for several months that we are in a “set time” for the manifestation
of God’s people. We are standing in the midst of what God has been prophesying
for generations. The kingdom of God is here, and I believe it is our
responsibility to wrap this age up.
In Psalm 102:13
David makes a prophetic statement during his prayer saying, “You
will arise and have mercy on Zion; for the time to favor her, yes, the set
time, has come.” In this passage,
“Zion” refers to the church and “set time” to an actual chronological
moment in history when something will occur.
An important part of
this teaching about the manifestation of the church is “vengeance”
and “recompense”; but God’s vengeance is not defined the way most
people think it is.
His vengeance has nothing to do with emotional resentment or
hate; rather it is affliction that proceeds from the love of justice. It took
vengeance for Moses to move the children of Israel out of Egypt. One plague
after another came upon Egypt, destroying the country’s economy and livelihood.
Yet pharaoh, the king of Egypt, still would not release God’s chosen people
into their destiny. God eventually had to deal with pharaoh in the most extreme
manner. Why? Because of a “set time”–a time set by God Himself.
Things had happened
with Israel just as the Lord had spoken it to Abram (see Gen. 15:13-14). Israel
went into captivity for 400 years, and the set time for their release could not
be altered. Not even by one year or day. God manifested His prophetic timetable
through Moses, whom He had raised up to execute His plan of deliverance (see
Ex. 3:19-22).
Pharaoh didn’t know
he was trying to resist God’s “prophetic season.” Have you ever tried to
stop a season that has begun? Maybe like wearing short sleeves outside on a
cool fall night hoping that you can delay winter? Forget it! You can’t do it.
Now, most people who
have been in bondage (slavery) for 400 years would be satisfied just to be
free, but the plan of God for Israel included more than that. He promised them one more thing
besides vengeance: “When
you go, you shall not go empty” (Ex. 3:21). The Bible calls this
“recompense.”
Isaiah writes:
“For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, the year of recompense
for the cause of Zion” (34:8), and “Say
to those who are fearful-hearted, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God
will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save
you’” (35:4).
The word recompense
means “to compensate; to make a return of an equivalent for anything
given, done or suffered, to make amends, to pay back” (emphasis
added). This recompense of Israel was to be a payback for all the years they
worked and were not paid, and were afflicted and held in bondage as slaves in
Egypt.
Because of our
enemy’s resistance, many of the things God has placed in the hearts of His
people have never been done, built, started or invented. Businesses do not
exist that should have been started and should be producing millions for God’s
kingdom by now. There are schools that should have been built, ministries that
should have been started, marriages that should have been consummated and
contracts that should have been awarded.
It’s no wonder that
Christianity has not been attractive to many people—they have witnessed the
church being bullied, when the truth is that the church has a strength that
cannot be measured. Think of how many kids in our high schools might have
been saved from trouble, incarceration—even death—if God’s presence had been in
those schools through His Word.
Well, God says that “the set time has come” for the Lord to
favor Zion. That means the set time has arrived—it is now, it is today. He is announcing to us that our
struggle ends today.
Everything that has
been resisting you, everything that has been held back from you, ends today.
Say it out
loud: “Everything resisting me, my struggle, ends today!” Your
season of frustration and failure is over. Your season of success and victory has
begun.
About the author:
Bill Winston is founder and pastor of Living Word Christian Center, a
19,000-member church located in Forest Park, Ill., and Tuskegee Christian
Center in Tuskegee, Ala. The church has a broad range of entities that include
the Joseph Business School, Living Word School of Ministry and Missions, the
32-acre Forest Park Plaza shopping mall, Washington Plaza shopping center in
Tuskegee, Living Word Christian Academy, and many others. For more, visit
Bill Winston Ministries at billwinston.org.
