The other night I was sleeping soundly (which is unusual for me) and I woke up at exactly 12:12. For some reason, I thought that was important, as if God was telling me to give a message about 12:12.
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So, I looked at every book in the Torah, for what was said at Chapter 12, verse 12, and you know what I found?
Nothing that seemed to be important enough on its own to be a message.
But I didn’t give up- I went to Psalms, Proverbs, and then started to go through the other books in the Tanakh, and in the New Covenant, as well.
Still, I wasn’t really finding anything that struck me.
Then I came to 2 Chronicles 12:12, and this is what I saw (CJB):
After he humbled himself, the anger of Adonai turned away from him, so that he did not altogether destroy him; moreover, some good things were found in Y’hudah.
I have often stated that taking one verse or sentence out of context is the best way to misinterpret something, so let’s understand what this statement is about: God was going to punish Rechav’am, the son of Shlomo (Solomon), for all the sins he committed. He sent the prophet Sh’may’ah to warn Rechav’am that he was going to have Pharoah Shishak attack Y’hudah. The King and the leaders of Y’hudah all humbled themselves, and God took this into account, not destroying everything, but still sending Shishak to attack. He took the valuables from the palace and the temple, including the gold shields that Shlomo had made. Rechav’am replaced them with bronze shields.
When I read this, I felt that it was important for everyone to know that when they humble themselves before God, even after living a life of sin, God will take that into account when he punishes you. The important part of this is that you WILL suffer for your sins, here on earth, because God is faithful to punish those who reject his instructions (in the Torah), but he is also merciful in that he doesn’t punish as seriously as our sins deserve. And it is also important to note that God still found good in Y’hudah; I am interpreting that as meaning despite how evil the society you live in has acted, deserving punishment, God still will see what goodness is there. Which I believe means that even if you are in the midst of evil, so long as you remain faithful to God, you might have to be collateral damage during the punishment that will take place, but God knows you are doing what is right.
Remember: God isn’t as concerned with what happens to you while you are alive as he is with where you will be in the afterlife.
Okay, okay, I know this message isn’t a great revelation, or some new interpretation that will bring thousands into obedience, but I believe it is just what someone out there, somewhere, needs to hear right now, and I trust that God will somehow get this message to them.
I suppose I am answering the question I posed in the title of this message- yes, God does still talk to us in our sleep. And sometimes just as we wake up, and if we trust that what feels important probably is (because the Ruach haKodesh- the Holy Spirit- that indwells is telling us this is important), then we should act on it.
No, I didn’t get up and write this message- I mean, c’mon? It was midnight and I was still tired. But what I did was to make a calendar entry on my phone, then and there, to remind me about 12:12.
And now I have completed doing what I believe God wanted me to do, which is to write a message about this single verse in the Bible; again, not because it is a powerful revelation, and not because it is anything new or has a meaning no one else ever got from it, but simply because it must be important to someone out there to hear it.
If you believe you are that someone, I would appreciate a quick comment to just confirm that. Not that I need any proof to justify or confirm my faith in God, but it is always nice to hear something I did helped someone.
And let me be clear about this, and please do not take it as false modesty, because I believe it with all my heart: whenever I do something really good, it is God working through me, and when I totally screw-up, then I can take full credit.
Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers, because after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.
That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!