God’s Assigned Place of Protection - Part II
The Blessings Of The Local Church
by Dr. John Tetsola

Last month we addressed the fear of the Western culture church to commit to local church membership. Lack of commitment and submission results in uncommitted, “tumble-weed” Christians who blow in and out of churches without accountability. Fellowship with Christ includes fellowship with His Body. We are not called to roam around churches; we are called to connect, join, and commit to membership of the Body of Christ. If we as believers refuse to join ourselves to the local church, we are refusing to join ourselves to Christ. As the new year begins, it is important that we come into the knowledge of this understanding of commitment so that we can be able to embrace the blessings that come from connecting and committing to a local house.

And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.

And I will put a division between my people and thy people:

Exodus 8:22-23a

We receive tremendous blessings when we are a part of a local church. One of the blessings received is the blessing of protection. God wants to separate and put a difference between His people even as He put a division between Israel in the days of the plagues. If we are going to be protected and covered we must be in the place where God says we are to be and we must be rightly related to the family of God—the local church.

If the Israelites were to enjoy the benefit of God’s protection, they had to be in the place of God’s provision. God set apart the land of Goshen to protect His people. When there were flies in Egypt, there were no flies in Goshen. When there was darkness in Egypt, there was light in Goshen. God did His sovereign part by separating Goshen, but the Israelites had to do their part by staying in the place of God’s protection—Goshen. The name Goshen means “drawing near.” They had to stay near to the Lord in the place of the Lord to experience the provision and protection of the Lord.

…and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.

For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

Exodus 12:22b-23

If an Israelite would have ventured out of Goshen throwing off his identification with the people of God during the times of plague, he would in no way be immune to the plagues. He did not have a personal light over him. The light was in Goshen. This principle is more appreciated in the plague of the death of the firstborn. In this plague, God used the picture of the family. Each family that was spared of this plague had to follow strict guidelines laid down by God. To be an Israelite was not enough to spare you. To be circumcised according to the Abrahamic covenant was not enough to spare you. You had to follow God’s instruction. You had to have partaken of the Passover Lamb and sprinkled the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of your house, but beyond that, you had to stay in the house. You had to know your place and stay there in spite of how you felt.

God’s promise to the Israelites was conditional. He would shield them from the death angel if they did not “go out at the door of his house until the morning.” If they left the doors of the house, they would be susceptible to the work of the destroying angel. Today many Christians have forfeited God’s protection and are prone to satanic attack because they are living outside the perimeters ordained of God for them. In 2008, close the door of susceptibility to the attacks of the enemy against your life. Allow the blessings of God to shield you as you commit to the divine institution that God has ordained in the earth—the local church. Prayerfully consider being planted in a local assembly so that you can be discipled and matured in the things of God. Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you into a local church where you can be “covered.” And while there, willingly and joyfully submit to the authority of that house and help support the vision of that church.

by Dr. John A. Tetsola