Shamah-Elim Bible Studies

Home
Site overview
 
Random posting
 
Newest articles
Prophetic words
Pending interpretation
Questions & Answers
Trains of thought
Tweets
 
Latest postings
Videos
 
Audio snippets
 
Search
 
Postings in other languages
Changes to articles
Copyright info
Contact info
 
Books
Offerings

 

_

 

ClustrMaps Map Image

Prophetic word for today

"Keep 'em apart" (again)

First posted: May 9, 2005

E-mailed: January 25, 2005

Word received by: Catha Miller

 

I had a dream about two altars. These altars looked like the ones we had in our church when I was a little girl. They were made from wood, but they looked awful, so I poured oil all over them. The oil was an oil that would burn only the surface and would not hurt the altars.

 

After that, I went to look for something that I could carry fire back to the altars with. I found the fire, and I found a piece of paper that was strong enough to carry the fire back to the altars. I knew I had only a little time to get the altars on fire, but, when I got back to the altars, there was a pastor getting ready to sit down on them so he could speak to some people that were there. I hurried to stop him, but it was too late. He had sat down in the oil and got oil all over his pants and on one of his hands. I tried to get him to move before the fire went out, but he started acting foolish and hit the paper, and the fire went out. Then I knew I would have to do it all over again. Then I awoke.

 

Our comments

The two altars

This dream is a spiritual affirmation of a dream that sister Catha had sent to us 12 days earlier, which we posted yesterday (May 8, 2005). The word "altar" speaks of "sacrifice", which in turn points to the prophetic anointing due to the fact that the prophetic anointing prompts believers to sacrifice themselves for God. As we have said before, the word "witness" is strongly related to the prophetic ministry in Scripture. Therefore, we can safely say that the "two altars" refer to the "two witnesses" of Revelation 11:1-13 and Zechariah 4:11-14.

 

The two altars reminded sister Catha of altars she saw as a little girl. This speaks of altars that got caught up in backward-looking Girgashite traditions. In Scripture, "wood" is many times a figure of temporality because of its flammability (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). Therefore, the wooden altars' decayed state reaffirms the fact that the altars got caught up in the Girgashites' emphasis on temporal earthliness.

 

The oil over the altars

The Ark of the Covenant that was inside the "Holy of Holies" in the temple was made of acacia wood (or "shittim wood") overlaid with pure gold:

 

"10And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. 11And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about." (Exodus 25:10-11)

 

The Ark of the Covenant represented communion with God's Shekinah Glory:

 

"And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel." (Exodus 25:22)

 

The phrase "mercy seat" in the verse above was translated from the Hebrew word kapporeth, which is derived from the word kaphar meaning "to cover, purge, make an atonement". Therefore, the "mercy seat" speaks of a relationship with God where we each one of us can have direct access to His presence because we are now living under a New Covenant where our sins and iniquities have been forgiven through our dying with Christ in sincere repentance:

 

"33But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jeremiah 31:33-34)

 

From the passage above, it can be said that, when "ministers" claim to have greater "spiritual privileges" before God than the "average church folk", they are saying that God has not forgiven the "average" believers' iniquity and that God still remembers their sins (v34). If these "ministers" really believed that God forgives the iniquity and "forgets" the sin of all repentant believers, they would also preach about the glorious spiritual potential that each believer has as he or she draws near to God in an intimate prophetic relationship that is unencumbered by religious hierarchies and bureaucracy. Cursed be those who fight to preserve spiritual castes within the Church!!! God's judgments are upon you, and you shall be utterly shamed!

 

Notice that the passage above says that God would put His Law in our "inward parts" and write it in our hearts (v33). Fellow believer, this means that God has endowed you with the ability to spiritually discern His Law and to make spiritual judgments based on that Law:

 

"12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." (1 Corinthians 2:12-16)

 

The Ark of the Covenant contained (Hebrews 9:4) the following:

  1. The golden jar with the manna that God had given to the Israelites in the desert (Exodus 16:33)

  2. Aaron's rod that budded (Numbers 17:8-10)

  3. The tablets of the covenant that God had given to Moses (Exodus 25:16)

 

