These are notes on the sermon, Your Provision Is in the Vision, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 21 February 2021, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
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God gives us hazon visions (prophetic visions) for our future to help us operate in faith. Faith is the currency of heaven.
Every blessing and breakthrough you need already belongs to you in Christ, but it is faith that brings them from the invisible spiritual realm to the visible material realm.
Pastor Prince encourages us to keep on praying for the spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph. 1:17–19) because that’s how we position ourselves to receive hazon visions from the Lord. When you have the wisdom of God, you will be able to see the answers to every problem you’re facing.
Today, we’ll be talking about how God’s provision for us is found in the hazon visions He gives us.
“The vision (‘hazon’) of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw (‘chazah’) concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”
— Isaiah 1:1 NKJV
“vision (‘hazon’)” — The word “vision” is the word “hazon” in Hebrew, and it refers to a vision from God. The noun “hazon” is “chazah” in verb form.
“saw (‘chazah’)” — The word “saw” is the word “chazah” in Hebrew, and it means “to see, perceive, look, behold, prophesy, provide,” and also “to see as a seer.” When you have a hazon vision, you are provided with insight and wisdom regarding the plans of God in your life.
The word “chazah,” which is the verb form of “hazon,” is translated as “provide” in other passages in the Bible. For example:
“Moreover thou shalt provide (‘chazah’) out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.”
— Exodus 18:21 KJV
Context: This passage gives us a lesson in leadership on how to pick leaders.
“provide (‘chazah’)” — The word “provide” is the Hebrew word “chazah.”
The Young’s Literal Translation puts it this way:
“And thou -- thou dost provide . . .”
— Exodus 18:21 YLT
God wants you to see that you are provided for. Not by your own efforts, but by God Himself. He will see to your provision.
When God wants to provide for you, He first gives you a hazon vision.
We don’t get hazon visions from God by doing good or having good intentions. We receive them by grace. Because of Jesus’ finished work, we are under the new covenant of grace. We no longer operate under the law of sin and death where we only get the good or bad we deserve, but we now operate under the law of the Spirit of life where we are in Christ Jesus and we get the good that He deserves (Rom. 8:2).
That includes receiving hazon visions from God. In the vision is His provision.
It is important to distinguish new-age teachings like “visualization” from having God-given hazon visions. The devil can also give people visions (e.g. of wealth and expensive cars), but there’s always a price to pay, and some people end up paying with their lives. But don’t be afraid! As long as we are following after Jesus and receiving His hazon visions (which are most often found in His Word), we can be sure that we will receive God-given abundant provision that has been paid for by Christ Himself. The Lord came to give us abundant life (John 10:10)!
Let’s study the life of Abraham. Notice how when God wanted to bless Abraham, God first showed him faith pictures of the blessings before they manifested in his life.
In Genesis 13, Abraham (who was 79 years old) had just come out of Egypt after encountering troubling circumstances. God spoke to Abraham on Mount Bethel:
“And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: ‘Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.’ And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.” Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.”
— Genesis 13:14–18 NKJV
“northward, southward, eastward, and westward . . . all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever” — North, South, East, and West form a picture of the cross. This is a picture of how our inheritance as heirs of Abraham (Gal. 3:29) is found in the cross.
“I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth” — At this time, Abraham did not have children by his wife Sarah. So God gave him a picture of having as many children “as the dust of the earth”—innumerable!
“Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width . . . Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre” — When God told Abraham to walk in the land, He wasn’t telling Abraham to take a physical trek around Israel. Obviously, Abraham did not physically walk around the length and width of the land God described because all he did was move his tent. Instead of walking in the land physically, Abraham walked in the land in the spirit—he saw it prophetically in the spirit. He could not see all the land that God had described to him from where he was physically standing on Mount Bethel, but God showed him all the land prophetically. That’s how Abraham “walked in the land.”
God told Abraham that whatever he saw prophetically would be his. It is the same for us today. Whatever we see in God’s hazon visions for our lives belongs to us. The first step of receiving God’s provision in our lives is to receive His hazon vision!
Before we can possess greater provision from the Lord, our vision needs to be enlarged by Him.
The progress we make in life begins with our vision. When we were young, we might have thought that having $1,000 in the bank was a lot of money. But as we grew older, our vision widened and we realized how much we needed to be financially stable (it varies from person to person). And with this increase in vision, our finances/savings also increased.
Similarly, before we can possess God’s provision, God has to enlarge our vision. He wants us to see it first on the inside.
As you hold on to the faith pictures that God gives you, and as you focus on His goodness and grace through the seasons of waiting, you will walk in the fulfillment of those faith pictures.
We go back to Genesis 13:
“Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre (strength, fatness), which are in Hebron (association), and built an altar there to the Lord.”
