The 12 Stone Memorial Part 5: Gad & Asher Series

n Sons number 7 and 8 were born to Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid.

n In response to Rachel giving her handmaid to Jacob and bearing sons through her, Leah now does the same thing with her handmaid.

n The last son Leah had borne prior to this was Judah, which we founds means “praise”. Here, we see that Leah forgot her praise when circumstances didn’t seem to be in her favor.

n Rather than continue in her praise and be content with what God had provided, Leah decided to copy what worked for her sister.

n Competition can sometimes get so heated that it doesn’t leave room for true victory at all.

Zilpah

a. The name Zilpah means a trickling or to trickle as myrrh.

b. Zilpah was Leah’s retaliation to Rachel’s handmaid bearing sons for Jacob.

c. Zilpah can represent one of the more dangerous times for the church. This is where it seems sweet and nice, but a trickle will never bring the river of God that He desires to bring.

d. Leah herself found her happiness through Zilpah to a degree and thought finally this would be when her husband would love her.

e. Zilpah is the time of the church where we feel good about what we have accomplished and can get to the place where it is enough.

Zilpah’s Sons:

GAD

n Gad means “troop” or an assembled army. Gad can also mean “good fortune”.

n Leah names Gad, declaring that she had been shown good fortune in that an army had been assembled through her.

About Gad he said: “Blessed is he who enlarges Gad’s domain! Gad lives there like a lion, tearing at arm or head. He chose the best land for himself; the leader’s portion was kept for him. When the heads of the people assembled, he carried out the Lord’s righteous will, and his judgments concerning Israel.” (Deuteronomy 33:20-21 – Moses’ blessing)

n Gad was in the front, leading the army of Israel as they crossed the Jordan to go into battle (Joshua 4:12).

n We are in a day and an hour that it is vital for the army of God to arise once again and lead the church into this last days battle into a victory unlike anything we have ever known or seen before.

n The Gadite heritage of being a warrior didn’t stop with the death of Gad himself. Listen to what the Word of the Lord declares about the Gadites who joined King David.

These Gadits were army commanders; the least was a match for a hundred, and the greatest for a thousand. It was they who crossed the Jordan in the first month when it was overflowing all its banks, and they put to flight everyone living in the valleys, to the east and to the west. 1 Chronicles 12:14-15

There are 2 glaring things I feel specifically for Calvary Assembly of God in this son:

1. God has put you in the army and therefore you are a fighter and you are NEEDED.

a. If you are still breathing, there are still plans that God has for you.

b. God has not and never will give up on you. He still views you as important.

c. We have heard all of our lives that the battle belongs to the Lord. While that is true, the battle plan of the Lord always includes people.

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. Matthew 11:12

d. The Kingdom of God is about God expressing Himself powerfully in all things. He does that through you and me.

e. “Experiencing the kingdom of heaven and all its blessings requires earnest endeavor and constant exertion – a fight of faith accompanied by a strong will to resist Satan, sin and an often corrupt society” (FLSB).

f. Why do the warriors not arise?

i. Fear of failure.

ii. Fear of success.

iii. Double-mindedness.

iv. Lack of understanding and/or knowledge.

v. Commitment issues.

vi. Peer pressure.

2. There are members of this local army who have gone AWOL and it is time to see them come back, join the ranks and fight.

a. Even as I declare this, some of you have names and faces in your mind. That is God’s way of asking you to pray for and call these men and women home. (Only speak to them as God directs).

b. I am not a proponent of sheep stealing or proselytizing from other churches. But, when people leave a church when they aren’t supposed to, they will never be able to fulfill God’s plan for their lives completely.

HEAR THE PROPHETIC DECLARATION FOR THE RETURN OF THE ARMY:

Has Israel no sons? Has she no heirs? Why then has Molech taken possession of Gad? Why do his people live in its towns? But the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites; it will become a mound of ruins, and its surrounding villages will be set on fire. THEN ISRAEL WILL DRIVE OUT THOSE WHO DROVE HER OUT, says the Lord. Jeremiah 49:1-2