The Lord Jesus said that He is the True manna (John 6:31-37), and you, fellow believer, have the Lord Jesus in your "golden jar" (i.e.- your heart) by faith (Ephesians 3:17). The rod of Aaron that budded (Numbers 17:1-10) served as testimony that Aaron had the authority to minister as a priest before God under the Old Covenant. Under the New Covenant, the Aaronic priesthood has been replaced by the Melchisedec priesthood (Hebrews 7:11-24), and, under this unchangeable priesthood (Hebrews 7:24), we are all "priests" and "ministers" of God (1 Peter 2:9, Isaiah 61:6, Revelation 1:6). Therefore, it can be safely said that the spiritual "rod of Aaron that budded" is now inside of you, fellow believer, for God has testified that you are His priest. According to Jeremiah 31:33 (quoted above) and 2 Corinthians 3:3, God has written His Law in the "fleshy tables of your heart", meaning that the spiritual "tablets of the covenant" are also inside of you.

 

From all of the above, we can safely say that you, fellow believer, are the Ark of the Covenant. Just like the old Ark, your exterior is made of "wood", i.e.- of weak and temporal clay, but God has coated your "wood" weakness with "pure gold", both on the inside and the outside (Exodus 25:11). When used in a positive context, "gold" in Scripture is a figure of God's Eternal Glory. Therefore, you have been "coated" with the ability to abide in God's Glory on your inside and to manifest God's Glory on the outside.

 

When you and I choose to focus our lives on Girgashite temporality, we are like "uncovered wood" that will burn in the fire of Gehenna. When we choose to present our lives as prophetic sacrifice, we become like the Ark of the Covenant, and our temporality is clothed with immortality (2 Corinthians 5:1-11), and we become agents of God's Glory on Earth.

 

Sister Catha was trying to cover the "Girgashite" wood of the altar with the oil of prophetic sacrifice. Why? Because our "wood" cannot be coated over with God's gold unless we present our lives as sacrifice before God. Where Girgashite influence is strong, people become very reluctant to "die", and they become focused on prolonging and preserving their temporality.

 

Girgashite believers may say with their mouths that they believe in resurrection and eternal life, but they live out their lives as if this temporary existence was "it". In other words, they believe that there is "nothing" after death to temporality, and they are unwilling to believe that God has rewards of "eternal weight" when we willingly die to temporality.

 

The fire

Sister Catha had no problem in pouring the oil over the altars, but her problems began when she tried to set them on fire. At first, she was forced to look for something to transport the fire, and she was able to find a piece of paper that "was strong enough to carry the fire back to the altars". The "fire" speaks of God's purifying judgments, and the "paper" speaks of "written word", and it speaks of "written teachings". For centuries and centuries, the Church has been dominated by teachings that resist God's judgments and justice. However, God is in these latter days raising up prophetic teachers who are showing through Scripture that His judgments are an inevitable manifestation of His righteous nature. The spiritual "paper" that God is producing through these men and women does not crumble at the thought of "judgments and justice". It is "strong enough" to carry the fire and to purify the Church through God's spiritual judgments.

 

Sister Catha knew that she only had "a little time" to get the altars on fire. This speaks of God's urgency to complete His work in His Church. There is little time left in human history, and there is a great deal of spiritual work to be done. The Church cannot give itself the luxury of waiting for gradual changes that will drag on for centuries. The spiritual surgery must be performed, and it must be performed now. Since the Church hates transforming "bronze" judgments, it has always left the important changes for "tomorrow", and it has stayed on the wrong side of the Jordan river long enough. God has decreed that the time to cross is now, and woe be unto those who dare to delay that crossing!!!

 

Flash in the "pants"

When sister Catha got back to the altars with the fire, she found a pastor who was getting ready to sit down on them in order to speak to some people there. Why? Because pastors are generally drawn to the "oil" (i.e.- the "prophetic anointing"), but they are drawn to it for the wrong reason. They see the "oil" as a means to "liven up" "their" dead congregations. They see it as a means to get "religious experiences" and to become popular with the "sheep". They enjoy the "emotional blessings" of the "prophetic experience", but they don't care too much about the emotional agony and death that a true prophetic believer must be willing to go through.

 

Pastors also enjoy the notoriety and attention that "prophetic experiences" bring to them. They thereby use the "oil" as a means to flash and shine over their brethren and as a means to reaffirm that they are the "anointed ones"; when they do so, pastors manifest what Scripture calls the "spirit of anti-Christ" (1 John 2:18-27). In the dream, the pastor was trying to sit on the "oily" altars in order to speak to some people there, which means that he wanted to take advantage of the "prophetic oil" in order to draw people unto him, but he was not at any moment willing to "die" like a prophet.

