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The Covenant of Miracles

Many years ago, I watched certain men of God as they were led by the Spirit. They would often travel thousands of miles at times just because the Lord told them to pray at a certain location to obtain a good result. I was struck with the fact that unless they truly knew and believed that God had spoken, they would never do such things. Often, such trips were expensive, and I knew they could hardly afford such expenses.

As I pondered this, I realized that no one starts out doing the "big" things. They start out by doing things on a small scale as they learn to hear His voice and (just as important) to have confidence that they have heard correctly. This only comes by experience, because God seldom speaks audibly and almost never writes it on stone in front of you.

One must learn to be guided by the still, small voice that Elijah heard, rather than looking for Him in the wind, the tempest, or the earthquake. For this reason, it takes experience and training.

I think it was in 1989 that I was led for the first time to go out on a thousand-mile trip to Corpus Christi, Texas in order to pray against a coming hurricane. I left on June 19, and the hurricane formed on the 24th in the Gulf of Mexico. I prayed against it on June 28, and it dissolved by the next day without ever coming to shore. I could not afford such a trip, and, in fact, the money to make the trip did not arrive until the day I was to leave.

God provides for what He commands. This is one of the confirming witnesses by which we can know that He has indeed spoken. When people do not really believe this, they tend to beg for money to make up the shortfall. But this is often an attempt to bypass God and appeal directly to the people, as if to "go over His head." Such practices bring about a self-generated illusion of double witness.

In praying last night about what to write today, the Lord referred to the Promise that He made on October 1, which I included at the end of yesterday's web log. First, He told me to read Hebrews 10:23, "For He is faithful that promised." Then He gave me Exodus 34:10,

"And He said, Behold, I make a COVENANT; before all the people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the Lord; for it is a marvelous thing that I will do with thee."

This is one of the forgotten covenants of God. Dispensational theologians have eloquently preached on the covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David, but seem to think that this covenant of miracles was applicable only to Moses. But the 10 plagues had already occurred; the Red Sea had already been parted; the fire of God had already come down upon Sinai. This covenant was something more.

This is the covenant that formed the basis of Jesus' promise in John 14:12,

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and GREATER WORKS than these shall he do, because I go unto My Father."

How can one do greater works than Jesus did? Are there greater works than raising Lazarus from the dead after he had been dead four days? This statement has always intrigued me. But there are only two conditions stated that must happen before these greater works can be done. The first is to believe, or have faith, and the second is that Jesus had to go to His Father.

Well, the second condition was met a long time ago. We are currently in faith-training. I believe also that there is an underlying condition that governs all things, which is not mentioned specifically--it has to be the right timing.

Moses received word of this covenant of miracles while he was on his eighth trip up the mount. Upon returning to the camp of Israel, Moses' face was glowing. He so frightened the people that he had to wear a veil over his face while talking to them.

This context shows us something about timing. Moses' eight trips up and down the mount represent the eight days of the feast of Tabernacles. This implies that the glorified body is to be given to us on the eighth day of Tabernacles of some year, for this incident is prophetic of that change from mortal to immortal and from groaning to glory.

It seems to me, then, that this covenant of miracles will be timed to begin on the eighth day of Tabernacles of some year. Since we are receiving this promise now, I am hopeful that it will begin shortly, perhaps even this year. Certainly, we have been seeing signs and hints of this in His word for the past few months.

Yet we do not know yet if this covenant of miracles will manifest all at once, or if it will come in phases over a period of years. We cannot assume anything or lean unto our own understanding. So this bears watching very closely and making sure that we are ready for whatever He does at this time.

One other reason that God restricts fulfillments by the timing factor is that it gives us time to grow into the job. When too much authority is given to the spiritually young, they tend to be destroyed by it, because their character is not mature enough to handle the experience. We see this in the example of King Saul, who was made king without any divine training such as David received. Likewise, today there are many miracle workers who do not have the character of Christ sufficient to keep their pride under control.

The "greater works" are reserved for those who experience the change at the time of the fulfillment of Tabernacles. Why? Simply because is will be an awesome display of power and authority that will make all previous miracles look like mere practice. In John 14:13, Jesus continued, saying,

"And whatsoever you shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."

Such authority cannot be given to those who would abuse it, creating miracles for one's own glory or benefit. To authorize immature people in this way would only make matters worse in the earth and create more little popes who would serve their own interests instead of truly glorifying God. They would build their own denominations and religions, instead of building the Kingdom of God.

That is why timing is important. If we all became instantly mature when we were born, or even when we were reborn spiritually, there would be no problem. But this is not how God created us. Maturity comes through time and experience.