wise men, which would include Daniel and his three friends, but then the Lord told Daniel the dream as well as the interpretation. That impressed the king and he made Daniel a ruler over the whole province of Babylon and the chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon. Talking about God making a place for you! Wow! Daniel took the opportunity to find a job for his friends as well. They did not compromise and did not bow down to the image, which the king had built. God did not deliver them out of the fire, they had to walk through it, but He walked with them in the fire and they came out of that experience, not even smelling of smoke. The fire had no power over them. Sometimes a situation might arise at your work and the fire feels so hot, but know that when Jesus is with you, that fire will have no power over you. It will only serve to bring you into a deeper dimension of relationship with Jesus. God allows these things to happen to deliver you of everything that separates you from Him.

The next king was very wicked and when he decided to use at his party, the vessels which his father had taken with him from the temple in Jerusalem, suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand wrote something on the wall. The king looked for an interpreter and the people straight away told him about Daniel. By that time Daniel was well known in Babylon.

There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers; Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation. (Dan 5:11-12 )

Daniel gave the interpretation and it was not a nice message, but the king honoured Daniel and he was clothed with purple and a chain of gold put about his neck and he was made the third ruler of the kingdom. From little prisoner to third ruler, not bad! Maybe the king thought that he could please Daniel’s God and so avoid judgment. But that night he was murdered and another king came in his place. King Darius. He also made Daniel third ruler over all the other presidents and satraps. They were jealous and tried to find fault with him, so they could accuse him before the king. Daniel was faithful and they found no fault in him, so they decided to attack him in his walk with God. When the king forbid prayer, Daniel continued openly to pray to God and he did that three times per day. The penalty was to be thrown into the lion’s den. God closed the mouths of the lions and Daniel survived this attack. He slept peacefully. When his accusers were thrown into the lion’s den and even before they reached the bottom, the lion’s devoured them.

False accusations, jealous people…..When God has put you somewhere he will take care of you and those things have no power over you.

How is the faithful city become a harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water: Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies: And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin: And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city. (Isa 1:21-26 )

The faithful city is the church and this message is for the church today. God is busy purging away the dross and after that He will restore our judges as at the first…For a long time I asked the Lord what He meant when He said that He would restore the ministry of the judge to His church. The Holy Spirit had revealed to me that there are seven different prophetic ministries and one of them is this judge. Then one day He said, " Daniel". I made a study of Daniel’s life. His name means: "God is Judge" and I understood. The outstanding gift that Daniel had was a spirit of Wisdom and he could solve problems, interpret dreams and this gift made him great. There are more people in the bible that received this gift of Wisdom from God. The first people I found were in the book of Exodus; Bezaleel and Aholiab. Names in the Bible are significant. Many times the Holy Spirit has hidden a message in the names of people in the Bible.

Bezaleel means :"in the shadow of God". That gives you an idea what type of man he was. Someone who lived very close to God. Psalm 91 calls it, living under the wings of God, in the shadow of the Almighty. A good place to be. A place of protection and provision. Bezaleel was a righteous man, like Abraham, Isaac , Noah etc. a man who loved God and obeyed Him.

And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the LORD hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; And to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work. And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work. (Ex 35:30-35 )

Aholiab means: Father’s tent. We are Father’s tent, the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Those men could make artistic designs, work with wood and cloth, precious metals and stones and every other skilled craft. They could also teach and embroider and weave. They made the anointing oil after the art of the perfumer (Ex 30:25).

Today this Spirit of Wisdom is also available to the children of God. When you are called to work in secular work and you do your work as unto the Lord, He will give you this wisdom, so you may excel and prosper in everything you do. That way God will be glorified through you. So there is an anointing to work in the fashion world, to design, to sew, to embroider, knit, to weave, etc. To make perfumes and other cosmetics, to work with colours, decorating, art, to work with stones, precious stones and metals, and other metals, to be a jeweller but also to work in the steel industry or work with uranium etc. To work with wood, leather, in the furniture trade or make shoes and other accessories . Bezaleel and Aholiab had to bake the shewbread, so they were anointed in the food industry, butchers, bakers etc. They had to teach others as well. You cannot think of any job where you cannot expect special wisdom from God to excel in your work.

