Today we will talk about: Lockdown and the Bible. We will look at the principle of lockdown through the bible and how to enjoy this time and do things that pleases our God.
Because of the Virus, the world is crazy! Today governments around the world are telling us: Stay home, lives matters! Protect your old people. You can not go out from home! You are in lockdown.
Because of that, Many people are afraid to go to shops, supermarket or go to their relative’s house. Many people stopped going to Church.
It almost means: If you leave your house, you will be dead.
Here in Ireland, we are living our third lockdown and we are the country with the highest number of spread of Coronavirus in the world. Can you believe it? 3 lockdowns were not enough to stop the spread of coronavirus. Staying home is not enough to stop the virus.
It reminds me of stories of lockdown from Bible. Yes, did you know that quarantine and lockdown are biblical measures? If we read the bible we’re gonna see God telling people to keep their families clean.
Do you want an example of quarantine?
Here we go. Please, Read with me in…
“Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.”
Leviticus 13:45-46
They must live outside the camp while they are unclean.
God commanded that to keep people clean and to protect his people from the spread of diseases.
Another time that God asked people to be safe is in Genesis 6.
Those who entered Noah’s ark would be safe.
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was evil. So he decided to end with the human kind, but Noah found favour before God. So God told him to build an ark and whoever entered it would be saved.
Also, God ordered another lockdown to save lives. But along with this lockdown issue, people had a few more things to do in order to be saved!
Those who remain at home, with a sign on their door would be saved.
I think you know this story and today we will take something from this message.
Moses was called to set People free from Egypt. They were there as slaves, they had been crying out for help for many years. So, God decided to answer their prayers. God raised Moses up and through him spoke to Pharaoh: Let my people go, said God to Pharaoh, but his hear was like a rock and Pharaoh did not let the people worship God.
So God started sending plagues to show His power and open the Pharaoh’s eyes, but Pharaoh was like a cold stone. Unt God sent the last plague that finally set His people free.
Every firstborn in Egypt would be killed, but the house of Israel, if they have a sign on their door, the firstborn in that household would be spared. In order to be safe, they had to stay at home as well as doing other things. Look:
Read with me in Exodus 12
“Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.
“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.”
Exodus 12:7, 12-13 NIV
To be saved, they had to be at home with the lamb.
It was the first time they would celebrate the Passover.
I believe that the people of Israel cleaned their homes that night, they prepared the place to celebrate the Passover. The bible says that if the family was too small, they could share the lamb with another family.
What can we learn from this?
-In the lockdown prepare your house to receive the Lamb!
During that time, People had to gather their family, clean their homes, change their clothes, and stay together.
Today, while we are facing this difficult time in lockdown, prepare your home! Prepare a special place to worship the Lamb, Jesus Christ. Get together with your family members, read the bible together, worship the Lord, pray together and you will be safe. Make a covenant between your family and God. You can say as Joshua said: But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.Joshua 24:15.
Today we have to use hand sanitizers to clean hands. It’s right, but not enough. Today we have to clean our house in a physical way. And we must also clean our homes in a spiritual way.
Many houses are destroyed. Children and youth are lost because of social media, Internet, many false teachings, lies. Clean up your house! Clean up your house! Remove everything that is bad, from evil, put out every bad feeling, wrong ways, bad thoughts!
Deep clean your habits, deep clean your relationship with your wife, your husband, your children and your parents. Do a deep cleansing in your heart! Prepare the environment to receive Jesus, The lamb. Prepare the environment so that the heavens may come down and your house may be a piece of heaven.
Prepare your house to receive the lamb! Prepare your house to receive Jesus!!!
Verse 7 says they had to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and top of the doorframes of their houses.
There is a lesson here:
-In the lockdown protect your house!
People of Israel had to do something to protect their children. They had to take action. They had to take the blood of the Lamb and put it on the sides and top of their doorframes.
I’m inviting you today to act and protect your house too.
The government says you have to use Masks to protect yourself against the virus. They are right but it’s not enough.
