In this powerful episode, we dive deep into the biblical concept of supernatural restoration and what it means for those experiencing loss and setbacks in their lives.

Drawing from the profound teachings in Joel 2:23-25, we explore how God's restoration goes beyond merely recovering what was lost - it's about receiving something greater. We'll unpack the Hebrew concept of "Sha-Lamb" and its three powerful meanings: restoring what was lost, completing what was started, and making whole what was broken.

Through compelling biblical examples like Joseph's dramatic rise from prison to prime minister, Job's double portion after devastating loss, and the Shunammite woman's unexpected property restoration, we'll discover how God can compress time, multiply impact, and accelerate breakthrough in ways that defy natural limitations. Whether you're facing financial setbacks, broken relationships, or delayed dreams, this episode offers both spiritual insight and practical wisdom for positioning yourself for supernatural restoration.

Join us as we explore how seasons of loss can become foundations for greater blessing, and learn why God's restoration often exceeds what was originally lost. This episode combines deep biblical teaching with actionable steps for those ready to embrace God's restorative power in their lives.

Foreign Chapter 2, 23 through 25.

The context, of course, this was a time where there was actually a locust plague that had devoured the land, and the people had lost so much.

And really it was a result of them, you know, know, turning away from the Lord.

So let's start.

Verse 23.

Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God.

Why, isn't that awesome?

It's a commandment.

Be glad and rejoice.

So we choose joy, for he has given you the former rain faithfully and will cause the rain to come down for you.

The former rain and look at this.

And the latter rain in one month or in the first month, the threshing floor shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.

And the Lord says, I will restore to you the years.

The swarming locust has eaten the crawling locust, the consuming locust, the chewing locust, My great army, which I sent among you.

All right, so we've been talking about restoration.

Last Sunday, we launched into kind of a teaching all about the year of jubilee.

And the year of jubilee, which is the 50th year of every 50 years.

There was a ram's horn that was blown on.

There was freedom was announced so that people who were in bondage and slavery would be released, properties were restored, debts were canceled, et cetera, et cetera.

It was really powerful.

It's a massive reset button that helped bring restoration to people's lives.

Did you know that right now we are in a year jubilee.

It started in October of last year and on the day of atonement.

And we're literally now in a year Jubilee continues until September of this year.

But Interestingly, it's the 70th year of Jubilee in biblical history.

The 70th year of Jubilee in biblical history.

Wow.

Awesome.

Right now.

But here's the cool thing.

What we said last week is that when Jesus came and he preached, and he said in Luke 4, 18 and 19, you know, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, he's anointed me, et cetera, et cetera.

And then he said to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

Some other translations say to proclaim the year of God's favor.

That actually was a reference to the year of jubilee.

So what Jesus was.

Was announcing is that he came to fulfill the Year of jubilee.

I am the year of jubilee.

Come on.

I am the year of jubilee.

Come to me now.

You don't have to wait until the 50th year.

It's all fulfilled in me.

Freedom.

There's the cancellation of debts, there's restoration.

It's all an amazing thing.

So we want to continue on that theme of restoration.

But we're going to look at something here that has to do with the promise that God makes that.

Guys, this is literally mind shattering.

It is because it's.

It shows the very nature of God, that he's not confined.

He's not controlled by natural circumstances, limitations, or even the natural laws.

He's not.

He's God.

He made everything right.

He's the Creator and everything and everyone is subject to him ultimately.

So it actually, he says this.

I love this.

He says, I know you guys are going through this time of devastation, you know, speaking to Israel in this time of locust plague, where they've lost everything.

And he says, but something's going to happen.

And then he says in verse 25, I'm going to restore to you the years.

Now, we could just stop there for a moment.

How can God, or how does God restore years?

So one translation says, I'll restore to you the wasted years.

And the idea is this, that God is the one who initiates this restoration process.

