I just echo what Jerry shared: how wonderful it is to finally be together. We are very thankful that, as we gather, we all know that many from many different places have been praying for many months for this time.
And it is kind of exciting within our hearts because, given the days and times we are living in, we know that we are here not by chance. We are here for such a time as this. The Lord has a special purpose for this time.
It is wonderful that we can be those who put aside the many things that would try to distract us, the many cares of life, and really give ourselves wholly unto Him, to be able to hear what He shares from His heart with us in this week. We are thankful for our brothers who will be sharing throughout the week.
As we have this introductory time tonight, we simply desire to set a tone for the week that would enable our Lord to come in and work within each one of our hearts and lives. So, let us have a word of prayer before we start.
Lord, we do continue worshiping You and praising You. We are so grateful for the multitude of prayers from many saints that have gone up. We are thankful that, as we are here now, by faith we step into those prayers.
Lord, we are thankful that above all, You, as our great High Priest, are making intercession for this time. We are thankful that in You, Lord, You have made every provision for this time. By faith, we do enter in.
We recognize the days and times we are living in. We recognize this call and this theme of being prepared. I believe each one of us is here with that simple desire: “Lord, we want to be those who are ready for Your return.”
So, we open our hearts to You, Lord, and really look to You in a marvelous way to speak to each and every one of us. In Thy name we pray. Amen.
We are thankful that we can gather. As we know from the many T-shirts you have already seen, and from the handbook, the theme this year is “Be Prepared.” It is always good to ask, where does that theme come from?
It originated last year. As we gathered around the theme, “You have need of endurance,” our brother Stephen would often ask us a simple question: “Are you ready?” He would ask it with emphasis, and there was a genuine burden there.
I appreciated him sharing that because it was like a father figure crying out from his heart, out of love and concern for us: “Are you really ready?”
It is wonderful how we have these dear ones who go before us, those who have been through much. They see what is ahead of us. Sometimes, in our lack of experience, there is an element of naivety concerning the days in which we live.
Those, like our brother, who have been through things are simply crying out that we would wake up and recognize the time—the urgency of the days in which we are living.
Even our Lord, when He was upon this earth, was asked by His disciples, “Lord, when are You coming back? What are the signs of the times? What is going to happen?” At times, our Lord mentioned various sequences of events.
Now, it is good that we can study and have our thoughts related to the sequence of events and things that will happen. But when you really look at what our Lord shared, the thing primary upon His heart for His disciples was their condition.
He cried out to them over and over again: “Are you ready?” If you look at Matthew 24, many of the parables from the Olivet Discourse carry this burden. We are not going to look at all of them, but there is a verse in Matthew 24:44.
Therefore be ye also ready:
for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Then He goes on and tells a parable about a faithful slave, drawing a contrast. If you look at the following verses, it is really speaking of one slave, not two. As we enter these days, a choice is set before us: Are we going to be the faithful slave, or are we going to be the evil slave?
The contrast between the two is that one was concerned for the master. One had his heart set upon the master and was looking for the master’s return. One was caring for the things within the master’s house.
That one had a heart. He was looking, anticipating, and wanting to be ready for the master to come. With what the master had entrusted to him, he did not do anything spectacular. He simply was faithful.
The Lord said, “Watch after My house. Take care of those in the house.” This dear one simply took care of them. He did what was asked of him. He did what was put in his hands.
But there was another possibility. A person could make a choice and become that evil slave. The evil one says, “My master delays.” He is self-centered, living for himself, not caring about others within the house and not caring about the things of the master.
We find ourselves with this question before us in this day and time: What are the affections of our hearts set upon? Are our hearts set upon the things of our Master? Do we care about His return? Do we care about the things of His house? Do we care about our brothers and sisters? Or are we simply living for ourselves, looking out only for our own interests?
We are thankful that one made a choice for the master. I believe each one of us has made a choice to be here this week. We are not coming for an academic session on how to be made ready.
Most of us, as we have walked through this life and as the Lord has been touching us, realize more and more that it is not outward performance in which our Lord is interested. The Lord is looking at our hearts. That is what He sees.
Each one of us recognizes the condition of our own heart. Most of us can say, “My heart is really not where it should be.” We are thankful for all He has done, but we want our hearts to be in an even greater place of being attracted to Him.
We do not want to be serving other gods or the idols of this world. We want hearts fully given to Him, to be about His will and His purpose.
