Who is Your Rear Guard?

Welcome to today's episode of Reflective Hour. I'm Tammy Toney-Butler, your host and healing evangelist. Thank you for tuning in, for listening to this episode today and gleaning from our field. We all know who the real host of this show is, and that's Christ. Holy Spirit, come have your way in this time that we have together. May they hear you and not me, see you and not me.

May they receive hidden wisdom and truth as the word of God is revealed to them in such a fresh new way. May they see such truth within the words that you've scribed long ago.

May we glean from the word of truth and never ever falter as we strive to follow you. Not compromise but be the light a world of darkness needs. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray and declare all things. Amen. I ask you this question. Who is your rear guard? Who are you looking to for protection? Who are you looking to for protection? We know that the rear guard in the Bible refers to God acting as a protector who guards from behind, not just leading from the front. When we look at Isaiah, Isaiah 52, and we start in 5212.

Well, let's start with uh let's start with 11. Depart, depart. Go out from there. Touch no unclean thing. Come out from it and be pure. You who carry the vessels of the Lord, but you will not leave in haste or go in flight. For the Lord will go before you. The God of Israel will be your rear guard. Your rear guard. And we know the rear guard biblically symbolizes comprehensive protection, not just from the front, but also from behind where people are often the most vulnerable. Those silent attacks that come out of nowhere that threaten to destroy you, those storms. May you see that God is with you and protecting you from every enemy, every enemy. We wrestle not with flesh but with powers and principalities and evil in high places. When we look at Ephesians 6 and we strap on our body armor, we strap on our faith and know know that God has us, that he's protecting us. He will never leave us nor forsake us and no weapon formed against us shall ever prosper. We have the power over the spiritual forces of darkness. We have the victory as believers, as followers in Christ Jesus. We get to speak to any storm and say, "Peace be still." We know that the rear guard also symbolically means divine presence. The presence of a rear guard highlights God's omniresence and his involvement in every aspect of a believer's life. It represents rest and security. It offers us asurances and peace, signifying that God is actively involved in every part of our journey, both leading the way and protecting us from behind, protecting us from hidden dangers, from things that we can't even see. that we can't even see. That we can't even see. We look at this in the Bible. We see key instances in the Bible as we just talked about in Isaiah uh 5 uh2 uh and we look at Isaiah 58:8. The glory of the Lord is described as the rear guard linking divine protection with a call to righteousness and true fasting. And we see in Joshua 6:9 during the march around Jericho that the rear guard came after the ark symbolizing God's presence and protection at the center and at the rear of his people. It is a web of protection around us, a fortified wall of protection that God has around his people. We do not have to fear. We do not have to fear. Remember in Exodus when they left Egypt, we look at Exodus 14:19 to20 and the angel of God and the pillar of cloud moved from the front to the back of the Israeli camp acting as a literal rear guard to protect them from the pursuing Egyptian army. God is with us. He's with us in our infirmaries. He's with us at every point in our journey as a believer, as a Christian. But do we believe it? Do we call upon him? Do we rest in the promises of his word and use our sword of truth, which is scripture, to guide us, to keep us, to comfort us, to bring us into all truth? Who are you looking to for protection? Who are you looking to to be your rear guard? Are you looking to God? Are you looking Are you looking to the work done on the cross by Jesus? Recognizing that when Jesus said it was finished, it was finished. That sickness is under our feet. Lack is under our feet.

No force of darkness can come against us because we have already been given the keys to the victory by the work done on the cross by Jesus, by his blood shed on Calvary, by the sprinkling of his blood over his people. Look at Isaiah 52 when it starts in 13 and it goes to 15 and it talks about the suffering and glory of the servant of Jesus the Messiah. See my servant will act wisely. He will be raised and lifted up highly and and highly exalted just as there were many who were appalled at him. His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness. So will he sprinkle many nations and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told they will see and what they have not heard they will understand.

It goes on to say in 53 Isaiah 53, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender chute and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him. Nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrows and familiar with suffering like one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows. Yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We are like sheep at we all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

of us all. of us all. This chapter continues to speak of the Messiah, Jesus, who would suffer for the sins of all people.

Jesus suffered so you don't have to.

So you don't have to. Our protector, our redeemer. He handed us victory. He handed us victory. So who are you looking to to be your rear guard to protect you from the attacks that show up out of nowhere,

the storms of life that come and threaten to destroy you. You need to be so rooted on the foundation knowing that you know that you know that Lord Jesus has you. His death on the cross was all that was needed. He defeated the enemy. We have the keys to the kingdom. We walk in the authority. So you speak to that storm in your life and you say, "Peace be still. Peace be still. For it is finished. You walk knowing that you are protected, that you are surrounded, that no weapon formed against you shall ever prosper. Angels are all around you. You won't even hit your foot against a stone.

The angel of the Lord encampeth about thee, and you are protected. So go into those places of darkness and bring the light of truth and let's take territory for the kingdom of God. Not fearing what's behind. Not looking at the past, but stepping abundantly into all God has for us in this day, in this moment, knowing that we're protected. Nothing that arises from our past, from our back, will ever hurt us because we're surrounded and covered by the blood of Jesus. Protected by the word, by the word, by the word, by the word, by the word, by the blood, by the blood, by the blood. Walk this day in victory. Shout from the rooftops. Proclaim victory as warriors in Christ. and march where he's called you to march and take that territory for the kingdom of God. Glory be to Jesus. Glory be to Jesus. Glory be to Jesus. That's this episode of Reflective Hour with Tammy Toney-Butler. Remember to like and subscribe and share. Go now and prosper. Bring forth bountiful fruit this day as you go out into the harvest and labor for King Jesus who's our protector, our redeemer. He's our everything. Nobody gets to the father but through Jesus and the work done on the cross. Glory be to Jesus. Glory be to Jesus. Glory be to Jesus.