Many times we waste our life, we waste years, we waste opportunities, and God still looks at us and he says, even though he said, I can restore it all, it's a powerful thing.

Sometimes we go into a new year, we have New Year's resolutions, right?

They typically don't last that long.

But what happens is we're like, this is a year.

This is year.

And as it relates to our relationship with Jesus, sometimes we're like, oh, I'm good this year.

I'm all in this year.

I'm going to pray more this year.

I'm going to have faith, I'm going to believe, I'm going to do whatever it is and I'm going to make up for all of those years and the time that I was, you know, half hearted in my devotion and affection to Jesus.

But the Lord, even though that's all commendable and that's all good, the Lord wants us to know that he is the one who restores.

He's the one who restores.

We cannot restore a wasted second, never mind a wasted year or years.

He says, I will restore to you what a merciful, benevolent God that we serve.

So the idea of restoration is Rooted in a Hebrew word that is shalom.

Shalom.

Shalom literally means this.

To restore or pay back what was lost.

To bring to completion what was started.

How many have started things but it's not been.

It's come to completion.

Number three.

To make whole what was broken.

Wow, this is so good.

To restore or pay back what was lost.

To bring to completion what was started.

To make whole what what was broken.

So this restoration isn't just about recovering what was lost.

Okay?

It's about receiving something greater.

The promise in Joel speaks of God restoring the years the locust has eaten.

It's a supernatural restoration, as I said, that transcends natural limitations.

Now look at this.

In Israel, there were two rainy seasons.

They were known as the former rain and the latter rain.

And because we're south of the equator, we're in the southern hemisphere.

It's actually, I always get mixed up, you know, because coming from Canada, it's.

Everything's different, right?

Like springtime in Canada is kind of April and, and, and autumn is, is September, October, that type of thing.

So.

But what he's saying is that he would actually take the former rain, which would be basically like spring here, and the latter rain, which would be like autumn here.

And in those seasons where there would be rain, what he says is, I'm going to do something supernatural.

I'm going to bring a convergence of the former and the latter rain in one month.

In one month, what would have normally take be spread out over an entire year.

In one month, you're going to experience a convergence of the former and latter rain.

So it speaks of God doing something so supernatural, it's a prophetic picture of how he can listen to this compress time and accelerate restoration.

Now, I want you to say that with me this morning.

Please say compression time and say, accelerate restoration in ways that transcend natural limitation.

Okay, so God is a God who transcends natural limitation.

Just think about it.

God is supernatural, is he not?

The etymology of the word super, super literally means above.

So God's above nature, right?

So what does that mean?

He's supernatural?

Because he's supernatural.

And guess what?

His nature is in us.

Do you know that the Bible says that in Second Peter chapter one?

I believe it's verse four.

It says that we're partakers of the divine nature.

So God's nature, which is a super nature, okay, is in us.

So what does it mean if God's nature is in us?

If we're partakers of his divine supernature, Guess what That means.

It means it's natural for us to live supernaturally.

There's certain things that are unnatural for us, okay?

Now when we come into the kingdom, when we come into our identity in Christ Jesus, then what happens is those things that were natural for us when we were not born in the spirit, I have this new identity.

Those things are now unnatural for us.

So the things that you used to love that are not of God, you hate when you're new in Christ.

The things that you used to hate that are literally of God and glorifying of God, we end up loving those things.

And I really love this because it's an inside out, righteousness.

It's a transformation that takes place from our heart and, and we don't have to pressure people.

Now that you're saved, you need to stop doing this, this, this, this and this.

Like, listen, God's spirit is in papal.

Guess what?

He does a good job of governing our lives.

Jesus said he'll lead you into all truth.

He convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.

He'll do all of that.

He'll sort it out.

So get people truly born of the spirit so that they have a new covenant, reality and identity and filled with the spirit.

And guess what happens?

They begin to change.

Their desires change, their affections change.

And they begin to all of a sudden hate certain things they loathe, things that are destroying their lives, et cetera, et cetera.