As you look at the various parables our Lord shared, this was the thing upon His heart. He desired those who would be faithful. He was looking for those who could walk in wisdom, those who were ready, and those who had the enabling power of the Holy Spirit through having done transactions with Him and having oil ready in reserve for His return.
We do not know what is ahead of us. We do not even know, in many ways, what we are being prepared for, because we do not know what is ahead. But we know Who is ahead.
The way we become prepared is the way we have made it this far: simply by keeping our eyes upon Him. As we set the eyes of our hearts upon the affection of our Master, and as we look at Him, He can continue to prepare us in a way that will be a testimony unto Him in this hour.
In the New Testament writings, we see how this issue of our hearts being in a right place was so much upon the hearts of the apostles. Paul often spoke about a sequence of events in Thessalonians and elsewhere, but when he wrote to the church in Ephesus, he also said:
Awake, thou that sleepest,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ shall shine upon thee.
Be careful how you walk. These days are evil. Walk as wise men, not as foolish people, understanding the will of God. That means daily transactions with the Lord and having that intimate, personal relationship with Him.
Peter encouraged the saints in a similar way in his epistle. When he spoke about the day of the Lord as He is coming, Peter asked, “What type of people ought we to be?” In holy conduct, in our walk, and in our character, we should have godly character.
It is that character for which our Lord is looking. Our Lord is looking for the life of His Son manifested in His people. This is really what is upon His heart.
As we have this time together this week, I believe this is what the Lord is wanting to work within each one of us. He is not wanting us to be focused merely upon sequences of events. He knows we will have our opinions and various thoughts.
That is why He said, “I am going to come at a time when you do not think I will.” He knows we will have those thoughts. I guarantee you—and any time you guarantee something, you are already on thin ice—but in all the various theological interpretations, I believe that when the Lord returns, every one of us is going to be surprised in one way or another.
Whatever we are thinking, there will be some element of Him, something of His fullness, and something about His return that will astonish and surprise us. There is such a fullness in Him, while we are so limited in our thinking and our thoughts.
He is looking for us to grow in this experiential union that we have in Him in the Spirit, knowing Him in a fuller and greater way. This is why we are thankful that we can be here this week.
Within our hearts, we are looking for that day. We are looking for that glorious time described in Revelation 11:15:
The kingdom of the world is become
the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ:
and He shall reign for ever and ever.
This is the desire of our hearts. We desire for our King to come. We desire for that kingdom to be set up, and we want to be those who are hastening His return. That is why we are taking this opportunity to be together in His presence.
As we look at Scripture, we are thankful that, as we have these questions about desiring to be ready and prepared, Scripture is full of beautiful pictures and examples of preparation.
It tells us in 1 Corinthians that the Old Testament was written for our instruction. There are many examples in the Old Testament, written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
As we considered this matter of being prepared, we were drawn back to 1 Chronicles 12. We were thinking, as we desire for this kingdom to come, is there a story or picture in the Old Testament of when that kingdom came?
In 1 Chronicles 12, there was about to be a great transfer of the kingdom. The kingdom of Saul was about to be transferred to David. David had been anointed king by Samuel many years before, but he had not been publicly recognized as king of Israel.
There were great ones gathered together—those who had suffered rejection with David, those who had been through difficult times, those who had learned under David’s direction to become mighty men. They had a heart for his interests and were overcoming in the midst of persecution.
They were ready to transfer the kingdom of Saul to the kingdom of David. They were gathered with singleness of heart and singleness of purpose.
Brothers and sisters, that is the same reason we are here. We desire to know and see this great transfer of the kingdom of our Lord. We know Jesus is King of all the earth, but He is not publicly recognized as King upon this earth.
Many do not recognize it, but we know well that there will be a day when everybody will know that He is King and every knee will bow. Praise God, we already know that, and we can bow the knee now.
We want to look at these dear ones who gathered to make David king, to see how they had been prepared, so that we in a similar way can allow the Lord to prepare us for this great transfer of the kingdom that is coming in our day and time.
Let us turn back to 1 Chronicles 12. This is where we have our theme verse. First Chronicles 12:32 concerns the sons of Issachar:
And of the children of Issachar, men that had understanding of the times,
to know what Israel ought to do;
the heads of them were two hundred;
and all their brethren were at their commandment.
The phrase that caught our attention during our planning session, as we prayed, was this: “Men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do.” There are two vital characteristics here: they understood the times, and they knew what Israel should do.
It was vital and essential then, and brothers and sisters, it is just as vital and essential now. It is vital that the Lord would have a people who understand the times.