— Genesis 13:18 NKJV
“Mamre” — The Hebrew word “Mamre” means “strength and fatness.”
“Hebron” — The Hebrew word “Hebron” means “association.” It comes from the root word “chabar,” meaning “alliance, friendship.” It is a picture of having association, fellowship, and closeness with the Lord. Interestingly, “chabar” is also the root word from which we get “chabburah,” which means “stripes”—as in, “by His stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5). So we can also say, “by His alliance and friendship with us, we are healed.”
Just like God enlarged Abraham’s capacity to receive provision by giving him prophetic visions, He wants to do the same for you today.
Later on in Abraham’s life, when Abraham was 84 years old, God enlarged his vision once again.
“After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying,
Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”
— Genesis 15:1 KJV
“I am” — The name of God used here is the name “El Shaddai,” which means “God Almighty.”
“thy shield” — When God gave Abraham a vision of a shield, He was giving Abraham a picture of how He was Abraham’s defender and protector.
“thy exceeding great reward” — The Hebrew word “reward” can also be translated as “remuneration, salary.”
The vision God gave to Abraham is for us today too.
The conditions of the world economy, your country, your place of work, or any other negative situation you might be in cannot obstruct God’s provision in your life.
In the story of Jacob and Esau, God gives us a picture of how His provision goes beyond the material gain that the world chases after.
Backstory: When Jacob was about to meet his older brother Esau after many years, he wanted to give Esau many goats and sheep to pay Esau back for cheating him of his birthright all those years ago. In this story, Jacob is a picture of the believer who has the first-born blessing, and Esau is a picture of the world.
When Esau saw all that Jacob wanted to give him, he said:
“But Esau said, ‘I already have plenty (‘rab’), my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.’”
— Genesis 33:9 NIV
“plenty (‘rab’)” — The Hebrew word for “plenty” is “rab,” which means “abundance.”
Jacob replied:
“Please accept my blessing (gift) which has been brought to you, for God has dealt graciously with me and I have everything (‘kol’).”
— Genesis 33:11 AMP
“everything (‘kol’)” — The word “everything” is the Hebrew word “kol,” which means “the whole, all.”
While Esau had plenty, Jacob had everything. The same goes for you and me today!
While billionaires may have plenty, as children of God we have everything because we have Jesus. You have more going for you than even the richest people in the world who are without Christ. Not only does the Lord want to meet your practical and material needs, but He also wants to meet your emotional, mental, and spiritual needs. He wants you healthy and happy from the inside out!
“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
— Philippians 4:19 NKJV
“according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” — We are supplied “according to” all His riches and not “out of” His riches. This is how lavishly God wants to provide for you!
Back to Abraham’s story in Genesis 15 (when God appeared to him in a vision as a shield). At this time, when Abraham was 84 years old, he had grown weary while waiting for the earlier vision of having many children to come to pass.
“And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?”
— Genesis 15:2 KJV
“seeing I go childless” — At this time, Abraham had grown so weary from waiting that he was in a state of unbelief. To be in a state of unbelief is to dishonor God and His Word, and yet God did not rebuke Abraham. In fact, not one time in Abraham’s life did the Lord ever rebuke him verbally. Abraham is a picture of you and I who are righteous by faith—God treats us the same way. While God does child-train and correct us, He does not bring condemnation or punishment on us (e.g. through accidents, tragedies, sickness, etc.) for we have passed from death unto life (John 5:24, Rom. 8:1).
It is the gift of “no condemnation” that causes us to go and sin no more and live a life that glorifies Jesus. We can see this in the story of the woman at the well in John 4.
Back to Abraham:
Knowing that Abraham was discouraged and in a place of unbelief, the Lord encouraged him with another vision. He brought Abraham out under the night sky and show him the stars:
“And he brought him forth abroad, and said,
Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
And he believed (‘aman’) in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”
— Genesis 15:5–6 KJV
“tell the stars, if thou be able to number them” — The word “tell” is the same word “declare” that is found in Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” The gospel story is written in the stars. Astrology has perverted the gospel story in the stars by encouraging people to look to the stars to tell their fortune or govern their lives, when in fact we are to look to the One who made the stars to know how to govern our lives.
Back in Abraham’s time, there was no Bible written yet, so God brought Abraham out to see the stars to show him the gospel.
“So shall thy seed be” — The “seed” here prophesied Jesus’ coming. Though the word “seed” here is singular, it also represents all of us who are in Christ.
“he believed (‘aman’) in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness” — When Abraham saw the gospel story, he believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. This is why Abraham was righteous by faith and not by works (his actions). The word “believed” here is the Hebrew word “aman (amen),” which means “so it shall be.” When you say “amen,” you are releasing faith and honoring God.
If you would like to know more about the gospel story written in the stars, Pastor Prince has a sermon titled “The Stars Tell the Story of Jesus.”