This is a powerful truth in the gospel.

And we never want to devalue this or diminish the importance of this.

So we come to a place where we recognize in Christ Jesus that He does this supernatural work in us.

And because we are now his children, it's actually natural.

Miracles are normal.

We talk about that, right?

So it's actually natural for us to see breakthrough.

It's natural for us to move into a place where we recover things, we see restoration.

What was shared today, Jan's testimony, yes, that's natural, that's normal.

God wants to do this.

Like, can I just share perspective?

Do you remember when Jesus went to Nazareth, his hometown?

And the Bible says, depending on which gospel account you look at, Matthew, Mark.

Matthew's account actually says he did not do any mighty works there.

The.

The word or words, mighty works of the Greek word Dunamis.

Okay.

Dunamis is the word translated power, typically, but it can be also translated.

If you look at the niv, for example, says he did not do any miracles there.

It's dunamis.

So listen to this.

It actually says in Mark's account.

He could not do any miracles there.

He could not do any mighty works there.

Matthew says he did not.

Mark says he could not.

Whoa.

Is there something God can't do?

He could not do any mighty works there.

He couldn't do any miracles there.

Why?

Because of their unbelief, their dishonor.

Listen, God does not violate us and force his will upon our lives.

He doesn't do that.

So even when it comes to a place of, like, you need a miracle, I need a miracle.

If we don't want it, if we're not seeking God for it, if we don't have faith, he's not going to force it upon us.

I mean, he could go like that.

Everybody in the world is healed.

Like, is that the way it works?

Have you ever heard people say it's so stupid?

They say, oh, yeah, you talk about miracles and God does all these miracles.

Why don't you go into the hospital and just empty out the hospital?

Well, that's not what Jesus did.

He goes to the pool of Bethesda.

There's a lot of sick folk there.

But he didn't heal everyone, right?

So there's a place where we have to come into alignment and agreement with His Word.

It's really significant, it's really important.

So God is a supernatural God.

He's given us his nature.

So it means it's natural for us to live supernaturally.

Click.

What?

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

Change your thinking.

And it's not a case of like, renew your thinking, tweak your thinking.

He's not saying that.

He's not telling us.

He's saying, let's do a mind exchange.

Your mind, gone the way you think, patents, paradigms, get rid of that and let's embrace Christ's mind.

Let's think the way he thinks.

And we don't have to.

Like, how does Jesus think?

Let me study this, okay?

Here's, you know, 99 ways.

Jesus thinks that if you adopt this, it will improve your life.

Put on his mind, okay?

His spirit in us.

It begins to change us, our affections, our desires.

We begin to get revelation and understanding.

We see things the way he sees things, but we have to put off and put on.

Ephesians 4 talks about put off the old, put on the new.

Make sure that we do that.

So it's really, really important, okay?

So.

So this supernatural nature of God's restoration means that time and space cannot restrict his workings.

He can override the laws of nature anytime he decides to do so, okay.

Like we see examples of that any time stood still.

I mean, crazy things in the Bible.

So God can do the following.

You ready?

When we're talking about God restoring, we're talking about God restoring wasted years.

We can't go back in time, right?

Like there's no way.

We can't travel at the speed of light.

You have to go faster than the speed of light.

So it can't be done.

So how, how does this happen?

He said, I will restore to you.

Okay.

It's called compressed time restoration.

What typically takes years can happen in moments.

God can restore in one season what was lost over many multiple blessings can converge simultaneously.

And then secondly, multiplied impact, like the former and latter rain falling together.

Blessings can multiply beyond natural progression.

One breakthrough can trigger multiple areas of restoration.

One breakthrough.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

Dominoes.

Come on.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, bang.

Like wow.

And we stand there and go, he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him.

God is a rewarder.

God is a restorer.

God wants to give us breakthrough kingdom impact, success and effectiveness.

