The Windows of Heaven
“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.” (Malachi 3:10)
“In the Old Testament where the Scripture speaks of the “windows of heaven,” the Hebrew word refers to sluice or sluice gates. The windows of heaven are like sluice gates.”
“Imagine, if you will, an enormous dam, a majestic concrete structure cutting across a great river, the water backing up behind it. The sluice gates are opened, and out of the front of the dam there are gushing torrents of water being released. The water churns through the generators, sending power to distant areas, and rushes down to fill the area below. Like a flash flood, the water surges forth along the riverbed, clearing debris where it has accumulated, and later on, the water will flow more smoothly in the river, eventually depositing into a lake where people will gather for refreshing.”
“The term “sluice gate” means a channel which regulates flow by a valve or a gate. Those resources are held in reserve until, by the action of the person who opens the sluice gates, they are disbursed. The term also refers to the enormity of the resources that are behind it. A “slue” or “slew” is something there is a whole lot of. The “sluice” is that great reserve that is behind the gate.”
Jack Hayford
This picture of the sluice gates or the windows of heaven, is a reserve that is held and waiting to be disbursed.
The picture above is one of the windows at Out of the Box, the church where I am blessed to serve as the shepherd of God’s people. I recently preached on this passage but I didn’t get to say a lot about the blessing that God is getting ready to pour out. I believe that God is getting ready to fulfill this scripture in our church downtown. The windows of Heaven are actually open and the pouring is happening. You may not be able to see it yet because sometimes when the gates (windows) are open there is so much pressure, so much force (Holy Spirit) that it feels like you’re going to be swept away in the current when it is actually a cleansing. The stuff that we have accumulated over the years that isn’t important to the Kingdom is being washed away. Sometimes the current is so strong that it seems like you will drown but you won’t. When you’re in a situation where you have swam and swam but you don’t seem to be able to get where you want to go you just have to surrender. You have to stop flailing and fighting and just simply rest.
The windows of Heaven are open at Out of the Box and God is pouring out blessing, more than we are ready to receive. Watch and see, the God we serve is about to show up and show off.
Ronnie