Let’s look at the visions God gave Abraham:
When you put them together, you will notice that God gave Abraham visual aids to help him see the vision 24/7—one to picture during the day, and the other to picture at night.
If you are believing the Lord to have a baby, you can have visual aids (e.g. place pictures of beautiful babies in a vision book, buy baby clothes, etc.). Pastor Prince shares that when he was believing the Lord for Justin, he would cradle a small bolster in his arms to create the visual aid he needed at the time to see himself holding a child. One day, as he was holding baby Justin in his arms, he realized that he was holding the fulfillment of the dream that God had given him. For whatever you are believing God for, start having visual aids to hold on to your vision. Don’t focus on the bad news or negative statistics but focus on the vision from God that comes from His Word.
When it came to Abraham, God gave him pictures of creation (i.e. the dust of the earth and the stars in the sky) as visual aids.
Before the Bible was written, man got to know God through creation. They looked around and realized there was a Creator. We see this in the psalms:
“Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.”
— Psalms 19:2 NKJV
However, in this same psalm, we also see how the Word of God has taken the place of creation. Now, we are to look to God’s Word to get to know Him and His hazon visions for us.
“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;”
— Psalms 19:7 NKJV
Instead of just looking at images of the material things you desire, look at the visions in God’s Word!
One of God’s hazon visions for us is found in Psalm 1:
“He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.”
— Psalm 1:3 NKJV
You will walk in this hazon vision in God’s Word when you first see it in your heart.
Another hazon vision can be seen in Numbers 24. Context: A heathen king hired a sorcerer named Balaam to pronounce a curse over the children of Israel, but God intervened and changed Balaam’s words to instead declare the beautiful vision that God had of Israel:
“And Balaam raised his eyes, and saw Israel encamped according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him. Then he took up his oracle and said:
‘The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor,
The utterance of the man who eyes are opened,
The utterance of him who hears the words of God,
Who sees (‘chazah’) the vision (‘machazeh’) of the Almighty,
Who falls down, with eyes wide open.”
—Numbers 24:2–4 NKJV
“sees (‘chazah’) the vision (‘machazeh’) of the Almighty” — The word “sees” is the Hebrew word “chazah (behold),” which is also the root word of “machazeh,” which means “vision.” What exactly is the vision of the Almighty?
This is how God saw Israel encamped according to their tribes—He saw them in Christ (their formation was the shape of a cross).
This is the vision of the Almighty (which Balaam pronounced as a blessing over the Israelites):
“How lovely are your tents, O Jacob!
Your dwellings, O Israel!
Like valleys that stretch out,
Like gardens by the riverside,
Like aloes planted by the Lord,
Like cedars beside the waters.”
— Numbers 24:5–6 NKJV
This blessing reminds us of Psalm 1:3. The vision God has of us is that we are like a garden or a cedar planted by the rivers of waters, where we prosper in every area of life, unaffected by the stresses and worries of the world.
Let’s fast forward 20 years after the first time God appeared to Abraham and gave him the vision of having children as numerous as the dust of the earth. In Genesis 17, Abraham is 99 years old…
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,
‘I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.”
— Genesis 17:1 NKJV
“ninety-nine years old” — When God first showed Abraham the vision of him having many descendants, Abraham was 79 years old. Now, 20 years later, Abraham is waiting for this vision to come to pass. At this point, God does something different.
Look at what God told Abraham this time:
“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram (altitude), but your name shall be Abraham (father of multitudes); for I have made you a father of many nations.”
— Genesis 17:4–5 NKJV
“No longer shall your name be called Abram (altitude), but your name shall be Abraham (father of multitudes)” — God changed his name from “Abram” to “Abraham,” which changed the meaning of his name from “altitude” to “father of multitudes.”
Not only did God change Abraham’s name, but He also changed his wife Sarah’s name. Sarah was called Sarai (captain), but God changed her name to Sarah (princess).
He changed the meanings of their names by adding the Hebrew letter “hei,” which means “grace.”
In Hebrew, you find two mentions of “hei (grace)” in God’s name “Yahweh.” God breathed “hei (His grace)” into Abraham and Sarah, changing their names and changing the way they called and spoke to each other. Within a year, the baby came!
Notice that their miracle came very soon after God changed their confessions. Every time they called each other, they were speaking forth their hazon vision in faith.
In Christendom, the emphasis is usually on speaking/confession. But before that happens, God wants us to see His hazon visions, His faith pictures, in our hearts. Seeing comes before speaking.
God had to work on Abraham’s heart until he became full of the vision of being a father of many before God changed his confession—and then within 3 months, Sarah conceived (Rom. 4:19–21).
God’s way is for us to see His hazon vision more and more until we believe it, then when we speak it forth in faith, it will come to pass.