Not for ourselves, not for our comfort, but ultimately so we can do what he's called us to do.

We can see the impact that he wants to do.

So thirdly, supernatural acceleration.

God can accelerate processes that normally take years.

He can bring rapid healing.

Listen to this.

To long term wounds.

Today we have many people who have obviously been traumatized, been hurt.

It's real.

I'm not downplaying it before, you know, I guess if you're from another generation, it was kind of like suck it up, right?

That's how you dealt with your, with your hurt, your pains.

Just suck it up.

You know, in the military, it's, it's basically just override and push through.

So you just override, boom, boom, suppress it, override, push through.

Because you got to get through it.

Right?

So the idea here is that you're dealing with this stuff, but ultimately God says if it's just suppressed, if it's just buried and it's still there and you're struggling with it.

You know, we talk about being triggered.

Certain things happen and we kind of like, oh, and, and, and you know what that means.

Obviously we're not been healed.

There's something in us that needs healed.

Listen to me, I am telling you that God can literally bring rapid healing to long term wounds.

Yes.

I've seen people and I've experienced it myself to a certain degree where there's things that have been through circumstances and, and, and God has Brought like, incredible healing.

I have people that say to me all the time, why are you still in ministry?

Like, because people know our journey.

It's not been an easy journey to be in ministry at times.

And I'm unlike.

I'm not saying we're, we're special.

No, it's all, it's very.

Listen, why are we still in ministry?

Because we're called.

Like, do we have another option?

No.

Paul says, woe unto me if I do not preach the gospel.

So it's a calling, right?

So what do we do?

We have to deal with those things.

Like if you get wounded in battle, you need a time to recover, but then ultimately the goal is that you would be restored and go back into the battle.

This is the way in the kingdom for each one of us.

Not just if you're a pastor or an apostle or prophet or anything.

It's for every one of us.

It's for every one of us.

God wants to do that.

He wants to bring rapid healing to you.

Rapid healing, guys, come on.

To even long term, deep wounds, delayed promises can suddenly spring forth.

And then lastly, beyond natural limitations.

Can I say this?

Age is not a barrier to God's restoration.

I think you guys need me to say that again.

I don't think you heard me.

I said age is not a barrier to God's restoration.

Whether you're young or old, past failures don't limit future possibilities.

Come on now, preach it.

I'm preaching it.

Past failures do not limit future possibilities.

He's such a good God.

Natural impossibilities yield to supernatural intervention.

People say, well, yeah, well, it's impossible.

What?

Remember Jesus, Peter's like, lord, you're not going to the cross.

You know what?

Like, you're not going to the cross, right?

No.

God forbid.

In the Greek, he's like, God forbid.

God forbid.

You're not going to the cross.

You're not going to the cross.

He's telling him this.

And Jesus says, get behind me, Satan.

To Peter.

Why?

Why?

Because he recognized Satan, the Satan was operating in his life.

It was demonic.

Why?

He says, because you're mindful not of the things of God, but of the things of man.

You're thinking naturally, you're thinking by, you know, the.

Based on.

On things that are impossible in the natural.

Right?

Remember he said that what is impossible with man is possible with God.

Right?

Okay, so we're talking about here in the year of jubilee.

And what Joel speaks about also when he says, I will restore the wasted years is the convergence of divine Timing.

The convergence of divine timing.

Okay, let's go here to Leviticus, chapter 25, verses 20 through 22.

I don't think I put this in the PowerPoint.

That's my bad.

But let's read this.

Leviticus, 25, verses 20 through 22.

This is the year Jubilee.

This is precisely the year of jubilee, where he says, you know, on the seventh year, make sure there's no.

There's no reaping, there's no sowing.

The land has to lay follow.

So.

And all agriculture activity, including plowing, planting, pruning, and harvesting, was strictly forbidden by Jewish law.

So observing that year, that sabbatical year, was clearly a test of faith.

