Deuteronomy 11:26-29 “26 “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; 28 and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known.
29 “It shall come about, when the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, that you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.”
Why did he tell the children of Israel to put the blessing upon one mountain, and the curse upon another? He was saying, I’m setting a choice between blessing and cursing before you, and I want you to be reminded of it every day. Which one will you choose? So when the sun rises and you see both of those mountain peaks, you will remember that you must choose one or the other. The Lord’s mercies are new every morning. (Lamentations 3:22-23) Every new day we have to make the choice between walking in blessings or curses, we cannot choose both.
We have all been given free will and our choices will either result in us walking in blessings or curses. So all have to choose in life if we are going to obey what Father is commanding us to do or disobey. Which mountain do you choose to climb, the mountain of blessings or the mountain of curses.
Please take note that the mountains are geographical locations, pieces of land, actually mountains on the earth. The blessings and curses were on the physical land. We will come back to this theme.
The basics of remitting of sins
John 20:23 “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.” [New American Standard Bible]
“Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.” [King James Version]
What does it mean to remit sins?
What is the purpose of it?
What does it mean to redeem the land? To claim the land back for the Lord and bring it back to Him. To really possess the land and not just co-existing in it with the forces of evil.
We see in the life of King Saul, that he never fully redeemed the land back to the Lord, he fought against his enemies (1 Samuel 14:47) he vexed them but never fully overcame them. He made them “hewers of wood” and “drawers of water” which shows that he never completely destroyed his enemies but allowed them to continue to live on the land.
What does the word REMIT mean?
Here are some synonyms for the word remit.
When you remit, you: relax, absolve, release, pardon, discontinue, acquit, surrender, leave off, moderate, mitigate, alleviate, desist, as in “cease and desist.”
There is a lot of power behind remitting sins.
Another synonym is – soften. Have you ever met a hard callused person? You can begin to soften those calluses by remitting his sins.
Some other synonyms – relent, excuse, overlook, exempt, forward, dispatch, transmit, convey, transfer, consign, and deliver.
On the other hand of you don’t remit someone’s sins, what are you doing? Look at the antonyms for the word remit.
Hold, withhold, keep, retain, reserve, tie up, persist, continue, exact, control, command, sway, dominate, avenge, take revenge, get the upper hand, impose a duty on, bind, enjoin, render obligatory, make responsible, repress, suppress, restrain, restrict, prohibit.
As we look at the synonyms and antonyms of the word REMIT, we can clearly see which of the two mountains we have chosen to climb.
Synonyms – Mountain of Blessing
Antonyms – Mountain of Cursing
Regarding other people around you, have you been remitting their sins or retaining their sins? Have you been releasing others? Have you been sending others forward? Have you been dispatching and transmitting and conveying and transferring and consigning and delivering them?
If you have not been doing this, then you have been retaining their sins. You have been making others responsible, placing them under obligation, repressing, restricting, restraining and prohibiting them, you have not been remitting their sins. You have been retaining them.
The Greek word for remit, means to – cry out or, forgive, to lay aside, or forsake. It comes from the root word – “off” – as in “Get it off of me” “Shake it loose”. This word denotes separation and departure from.
Redeeming the Land
When we talk about redeeming the land we are talking about reclaiming it for God. We know that land all over the earth needs “separation and departure” from sin and the curse. Lots of things that need to be removed from the land are due to the sins that took place on the land.
Leviticus 18:25 “And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.” [King James Version]
Walking and remitting sins
Matthew 26:28King James Version (KJV)
“For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
James 3:17-18 “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.” [King James Version]
When we are truly walking in peace and purity of heart we will be effective in reaching souls, remitting sins and redeeming the land. As we do this work it’s important that we don’t have unconfessed sins in our lives, and are constantly walking in peace and purity of heart.
Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”
Where are the words remitting of sins in the scriptures?
Mark 1:4 “John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.”
John the Baptist’s ministry shows us the close relationship between repentance and remission of sins.
Paul preached the gospel, that seemed foolish to some, but the simplicity of the gospel had the power to save souls and they came to repentance for the remission of their sins.
Luke 1:73-79 “73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,
74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
So we know that Jesus the Messiah has the power to remit sins. Yet now that He has returned to the right hand of the Father, we as the children of God on the earth have been commissioned to carry on the ministry on the earth, as the manifest sons and daughters of God today, we can also remit sins just as Christ did in his ministry on the earth.
John 14:12 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”
Romans 3:23-26 23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Romans 4:1-8 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
We have the power and authority to declare the remission of sins, through His righteousness. What sins? Sins that are passed, not only the recent passed or last week or even all the sins in an individual’s life, but also in his father’s and mother’s life and grandparents and even the generations that came before us.
The cries of innocent blood and the sins of the passed
When we redeem the land by walking the land and being sensitive to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us, at times we will enter a place and hear the cries of innocent blood coming from that land. The Father might show you visions of what took place on that land in times gone by, visions of abominable acts that were committed on that line. You may well hear the crying out of innocent blood.