As we look around, the times are rather obvious. Every day, it seems as though we see another sign. A few years ago, you could list a few things, but the signs of the times are increasing in rapidity and intensity.
Yet it is not only a matter of understanding the signs of the times. It is also a matter of knowing what the church should do—knowing how we, as the people of God, should completely give ourselves over to Him, do His will, and be prepared for His return.
This is what God is after in this hour, and this is what we are here for this week. I will not go into this particular verse in detail, because our brothers will probably elaborate upon it throughout the week.
But I would first like us to consider the setting in 1 Chronicles 12. I will probably say Corinthians when I mean Chronicles, but you will have to get used to that. I am really just seeing if you are awake.
Why were these ones there? One of the beautiful things about it is that each one was there because they made a choice to be there. It was a freewill choice. None of them was obliged to be there.
Saul was still king. He had the power. He was reigning. David was a fugitive; he had not yet been publicly recognized as king.
At the beginning of 1 Chronicles 12, Saul was still king. By the latter part of the chapter, Saul was dead and people were gathered at Hebron. But we know from the books of Samuel that there was still continued war between the house of David and the house of Saul.
It was not an easy transition. There was a battle going on. There was a tremendous battle that would take place. This was war.
Brothers and sisters, in the days we are living in, there is a battle over the testimony of Jesus. Those who desire to be a testimony of Jesus, either in our individual lives or in our lives together, quickly realize that there is a tremendous battle over the testimony of Jesus.
But praise God, as you see these dear ones, verse 38 summarizes why they were there. After listing those at Hebron who came to make David king, it says:
All these being men of war, that could order the battle array,
came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel:
and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king.
I love this verse because it shows us how these ones were gathered and prepared. They had learned. They had been under discipline and training.
They were there with singleness of purpose. They were not there merely to do what was right in their own eyes. They were there for no other reason than to make David king.
Brothers and sisters, this speaks volumes to us. What are we about in these days? Is there a singleness of purpose within our hearts to make our Lord Jesus Christ King of our lives, individually and together?
There is a singleness of purpose into which He is wanting to bring us. This is an aspect of preparation: knowing and being clear about what God is calling us to in this hour.
Not only was there singleness of purpose; there was singleness of heart. The verse says they were gathered with a perfect heart. That does not mean a sinless heart; it means a single heart.
Their affection was drawn to David. There was love for their king, and whatever they could do for their king, they would do. They were not distracted by other things, and their affections were not set upon other things.
They had been captured by love for their king. Brothers and sisters, this is the question before us: Have our affections been captured by our King?
Has the love of Christ captured us in such a way that we are constrained by the love of Christ? Are we no longer living for ourselves, but living for Him who loved us and died for us?
Those are the ones prepared to bring in the kingdom. This is what the Lord is calling us to in this hour: that we would have no other affections, but that we would have singleness of affection.
As you look at this list, I love how it speaks of each individual family there. Each family was unique. There was a great variety of skills, yet these ones were united as one.
Each family was vital. Each family was essential. The sons of Issachar were significant, but they were not there by themselves. They were part of the whole.
They could have had all the understanding and wisdom concerning what Israel should do, but they could not do it by themselves. They were dependent upon all the others who were with them.
In the great diversity of their gifts and in the way the Lord used them, they had been brought into a oneness of testimony.
Brothers and sisters, this is what the Lord is calling us to in this hour. There is a great diversity of the Lord’s life manifested through many brothers and sisters in many varied ways. But are we using it for ourselves, or are we allowing the Lord to bring us into experiential unity in the body of Christ?
This is not an outward, ecumenical unity. It is allowing His life to bring us together into the oneness of experiencing that life daily, allowing the working of the cross to cause us to deny ourselves, care for others, and have all our affection upon the things of the Lord.
It is important for us to remember that, though we focus on the sons of Issachar, they were only a part. Praise God, each one of us is a part of the body of Christ.
Each one of us is vital. There is no insignificant member in the body of Christ. Every member is vital. The Lord needs each one of us, and He desires us to enter into the experience of the unity and oneness of His life that has been put into us.
These ones had given themselves to go through the process of being made ready. It says they could draw up in battle formation, or, in some translations, that they could keep rank.
You do not draw up in battle formation without a great deal of training. A battle formation is not merely a ceremonial parade or function.
When I was in the military for a period of time, I was on a drill team. We could draw up in all different types of formations. We had our rifles, everything was polished, we had taps on our shoes, and we could put on a great show. We could throw rifles back and forth and catch them. We could march down the street and put on a great display.