Solomon for example, had this spirit of Wisdom and look what he did. He built, He made merchandise, he was a poet and a songwriter. He spoke of trees, birds, beasts, creeping things and of fish. He was knowledgeable in all those subjects. We find another mention of this Spirit of wisdom in Isa 28:5,6. It talks there about the spirit of justice to those that have to sit in judgment, like lawyers, judges, anything to do with the law, but also managers have to make the right judgments and directors etc. And a spirit of strength to those that have to meet the enemy at the gate. That is the same anointing Samson had. We see how God anoints sportsmen with great strength and they excel in their sports and give God the glory and use their skills to bring the Gospel. But especially in this time we need this anointing of wisdom for all our security men and police and army, so we will be able to discern the plans of the enemy and know what to do in times of emergency. God is looking for young dedicated men to serve Him in these places. In the OT we read time and time again how God would reveal the plans of the enemy and how victories were won, because men dared to trust their God. Now that we know all this, we could ask: how can we get this anointing, this Spirit of Wisdom.

Look at the lives of those I wrote about and you will find the answer right there.
This gift is made available to us. Jesus died so we might have this gift. It is free. Every utensil you buy has a manual and so there is a manual for this gift, so we will know how to apply it in our lives. You will find it in the Word. The book of Proverbs promises us that when we obey Gods word, we will be wise and this wisdom will make us rich and famous. This is how God is going to finance His work in these last days. Teach Them to Hear His Voice and Obey Before we can ask the people of God to give to the work of God we need to teach them how they can be successful in this life and help them to have a close and intimate relationship with their God. Then they are able to hear His voice and obey His instructions. Then God can speak to them like He did to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Joseph and Daniel and all the others and then we will see Gods provision as never before and the people will not need to be manipulated or threatened to give, they will come and give joyfully and willingly, so much so that they will need to be restrained from giving because there will be more than enough, even in a time of instability and economic recess. God says in His word that in the end time the world will not be able to hoard her riches or store them, for it will be given to those that are pleasing to God, for good food and fine clothing.

And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years (fullness of time), that the LORD will visit Tyre (the world system, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing. (Isa 23:17,18)

I want to close with a testimony from a little native pastor in Africa somewhere.
 This man read a booklet about a man of faith who believed God and through that book, this little man believed God also and he started to pray for every person he led to the Lord in his town. He lives in a country which is impoverished by civil war and jobs are difficult to find. When I heard this man, he testified how God had given work to every person that got saved, how he now had a church of about 9000 people and how God was adding daily such as should be saved. He told us about food kitchens and how his church was able to feed the poor in his city. He had no church building, no organisation, no name for his church. The believers took care of each other when they came together in their houses. What a testimony! May there be many more like this. I know of other stories, how God gave inventions to His people, which caused them to prosper. How God made it rain on their land, in a time of drought, while the land of their neighbour was dry. How bushfires took a detour around the houses of believers. In Argentina I heard how God protected stores of believers during riots. I heard a testimony how God told the believers in Argentina to take all their money out of the bank and how three days later the banks closed and people lost all their money and the church was able to feed the hungry in those days. Those desperate times will be here again, the Bible tells us that that is so, but God is greater! The God of Moses is still the same God today!

One last word of wisdom. Whatever you are building for God, just make sure it is according to His will and design, make sure it is the work God has assigned for you to do, because when it is, He will also take care of the finances so you can finish the work. Even when the world around you falls apart. It is His work, His church. The people are His people. God is faithful! So in these last days, God is restoring to His church the ministry of the prophetic Judge. God will equip him with the Spirit of Wisdom and he will prosper. God will give him the power to get wealth. And through this ministry finance will be released into the Kingdom of God. And God’s church will be built. But this Spirit of Wisdom is also available to every believer in secular work, because it is God’s desire to bless His people, so they can bless others.

Froukje.
Oss, 17th February 2002.