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At Dawn We Slept Print E-mail
Written by Victoria Radin   

“Another parable He put forth to them, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.” (Matthew 13:24-25)

We live today at the dawning of the Day of the L-rd. So, what are the tares [of temptation to sin] that the devil has sown, imperceptibly, among the people of G-d while they sleep, unconcerned and unawares?

“Satan is going to come as an angel of light so subtle, innocent, and indefinable that few will recognize what is happening to them. He is going to camouflage his activities and attempt to deceive Christians with temptations that are legitimate within themselves ––but that, when misused, become damning. (David Wilkerson, The Vision, pp 54, 55)

The temptations [tares] that face today’s Christians are not that different than those that the Israelites faced when they conquered the land of Canaan. However, they are more cunning, not as obvious.

For instance, when the Israelites were greatly in G-d’s favor and were about to enter the Promised Land after coming out of Egypt[1], the Moabite King Balak sought to curse Israel through the prophet Balaam. King Balak lived in dread because of what G-d had done to the Amorites on behalf of Israel. When all attempts to curse Israel failed (because they were in G-d’s favor[2]), Satan devised another plan to defeat Israel. The Israelites stayed in Moab and began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab and become involved in sacrifices to the Moabite gods. They mixed the worship of the one true G-d with the gods of Moab. Immediately, G-d brought judgment on all the Israelites that engaged in this practice. The Israelites were being tempted to follow after foreign gods and the ways of the Canaanites even before they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land.

G-d hates mixture! The only way Satan can get a Christian to fall into disfavor with G-d is to bring mixture in his/her life so imperceptibly that it is as if he/she is ‘sleeping’.

David Wilkerson had a vision of the Christians in these last days similar to those Israelites that committed harlotry in Moab:

“I see many of the ‘last Christians’ who were once lovers of G-d becoming shipwrecked by their obsessive love for pleasure…sitting in theaters [or in front of a computer], comfortable with their addiction to off-color movies [and websites]. They really love G-d, but they love their pleasures even more…they are strangers to Him…they have changed drastically without knowing what they have become.” (The Vision, p 57, all brackets mine).

The apostle Paul also describes the “Last-Days” Church, [those living at the dawning of the Day of the L-rd] as one that has been ‘sown with tares’:

“Don't be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to G-d. They'll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they're animals. Stay clear of these people.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5 The Message Bible)

When the Israelites began to conquer the Canaanites, Joshua said, “If you forsake the L-RD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good,” (Joshua 24:20). The Scriptures continued to record the progression of mixture in the people of G-d. The warnings to ‘stay clear’ of people who might lead you into ‘mixture’ are many:

  • A mixed multitude left Egypt with the Israelites in the Exodus. Now the mixed multitude that were among them yielded to intense cravings so that the children of Israel also yielded to those cravings. (Numbers 11:4)
  • During the period of the kings of Israel, the Israelites feared the L-rd, yet served their own gods (2 Kings 17:33). G-d condemned this mixture of worship (Ezekiel 8:16-18).[3]
  • Isaiah records the word of the L-rd before He sent the Israelites into exile.

“Hear the word of the L-rd you rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our G-d, you people of Gomorrah…Your silver has become dross (alloy/a mixture), your wine is mixed with water, your princes are rebellious and the companion of thieves. Everyone loves bribes and follows after rewards…” (Excerpts from Isaiah 1:10, 21-23)

Today, the world is just like it was in Isaiah’s day, even in the Christian community of America where mixture is rampant. We are living in a time of economic uncertainty and fear; a time of famine and earthquakes; there is a surge of the occult in all forms of entertainment and a moral landslide of erotic filth and sensuality that will cause the love of many to grow cold. As we are living at the dawning of the Day of the L-rd, we must WAKE UP and put away our foreign ‘gods’ of materialism and pleasure that interfere with our relationship with the L-rd!

In congregations of believers, on Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement] each year, the leader begins the service with: “Awake, thou that sleepest and arise from the dead, and the Messiah shall give thee light…Walk, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:14-16). Awake O you sleepers, awake from your sleep! O you slumberers, awake from your slumber! Search your deeds and turn in repentance!”

The Message Bible says it bluntly: 

“Don't waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It's a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ. Wake up from your sleep, climb out of your coffins; Christ will show you the light! So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times! (Ephesians 5:13-16 – The Message Bible)

Don’t let the epitaph of the Church be –– AT DAWN WE SLEPT!

Barukh HaShem (Blessed is the Name of the L-rd)



[1] This was a picture of a Gentile being saved (coming out of Egypt, a type of the world), filled with the Spirit of G-d (In G-d’s favor).

[2] Proverbs 26:2…a curse without cause shall not alight

[3] The beginning of Ezekiel, chapter 8, intimates that this event took place just before the coming of the anti-christ, “…in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day… Thus, the ‘day’ before 666, number associated with the anti-christ.

 
 
 
 
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