But that was simply a show. There was no battle going on. If bullets and guns start flying around, that is a whole different thing.
Maintaining a battle formation in the midst of a fight—keeping rank—means that the master has a plan, and in the midst of battle you maintain that plan no matter what is flying around your head.
When you are in a battle, you do not know where things are coming from. The atmosphere changes; even the smell changes. There is the smell of smoke and the smell of blood. The whole dynamic changes.
But these ones had been prepared to go through in such a way. Brothers and sisters, in the days we are living in, we could probably hear a testimony from every brother and sister here concerning the battles in which we are engaged.
The Lord is using all of these things to train us—not only individually, but together—in spiritual warfare. He is training us in the matter of coming together to pray for His kingdom, praying for His interests and not our own.
As you think about the dear ones who were with David and the battles through which they passed, one unique thing is that most of the battles were totally different.
One time they would make a direct charge. Another time they would go around and come in behind. Another time they would lie in wait and set a trap. There were many different battles, depending upon the particular situation.
What worked in one battle might not work in another battle. Are we allowing the Lord to train us so that we understand the specific times and days in which we are living, and the specific way He wants us to battle a particular situation?
Something may have worked last week, but the current battle may require another strategy. Do we have those who understand the times and know what we should be doing in order to fight that battle?
This comes from relationship with the Head. These men were with David. When David said, “Go this way,” or “Go that way,” they had ears to hear. They did not question their master; they went forth, and the great transfer of the kingdom occurred.
May we be those who allow the Holy Spirit to train us in this hour. There is a great battle in this day. It is the battle of the ages.
We can be encouraged because it is only going to get worse. It is only becoming more intense. Brothers and sisters, do not put your hope in a conservative Supreme Court.
Praise God for whatever happens, and we will thank the Lord. But our hope is not in a conservative Supreme Court. Our hope is in the King of kings and Lord of lords. That is where we are looking. That is upon whom we are keeping our eyes.
Brothers and sisters, the sons of Issachar were a people of destiny, and we, like them, are a people of destiny.
They were born with a purpose. We were born with a purpose. They were God’s possession, and we too are God’s possession.
We are here to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. They were a part, and we, like them, are a part of the whole.
They had their interests set upon the things of the king. We want to have our interests set upon the things of the King. We want to learn to do battle as they learned to do battle.
I would like us to consider the history of the tribe of Issachar. How many people have studied the tribe of Issachar before? There are not a great many theological studies on the tribe of Issachar, so I am on safe ground. I do not have that many experts here.
We see how these dear ones ended up in a place of spiritual maturity. They ended up understanding God’s will and knowing the times. How did they get there? Did they just poof, and there they were? I think most of us would say no.
They went through a process. They went through a growth process. We are looking at the sons of Issachar not so much as a historical lesson, but in order to consider what they went through so that we, in a similar way, can learn.
We, like them, are a people of destiny. They went through many things, and we want to allow them to teach us.
Before we go further into the sons of Issachar, I would like to read some Scripture to remind us of what we have in Christ and the great calling He has given us.
We have been born again. The Lord has purchased us, not merely to redeem us, but He has called us with a purpose. I want to read some familiar verses from Ephesians.
Sometimes, when we have familiar verses, we can allow them to become too familiar, and they lose their preciousness. As we consider the sons of Issachar, I want us to keep these verses from Ephesians in the back of our minds.
The Lord called and destined the sons of Issachar, and He has called and destined us. Turn to Ephesians 1. We will not have the opportunity to elaborate on every verse, but let us bring them again before us.
Notice that many of these verses are written in the past tense. The Lord has already done this for us. We have been brought into this. This is our inheritance. This is what we have in Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly places in Christ:
We could have a whole conference on that verse. But do we really see what the Lord has brought us into?
Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blemish before Him in love:
having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto Himself,
according to the good pleasure of His will,
to the praise of the glory of His grace,
which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
Look at what we have here:
In whom we have our redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of His grace,
which He made to abound toward us
in all wisdom and prudence.
Not merely according to His grace, but according to the riches of His grace, which we may experience every day. He lavished it upon us in all wisdom and insight.
He made known to us the mystery of His will. He has revealed His Son to us. He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Him:
Unto a dispensation of the fulness of the times,
to sum up all things in Christ,
the things in the heavens,
and the things upon the earth.
That is our God. That is His desire: the summing up of all things in Christ. We have been brought into that.