Before you see good in your life, you need to change the vision in your heart because it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45).
Fill your thoughts with the Word of God if you are facing a health challenge, for there is health and wholeness found in the Word.
Pastor Prince shows us from Leviticus how we can begin to behold the Word and see God’s prophetic provision.
“His own hands shall bring the offerings made by fire to the Lord. The fat with the breast (‘chazeh’) he shall bring, that the breast (‘chazeh’) may be waved as a wave offering before the Lord. And the priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons.”
— Leviticus 7:30–31 NKJV
The same Hebrew letters that spell the word “chazah” (which means “see”) also spell the word “chazeh” (which means “breast of the animal sacrifice”). “Chazeh” refers specifically to the breast of the animal sacrifice and not a mother’s bosom.
“breast” — The Hebrew word for “breast” is “chazeh,” which is only used for animal sacrifice. God had a specific intent in mind for using the animal breast for the peace offering.
“the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons” — The portion that belongs to us today is the breast of the animal sacrifice—a picture of the Lord’s love for us. Aaron the high priest represents Jesus, our High Priest, and we are priests too (1 Pet. 2:9). The breast of the animal sacrifice represents Jesus’ love for us, and we get to enjoy and feast on His love. When you read the Scriptures, let the Holy Spirit paint the vision of the Lord’s love for you that He demonstrated at the cross.
Jesus is a holy God who took our sins and the punishment for our sins upon Himself. Even the thought of it in the Garden of Gethsemane caused Him so much stress that He sweat blood. When He sweat blood, He redeemed us from the curse of needing to sweat to get provision.
Not only are we to feast on the Lord’s love for us, but Jesus Himself also feasts on His love for us. Loving us nourishes Him! We see this in the story of the woman at the well in John 4, where Jesus was refreshed after ministering to the woman (John 4:33–34).
Let’s feed on Jesus’ love and be filled with His hazon vision for our lives!
As believers under the new covenant, we can freely receive all that God wants to give to us today. This is because of Jesus’ finished work at the cross.
How can a holy God allow sinful people to come into His presence without compromising on His holiness? The answer is the cross of Jesus Christ. Because God’s beloved Son, the holy One, bore our sins at the cross, we have become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).
Not only did Jesus bear our sins and transgressions, but He also bore our pains and diseases.
“Surely He has borne our griefs (‘kholee’—diseases)
And carried our sorrows (‘makov’—pains).”
— Isaiah 53:4 NKJV
Jesus carried all your diseases and pains at the cross when He died in your place.
You can be at peace and rest always, knowing that God’s love will always be shining on you.
“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”
— Romans 8:32 NKJV
“with Him also freely give us all things” — God has already given up His Son, who is most valuable to Him, and He will not not withhold anything from you. You don’t have to earn blessings or provision by your good behavior, but freely receive it from Jesus today. When you have Jesus, you have everything!
Pastor Prince closes the service by reminding us to fill our hearts with visions of good things to come instead of negative reports. You can find these hazon visions from God in His Word. It is important to guard your heart (Prov. 4:23), and fill your heart with faith pictures (e.g. Psalm 1:1–3). When the visions come to pass, Jesus will get all the glory (1 Tim. 4:15).
Pastor Prince prays for these conditions:
Every healing can stand the test of medical science. Please go back to your doctor to verify your healing. Only stop taking your medicine when your healing has been confirmed by medical reports. Then write in to share your testimony!
“This coming week, the Lord bless you and your families with divine favor, shalom peace, and divine protection from the COVID-19 virus. With divine protection from every sickness, harm, accidents, dangers, and all the powers of darkness. The Lord favors you, smiles on you, and imparts hazon visions into your heart and mind. The spirit of wisdom and revelation operates mightily in you. You’re someone like Joseph of whom others will say, ‘Who can find such a man or such a woman, in whom the Spirit of God is? Who can find such a wise and understanding person?” This shall be said of you. In Jesus’ name, I bless you. Amen. Praise the Lord. God bless you all. Amen.”
Just like God showed Abraham the dust of the earth and the stars in the sky as visual aids to help him hold on to the promise of having many children (Gen. 13:16; 15:5), God wants to give you visual aids to help you see His provision in your life before it comes to pass too.
As you open up the Scriptures, ask the Lord for the spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph. 1:17–19) that you would see His love for you and His hazon visions for your life found in His Word.
Take some time to really see them—picture them—in your heart. You can turn them into visual aids for yourself by drawing or printing them out and placing them in places where you will see them daily. Every time you hear bad news or discouraging thoughts comes to mind, come back to these faith pictures.
As you keep seeing these hazon visions of God’s provision, whether it is in the area of your health, marriage, children, career, or finances, you will find yourself walking in His provision!
We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.
© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2021
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
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