esrim
2022 will be our TWENTIETH YEAR in ministry, and so will continue our long walk across the United States via this ferry crossing of the Ohio River into Cave-In-Rock, Illinois.
Esrim (אשרם) is the Hebrew word for “twenty,” simply the plural form of the number 10 (אשרה). A twentieth year would be called shinoth esrim (שׁנת עשׂרים), or “two ten years.” I can think of twice in the Bible that “two ten years” or a “twentieth year” is highlighted in Israel’s history as the fountainhead of a good and mighty work of God that would follow.
In the TWENTIETH YEAR of Jeroboam, king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Asa came to the throne of David in Jerusalem (I Kings 15:9). And so began a good work of revival:
“And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God: For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves: And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment” (II Chronicles 14:2-4).
The contemporary writers of the Kings also noted:
“And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom. And Asa did that which was RIGHT in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father. And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron. But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the LORD all his days” (I Kings 15:10-14).
Wow! The 20th year of a wicked and foolish king in Israel was also the accession year of a righteous king in Judah who feared the LORD more than he feared the people or even his own mother. And, he acted upon that fear of God, ridding the land of evil influence and commanding the people to seek God and obey His law. And so, Asa reigned even longer than David or Solomon. He definitely made his share of mistakes, as did David and Solomon, and he paid for them. Late in his life, he even exhibited the same foolishness displayed by many Christians in America today—blindly following the “expert advice” of the physicians INSTEAD OF seeking and trusting the LORD in matters of health (II Chronicles 16:12). Yet, he was used mightily of Jehovah to bring a period of revival into the land and a mighty deliverance that even attracted enough folks from the Northern Kingdom to make its wicked king extremely nervous (I Kings 15:17). So was a good testimony that began in a TWENTIETH YEAR.
In the 20th year of Jeroboam of Israel, Asa came to the throne of David. He was a righteous king who reigned for 41 years.
There is another TWENTIETH YEAR that proved extremely important in terms of Israel’s history, that of the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus, King of the Persian Empire:
“And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the TWENTIETH YEAR of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick?” (Nehemiah 2:1-2).
It was no accident that Nehemiah had received an unsettling report about the status of the Jewish Remnant that had returned to Jerusalem and of the continued brokenness of the city’s walls and gates. It was no accident that this report came in Artaxerxes’ 20th year, and that it drove Nehemiah to fasting and prayer. It was no accident that Nehemiah entered the presence of Artaxerxes as his cupbearer with a sad countenance and that this seemingly trivial detail would provoke a monarch to ask a question that would affect the future course of all nations.
Thus, Nehemiah was sent back home with a “commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem” (Daniel 9:25) and so God’s prophetic clock for Israel’s future history as laid out in DANIELS SEVENTY WEEKS, one of the most important prophecies in all of Holy Scripture, started ticking . . . 84 years after it was revealed to the Prophet by Gabriel in the first year of Darius the Mede (538 BC).
Again, an important TWENTIETH YEAR began a good testimony and a mighty work of the LORD that continues even today.
In the 20th year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, King of Persia, a very important commandment was given to Nehemiah and so began the ticking of Daniel’s 70 Weeks Prophecy.
Almost six years ago, I gave a series of teachings on Daniel’s Seventy Weeks Prophecy, as part of my larger exegetical study on the Book of Revelation. This is a fascinating study that confirms God’s Word in the minutest of details and demonstrates how a seemingly insignificant TWENTIETH YEAR can literally shake the heavens and the earth in terms of God’s Divine Hand of Providence. The first of those four messages can be found below, or via Apple Podcasts on my Exegetical Studies in Revelation Podcast. Parts 2-4 are easily accessed from there.
So . . . what’s all this about esrim and twentieth years? When 2022 starts ticking at midnight this Saturday, so begins FPGM’s TWENTIETH YEAR of service to our Lord. We are grateful, humbled, and resolved by this, though it be difficult to fathom. Our labors may have been small and fraught with hard lessons, but we are comforted by a great promise found in Hebrews 6:10, an assurance that we pray gives you also great peace going in 2022:
“For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister” (Hebrews 6:10).
At this moment, I have probably forgotten more from these past 19 years than I remember, but God is not unrighteous to forget. For those who faithfully serve Him and endure, even into a TWENTIETH YEAR, that is a great comfort and consolation.
The collage below displays a single image for each year that I believe best summarizes our testimonies from that particular year of service, and there really is an incredible story behind every one. This brings back many memories of God’s faithfulness in 46 different counties, all over the United States, on 163 university campuses at home and abroad, and in every corner of the Land of Israel. Of course, the last image represents something yet unwritten. May its choice prove prophetic as we continue this pilgrimage. You can find the same gallery HERE where each year links to specific testimonies from that year (I am still working on uploading a lot of the older testimony before 2010).
More than anything and from its inception, we at Full Proof Gospel Ministries have desired to be OBEDIENT to the LORD, following Him wherever He may lead, and CONSISTENT in our testimony, ever bearing record of the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And thus, after all these years, we find ourselves walking across the United States into our TWENTIETH YEAR. Is it glorious? NO. Is it grand? NO. Is it praiseworthy? I TROW NOT (Luke 17:9) . . . and yet, neither was the quiet accession of King Asa to the throne of Judah nor the entrance of Nehemiah into the presence of King Artaxerxes with a sad countenance.
We humbly ask you to pray with us that our TWENTIETH YEAR (2022) would be a particular fountainhead of a good and mighty work of God that will follow, as was the 20th year of Jeroboam when Asa began his rule (956BC) and the 20th year of Artaxerxes Longimanus (454 BC) when Daniel’s 70 Weeks started ticking. In the spirit of the revivals that followed these particular years in Israel’s history, we pray that God would be merciful and bring revival to America’s churches and spiritual awakening in her streets beginning in 2022, our TWENTIETH YEAR.
Oh how desperately America needs revival in her churches and spiritual awakening in her streets! As a new and noteworthy year begins for us in ministry, we commit to keep walking Americas highways, byways, and hedges all the way to the Pacific Ocean seeking, petitioning, preaching, and looking for that revival with the same fervency that the wise men from the east sought the Christ child born in Bethlehem. Going forward, and as always, your continued prayers and support are needed and most appreciated.
If this ministry has been a blessing to you recently, or over the years, and if the LORD should lay it upon your heart to give something financially as we begin our TWENTIETH YEAR, the last minute you can make an online tax-deductible donation for 2021 is December 31st at 11:59 p.m. in the time zone where you live. We definitely have financial needs, and anything you can share is a blessing that will be used faithfully and with account. All contributions are tax-deductible, and donating online via PayPal is very easy. Thank you in Jesus’ name. Learn more . . .
In the spirit of the Hebrew ESRIM, Happy New Year in the name of the Great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ! Stay tuned as we continue our long walk across the United States into 2022, heralding the BOOK, the BLOOD, and the BLESSED HOPE and praying for REVIVAL.
Jesse Boyd
Full Proof Gospel Ministries