In whom also we were made a heritage,
having been foreordained according to the purpose of Him
who worketh all things after the counsel of His will;
to the end that we should be unto the praise of His glory.
Brothers and sisters, these verses are ours. How we need to have the desire to enter into the experience and reality of what we have heard.
These verses are familiar. I do not know how many times they have been read at this conference through the years as we have considered God’s eternal purpose. But this is what the Lord is calling us to.
We want to keep in mind what the Lord has called us to—our divine destiny—as we look at the sons of Issachar.
Turn back to the first mention of Issachar, in Genesis 30. This is where Issachar was born.
I would like to look at Issachar and the sons of Issachar as they go through a growth process, using the pattern John uses in his epistle. We will see the sons of Issachar move from babes, to young men, to fathers.
They went through things. There was a growing process. This is important because sometimes we want to be instant fathers. We want instant everything—instant understanding and instant wisdom. But there is a process of entering into that.
At times, that can be discouraging because we already want to be there. But the Lord says, “No, I have a way. I have a school for you. I have a gymnasium. I have a work in your life to train you in this way.”
Issachar was the fifth son of Leah. I very much appreciate how even his mother, Leah, was a woman of vision.
You can do a whole study on Rachel and Leah. We know Jacob loved Rachel, but at first he was not so interested in Leah. Yet, to show you the impact Leah had upon Jacob, at first he wanted Rachel, but in the end, with whom was Jacob buried?
He was buried with Leah: Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. She was a mother, a woman of vision.
Among her sons, the first couple were not so great—Reuben and Simeon—but then you have Judah, Levi, and Issachar: three brothers.
I am not doing an expository study on these verses; I am simply sharing my impressions. But when I look at Judah, Levi, and Issachar, I see a king, a priest, and a prophet.
The King came out of Judah. Levi became the priestly tribe. Issachar was that prophet, the one who knew the mind of God.
Issachar’s name means “he will bring a reward.” Whenever I think of the word reward, my mind immediately goes to the kingdom. He will bring a reward; he will bring that kingdom.
When I think of Issachar, I think of one born with a divine destiny and divine purpose. It was not merely a casual name given to him. As David would come from Judah, Issachar was one given a divine destiny.
A few chapters later, when Jacob and the whole family were in Egypt, Jacob prayed for all his sons. In Genesis 49:14-15, we see Jacob’s blessing and prophecy concerning Issachar:
Issachar is a strong ass,
lying down between the sheepfolds:
and he saw a resting-place that it was good,
and the land that it was pleasant;
and he bowed his shoulder to bear,
and became a servant under taskwork.
He was that strong donkey. To me, he was one who was strong and industrious, under his master and working to do what his master desired.
But more than that, the little phrase that caught my attention in Jacob’s prayer was simply these two words: “He saw.”
What did he see? He saw a resting place that was good, and he saw a pleasant land.
When we think about a resting place and a pleasant land, especially in Old Testament terms, we think of that promised land—the pleasant land flowing with milk and honey, the inheritance the Lord had for them.
By saying that he saw, it seems to me that he was destined to be a man of vision, a man of insight. He had not yet seen it in the physical realm, but he was going to see it.
Brothers and sisters, for our sake too, the Lord has set before us that resting place and that pleasant land. It is no longer a land. It is a Person. It is Christ.
That is what the sons of Issachar saw. If we put it in the terms of our day, they saw Christ. They saw Him as that resting place. They saw Him as that good land.
Do we want to be prepared for our Lord’s return? Do we want to be prepared for this day and time? Do we really see the Lord? Do we see Him in all the fullness and provision that we have in Him?
Issachar, from the beginning, was one who would end up knowing the times and having understanding. He was born with a divine destiny and purpose.
We too have been born with such a purpose. Issachar had a good beginning, and we too have had a good beginning. Brothers and sisters, when we have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, there is no better beginning than that.
When we have been brought into Christ, there is no better beginning than that. If we think back on all we have been brought into, as we read in Ephesians, we have a good beginning.
Now turn to Numbers 2. Here we see some additional things that encourage us concerning Issachar. They were still growing; they were not yet mature.
In Numbers 2, we see the arrangement of the camp. The first tribe placed there was Judah. Judah was on the east side. Why? Because that is where the sun rises. That is where the King is coming from. That is where the morning star is.
Judah was in that first place. Who was right next to Judah? If you look in Numbers 2:5, Issachar was right there.
Of all the tribes, the Lord had Judah and then Issachar right next to him: a place of honor and responsibility, a place beside the king, to be as a prophet and give guidance and understanding.