I’m inviting you to protect your family using the blood of the Lamb.
Jesus poured out his blood on the cross to save us, to forgive our sins, and also to protect us from evil.
Ask God as the bible says in 2 Samuel:
“Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, Sovereign Lord, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever.”
2 Samuel 7:29 NIV
My brother and sister, fight for your family. Do not give up. Bring them to Jesus’ feet. Protect them from evil. Declare the word of God over them, it will feed their faith.
Get some verses of the bible and study together. Pray the bible. I usually pray the verses of the bible.
The bible says:
“Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
Ephesians 6:11 NIV
Put on the full armour of God to protect your family.
Also the bible says:
“no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord.”
Isaiah 54:17 NIV
Fight for your family. Declare: No weapon forged against me will prevail.Jesus conquered evil by his mighty power!
Declare the word of a God upon your family, to protect them.
Protect your house during the lockdown.
-In the lockdown, bring in the lamb and feed yourself from him.
On that night God would Pass over Egypt, people had to take a perfect lamb, prepare it and eat it in their homes.
We know, God was showing the world that one day he would send his only son, Jesus Christ to be The perfect lamb who would die for us and save us.
As They had to bring in a lamb, we have to invite Jesus to live with us, everyday.
Some months ago, God put in my heart a desire to visit every brother from the church and worship God with them.
I was going to visit someone from Church and I asked God what did He want me to say, and suddenly I heard: Build an altar of worship. Wow! I rejoiced in His presence and started to work on this project of building an altar in each household of the Church. We can live through lockdown, but nobody can stop us from building an altar of worship to the Lord. So, every week My family and I are going to visit someone and together, we are praising God through worship songs, we are sharing the gospel and praying together. My desire is to see everyone in the Church doing the same with their own family, every week, every day. My desire is to see everyone bringing Jesus, The lamb, into their homes!
So here is my advice: Bring Jesus to your house and build an altar of worship.
The bible says, In that night they brought in a lamb, they prepare it, killed it and the whole family ate from it.
Jesus said to eat the bread of life that comes from heaven.
Look in John 6:
“Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.””
John 6:47-51 NIV.
We have to eat from Jesus. He is the bread of life.
How can we do that? Feed your soul everyday. Everyday we have to eat meals to keep our physical body healthy, and it’s the same way with our soul. We have to feed our souls with the bible and with our the relationship with God, everyday, in order to stay alive!
If we feed our soul with Jesus, we receive hope to conquer these hard times, if we feed our soul with Jesus we won’t be afraid of the future, because God is with us, if we feed our soul we have eternal life!
So, Do you want to feed your soul?
The bread of life is available. Amen?
So, today we learned about the lockdown and the bible.
We learned what we have to do during this time.
Look.
-Prepare your house to receive the Lamb.
Jesus is the best guest. Clean your hands, your heart, change the unclean clothes and put clean clothes to receive the Lamb.
-Protect your house.
Declare the word of God upon your family. Pray the word of God, fight for your family, ask God for help and he will guide you for the right way to lead with your family.
And…
-Bring the lamb into your house and feed your soul.
The bread of life is still available. Ask God to help you feed your soul and bring the lamb into your house.
If you bring the lamb into your house, you are bringing peace, when you bring Jesus, you are receiving love, comfort, courage, strength and faith.
During this lockdown, respect the rules of the government but also, follow the bible. Make your house, a house of prayer, build an altar of worship.
I’d like to invite you to do something different.
Get your family together, bring everyone to the same room. I invite you to start building this altar of worship right now.
Just you and your family is enough to celebrate Jesus, The lamb.
Bring your family. Call them to come near you.
The people of Israel, in that night, they worshiped God together, they prayed, they ate from Jesus together.
Do this right now.
I invite you to start praying. May everyone in your house that can pray join in, I will give a time to you to do that at the end. I will pray for you now and later you can pray together.
Remember, prepare a place for the Lamb in your heart, protect your family from evil, bring Jesus close to you and feed your soul.