JPM: Be Not Desolate

Joseph Prime Minister:
Be Not Desolate

Genesis 47:19
Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.

In my lesson JPM: Complete Surrender, I wrote of the levels of surrender that we come through to Jesus.

The context of this verse comes at the end of their own provision, with no more money, or livestock to barter with, they have come to the end of themselves and are willing to sell themselves and their land to Pharaoh in exchange for bread.

Their greatest concerns now are no longer the money, or livestock. Now they are looking at their lives and the desolation of the land.

I know that their lives are at a point of being famished (intense hunger), but the thing that caught my attention is their concern…

“…that the land be not desolate…”

H3456
Desolate
Hebrew word: YAW-SHAM’
To lie waste

There a lot of scripture that speaks of the desolation of Israel.

Jeremiah and Isaiah spoke of the carrying away of the Jews to Babylon, leaving the land desolate.

And, I would probably go in that direction, but there’s something else for us to look at.

When the Egyptians came in complete surrender, their concern wasn’t only their own personal deaths by hunger, it was also insuring the life of the land, the soil.

“…Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land…”

“And our land”

H127
Land
Hebrew word; AD-AW-MAW’
Strong’s Concordance:
“…ad-aw-maw’; from H119; soil (from its general redness):—country, earth, ground, husband(-man) (-ry), land…”

Matthew 13:3
And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow…

If you’ve read your bibles, perhaps you remember this one.

Some years ago I discovered a new observation (at least to me) of this passage.

Jesus tells a parable of four areas where the sower sowed seed: by the wayside (path), upon stony places, among the thorns, and in good ground.

The doctrine has always been that these are four different types of people, but what if these are a progression of stages of those who come to salvation.

I wrote the following back in March 19, 2020, please see the link below.

The Soils

I won’t go into the description of those soils, but this link has those thoughts.

The Egyptians have now come to that complete surrender, they have accepted their dependence on Joseph, and they acknowledge their desire for the production of the land.

But it’s more than only earth, or land, it’s got more to do with the spiritual aspect than only the physical planting.

In this prospect, it’s more about the sower, and those upon whom the seed is sowed.

A typical farmer will not cast the seed until the land is prepared. This sower does not appear to follow planting procedures, but simply casts the seed.

Consider also that when Jesus speaks of the soils, he speaks of “he that heareth the word” (Matthew 13:19-23).

“He” that heareth is the land.

The Hebrew word for land is AW-DAM-AW’, do you see the similarity to the name of the first man Adam?

The Hebrew word for man is AW-DAM’

H120
Man /Adam
Hebrew word: AW-DAM’
The same Hebrew word for man is Adam

As God took man from the dust of the earth, he has repurposed it, and desires to repurpose man.

The sower didn’t prepare the land, or did he?

Those of us who can hear spiritual things have not always been able to. It comes through a process of continual exposure to the Word.

We have come through stages of belief, which is to say, that we have learned how to believe time after time.

From the first time, which seems insignificant, when the “seed” fell by the wayside (which also sounds like it fell on deaf ears), the Word actually made contact although it was stolen. It made enough contact for God to count it as the first time it was heard.

But we were not the first ones, nor were we the only ones to hear it. We are among multitudes who have heard it.

Matthew 13:38
The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one…

One of the most notable preachers of our the last century is Billy Graham.

Think of him as the sower. He had probably the largest ministry of his time. Football stadiums, and arenas would be filled to come hear him preach.

It staggers my imagination of the prospects of salvation that were “produced” as he “sowed” those fields.

In Matthew 38, Jesus told a second parable of a farmer who actually planted a field. Sometime later he realized that there were tares (poisonous seed) also growing together with the wheat.

Jesus said…

“…The field is the world…”

There is much to see in this verse.

In this parable the seed is still the Word of God, but this verse amplifies Jesus’s previous parable, because the “sower” is multiplied.

Now consider that the sower is Jesus, we are the good seed that he scatters in the world.

Acts 8:4
Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

Remember this?

The church had been alive and thriving in Jerusalem for some time when it began to be persecuted.

Paul said…

“…And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women…”
Acts 22:4

Persecuted
Greek word: G1377 DEE-O’-KO
Strong’s Concordance:
“…dee-o’-ko; a prolonged (and causative) form of a primary verb… (to flee; compare the base of G1169 and G1249); to pursue (literally or figuratively); by implication, to persecute:—ensue, follow (after), given to, (suffer) persecute(-ion), press forward…”

Being a Spanish speaking person, I see “persecuted”, and I see “perseguir” which is to follow or chase.

The English form gives the essence of malicious intent, which the church endures even today in hostile counties.

This caused the church in Jerusalem to scatter. But it was by design.

No one likes conflict, guess what? Conflict is a good thing.

The new church was contained in Jerusalem, yes the church had grown beyond Jerusalem and gone to several cities there, but the reality of the church was that it must be far reaching.

Remember that Jerusalem was the attraction of Jews from the known world for Passover. There were people from so many places, and languages who came to salvation, and from salvation to doctrine, and from doctrine to thriving.

This was God’s plan. Persecution was the fire to propel the church and the gospel farther; to the lengths, the widths, and heights of the world, for all time. The church and gospel have become 4-D (4 dimensions). It’s not supposed to fit there either, it also extends into heaven where those who have gone on to be with the Lord are.

Now, understand that the sower is the Holy Spirit. He is the whole reason why we believe, he is the source of living water in the believer, he’s the one who carves out the rivers in the desert. He’s the fire, the anointing, and he is the filler of your faith.

Now, understand that he will scatter the church as he sees fit.

That seed, which is the Word of God, has also transformed you (believers) into the same seed, to be a Word of God in your world where you have been sowed, this is why you are here.

Don’t wait for persecution, get fired up, realize who has called you, and be his “seed”.

Remember the amplification which I spoke of earlier? Now you are the sower.

Jesus loves you.

God bless.
Pedro Villarreal

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
Numbers 6:24-26

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