They were there in anticipation. They actually led out. They were leading the whole nation into God’s will. When the procession began, they were in the front, leading their brothers and sisters into where God wanted them to go.
This is the spirit of the sons of Issachar: caring for the people of God and leading us into more and more of what God has for us within His purpose and heart.
There is also the matter of the census at the beginning and end of Numbers. You will have to excuse the accountant in me, but the tribe of Issachar increased.
At the beginning, they had about fifty-four thousand, and at the end they had about sixty-four thousand. During the time recorded in Numbers, they increased by about twenty percent.
In a general way, the faithful tribes increased throughout Numbers, while those that were not faithful decreased. Through the trials and difficult times they passed through, there was an increase among the sons of Issachar.
They were not perfect. One of the trials they went through involved a representative from Issachar who was one of the twelve spies sent into the land.
We might expect that someone from Issachar—one destined to see the resting place and the pleasant land—would recognize it immediately. He would say, “This is it.”
They all saw that the land was good, but the giants terrified him. He was categorized as one of the bad spies. He did not see that this was all God had for them. He saw it from his own perspective, rather than from God’s perspective.
He did not see it as that place of rest. But praise God, brothers and sisters, the sons of Issachar kept going. By the time David came along, they saw it as the good land. They saw it as the place of rest.
Sometimes we can become discouraged because we do not see something. Do we all see God’s purpose now? Maybe we do not. But do not give up.
One thing that encouraged me so much about the sons of Issachar is that they really blew it. They were among the bad spies, but they kept going on. Eventually, they became the ones who understood the times and knew what Israel should do, because they kept pressing on.
I remember probably the first time I came to this family conference and heard about God’s eternal purpose. I was sitting there, and I had no idea what they were talking about.
I am a little dull, but I did not know what they were talking about. Even after being around for a while, it is easy to pick up the vocabulary of God’s eternal purpose. You learn certain phrases and can act as if you know what you are talking about, while in reality you know that you do not.
But there was something of Christ. I did not understand what it was, but I knew there was something there, and I wanted to keep going on.
This is the testimony of so many: We do not fully understand something at first, but as we keep pressing on, God shows us.
The children this week are studying the book of Daniel. I have found great encouragement in Daniel, particularly in the last chapter, Daniel 12.
After the Lord had given Daniel great and marvelous revelations concerning what would happen through the end of the times, Daniel said, “Lord, I do not understand all this.”
Did the Lord rebuke him? Did He say, “What do You mean? I just showed you all this”? No. Look at the very last verse of Daniel 12. This has been a great personal encouragement to me.
But go thou thy way till the end be;
for thou shalt rest,
and shalt stand in thy lot,
at the end of the days.
Continue going your way. Brothers and sisters, as we go through this Christian life, there are things we do not understand. At times we can say, “Well, I do not understand. I need to stop and sit here until I understand.” No. We keep going on.
We keep following Christ. This is what the Lord was saying to Daniel: “Daniel, you do not understand now, but there is a way you are going. You are following Me. Continue on, and in the end you will see all that I have called you to.”
Abraham, by faith, went out not knowing where he was going. But he went out, and he ended up seeing it.
There is a proverb I very much appreciate because it speaks of the path of the righteous being like the light of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until the full day.
This is a challenge, one of the practical challenges many of us face in the Christian life. We come to a conference, hear messages on the eternal purpose of God or the great call to be prepared, and we do not understand.
We say, “I do not fully understand this,” and we stop. But no, we keep going on. As we go on, the light of dawn shines brighter and brighter, and the Lord reveals more of Himself to us.
This is how we press on. This is how we are prepared. This is the process of preparation.
Each one of us is at a different phase in this process. As we press on, we encourage one another, and we allow this process to be working in our lives.
At times, in my own life, I do not understand, and it feels as if I just want to give up: “I will never get this.” No, that is yielding to the enemy. We keep going on. We follow Him. We fix our eyes upon Jesus.
That is how we gain understanding. The more we walk along with Him, the more we see Him. We enter into all that is upon His heart. That is how these ones were prepared, and how they entered into everything the Lord had for them.
The next significant reference to Issachar is near the end of Deuteronomy. Again, we have a prayer and blessing, this time the prayer of Moses before Israel was ready to go in and possess the land.
In Deuteronomy 33:18-19, we see Issachar’s divine destiny growing:
And of Issachar he said, Rejoice, Issachar, in thy tents.
