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Touching the soul of Ghana: Part 2

The five wounds in the soul of Ghana

© Jim Smith. June 2014

This material may be downloaded and copied for personal, group of church use. It is not to be changed and it is not to be sold. jimsmithghana@yahoo.co.uk www.touchingthesoul.org Pearl Mission base, Medie, Accra, Ghana

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“If Jesus is nailed on a cross, we must not complain if we have to stay at its feet.” (St Gemma)

Introduction “The five wounds” is the next step on from the seven sorrows. If we can see and begin to feel the sorrows, then we must move on to the even more painful five wounds. Here we see the sacrifice that the soul of Ghana is prepared to bear, and has had to bear, in order to continue to express the Lord's love. This material gives us a glimpse into the soul of Ghana, and shows us what we too will have to bear, if we are to show the Lord's love to an ungrateful and apostate church. This is the sacrifice which can save Ghana – if not today then in the future.

First wound - rejection

And the Lord told him: ‘Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.' (1 Sam 8:7)

Ghana – a vision

I saw the Lord, beaten and broken. “Who has done this to you Lord?” I asked. I saw that he was looking behind me, so I turned and looked. There before me was the land of Ghana, spread out in the sunshine. It was beautiful. “Lord, I do not understand.” “Look again” he said. As I watched, I saw a dark cloud. It rose up, and covered the land. Everywhere people were troubled. “What is happening?” they asked. The Lord said “The enemy has taken hold.”

“But why?” the people asked. “Why has our beautiful land been overcome by this terrible darkness? Where is our future now? Where is our heritage? Why are our children so lost and lonely?”

The Lord replied “A spiritual darkness has come on you. The enemy planned to destroy, and now the cloud of darkness has come on you. You thought it would never happen to you. But it has happened to other lands. You did not learn from them. You did not watch and pray. You did not walk humbly before me.”

The people replied “But we did not know. Someone should have warned us.”

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I turned again to the Lord. “Lord,” I asked “why has this happened?” “Look again” he said. I turned again, and saw God’s people in Ghana. These were the people who should have kept the cloud away. “Why did you not protect the land?” I called out. They replied “Stop troubling us. Can't you see that the land is blessed. We have open heavens here. All is well.” I turned again to the Lord. “This” he said “has caused me this suffering. These are the blows I have had to take again and again from my people. I call. They do not listen. I warn, but they do not respond. The sorrow in my heart is so great it almost crushes me.”

“What shall I do then with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked? They all answered “Crucify him!” ( Matt.27:22) Rejection means “ to despise, reject, refute.” Jesus experienced plenty of it - at Nazareth from his own people, (Luke 4: 14-28) from his own followers, (John 6:60-71) and at Jerusalem from the whole people, where they cried out “Crucify him.” Rejection is a very corrosive experience. It undermine our convictions, and destroys our place in the hearts of those we trust. It also causes great emotional pain, as we can see in the prophet Hosea:- When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more they were called, the more they went away from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images.

It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realise it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.

Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent! A sword will flash in their cities; it will devour their false prophets and put an end to their plans. My people are determined to turn from me. Even though they call me God Most High, I will by no means exalt them. How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboyim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. (Hosea 11:1-8)

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For the Lord, the behaviour of Ghana is loss on every side. He has surrendered his glory for us (Phil.2:5-11) and even is life. But it has not been enough for Ghana. This rejection is hard to endure. Again and again, Ghana has followed its own path, arrogantly saying that “God will bless us.” This attitude is like a nail driven into the soul of Ghana. It is a rejection of all the deep blessings offered.

I offered only love free without condition I held out my hands and said “Take me, all of me.” You spat at me Rejection - the first wound of my soul

Second wound – humiliation

The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, ‘Hail, king of the Jews! Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spat on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. (Mark 15: 16-20)

Ghana - a vision

A man came to the door of God's people in Ghana. He was poorly dressed and weary. “I have come to bring you joy” he said. The people laughed. “We have all the joy we need” they said. “Then I can give you blessing” The people smiled at each other, and said “We have all the blessing we need. Stop disturbing us.” “Then I will give you love” he said.

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The people were angry that he offered them love. “Love! Love - you, who are old dirty and powerless - you will give us love?” They beat the man and threw him in a ditch. As they passed by, they spat at him, and said “You who would bring us love. Come up from your ditch and save yourself.” The man lay in the mud and the spit, helpless and broken. Mocking laughter filled his ears. No one came to help. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (John 1:10-11)

“Hail king of the Jews”

Satan humiliated Jesus, and we see the depth of the humiliation in the Dragon and Beast in Revelation chapters 13 and 14. Here are the humiliations. The bible teaches “At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Phil. 2:10) but the Dragon stole this name with a “blasphemous name” (Rev 12:1) The Bible teaches “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.” (Matt 28:18) but we read “The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.” (Rev 13:2) The Bible teaches that Jesus “is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” (Col 1:18) The beast claims this same resurrection gift -”One of

the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed.”

