I asked myself, "What does this scripture mean?"
"THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN HAS SUFFERED VIOLENCE"
Looking at the events of John the Baptist's life, one thing for sure he was a revolutionary! He did not conform to what was "acceptable" in his preaching! Scripture tells us some things about his life before he was born. An angel of the Lord prophesied to Zacharias the life of his son John."THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN HAS SUFFERED VIOLENCE"
Luke 1:15-17--"For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. 16-And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17-And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias (Elijah), to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
Then after the child was born on the eighth day at his circumcision celebration, Zacharias, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied over John, his son and said:
Luke 1:76--And you, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for you shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; 77- You shall give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins...
John the Baptist was born to prepare the way for Yahshua, the Son of God. John's role as 'forerunner' was extremely important to the fulfillment of prophecy.
He lived his life in the wilderness eating locust and wild honey for food. He wore camel's hair for his clothing. He was "strange" and bold and fearless! He preached a message that no one had ever heard before.
Luke 3:3 And he (John the son of Zacharias) came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
What? In those days it was unheard of to repent and have your sins forgiven at baptism! The Rabbi's and the Priests followed the Law of Moses as the only acceptable way for sins to be forgiven, once a year on the Day of Atonement! That was what Israel was accustomed to. But, this was a new and radical message that John the Baptist was preaching and baptizing the multitudes. Even the Publicans and Soldiers came to be baptized!
Luke 3:12-15 Then came also Publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? 13- And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. 14--And the soldiers likewise demanded of him saying, and what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely and be content with your wages. 15-And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he was the Christ, or not;
John the Baptist's ministry ushered in the beginning of a new era. He fearlessly forced it into being by preaching and baptizing to the point where the Rabbi's came looking for him. They asked him "Who are you?"
John 1:19-23 And this is the record of John when the Jews sent Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art Thou? 20--And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Messiah. 21--And they asked him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of yourself? 23--He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the Prophet Esaias (Isaiah). (continue to verse 34)
Everyone being baptized by John and listening to his teachings were going against the norm. There was movement, action, boldness and no concern for what other's thought. These people wanted what John had to offer and was actively participating in the Kingdom Era, preparing for Jesus's ministry!
So what about the violent part? ..."since the day of John the Baptist, the Kingdom suffered violence"...
John the Baptist, the greatest Prophet...Yahshua spoke to the people concerning John the Baptist...
Luke 7:26-28--"But what did you go out for to see? A prophet? Yes, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. 27--This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, which shall prepare your way before you. 28--For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist:..."
What happened to him? He, who represented the Kingdom of Heaven, suffered violence, was murdered, beheaded!
Yahshua sent out his twelve disciples two by two and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick (Luke 9:1).
So they went and did what Yahshua told them to do. Herod, the Tetrarch heard of what was going on, with miracles, signs, and wonders and he thought that John the Baptiste had risen from the dead to haunt him!
Mark 6:16-19
But when Herod heard thereof, he said, "It is John, whom I beheaded: he has risen from the dead. 17-For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her. 18-John had said unto Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife!" 19-Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him (John the Baptiste), and would have killed him, but she could not.
Even though Herod did not like what John said about his improper marriage, he still respected John, he feared him and knew that he was a just and holy man. He enjoyed his preaching and observed what he was doing, but Herodias was angry and hated John for what he said in exposing them. So she held onto that hatred and at the opportune moment had her dancing daughter, who beguiled Herod, to ask for the head of John the Baptiste to be handed to her on a platter! Herod regretted giving the beautiful dancer the choice of whatever she wanted as compensation for pleasing him! You can read the details in Mark 6:21-29.
Preaching the radical truth about the kingdom brought terrible violence upon John! There are other examples of violence because of the Kingdom, being preached by men of God, suffering violence at the hands of those who hated the message!
Peter and John, preaching the gospel of Yahshua Messiah (Jesus Christ) were arrested thrown in jail overnight, Acts 4:3.
Peter and Apostles were beaten for preaching the testimony of Yahshua Acts 5:40.
Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people, was stoned to death, Acts 6:8-7:1-60.
Peter was arrested, but an angel of the Lord set him free, Acts 12:1-2.
James brother of John was killed by the sword, Acts 12:2-11.
Paul was stoned and left for dead, but lived! Acts 14:19-20.
Paul and Silas beat after casting a demon out of a sorcerer! Acts 16: 24.
Paul was bound in chains and sent to Rome to appear before the Sanhedrin.
Acts 22:22-30; Acts 22:1-5.
Are you one of the violent ones? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to walk in the destiny and fulfill the commission that your heavenly Father has given you?
For those that know their mission on the earth, to manifest the love, joy, the goodness of God and walk in His power, in whatever particular way that's unique to your gifts, are you willing to look strange, sound different and become dangerous to the demonic world? You are expected to walk in the power of heaven. That means taking authority over the works of darkness in your own life and in the life of others, over the darkness in our cities, not tolerating injustices, poverty, uncleanness, violence against people and whatever else works against what God want you to bring to your city.
What do I mean by violent? In the Greek: biastes (bee-as-tace) meaning, forcer, that is (figuratively) energetic. There is no negative connotation in the use of the word violent in the scripture.
Looking at the thesaurus, other positive words for violent, are: passionate, potent, powerful, aroused, agitated, enraged, fiery, forceful, great, impassioned, mighty, strong, urgent and vehement.
Now that's what I'm talking about! Those words do not describe a person who sits back passively allowing things to happen around him or her whether it be in City Government or Government on a national level or in your personal life that would enable Satanic powers to take away freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Written by Rakhel Baht BinahYah
