THE STING OF HORNETS
Deut: 7:20-23 Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed. Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible. And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee. But the LORD thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.
We Will break this message down into 5 questions:
1. What do we mean by hornets?
2. In What ways do hornets sting us?
3. What is the special relevance of hornets and this day and hour?
4. Where does God send His Hornets?
5. What is the sting of a hornet better than?
1. What do we mean by hornets?
I want to talk to you about a call from God for the hornets. Have you ever thought on how God might answer this prayer of yours, “Thy will be done on earth even as it is in heaven?” Do you do God’s will on earth as it is done in heaven? If not, how do you think God could help you and answer that prayer in your life? I’ll give you a hint, it has something to do with hornets.
In the text cited above God tells the Jews that He will remove those enemies that, “hide themselves from thee.” He is speaking specifically about pockets of resistance that remained in the Promised Land after the major wars had been fought. These pockets of resistance were hidden and entrenched, and extremely difficult to deal with and remove. God had a solution for them... He would send in His special storm troopers, the hornets. Can you say ouch!
In this day and age some of the most fearful bees on earth are the Africanized killer bees. They are domestic bees that had interbred with a species out of Africa that are known for their vicious and unrelenting attacks. People have died as a result of their aggressive style of attack. Apparently God had some bees that were supernaturally programmed by Him to attack Israel’s enemies that remained in the land hidden in the dens and caves of the earth. We know from the New Testament that everything that happened to them was to be an example to teach us.(1 Co. 10;11) So what can we learn from this story and what does it teach us?
First, Israel’s enemies were people, ours usually are not, though they can be. Our biggest enemies are usually the devil and our own fleshly self. The Apostle Paul said, nothing good dwelled in his flesh.(Ro. 7:18) So when we talk about God sending the hornets after our enemies, please understand that sometimes that means He is sending the hornets after us personally! Can you say, “ouch, ouch!” When we come to Christ there are many wars between the Spirit and the flesh, and after a season of battle most Christians settle into a lifestyle where they are free from controlling sins. For the most part they are Spirit led, Spirit controlled people, with occasional manifestations of fleshly carnal behavior. A relative calm exists, belying the fact that there are pockets of resistance in our nature to the control and dominion of the Holy Spirit. Some of these we know about, some are hidden from our eyes. David called them secret faults, in the text in Deuteronomy cited above they are hidden enemies.
We are not sure if the hornets actually killed these enemies, or forced them out of the dens and caves of the earth to be destroyed by the sword of Joshua. Perhaps, it was both. Even so, some hornets God sends change our behavior immediately, some reveal to us character flaws that may have been hidden from our eyes. “Howso?,” you might ask. To answer that I need to explain what the hornets of God are and how they work. Hornets are symbolic stinging rebukes, painful consequences, trouble and difficulty, financial reverses, in short things that are painful and get your full and immediate attention.
When house training a dog some people will stick the dogs nose in its feces if it messes inside the house. Usually this teaches a dog not to mess in the house. In similar manner, sometimes God sticks our nose in messes we make, we feel the consequences, we are embarrassed by public disclosure, or all of a sudden our “sleeping,” conscience is awakened and greatly troubled by our actions, taking away our sleep or sense of peace until the situation is remedied by repentance and change.
Once you have been stung by a hornet, it is something you will go to great lengths to avoid happening again. Thank God there are often quick and severe repercussions for sin for without them some people would never change. If you are hearing this message and you have been stumbling, I ask you, “have you seen any hornets?, they are not your enemy, sin is your enemy, the hornets of God are your dearest friend, and for them you should give hearty thanks.”
2. In What ways do hornets sting us?
In our conscience.
In our physical bodies.
In our finances.
In our worldly goods.
It is a shame when the only way God can get His child’s attentions is to speak to him/her through carnal goods. My observation is that God usually speaks to us personally, then through others, and then if we still haven’t changed He will send in the hornets. Blessed is the man or woman who learns to change when God speaks, it is simply the best and easiest way to receive correction.
3. What is the special relevance of hornets and this day and hour?
I believe we are living in the day and age where the Bride is making herself ready. (Rev. 19:7) There is a twofold work of grace in the church at this hour. The first is that God is pouring out His Spirit in a special way upon His people and they are walking closer to Him than ever before. Many scriptures speak that at the end of the age the sheep and goats would be separated, I believe that is already beginning to happen. The wheat and tares are prophesied to have grown up before the Lord comes(Mt 13:30) The tares certainly are in full bloom! I also believe the wheat is experiencing a time of accelerated growth such as never before. I see this in the light houses of prayer movement, many being stirred to be “God Chasers,” and, in general the people of God are either getting closer and closer or further and further from Him. In short, the wheat are getting wheatier, and the chaff are getting chaffier!
