Our Allotment in the Promise Part 7 “Gad”
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19 Gad, a troop shall overcome him: But he shall overcome at the last.
Introduction
Introduction
Note: We have gone through Reuben, Simeon and Levi, Judah, Dan, Zebulun and Naphtali, and now come to Gad.
Background:
Jesus is the Word
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
And then as God gave out His Word, what would be, predestinated His Church, before the foundation of the world, “It would appear before Him, without spot or wrinkle.” And the timepiece is moving right on down.
And It will be there, a Church, glorious Church, without spot or wrinkle! I’m trusting that we’re all, here tonight, members of that Church. And that there’s only one way to enter that Church, not by any denomination, you enter It by new Birth. And you say, “Well, I believe that.”
And if you do, then you will punctuate every Word of this Bible, with an “amen,” everything the Bible says; because It is Christ, and you are a part of Christ, and the Holy Spirit revealing this Truth. Each age has had its allotment of Word to be fulfilled. 64-0120 - "His Unfailing Words Of Promise"
This is the age of the fulness of Christ, the fulness of the Word.
Hold that in your mind.
Gad means “good fortune” or “troop”
10 And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a son.
11 And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.
Jacob’s prophecy over him has to do with wordplay on his name:
19 Gad, a troop shall overcome him: But he shall overcome at the last.
Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh failed to cross the Jordan and go all the way in to the promised land.
We’ve already dealt with Reuben but we didn’t go very far into this story.
1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;
2 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying,
3 Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,
4 Even the country which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle:
5 Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan.
This was the same land that Lot had seen. It became the plain of Moab, Lot’s son. Moab speaks of denomination.
Even after Lot is delivered in Genesis 19 he asked permission to stay in the plain, for literally the same reason.
The Moabites knew the truth, whether they lived up to it or not. An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages (5 - The Pergamean Church Age)
10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.
Their decision was the same as his.
6 And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?
7 And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them?
8 Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.
Here is a new generation making the same mistake.
9 For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the Lord had given them.
10 And the Lord’s anger was kindled the same time, and he sware, saying,
11 Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:
12 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the Lord.
13 And the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the Lord, was consumed.
14 And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers’ stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel.
15 For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people.
They made a compromise, they would help their brethren fight for the land, but they would leave their cattle and little ones behind.
16 And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones:
17 But we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land.
18 We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance.
19 For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward.
Just because God allows something doesn’t make it right. Now they were operating in permissive will, proving they were not of those who were predestined to the full promise.
20 And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the Lord to war,
21 And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the Lord, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him,
22 And the land be subdued before the Lord: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the Lord, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the Lord.
In Joshua 22 Joshua acknowledges that Gad and Reuben and half Manasseh had done their part, and they went home, back across the Jordan.
9 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
They had quotes saying “Moses gave this to us”. They could say God allowed it, but it was not his original plan.
Bro. Branham’s vision:
I had gotten up, and I looked where, in front of me, and I was coming down to the Jordan. Looked like I was standing on the map of Palestine, and I was coming down to the Jordan. And seemed like I could hear the song, I’m Going Down To The Jordan, someone was singing it.
And as I drew near the river, I looked back and seen which a way I had come, and I was two thirds of the way there, to the Jordan. And I looked across Jordan, and I said, “Oh, praise God, just on the other side is where all the promises lay! Every promise lays in the promised Land.” 61-1210 - "Paradox"
Death was conquered on the other side of the Jordan. That was the land of the resurrection.
Those who stayed across Jordan kept that attitude all the way down to Jesus time.
Look when Israel was dividing up their lands. There was, I believe it was, Gad was one of them, and perhaps, the half tribe; they didn’t go over into the promised land; they stayed on this side, borderline.
Jesus visit that same people. And look at the results of staying out of the full benefits of God’s love.
When Jesus visit them He went over in Gadara; …That’s where they come from, right there. And their attitude was still the same way. Because it cost them a bunch of hogs to have the meeting, they asked Jesus to leave their land.
They didn’t want nothing to do with it; they had their own ways; they had their own churches. They didn’t want nothing to do with Jesus, so they asked Him to leave the land. 55-1009 - "The Way To Have Fellowship"
In both instances they rejected the fullness of the Word.
9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
They were very religious, but they rejected the fulness.
10 And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to see to.
They left Shiloh, and built an altar on the wrong side of Jordan.
It was beautiful, it was huge, but it was not ordained by God.
If you think about the church, you think of allotments given to an age, not a tribe.
Each age has had its allotment of Word to be fulfilled. 64-0120 - "His Unfailing Words Of Promise"
After we have come to the fulness of the Word, why would we go back to denominational pastures?
They said we have justification, sanctification, the gifts of the Spirit, and they did, but that wasn’t all of it.
The Pentecostal church was a shuck and it will not be heir with the Bride, who receives all the promises of God.
Why did Gad stay across the land? Because that is where they had success.
Lot had success in Sodom, until his wife was turned into a pillar of salt.
Look at Moses’ blessing of Gad:
20 And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: He dwelleth as a lion, And teareth the arm with the crown of the head.
21 And he provided the first part for himself, Because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he seated; And he came with the heads of the people, He executed the justice of the Lord, And his judgments with Israel.
He provided for Himself. He was successful in that.