Okay, what would the people eat during the seventh year since they were forbidden to plant or harvest crops in the sixth year?

Right?

So what are they going to eat?

The Lord assures them he's able to transcend natural constraints.

Listen to what he says.

Leviticus 25, 20, 22.

This is the NLT.

I'm using this because it's very clear.

But you might ask, what will we eat during the seventh year?

God saying, because you're natural and you don't get it that I'm a God of miracles, you might just ask, like, hey, God, isn't this impossible?

Isn't this like, yeah, it can't happen naturally.

What will we eat during the seventh year?

Since we're not allowed to plant or harvest crops that year, Be assured.

Listen to this.

Be assured that I will send my blessing for you in the sixth year.

Other translations say, I will command my blessing.

Going to command my blessing.

That's it.

God says, I command the blessing.

Whoa.

And guess what happens?

He says, in the sixth year, the land will produce a crop large enough for three years.

When you plant your fields in the eighth year, you'll still be eating from the large crop of the sixth year.

In fact, you'll still be eating from the large crop when the new crop is harvested in the ninth year.

Whoa.

So God is saying, I'm going to do something supernatural here.

I'm going to compress time.

I'm going to multiply things.

And what was I in one year?

We typically have this much harvest.

God says, I'm going to blow that box to smithereens.

I'm going to obliterate it, and I'm going to stuff that year full of blessing compression.

Like three, four years of abundance in one year.

Guys.

He's a God who can do impossible things.

So when we look at our circumstances and we go, hey, you know what?

Here I am.

I feel there's things in my life that God has called me to do.

I've not been able to step into that fully.

I.

I'm believing God for greater areas of breakthrough in my life.

And sometimes we say I stuffed up too badly, or perhaps I'm too old, or I'll not get another chance again at this.

Whatever it may be that we disqualify ourselves with.

God says, look, guys, even if you wasted 50 years, 50 years of your life, and they had.

I'm not saying a complete waste.

But you know what, Yen?

He says, I can take the last five to six years, seven years, 10 years, whatever it may be that's left.

He said, and I can just pack it full, pack it full of my blessing.

And literally, in those few years, you will have accomplished more than all those years in the natural, that is.

Come on now, give the Lord a shout this morning.

Okay, let's look at a few examples of this.

The principle of supernatural restoration is demonstrated throughout scripture.

Let's look at Joseph for a moment.

13 years of slavery and imprisonment.

He has a vision, right?

God's going to use him.

He's going to be powerful.

Everybody's bowing down.

His brothers are bowing down and worshiping him.

And he doesn't go to the palace.

He goes to the pit.

Thrown in the pit.

Then he's thinking, wow, this pit's bad.

Thank God that you're getting me out of the pit.

And he's thrown in prison.

So he goes into prison.

And he's in prison up to 13 years, right?

So what happens is in one day, in one day, 13 years.

But in one day, he's promoted from prison to the palace.

He's promoted from being a prisoner to being the prime minister in one day.

One day.

Say that.

Say one day.

Okay, so all lost years redeemed through an elevated position.

Wow.

And all the resources and everything that was available to him.

Okay, who else?

Job.

Job lost everything in a season of testing.

God restored double after his trial, Right.

The Bible says that all lost years redeemed through again.

He received more in the latter years than in his beginning.

We could talk about Ruth.

Ruth who?

You know, again, what we see there with her mother in law and Naomi and what happened there.

God restored, right?

Powerful, powerful through.

Through Boaz.

And then, by the way, that's Boaz over there.

That's a real Boaz.

You can talk to him later.

It's legit.

He's legitimately Boaz.

Okay, So I love this story.

The Shunammite woman Remember the Shunammite woman, okay, the Shunammite woman.

So you know her son literally dies, right?

You know the story.

She can't have a son.

Elisha, hey, what do you need the Lord to do?

And then she has a son.

Then guess what happens?

He dies.

So Elisha shows up, and he literally raises him back to life again.