The second way God is helping the Bride of Christ to prepare herself is that He is beginning to pull out all stops in dealing with us. Even as hell hath enlarged itself, and is at work in a frantic pace to bind and destroy as many people as possible, for the devil knows that his time is short, God also is shortening the days by doing things to bring about change in His people on a quicker pace. This includes an outpouring of grace as we have already mentioned, but where people are not responding to that He is calling forth His hornets to sting His people into preparedness. If we are a church that wants to be ready when Jesus comes we need for God to call forth His hornets upon us.
In the days when the wheat and the chaff are being separated, and the sheep’s and goats are being divided the issue is not what do you believe, but HOW DO YOU LIVE.
It is not what you believe about prayer, but how much you pray. God is not happy that we simply believe truth He wants us walking in it also. It is not what you believe about abortion, it is what you do about it. James 2:19,20 The hornets are coming, and your reaction to them will tell a lot about who you are spiritually.
Are you comfortable with sin in your life? Then ask, no plead, with God to send His hornets!
We are living in the day, when God is taking the gloves off. Like the Jerry Lee Lewis song, there is a whole lot of shaking going on.
As pastor I call for the Wind of God to bless you. I call for the rain of God to bless you. I call for the fire of God to bless you. I am also calling for the hornets of God to bless you, and to bless me. Jesus get me ready for your return. Hornets of God, come in this place. Help us prepare for our coming king
Why? Because Jesus is not interested in just saving part of you, but ALL of you.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and [I pray God] your
whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
A hornet is a creature whose sting is vicious.
Sin is like the plague of frogs in the kings chambers Ps 105:30. Filthy nasty frogs in the luxurious chambers of a king, can’t you just picture it? Our heart IS the chamber of not just a king, but the King of Kings, and the scriptures tell us not to grieve the Holy Spirit who resides in that kings chamber. God is being very proactive in this day and age to get all the frogs out of the kings chamber.
4. Where does God send His Hornets?
Gods hornets are being sent to sins in secret places. Once I was helping to remodel an old house and pulled a board off a wall that was above a window, I felt a terrible stinging sensation and looked in horror to see about 5 hornets attached to my hand. My hand smarted for quite a while, and ever since then I have always been more careful whenever I thought hornets might be around. What amazed me was that I found the hornets in a secret hidden place, behind some boards. The opening that had allowed them access was no bigger than a quarter of an inch and I discovered that hornets can get into the smallest of places and openings. What I am trying to say is that even as hornet can get into the smallest of places, God knows how to sting us in such a way that sins that have been beyond our ability to see (secret sins), or that have been beyond our ability to deal with them (fortified in the caves and dens of our personality), can be forced into the open and dealt with.
In Deut 7:20 Israel’s remaining enemies had hidden themselves in places where in the natural it was impossible for Joshua and the children of Israel to extract them. So it sometimes is with sin in our lives. The only way to get them out was to send in the hornets. Be afraid of hornets, but know this... the same breech that allows the hornets of God to sting you, also allows the minions of hell to vex you. What do I mean by that? I mean, that the sin that creates a breech in your spirit and forces God to have hornets come in through that opening and sting you, is also a breech in your spirit through which the hounds of hell would have an opening to attack you. Sin creates and allows opportunities for the devil to come after us. Choose this day who shall sting thee, for either way you shall surely be stung.
5. What is the sting of a hornet better than?
The sting of a hornet is better than the sword of Joshua.
It is better to be changed and moved because of a sting, that it is to be judged by a sword. If they were not moved by the sting of God’s hornets, they were to be destroyed by the sword of Joshua. There is a scary text in the book of Proverbs which says: Proverbs 29:1 “A man who hardens [his] neck after much reproof Will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.” That is why I say the sting of a hornet is better than the sword of Joshua. It is better to have God chastise you than it is to have God judge you. It is better to be stung that to be smitten.
Closing thought: If you are serious with being all you can be for God than ask Him to do whatever it takes for you to change. I call first of all for the grace of God, that failing I call for the hornets of God in your life. One last thought if God has already been dealing with you by sending His hornets there is relief in repentance, that is why He sent them in the first place.