(Rev 13:3)

The Bible teaches that we have one God and we should “Worship him!” (Rev 22:9) The beast steals this worship - “People worshipped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshipped the beast and asked, ‘Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?’ (Rev 13:4) The Bible teaches that Jesus is “The Way, the Truth and the Life.” (John 14:6) but the beast steals the truth - “Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth.” (Rev 13:14) The Bible teaches that Jesus brings freedom - “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)

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And the beast? “The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.” (Rev 13:15) These things humiliate Jesus. He, who dwelt in glory, far above all things, who created, and holds the world in the palm of his hand. Jesus, Lord and King, humiliated by this arrogance of the beast. This he bears for Ghana. This wound he bears for Ghana. This humiliation he bears because he loves Ghana, but it hurts and damages him. It exposes and agonises him. It is a day, an hourly humiliation. He is being held up by the enemy as a figure of mockery in Ghana. This he bears for Ghana. Where are those who will fall down in agony before him, saying “Lord, let me take your humiliation in your place?” Are they even there? He Lord bears his humiliation in silent agony. This is the second of his wounds.

‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ‘You shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:2-3)

I came to my throne but others were sitting there. I asked you “Let me reign!” You kicked me out

Humiliation - the second wound of my soul

Third wound - breaking All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. ‘He trusts in the Lord’ they say, ‘let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.’ (Ps.22:7-8)

Ghana - a vision I saw a man, bent over and dressed in rags. Another man was beating him with a heavy stick, over and over again. The man cried out “Stop” but the beatings continued. The man cried “Someone help me! Someone stop this pain!” But no one came to help. The man with the stick laughed, and beat the man harder and harder.

They brought Jesus to a place called 'Golgotha' And they crucified him.” (Mk.15:24)

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We see the disaster which is coming in Ghana from our point of view. We see the declining in faith in our younger people the advance of affluence, possessions and greed. We see churches sacrificing their inheritance for an easy “My miracle now” faith which pollutes the pure stream. We see other faiths advancing with nothing to stop them. Some grieve this corrosion, although not many. But we need to see things from the Lord's point of view. Ghana is a nation he loves, one he has planned to bless from the beginning of time. This is nation blessed with so many god things, and he planned to use us to allow the water of the Spirit to flow out of our borders into other, less fortunate lands. We were to be the fire of the Lord, burning away the dross and releasing the white hot power of the Spirit. We were to be the blessing of the Lord – an abundance of goodness for other lands. We were to be the holiness of the Lord, bringing purity and holiness to other lands. But we failed to live as people he could use. The enemy came against us, but we were unable to resist, and have fallen under his blows, which continue to crash into us and crush us. The Lord has watched this breaking of his people. Great sorrow pours from his heart for us, not only for the beatings we are taking, but that we did not need to come to this in the first place. We are not the first to make this mistake. When Israel had escaped from Egypt, in his blessing and love, he offered them the Promised land, but look at what they said to him:- But the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.' And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, ‘The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.’ (Num. 13:31-33) That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, ‘If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?’ And they said to each other, ‘We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.’ (14:1-4)

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This left the Lord no choice. The people had to be pure to take the Promise, and they were not pure. He sent them into the desert until a new nation - one that would honour and serve him - was raised up. Then he offered them the Promise again. But the sorrow he had to bear for this disgrace was great, just as it is for the disgrace which is coming to us. He is being mocked, ridiculed, laughed and rejected. The people of this land will point to us and ridicule Him. The Bible says:- “For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you.” (Lk. 14:29) This is the third of his wounds. It breaks his heart but does it break ours? He saved others,’ they said, ‘but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. Matt 27:42

I cried out to you but you did not listen Again and again I said “Do not walk this way, for the end of this way is death.” But you did not listen. You knew best and now I see you begin broken and I am broken too. Breaking - the third wound of my soul

Fourth wound – disgrace They twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ they said. (Matt 27:29) “In order to take away the misery of all mortals you endured such fearful blows that from the soul of your feet to the top of your head no part of your body remained splattered by your most sacred blood.” (Hugh of Balma.)