They shall call peoples unto the mountain;
there shall they offer sacrifices of righteousness:
for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas,
and of the hidden treasures of the sand.
Because they see something of God’s heart, something of this pleasant land and land of rest, they are to call peoples to the mountain.
They are calling people out of all that is going on upon this earth and giving them a different perspective. Jerry, when he opened this time, spoke of that call to come up. That is the call the sons of Issachar had.
They said, “Come up on the mountain. You have come to Mount Zion. Come up here. Come into this heavenly place. Look from this perspective. Change your perspective.”
We need people in this hour with the same call of the sons of Issachar: those who encourage us to get out of the ruts and routines of this life and change our perspective, so that we see things from His perspective rather than our own.
Our perspective can be so pessimistic. Our perspective says there is no hope. But in Him, as we go up to the mountain, the air gets fresher and clearer. There is no pollution, no distractions, and there is a quietness and serenity in the presence of the Lord.
Then we can begin to see clearly what He is really calling us to. These are the ones calling others up.
It reminds me of Hebrews 10:24-25:
And let us consider one another
to provoke unto love and good works;
not forsaking our own assembling together,
as the custom of some is,
but exhorting one another;
and so much the more,
as ye see the day drawing nigh.
That is the encouragement of the sons of Issachar: considering one another and drawing people up into the more complete experience of the riches of Christ.
Look at what they could do. Moses prayed that they would draw out the abundance of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand.
They were not satisfied with the superficial things of the Lord. They were not satisfied merely with things on the surface. They went in. They drew out the deep things of the Lord.
There are treasures there, but there is a price to be paid. Are we those who are really searching for the unsearchable riches of Christ?
The precious thing is that those like the sons of Issachar take the time and make the effort to dive into the depths of Christ and bring those riches up for all of us. Then we all get to experience the blessing of it.
I have appreciated this conference over the years and the many brothers who have shared here—brothers who have drawn out the riches of Christ and laid them out for us, so that we can taste and see how good our Lord is.
That is the spirit of the sons of Issachar. That is how we need to become those who understand the times.
They took the time. They made the effort. They paid the price. They were not distracted by other things. They had one desire: they wanted to know the Lord in a fuller and greater way.
They wanted to experience all the unsearchable riches of Christ. When we think of what we read in Ephesians, that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ, how many of those blessings have we tasted?
How many have we really taken time to consider? “Lord, what are these blessings? What have You brought me into? What is this inheritance? I want to experience it in a real way.”
Not merely to be able to talk about it, but to enter into that experience. This is the encouragement we have from the sons of Issachar.
In the book of Joshua, Issachar went in and possessed its land. There is not much written about it, but they went in and possessed their portion and inheritance. That is a wonderful and tremendous fact.
Then we come to the book of Judges, and we see a great transition in the sons of Issachar. In Judges, we see them growing from babes into young men.
The setting of Judges is sad and tragic. There was no king in Israel, and everyone was doing what was right in his own eyes. It reminds us much of the days in which we are living.
Yet, in His faithfulness, God raised up judges. One of the judges He raised up was Deborah. Israel had been under the oppression of the king of Canaan for twenty years, but the Lord found one like Deborah.
Through Deborah’s leadership and encouragement, a great victory was won. In Judges 5:15, we read:
And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
as was Issachar, so was Barak;
into the valley they rushed forth at his feet.
Praise God, in the midst of this battle, there was Issachar. They were there fighting. We see growth taking place within them. They were no longer simply self-centered and concerned only for themselves.
The vision implanted within them was impacting their lives. This is one of the characteristics of moving from a babe to a young man. They had heard things, but now what they saw began to impact their lives.
When the call went out, they made a choice to go and be there with Deborah and Barak. I love how it says that they rushed down into the valley.
To me, that means they were on the mountain. You cannot go down into the valley unless you are on the mountain. They had drawn people up to the mountain, were in the place of victory, and had seen from the right perspective what should be done.
Then they went together into the valley and won a great victory. Issachar responded and fought valiantly, and there was a great deliverance.
This is the first recorded time we see Issachar actively standing for God’s interest. It reminded me again of 1 John, where the young men are characterized by overcoming the evil one.
I have written unto you, young men,
because ye are strong,
and the word of God abideth in you,
and ye have overcome the evil one.
This is what Issachar had. They had the word abiding in them. They responded to that word and to the divine destiny they had received.
They cared about God’s interests. They went and allowed the Lord to lead them, and they experienced more and more of the victory they had. It was no longer merely a vision; it became a reality in their lives.
