Destroying The Power Of Obscurity

Tonight you want to take anything you want from the master.

Just start by worshipping Him and Him alone. Hallelujah Hallelujah

What is obscurity? Obscurity is

The state of being unknown, inconspicuous, or unimportant.

It is the Deficiency or absence of light; darkness.

An instance of being imperfectly known or difficult to understand.

Brethren tonight we deal with the power that puts otherwise great people in total obscurity.

An obscure person business or ministry has very little chance of moving very far. It is totally impossible for you to see for very long or walk very far in total darkness. Even if you manage to do so, you would be moving without direction so you end up in the wrong place.

Obscurity can make the most beautiful diamond stay stuck in the bowels of the earth for millions of years undiscovered. Obscurity can make the greatest ideas lay unused for thousands of years. Why is it that the computer was not important until only 30 years ago. Obscurity of ideas is why the I phone as we now know it was not found out for years. Now your phone is your tv, telephone calculator, organizer, conference office, weather keeper, even your bank or credit card. It is everything almost.

Obscurity anointing can make the greatest movie star remain undiscovered in his or her village for years.

Obscurity anointing can make a ministry or calling God has prepared for the whole world to not have any influence beyond its immediate neighborhood.

In 1 Kings 19:19-21 obscurity anointing was removed from Elisha when Elijah came and threw his mantle on him.

19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. 20 Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.”

“Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”

21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.

Let’s notice two things:

(1) This mantle was the official garment of a prophet. There were three types of mantles worn in biblical times. This is the `adderet', a cloak that could be made of animal hair and was a garment of distinction worn by kings and especially by prophets (1 Kings. 19:13, 19; 2 Kings. 2:8, 13-14; Zech. 13:4). The mantle automatically marked a man as a prophet, a spokesman of God. It was also a symbol of sacrifice and commitment. The life of a prophet was not a life of luxury. The mantle represented a man’s gift, the call of God, and the purpose for which God had called him.

(2) Throwing it over the shoulders of Elisha was a symbolic act denoting his summons to the office of prophet, but it was also a sure sign of God’s gift that enabled him to fulfill the prophetic office and ministry. This act by Elijah was a prophetic announcement that the gift of prophecy had been given (or would come) to Elisha. It was immediately understood by Elisha even without words.

It was the divine light of God that caused the prophetic drama that removed Queen Vashti and put Esther in her place in Esther 1.

In Joshua 2, it was the divine power of God that turned Rahab from a useless prostitute to a woman of virtue who became part of the lineage of Jesus.

1. Naaman. 2 Kings 5 tells the story of a successful Syrian commander who had the disease of leprosy. The story goes that on the suggestion of the servant girl of Naaman’s wife Naaman went to see the prophet Elisha to be cured of his leprosy. It is an amazing story of healing and turning to the Lord–and also has some twists and ironies at the end!

2. Jabez. Jabez is only mentioned in a few verses of scripture and is known for his famous “Prayer of Jabez” mentioned in 1 Chronicles 4:10, “Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!’ And God granted what he asked. ”

3. Josiah. Josiah, one of the greatest kings to ever rule Israel, started his reign when he was only 8 years old. 2 Kings 22:2 says “he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.”