Powerful, powerful testimony.

So what ends up happening is after that, Elisha speaks to the Shunammite woman.

He says, take your family and move to some other place, for the Lord has called for a famine on Israel that will last seven years.

So the woman did as the man of God instructed.

She took her family and she settled in the land of the Philistines for seven years.

So after, at the end of the seven years, when the famine ends, she returns to her land and literally, she goes in to see the king about getting back her house and her land.

As she walks in, coincidentally, the king is having a conversation with Gehazi, who is Elisha's basically pa.

And he's talking, the king saying, I want to hear about.

I want you to tell me the stories about the great things that Elisha's done.

So what happens is Gehazi is telling him about the time when Elisha brought a boy back to life.

She walks in at that very moment.

Crazy.

She walks in to make her appeal to the king, and she says, look, my lord, the king.

Gehazi.

Looks, look, look, look.

It's her.

It's the woman.

The very woman who I was just telling you about her son.

That's her.

Like, whoa, that's so amazing.

Here's the woman now.

And guess what?

She has her son with her.

And this is her son, okay?

The very one Elisha brought back to us.

And the king looks at her and says, is this true?

And she responds and tells him the story.

Yeah, this is what happened.

He was dead, and Elisha raised him back.

So the king does this.

He directed one of his officials.

Listen to this.

To see that everything she had lost was restored to her.

Watch this.

Including the value of any crops that had been harvested during her absence.

Not just the stuff like, yeah, here's your property, but the crops that literally, the value of what she would have made over the seven years is literally given to her supernatural compression.

God is a God of restoration.

So he's able to.

To restore anything.

So the law.

She lost her land.

Fleeing God restores the land.

He arranges her to receive all the proceeds from her land during her absence.

Okay?

It's how God can restore, not just what was lost.

But even what would have been gained?

Not just what was lost, but what could have been gained.

Whoa.

Oh, that's so good.

Yeah, I love this.

And this season of loss.

See the Bible, these biblical examples show that God doesn't just restore what was lost.

He can bring multiplication.

Okay, What God restores or when God restores.

Sorry.

It's as if the locust years never happened.

Oh, there's seven years lost.

Everything easy, okay?

Like, yeah, boom, you make up for it.

It's amazing.

So the season of loss often becomes a foundation for greater blessing than if it had never occurred.

So there's things you feel like you were sidelined.

God says, you're being seasoned.

God is doing a work in that season.

And then what does he say?

He says, I'll make it up to you.

So we talk about this thing, you know, the double portion.

We use that language right, in the church.

Did you really understand what the double portion was?

The firstborn son received a double portion.

You understand that, right?

So let's say you had three kids, three sons.

What would happen is son number two would receive one quarter of the estates.

Son number three would receive one quarter of the estate.

Son number one would receive half, two quarters.

So that's the way it was.

It was a double portion.

It's a powerful thing.

And God speaks of the double portion being something that we experience.

And the idea is this.

I want you to not focus, please, on what the double portion represents.

The.

You know, the amount of it, but understand that it means the full allotment.

Everything that is yours by virtue of your inheritance as a son, as a daughter of the king, you will receive the full, full measure.

It will be restored to you.

And guess what?

We're all firstborn in his Kingdom.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Romans 8, 29.

He says, those whom he foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son, that he might be the firstborn among many, many firstborns.

Okay?

So that's powerful.

So here.

Here's the reality.

Isaiah 61:7.

Listen to this.

Instead of your shame, you shall have double.

Now, some translations say double honor.

Some say double portion.

In the Hebrew, it literally just says double.

Okay?

Therefore, in the land they shall possess double, everlasting joy shall be theirs.

Zechariah 9, verse 12.

It is written, return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope.

Today I declare that I will restore to you double, double.

So it speaks of the actual restoration of the double portion that God can and does give us double for our trouble.

He's a God that is able to do that.

Guys, we have to believe.