I released these words to a congregation I ministered to recently:
"Get ready for Me to entrust you with My glory, and the greater things that you have not imagined yet! For you are entering a time of greater blessing and greater victory! Many will see My blessings so real in your lives, just as many have seen My blessings so real in Obed-Edom's life! Look to Me and follow Me, and I will bring it to pass!"
We are crossing the threshold to enter into the Hebrew year 5779! Shanah Tovah! Have a good year! And as you cross over into a new year of the Lord for you, get ready for His greater glory and for greater things to happen to you!
Never mind if in the past season, you have been obscured, sidelined, or even misunderstood by others, because the Lord says things are going to start changing around you! In fact, the year ahead is a year He is entrusting many things to you, even things you have not imagined yet!
Note: The word 'entrust' can be defined as 'put (something) into someone's care/stewardship'.
The past weeks have been a time the Lord was calling His people to humble themselves under His mighty hand. I have written about this last week. Pride is very subtle, and we often do not even know there's an element of pride in our lives. Even if we do, we may not want to admit it! That's when we need the Holy Spirit more than ever. We need Him to speak to us and work in us. We need Him to correct us and guide us. Greater blessing comes when we allow Him to do His work in us. Jesus says, "Blessed are the humble, for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5)
Let's go to 2 Samuel chapter 6 now, and we shall look at someone named Obed-Edom. In 2 Samuel 6:9-10, the Scripture says, 'David was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, "How can the ark of the Lord come to me?" So David would not move the ark of the Lord with him into the City of David; but David took it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite'.
Here's the background. Soon after becoming king over all Israel and Judah, David wanted to bring the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem. In our context, the ark of the Lord here is a 'picture' of 'the glory of the Lord, the presence of the Lord, i.e. Jesus Himself'. It was a good intention, but it was not done correctly (in the way the Lord had commanded it). Instead of sanctifying themselves first and having the Levites carry the ark on their shoulders by its poles, they set the ark on a wheel cart; and that's how they brought it out of the house of Abinadab (2 Samuel 6:3). Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were tasked with guiding the cart - Ahio in front, and Uzzah behind. As they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark. God's anger was aroused because of Uzzah's irreverent act, and He struck him. Uzzah died then and there (2 Samuel 6:3-7).
David was terrified, and the plans to bring the ark into Jerusalem had to be aborted. David decided he would not move the ark to Jerusalem for the time being, and it was then that he entrusted the care of the ark to Obed-Edom. Interestingly, this name Obed-Edom was never mentioned anywhere in the Scripture prior to this ark incident, and little was known about him. But you do get a clue from his name. 'Obed' here is from the word 'abad' in Hebrew, meaning 'to serve humbly, or to worship', whereas 'Edom' is a nickname of Esau, the older twin brother of Jacob. 'Obed-Edom' therefore speaks of 'a person who has been concealed, unknown, and unrecognized by others; but one who has been humbly serving and worshiping the Lord faithfully all these while'. In short, he was a man of humility and faithfulness. And now, his time out of obscurity had finally arrived!
2 Samuel 6:11-12a says, 'The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household. Now it was told King David, saying, "The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of the Lord."' Indeed, blessings follow wherever the 'ark' goes! Obed-Edom 'housed' the 'glory of the Lord', and greater things began to happen in (and around) his life! You see, the blessings in one's life will never go unnoticed! Others will see it so real, and they will know the Lord is with him/her! And so it was with Obed-Edom! And when David heard of it, he came and brought up the ark of the Lord from the house of Obed-Edom to Jerusalem with gladness! (2 Samuel 6:12b)
One may ask, why was the 'blessing' not evident when the ark was kept in Abinadab's house, but was so evident when the ark was kept in Obed-Edom's house? The answer is simple. I believe it was because Obed-Edom treasured the ark! It is the same today for all of us. How much do we treasure the glory of the Lord and the presence of the Lord in our lives?
In fact, Obed-Edom treasured the ark so much that when the time came to move the ark from his house to Jerusalem, Obed-Edom chose to follow the ark! He actually had a choice. He could have stayed where he was, but he chose to move with the ark! You see, his desire for the Lord caused him to do whatever it took to be close to the Lord! The Scripture tells us that he later became a doorkeeper for the ark, as he continued to be a worshiper of the Lord! (1 Chronicles 15:24, 1 Chronicles 16:1-5)
And finally, 1 Chronicles 26:4-6 says, 'The sons of Obed-Edom were Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad, Joah, Sacah, Nethanel, Ammiel, Issachar, Peulthai: for God blessed him. Also to Shemaiah his son, were sons born who governed their fathers' houses, men of great ability'. Not only Obed-Edom was greatly blessed, his whole family (even the generation to come) was greatly blessed too! Let it be so for your life, your household, and all that you put your hands on, as you look ahead to a new year! Hallelujah!
