" H E A R, O E A R T H ! "

"O Land... Record..."

The earth responds not only to the creative prophetic voice.  It also responds to the prophetic voice of judgment.  Jeremiah 22:29-30 is a case in point:

29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

30  Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, siting upon the throne of David, and ruling in Judah.

The prophet was calling upon the earth not once, not  twice, but thrice, to record the sentence of divine judgment which was being passed against king Jehoachin.  The New International Version (NIV) and other translations, for instance, use the  word “record” where the Authorised King James Version uses “write,”  but they all make and emphasize the same point.  The man was being sentenced to childlessness.  His mother, his children, all were going to die in exile.  The man was also not going to prosper.  A curse of poverty was being placed on him.  His children also, by reason of the curse, were being cut off from the throne forever.  The earth was to write or record this down.

Can the earth write?  What school did the earth attend?   Was the earth here acting as a ‘court clerk’?  Was this a court session?  The earth was to note this curse; record this judgment down against one of its several tenants. 

If the judgment were to be recorded in a file in some library, then may men who do not support the sentence gain access therein to tear off the record from the file.  If the record were to be written in ink, then may men blot it out.  But where was anyone going to find the filing cabinet or the files of the earth, to wipe out any record?  How then may any man hope to reverse such a sentence if he cannot find the place where the earth records its information or sentenace?  Only God can help such a man.

Not only the earth keeps records.  The heavens also do.  In Deuteronomy 30:19, for instance, Moses calls “heaven and earth to record” that the Israelites were free to make a choice between God and Satan, and that they would “perish...upon the land,” in other words, the earth would not support their living long on it, if their hearts turned away from God (vv.17-18).  In chapter 31:28 also, Moses warned the elders of Israel that he would “call heaven and earth to record against them” if they turned aside from God.

In some deliverance cases, it now seems to me, we ought also to address the records or files in the earth and in the heavens.

I remember now an account which I read from Mel Tari’s Gentle Breeze of Jesus, which stresses the fact that the earth can hear, record, and witness.  It was during the Revival in Indonesia.  Some little children were on a missionary journey from one village to another, and God decided to give them a thrill.  They were to sing in the middle of the forest on their way to the next village, and the trees were to play back their voices.  The children sang.  After they had finished, the trees played back their voices, plus all the side comments and laughters.  They were very excited.  In this century, the tress still hear, and they record.

The earth can hear.  The earth can record.  The earth can witness.  The earth can respond.  In Deuteronomy 31:28,  Moses   called upon not only the earth but also the heaven to bear record.  In Deuteronomy 30:19, he said, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you....”  Here, there  was not only going to be a record,but the record was also going to have a date: “this day.”  The record was dated that day of the summons to the Israelites to choose between God and Satan; between life and death.

In those two instance of Moses cited, however, “record” is used in some sense of “witness.”  Yet, to the extent that a witness or testimony is based on some form of acquired information, which may be 'documented' or 'recorded' in any of several ways (in the memory, on paper, in coded forms, etc), the references still seem appropriate in showing that the earth and the heavens do keep records which God or prophets may demand them to produce in evidence at a future date of some sort of trial or judgment, for there would be no need of a witness unless there would be a judgment, or unless some dispute was envisaged.

If we, preachers and Christians (the Church at large) in Nigeria, would not hear the voice of the Lord, the earth and the heavens will.  And who knows if there is not now already a great controversy from God, recorded against us by the earth!