Wounded In The House Of My Friend

This week, we are looking at the message entitled, “Wounded in the house of my friend.”

Zechariah 13:6 says, “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.”

A careful look at the scripture in the foregoing gives us certain information:

1. Someone was wounded.

2. This person knew the origin of the wound.

3. The wound came from an unexpected quarter.

4. He knew that his wounds came from his friends.

Daniel 2:22 says, “He revealeth the deep and secret things; he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.”

There are certain things that are deep and secret, which can only be revealed by God. I Kings 14:1-3 says, “At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Abijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people. And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him; he shall tell thee what shall become of the child.”

The child of Jeroboam was sick and was not responding to treatment. Jeroboam did not know what to do. So, he decided to go and find out from the prophet what was wrong. He wanted to know the source of the sickness. But because he had offended the God of Israel and could not face the prophet, he asked his wife to go there in disguise. I Kings 14:4 says, “And Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.”

They were so far from the God of Israel they did not even know that it was not necessary to disguise because the prophet was already blind.

I Kings 14:5 says, “And the Lord said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he is sick; thus and thus shall thou say unto her; for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman." “Before the wife of Jeroboam could call, the Holy Spirit had revealed to the prophet that somebody was coming there in disguise.

1 Kings 14:6-13 says, “And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? For I am sent to thee with heavy tidings. Go, tell Jeroboam, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, fore as much as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel, and rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee; and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes; But hast done evil above all that were before thee; for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back: therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone. Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat; for the Lord hath spoken it. Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die. And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good things toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.”

So, the origin of the sickness of that child was the punishment which God had planned for the whole house of Jeroboam. And the punishment was that none of them would be buried properly except this particular little child who had some good things in him. So, God wanted to remove him out of the way before He dealt with the rest of them.

SOME STATEMENTS OF FACT

1. There are some things known as problems. Problems are universal entities. They do not recognize racial or tribal influence. They differ as you go from one part of the world to another. It could be suicide, expression, alcoholism, etc. And there are particular sets of spirits responsible for these problems. In Africa, you find a lot of poverty, witchcraft attacks, backwardness, sicknesses, etc. So, problems are universal.