This one brother was walking along the Wye River in Great Britain and as he came to the base of a cliff, he heard the cries of young teenage girls. Girls who were aged about 13 or 14 years old. They were about that age. This brother was hearing the crying out of this innocent blood. Then in a vision he saw Roman legions encamped in the area and soldiers going through the villages grabbing young girls and killing some of them and taking others captive. Then bringing them to this very spot where he was standing and raping them and murdering them and throwing their bodies into the river. In the vision he saw lifeless bodies floating down the river.
Then the Lord spoke to this brother saying, “This happened back in the 3rd century, and their innocent blood is still crying from the ground.”
The brother started to pray and ask the Lord. “Father what can I do about this? Why have you shown me this? What can I do about it?
The Lord replied to him, “You remit those sins.”
The brother went on to talk to the Lord. “I don’t have the power or authority to remit sins that were committed way back in the 3rd century.”
The Lord is patient with us and will help us to understand things that we don’t understand. All we need to do is keep asking questions and He will give us revelation and understanding.
The Lord replied, “Open my word to Romans 3:23-26” and there he saw in the bible it was written, “to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed.” Verse 25
So this brother began a ministry of remitting sins that were committed on the land from past times and cleansing the land and breaking the curse off the land and restoring the blessings and goodness of God to the land.
The Lord went on the explain to this brother that he needed to redeem this land back to God by breaking the stronghold that was on that land, that from that time many sins have continued to be committed on the same land including molestations, seductions and orgies. The reason this has continued through the years on this same land is that the god of this world has a legal right in that place and has built a stronghold there.
The Lord showed this brother how to remit the sins committed on this land and cleanse the land of the curse and break the demonic stronghold off the land. But even going even further to restore the blessing to the land the goodness of God to the land which will result in the entire creation of life on the land to be restored to blessing and new life will begin to spring forth on the land. Before nothing was growing on the land while under the curse, but when the blessing of God came back on the land, new plant life and trees began to grow out.
What this brother did was to walk over the ground, praying and remitting the sins of those Roman soldiers as well as the sins of their descendants and the generations that came afterwards. Praying for that generation from the 3rd century and through the generations until the very present day, those who were still suffering under the grievous yoke that was to result of every sin and abuse their forefathers had committed on that land.
Releasing the goodness of God
But we don’t stop there, now that the sins and been remitted and the curses have been broken, it is time to release the goodness of the Lord over the land, and over those who are currently living there.
Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Ask the Father to restore His creation. Ask Him to bring back His breath of life and to move His Hand over that desolate area where the ground is hard-packed and nothing is growing anymore. Ask Him to cleanse that ground and let flowers and grass and trees begin to come forth and be nourished. Ask Him to let the squirrels and the rabbits and the birds come back to that area. Ask Him to let life come back to the land once more.
It is the responsibility of the manifest sons and daughters of God, to take authority, to take dominion and reclaim the land that has be defiled by sin.
When Stephen was uttering his last breath he spoke out, “Lord lay not this sin to their charge…” When Christ was on the cross, he spoke out, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do….” Both Stephen and Christ were remitting sins.
Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
Isaiah understood this great truth of remitting sins.
Blood Guiltiness
Genesis 4:8-10 8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
9 And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?
10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.
Leviticus 18:25 “And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.”
Why did Israel loose her land? It was because she joined herself to all the gods of the heathen around her – Molech, Ashteroth and so forth. She caused her children to pass through the fire of sacrifice to these idols. When the children start suffering and be sacrificed, you can know that God’s judgment is on the way.
Some that have got involved in prayer walking to redeem the land, have gone to places like where abortion clinics and hospitals that do abortions take place and in the spirit can hear the cries of the innocent babies crying out. Innocent blood has been poured out and a curse is on the land, the enemy has built a stronghold in the area, so you will often find places like gambling casinos, and houses of prostitution and homosexual nightclub nearby. The god of this world has a right to that land, the sin has not been remitted and the land has not been cleansed. The land is defiled.
When the land is defiled
Ecclesiastes 9:18 “…….one sinner destroyeth much good.”
Isaiah 59:3 “For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.”
Ezekiel 7:7-9 and 12 7 The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains.
8 Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations.
9 And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the Lord that smiteth.
12The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.
In such places you will find desolate ground – where abominations and desolations have been committed.
Leviticus 25:23 “The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine, for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.”
Deuteronomy 11:12 “A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.”
The most devastating way to destroy the earth is to defile it with innocent blood.
Yet God wants to restore the land.
Psalm 85:9 “Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.”
The Fathers Heart regarding redeeming the land and remitting sins
The Father desire His children to be restored to Him in relationship and intimacy. He wants fellowship and communion with Himself restored. That is the goal. So it’s all about the souls of the people and them being restored to relationship with the Father.
So if we are just doing spiritual warfare and cleansing of the land just for the sake of removing stronghold, then we have missed the mark. We redeem that land and remit sins so that the people on the land can be restored back into relationship with God.
We want to tear down those strongholds so they can never again take captive the souls in that region.
That is the proper motivation for redeeming the land and remitting sins.
Remitting sins and redeeming the land lifts off the burden of condemnation off people, so that they can breathe again. It makes it easier for them to come to the Lord and come to salvation.
So after we remit the sins and redeem the land we must release the blessings and goodness of God to the land and the people. The goodness of God leads to repentance.