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Ghana – a vision

The nations of the world gathered in heaven to give glory to the Lord. One by one they passed before him, carrying their flag. One by one they said “This nation gives glory and honour and thanksgiving to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb.” Each time a nation stopped before the Lord, all the angels rejoiced with great joy. But then the procession stopped. There was a great empty space, and no one stood before the Lord to give him glory and praise and thanksgiving. “Who is missing” asked the Spirit. “Ghana” replied the Lord, and all heaven wept. “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” (Gal.3:13) Disgrace is defined as “Dishonour, shame, ignominy, discredit, degradation.” Sadly, this is the way Ghana appears in the spiritual world. The glory which was the Lord's plan for Ghana has been lost - either by accident or by arrogance – and we are left disgraced. The name of Ghana no longer beings honour to the Lord. There is a terrible consequence to this - he is disgraced as well. In fact it goes further - he is prepared to bear this disgrace for us, so that we might find our way back. This is hard to write and hard to read, but is part of the truth of our current situation. An even greater sadness is that our disgrace has become the Lord's disgrace. He carried all our sicknesses in his body to the cross, including our disgrace. So he is disgraced by us. We force the crown of thorns on his head again and again. We beat him. We spit at him. We mock him, We cry “Hail King of the Jews.” This is such a deep wound - for us and for him. The only saving grace is that out of his great love for us, he is prepared to bear this shame. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:10)

I came from my glory for love But it was not enough for you Rejected and broken my body bleeds for disgrace yours and mine Disgrace – the fourth wound of my soul

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Fifth wound - Africa

Out of the depths I cry to you Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. (Ps.130: 1-2)

Ghana - a vision In a vision I was carried forward three centuries. As I waited on the Lord, I saw the globe of the world, but to my horror, Africa was not on it. I was shocked, because I knew that God had chosen Africa to be the leader of the Christian world. “Lord” I said “what has happened to your beloved son Africa?

“My son never made it” he said, and then he spoke to me:-

“Africa my chosen one

what have you become?

You who I placed at my right hand

what have you done?

From the beginning

I planned your time. I placed the fire in your heart, held the flame small but bright, waiting until the day

I could call you forward to lead my people.

But you have not listened to my voice. You have chosen the path of arrogance, ride, wealth, violence. You have said

“Look at what we have done!”

You place my eternal purposes at risk. His I cannot allow.

Now where shall I turn

for a leader I can trust?

If you Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? (Ps.130:3)

“The five wounds of Jesus” is a very old tradition of the church. Many of our leading theologians and intercessors have written about them. In the tradition, the fifth wound of Jesus is the wound in his side, and it has always been seen as very significant, because through it we can glimpse his heart.

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Many in the mystic tradition speak of entering that wound in prayer, and resting in his heart. This is an unfamiliar tradition to Africa, but a very special one.

So we come to the fifth wound of Jesus – and it is the deepest, for it leads to his heart. What do we find? A very disturbing picture of the Christian world in three centuries time. This in itself is not unusual, Prophets have often spoken of the future, and we have got used to holding their words until they become a reality – the “Virgin” prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 is one of many examples.

So what does he show us for Africa? Africa was chosen by him to be the leader of the Christian world, but somewhere that leadership position got lost. We see the beginning of that process in Ghana, as Ghana lost its leadership position in Sub Saharan Africa. We might be very daring and say that if Ghana fails, Africa fails. This may be an exaggeration, but it warns how very serious the position is now, and the generational consequences which might follow from our failure.

The fifth wound in the body of Jesus – the loss of Africa

Oh my precious son

where have you gone

How did you desert me

how did you get lost

Oh my son, my son

My son Africa.

What now?

The “Five wounds” take us much deeper into the crisis which is facing Ghana. They make us stop seeing things from our point view, and start seeing them from the Lord's point of view. He is bleeding for us – rejected, humiliated, broken, disgraced, and grieving for Africa.

The challenge is to stop seeing things from our point of view, although with the “Seven sorrows” that is where we had to start. We have to start seeing things from the cross. We have to climb up onto the cross with him, and start looking through and with his eyes. The following passage comes from the life of St Gemma:-

“As she was praying, Jesus appeared to her, blood spilling from his wounds. He said “Look at my wounds and learn how to love. Look at this cross, these wounds, these nails, these bruises and lacerations and this blood. See to what extent I have loved you. Do you want to love me? First learn to suffer. Suffering teaches how to love.”

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This is a strange experience, and one which we may not familiar with, or have never had ourselves. But let's look beyond the detail to the message.

Somehow we have got to use the wounds to increase our love for the Lord. Only then can we truly intercede for Ghana. The Lord loves Ghana so much that he has to change things, even if that means intense suffering for himself and for his children. It is the depth of this kind of love that we have go to find. Then sharing it, we can truly intercede and move the Lord's heart for us. It seem that the only way to this love is through the wounds.

This is a very hard challenge, and very costly. Will we pay? It depends on how much we love Ghana.