….But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand…and after that, he will let you go.

The reason why the king of Egypt did not let Israel go, not even by a mighty hand, was because of God himself.

“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt (Exodus 7:3).

This is what God said to Moses. He was saying that the first miracle was enough to convince pharaoh to let the people go, but it was not enough for God. He wanted to multiply His miracles in that land and, to do so, He had to harden the political leader’s heart. Secular leaders operate based on the unknown, while Godly leadership functions based upon revelation (what the Lord has revealed). When the Lord was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah He did not tell its leaders, however; he told Abraham.

Genesis 18:17 And the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?” (The blessing of every nation is secured in Abraham and his seed)

Pharaoh had no idea that his stubborn ways were not his own, but the Lord’s influence in the matter. This was very much bigger than pharaoh., who had no clue of the promise God gave to Abraham in Genesis 15. What made all of this happen? God and His people. If God’s people only knew their influence in the nations because of their redeemed relationship with God, mighty things would happen.

God and His people

Before pharaoh was born, Abraham knew what pharaoh would do to his people, but Abraham also knew that God would send a deliverer to save them and that they would leave wealthy. This process was based upon a strong prophetic word rooted within the covenant God made with Abraham.

So why did God orchestrate this? Again, God knows all things even hundreds of years before it will ever occur. He knew this and called Abraham and informed him. After Adam fell, God knew that man’s weaknesses would fail Him every time, so He swore by himself to have a people who He would love….

Genesis 15:13-16

…Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs…and also the nation whom they serve I will judge…but in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete”

God judges nations based upon their level and duration of sin. This sin disqualifies them from certain benefits from within that nation’s own land and resources. He then proceeds to transfer its wealth to another people.

Why did America suffer such horrific devastation in 2001? Has the Church asked the question, “What was happening behind the scenes?” Let’s look at another example in the book of Judges.

Consequences of choosing the wrong leader

In Judges 8:29-35 we see that Israel backslided and began to play the harlot with idols once again. They did not remember the Lord and how He delivered them from their enemies on every side.

Abimelech, who was one of Gideon’s sons, went to his brothers to organize their leadership over all of Shechem (Judges 9:1-6). It worked, but Abimelech had a plan to murder all his brothers except one, who hid himself. After the men of Shechem gave him money (probably for his campaign), they hired worthless and reckless men, sons of belial, murderers, to kill his brothers.

Jotham, Abimelech’s younger brother who hid himself and escaped, prophesied Shechem’s end and Abimelech’s downfall when he heard that they made his brother king over them. (Judges 9:7-21). This prophetic word was conditioned upon whether or not the men of Shechem had acted in truth and sincerity in anointing Abimelech king.

When we look at Zimbabwe’s economic disaster, one can think of only one problem that caused it, “LEADERSHIP”

Judges 9:22-23 says, “After Abimelech had reigned over Israel three years , GOD sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech.”

Now looking back at that situation, no one saw when God sent that spirit between them. However, the spirit came as a result of Jotham’s – Ahimelech’s youngest brother who escaped his murderous, political scheme – prophetic word. No one could explain why the hearts of the men of Shechem changed towards the leader whom they had anointed and followed for their past three years. No one can explain why certain leaders change suddenly, causing them to make decisions that negatively affect the rest of the world. The fact is that God still uses nations as His instruments of judgment.

Global Leadership shift

God spoke to me, telling me of a global leadership shift taking place right now throughout the nations of the world. He said good and evil leaders will be raised up, but they would all be placed there by God for His greater purpose which they are all ignorant of.

Why a global shift in leadership?

When Saul disobeyed a direct command to destroy the Amalekites by taking the advice and “good” ideas of the people, he was rejected by God. God told him that he found a better person to lead, but Saul did not stop being king immediately. God shifted the kingship and throne from the family of Saul to David.

Failure to execute the office and direct assignments from God as a leader of a nation results in a shift that comes by judgment. There are leaders of nations right now whose time of leadership has been up a long time ago.

Saul at one time nearly wiped out the Lord’s priests because they fed David and gave him a weapon to protect himself. One priest escaped whose name was Abiathar, and he served David faithfully throughout his reign. But when David died and his son Solomon became king, Abiathar defected to David’s older son, Adonijah, who wanted to be king in David’s stead. Adonijah was put to death, but Abiathar, because he served David faithfully as a priest of the Lord during his reign, was banished by Solomon and Zadok became priest in his stead.

This shift came as a result of Eli’s failure to execute his office effectively and for not constraining his sons who perverted the office of the priesthood (1 Samuel 2). God promised through a prophet that his family would no longer be responsible for executing the priesthood again.

America may be on the verge of history by having its first black president, while in my country, Trinidad and Tobago, the new chief justice is a born again believer. He is the youngest CJ the country has ever had to date. According to protocol he should not be in office, but the Lord can bypass our governmental and constitutional protocol to establish his purposes in nations.

Lessons From King David

David was a man after God’s own heart, but coming to the close of his time on the throne something happened; David numbered Israel which was sinful to God. There are two separate accounts of this, let’s read them:

1. Again the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He(God) moved David (the leader) against them (Israel) to say, “Go, number Israel and Judah” (2 Sam 24:1).

David, even though he was a godly leader, had no clue that God Himself was behind this. The king asked his general, Joab to carry out this mission, to which he protested. However, the king’s word prevailed over Joab’s (2 Sam 24:2-4).

2. Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to numberIsrael (1 Chron 21:1).
In this account, Satan is included. Another version says, “Satan attempted to attack Israel by provoking David to count the Israelites” (1 Chronicles 21:1 God’s Word).

If you read a couple chapters before, both accounts will show you that there were certain wars that David and Israel got involved in and won without counting how much men they had. Israel had somehow performed a sin that angered God, and as a result of that sin, He moved David against them, but not directly. David showed no negative attitude towards Israel at all. But unknown to him, he was being used by God to move against them by numbering the people, and Satan was allowed to incite him to commit this sin.

This teaches us that when a people are bent on committing a sin, God uses the leader to move against them by allowing him or her to fall for the temptation of the enemy Satan. God used this strategy to judge Israel, but did not take it upon himself to decide the form of judgment that he would use. Instead, God gave David the opportunity to choose one judgment out of three. He chose three days of pestilence in which seventy thousand men died (1 Chronicles 21:8-14).

Learning God’s Ways

Now the course that I have taken in this lesson is not necessarily one that is prophetic, but rather to show us the ways of God. God’s acts were shown to Israel, but his ways were shown to Moses. The prophetic is a gift of the Holy Spirit, an action and supernatural manifestation of God upon his servants to forth-tell and foretell coming events. However, when you learn or are shown the wisdom and ways of God that’s a whole different thing. When God teaches you His ways, you can expect Him to do things even if there is no prophecy given. However, He never hides from his servants what He is about to do.