LET US INTERCEDE FOR OUR NATION
by Herbert Rwazireni
Do you remember how much people prayed and cried before God (during our war of liberation) for the liberation of this
country when living conditions had become unbearable and hurt to the bone? God heard our prayers and set us free.
When liberated we got so free such that we forgot Him and lived lives we pleased. We started serving other gods just
like the children of Israel did in the desert when they were set free from Egypt. They started complaining against Moses
and cursed and swore and wished they were in Egypt when the conditions in the desert hurt.
If we recall what happened as a result of their complaining and grumbling and their serving other gods besides the
ONLY ONE GOD we would seriously, repentantly and tearfully seek God on all four. God slew them by the thousands in
a day in some cases. We are going through the same experience as a people of this nation - the desert experience -
and forgotten what it used to be like back in Egypt. We are now missing garlic ...??? We have forsaken and forgotten
the miracle working God who set us free hence the drought, famine, pestilences, disasters, infidelity, corruption, ill
morals, confusion of all sorts and much more ... Food for thought. Let us seriously seek God as a nation (in this hour)
so that He may forgive and heal us.
I believe very strongly that GOD has great plans for this nation and this people. If we truly seek HIM we are going to be
where He wants us to be and He will bless us. I can see great things lying ahead of us. On Monday (16/04/07) evening
I received this word: Nehemiah Chapter 9 but I did not take it seriously, rather, I did not "understand". On Tuesday
(17/04/07) around 15:00 Hours I received the same word but it did not get into my head well. Last night (18/04/07) I had
a close look at the Chapter and it hit me like a tonne of bricks. I wept sore before The Lord and pleaded with Him that
He have mercy on us and not "destroy" us as a people, because it is like He is about to pour out His fury upon us for
failing to take heed of His word and warnings given us by His servants. This is how the word came directly as I read
Nehemiah Chapter 9: Please note I am only a messenger and am not professing to anybody or anything special. I am
not claiming to be a prophet or seer but am a vessel God at times uses.This is the word from God for us as a people of
this nation: Thus saith the Lord to this people: You have stretched my patience beyond limit and I am left with no choice
but act harshly on you for you have not taken heed of my word I have spoken by my servants.
Here is what Nehemiah says: Chapter 9 1Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were
assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads. 2Then those of Israelite lineage separated
themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3And they
stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one-fourth of the day; and for
another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.
4Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the stairs of the Levites and
cried out with a loud voice to the Lord their God.5And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah,
Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said: "Stand up and bless the Lord your God Forever and
ever! "Blessed be Your glorious name, Which is exalted above all blessing and praise! 6
You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host,
The earth and everything on it, The seas and all that is in them, And You preserve them all.
The host of heaven worships You. 7 "You are the Lord God, Who chose Abram, And
brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, And gave him the name Abraham; 8 You found his heart
faithful before You, And made a covenant with him To give the land of the Canaanites,
The Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, And the Girgashites- To give it to
his descendants. You have performed Your words, For You are righteous.
9 "You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And heard their cry by the Red Sea. 10 You
showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants, And against all the people of
his land. For You knew that they acted proudly against them. So You made a name for Yourself, as
it is this day. 11 And You divided the sea before them, So that they went through the midst of the sea
on the dry land; And their persecutors You threw into the deep, As a stone into the mighty waters.
12 Moreover You led them by day with a cloudy pillar, And by night with a pillar of fire, To
give them light on the road Which they should travel. 13 "You came down also on Mount Sinai,
And spoke with them from heaven, And gave them just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes
and commandments. 14 You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, And commanded them
precepts, statutes and laws, By the hand of Moses Your servant. 15 You gave them bread from
heaven for their hunger, And brought them water out of the rock for their thirst, And told them to go
in to possess the land Which You had sworn to give them.
16 "But they and our fathers acted proudly, Hardened their necks, And did not heed Your
commandments. 17 They refused to obey, And they were not mindful of Your wonders
That You did among them. But they hardened their necks, And in their rebellion They
appointed a leader To return to their bondage. But You are God, Ready to pardon,
Gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, Abundant in kindness, And did not forsake
them. 18 "Even when they made a molded calf for themselves, And said, 'This is your god
That brought you up out of Egypt,' And worked great provocations, 19 Yet in Your manifold mercies
You did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day,
To lead them on the road; Nor the pillar of fire by night, To show them light, And
the way they should go. 20 You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, And did not withhold
Your manna from their mouth, And gave them water for their thirst. 21 Forty years You sustained
them in the wilderness, They lacked nothing; Their clothes did not wear out And their feet
did not swell. 22 "Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations, And divided them into districts.
So they took possession of the land of Sihon, The land of the king of Heshbon, And the land
of Og king of Bashan.
23 You also multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, And brought them into the land
Which You had told their fathers To go in and possess. 24 So the people went in And
possessed the land; You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, The Canaanites,
And gave them into their hands, With their kings And the people of the land, That they
might do with them as they wished. 25 And they took strong cities and a rich land, And possessed
houses full of all goods, Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves, And fruit trees in
abundance. So they ate and were filled and grew fat, And delighted themselves in Your great
goodness. 26 "Nevertheless they were disobedient And rebelled against You, Cast Your
law behind their backs And killed Your prophets, who testified against them To turn them to
Yourself; And they worked great provocations. 27 Therefore You delivered them into the hand of
their enemies, Who oppressed them; And in the time of their trouble, When they cried to
You, You heard from heaven; And according to Your abundant mercies You gave them
deliverers who saved them From the hand of their enemies. 28 "But after they had rest,
They again did evil before You. Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies, So that they
had dominion over them; Yet when they returned and cried out to You, You heard from heaven;
And many times You delivered them according to Your mercies,
29 And testified against them, That You might bring them back to Your law. Yet they acted
proudly, And did not heed Your commandments, But sinned against Your judgments,
'Which if a man does, he shall live by them.' And they shrugged their shoulders, Stiffened their
necks, And would not hear. 30 Yet for many years You had patience with them, And
testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets. Yet they would not listen; Therefore You
gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. 31 Nevertheless in Your great mercy You did
not utterly consume them nor forsake them; For You are God, gracious and merciful. 32 "Now
therefore, our God, The great, the mighty, and awesome God, Who keeps covenant and mercy:
Do not let all the trouble seem small before You That has come upon us, Our kings and our
princes, Our priests and our prophets, Our fathers and on all Your people, from the days of the
kings of Assyria until this day.
33 However You are just in all that has befallen us; For You have dealt faithfully, But we have
done wickedly. 34 Neither our kings nor our princes, Our priests nor our fathers, Have kept
Your law, Nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies, With which You testified against
them. 35 For they have not served You in their kingdom, Or in the many good things that You gave
them, Or in the large and rich land which You set before them; Nor did they turn from their wicked
works. 36 "Here we are, servants today! And the land that You gave to our fathers, To eat
its fruit and its bounty, Here we are, servants in it! 37 And it yields much increase to the kings
You have set over us, Because of our sins; Also they have dominion over our bodies and our
cattle At their pleasure; And we are in great distress. 38 "And because of all this, We make
a sure covenant, and write it; our leaders, our Levites, and our priests seal it."