They had heard from generation to generation as their forefathers passed down what had been prophesied. They had heard about these things, and now there was a reality into which they were entering.
Have we entered into that reality? Have we entered into all that the Lord has for us? We see them going through the process of growing from babes into young men.
Then we come back to 1 Chronicles 12, where they move from young men into fathers.
It had been prophesied over them that they would see the pleasant land and the place of rest. It had been prophesied that they would draw out hidden treasures from God. Now we see these ones standing in the reality of it.
These things were real. They had learned of the Lord. They had allowed the Lord to work in their hearts so that they were prepared.
They had learned of the king in such a way that they knew who the king was. They knew what was upon his heart. They knew the purpose he had.
They understood: “This is the time. This is the time when the Lord wants to make David king over all Israel.” They knew what they were to do, and they encouraged others.
They knew that they were there for such a time as this. They were there with all the others, simply as a part, with one heart, one mind, and one purpose: to make David king.
Again, 1 Chronicles 12:38 gives us a beautiful picture of people who are prepared:
All these being men of war, who could draw up in battle formation,
came to Hebron with a perfect heart
to make David king over all Israel,
and all the rest also of Israel were of one mind
to make David king.
Brothers and sisters, with that verse before us, why are we here this week? Why are we here?
I believe this is a question we need to have settled within our hearts. We are all at different stages in the progress of life. We have babes, we have young men, and thank the Lord, we have a few fathers.
There is a vast experience of Christ here. As we are here, the Lord has us here with a purpose.
We can be encouraged by the sons of Issachar. At that moment in 1 Chronicles 12, had they always been prepared? No. Had they always understood the times? No. Had they always been faithful? No.
But in spite of this, they continued following the Lord and learning of Him. Through that, the Lord made them prepared and had them ready for the time in which they lived.
This encourages me so much personally. Do I fully understand God’s purpose? No. But I desire to know more and more of it.
Do we walk sinlessly? Are we perfect? No. But we are thankful for the blood of the Lamb. Are we always faithful? No, we are not.
But as we continue on, and as we have this personal, daily relationship with Him, we can allow the Holy Spirit to work within us—to daily prepare us and to cause us to become the people of God, coming into that place of singleness of heart.
Then one day we may see that glorious kingdom of this world becoming the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.
Brothers and sisters, as we have this opportunity this week, may we really take advantage of it. It is a great privilege we have in this hour to be set apart for a time.
May we be those with the spirit of Mary, coming to sit at the feet of our Lord and saying, “Lord, we are not ready. Make us ready.”
“Lord, we desire Your return. We want to be hastening Your return. We do not want to be those who delay it any longer. Lord, work within my heart.”
Each one of us wants to give the Holy Spirit great freedom within our hearts and lives. We are thankful for this time. We sense that the Lord has a special purpose for it.
It is not about us. It is about Him. He is wanting to work. In one simple way, He wants to show us more of His Son.
Are we in a place to see more of His Son? As we see more of His Son, we will be made a little more ready, a little more prepared, and hopefully hasten His return in a fuller and greater way.
We want to be a help to Him. We do not want to be a hindrance to Him.
As we have these opportunities, it is wonderful to have times together, but take times privately and quietly to be before the Lord. Allow the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts and lives, really preparing us.
We should really stand with our brothers Stephen, Dana, and David, that they would have great freedom and liberty to speak. Often, the word the Lord calls them to speak is not an easy word.
May they have boldness and confidence to be faithful with what He has placed upon their hearts. May we have graciousness and openness of heart to receive His word. May there be that same spirit for the children.
We are thankful that we are here this week. As we come to the Lord, we simply desire that He would do a work of preparation within each of our hearts and lives, and that we would be found cooperating with Him. Let us pray.
Lord, as we consider this matter of being prepared, we can have our own thoughts about what being prepared means. But Lord, above all, we want to see what being prepared is from Your perspective.
We want You to have great freedom and liberty in each of our hearts and lives to prepare us, Lord.
Lord, in those areas where You want to touch us, we want to be willing to allow You to work. We do not want to be found resisting You, Lord.
Even as we are here, we sense a battle in this day, a battle over this time. But we are thankful for Your victory that we have in You.
Lord, by faith we believe that You are going to do a great work. By faith, we want to be those who allow You to work within each one of us.
You took these sons of Issachar, Lord. They went through much, and You had them in the right place at the right time.
We want to be teachable and trainable also, so that at that moment, Lord, we would be found with You, waiting and working with You for Thy kingdom to come.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.