Illustrate: Rich Young Ruler
You know what the Bible says about this young fellow? He become more successful. So, sometimes success don’t mean that you’ve made the right choice.
You know what he did? He went out and had all big times, and throwed big parties, and spent lots of money and everything, on the girls and everything.
And then he got married and maybe had a family. And he just increased so much till he had to build new barns and things. And he said, “You see, I didn’t follow Jesus, and look what I got!”
You may hear people say that, and I have, “Well, look, He’s blessed me.” That don’t mean it all.
And after a while his barns swelled till even he said, why, even, “Soul, take your rest. I’ve got so much money and so much success! And I’m such a great man!
I belong to all the clubs. And I have the riches of the world in my hands. I own great sums of land and sums of money, and, why, my, there everybody likes me, a very fine person to be.”
But you know, the Bible said that, that night, God said to him, “I’m going to require your soul.” 65-1031A - "Leadership"
Bro. Branham said he was led by the influence of his success.
The pentecostal church started as a tiny little group, look what they are today.
By every standard they have been successful.
RECENTLY Life magazine, in listing the top 100 events of the second millennium, put Pentecostalism at 68th. The Dictionary of Christianity in America says that Pentecostalism is perhaps “the single-most-significant development in twentieth-century Christianity.”
The largest church in the world is a Pentecostal church in Korea: the Yoido Full Gospel Church pastored by David Yongii Cho. 240,000 attend weekly worship. Two Pentecostal churches in Buenos Aires attract together 150,000 each week.
Pentecostalism has become the fastest growing family of world Christianity. It is growing at a rate of 13 million a year, or 35,000 a day. With nearly a half billion adherents, it is, after Roman Catholicism, the largest Christian tradition. christianhistoryinstitute.org
She counts numbers for success, rather than to look for fruit. An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages (9 - The Laodicean Church Age)
They took God’s permissive will, not His perfect will.
Now, you see, from as I said last night, any move from that original plan of God throws the whole thing out of cater. We can’t move from that original Word.
We talked on it last evening, or evening before last, rather, on Balaam. He got God’s answer, straight and clear, “Don’t go!” But He has a permissive will. And you can work in that if you wish to, and God will make it honor Him, but still it’s not God’s perfect will.
And that’s what we should strive for, His perfect will, not His permissive will. The Kingdom of God, which He…is in the earth today, will…can never be set up, justly, on a permissive will. It’s got to come back to His perfect will. 65-0429B - "The Seed Shall Not Be Heir With The Shuck"
His perfect will is the fullness of the Word.
She was not the Seed. Mary was not. Just a shuck, tassel, and stalk, carriers of part of the Word, not all the Word! Luther had justification; Wesley had sanctification; Pentecostals had the restoration of the gifts. But when the Word come…
Now, they could produce that, that, justification will save a man. You believe that? Sure, it was a carrier of the Word, just the same as I believe the stalk is part of the wheat. Sure, it is, but it’s the carrier. It ain’t the Life.
Then along come sanctification. How many believes in sanctification? You believe the Bible, you have to. Sure. So still that’s not; it’s a little more like; that’s two more words.
But then come the Pentecost, the restoration of the gifts. Speaking in tongues, there, they call that the initial evidence, which brought forth (the what?) the shuck, but they denominated.
But when you come to say, “I and My Father are One,” and these other things, then the shuck pulls away from It. But the real, genuine Bride Church will bring forth the entire Word of God, in Its fullness and in Its strength, for He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. 65-0218 - "The Seed Is Not Heir With The Shuck"
8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Where is our inheritance? In the fullness of Him.
Our inheritance is not in the plain of Moab.
“Now, what do you say about you Pentecostals?” “Oh, bless God, Brother Branham, we got the fullness when we spoke in tongues.”
“You didn’t, that’s exactly right. You look it in the face, that’s not the way He manifested Hisself back there to the Church. Although, He does speak through tongues, I believe in speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, but that’s not all of it.” 58-0619E - "Can We See Jesus?"
What they was gifts out of order, what we have is the fullness in order, and some want to go back to chaos.
The Spoken Word has created order, why would we want chaos again?
Bro. Branham wasn’t against emotion, but he said wait until the fullness comes in.
Wait till that satisfaction comes, the satisfaction Portion of the fullness of the Holy Spirit comes in, then these joy bells of shouting, and speaking in tongues, and dancing in the Spirit, will come.
You won’t have to do it by the music. You will do it when you’re going down the road, in your car. You will do it when you’re sweeping the floor. You will do it when you’re driving nails in the wall, with your carpenter work. Wherever you are, that Joy unspeakable and full of glory! 65-0919 - "Thirst"
Let’s apply this to us.
I’ve seen folks who fought for years to help the Message. Gave their time and money to help the people of God, but when the time comes they settle on the other side of Jordan.
Settle for religion instead of the True Baptism of the Holy Ghost.
Settle for formal church services instead of true worship.
Settle for dogma built on personal testimony and superstition instead of the full Word of God.
Settle for a good name in the community, or the illusion of success like the rich young ruler, without surrendering all to Christ.
Why settle for the other side of the river, when here is a land where all things are possible.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Don’t be a Gadite. In the end they overcome and are placed properly in the millenium. They have their portion, but their land became a hog lot, and they rejected Christ. Lot was saved, but his wife became a pillar of salt, and his family became the Moabites who were completely destroyed. We want the perfect will of God.