 

As we share in a previous word, the act of "sitting" at times refers to "placing or resting one's faith on something". Therefore, the pastor's sitting on the oily altars speaks of pastors who place their faith on the "emotional benefits" of the prophetic anointing in order to consolidate their "dominion" over the flock. In this sense, the presence of "oil" brings out the opportunistic, Amorite side of many "ministers".

 

When the pastor sat on the oily altars, he got oil all over his pants. The fact that he got oil on his "derrière" is a figure of the banal and dishonorable use that many pastors make of the prophetic "oil". The fact that he got oil over one of his hands is a figure of how pastors focus only on the "blessings" side of the "oil" and ignore the "sacrifice" side.

 

"Cut that out"

When sister Catha tried to get the pastor out of the way in order to apply the fire to the altars, the pastor began to act "foolish". This is a prophetic reference to the "fading-fools" (nabal in Hebrew) mentioned in Isaiah 32:5-6, and, as we have said before, these "fading-fools" are false prophets who promote mental peace and emotional peace, but who do not care for "peace of wills" with God. These "fading-fools" act like people-pleasing clowns who use their "power-oriented comedy act" as a way to subtly turn their fellow brethren into their unconditional subjects.

 

In the midst of his "comedic" behavior, the pastor in the dream had a very serious intention. He was by no means going to allow the apostolic fire of God's judgments to come together with the prophetic oil. The pastoral matriarchy reluctantly accepted the prophetic anointing at first, and it did so only when it became evident that its Girgashite structures would inevitably crumble. As is revealed by other posted dreams, the "pastoral leadership" of the Church chose to turn an apparent defeat into a subtle victory (jujitsu-style). They decided to "go with the prophetic flow" instead of fighting against it, and they used it as a means to regain their control of the Church. This became possible because the prophetic movement of the late 1990s and early 2000s focused so much on "prophetic grace" that it forgot about God's apostolic judgments. This prevented that movement from giving out the "death blow" to the pastoral matriarchy that would have led to the prophesied latter-rain revival, i.e.- to the Second Coming of the Lord.

 

Throughout Scripture, God's true prophets (i.e.- those who are not "false prophets") would not only speak word of "encouragement" but would also speak word of "judgment". Consider, for example, how the book of Jeremiah ends with judgment word against 9 literal (and spiritual) nations in chapters 46 through 51 (Jeremiah's words end in chapter 51, according to Jeremiah 51:64). This inextricable combination of prophetic rhema word and apostolic logos word is common throughout Scripture, and, for the stubborn and foolish pastors who are quick to say, "That was in the Old Testament", consider the following New Testament passage:

 

"12One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. 13This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith" (Titus 1:12-13)

 

Notice that Paul did not reprimand the prophet who called the Cretans "liars", "evil beasts", and "idle bellies". I wonder what believers would say if a prophet of God suddenly stood up during the time of prophecies in a church meeting and said "Thus saith the Lord, you are all liars and lazy beasts". I can assure you that in 99% of the churches, that prophet would get called over by the pastor at the end of the meeting and would get a serious reprimand that would include phrases such as, "God is a God of love" and "The prophetic ministry is called to encourage believers, not to bring them down and beat them up". However, according to the passage shown above, the Spirit of God would have never said such things. The only reason why a prophet should be condemned for saying something harsh would be because the harsh words are untrue, not because they are harsh. Some might also argue that "there is a nice way and there is a nasty way of saying the same thing". However, such people forget that the harshness in God's tone is directly proportional to the hardness in people's hearts. Those with malleable hearts get "kinder" corrections, and those who with stubborn hearts get "harsher" corrections:

 

"In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding" (Proverbs 10:13)

 

"Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools" (Proverbs 19:29)

 

"A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool’s back" (Proverbs 26:3)

 

Those who are still unconvinced that "New Testament" prophets are called to speak judgment word should also consider the most "prophetically-oriented" book in the entire New Testament: the book of Revelation --- called "Apokalypsis" in Greek. Consider how that book is loaded with judgment word, so much so that the adjective "apocalyptic" is used by Christians and non-Christians as a way to describe catastrophic events!!! Consider also how the prophet Yeshua spoke judgment word against the Temple in Jerusalem and against the Israelite nation in general (Matthew 23:37-39, 24:2).

 

Man's stubborn effort to separate the prophetic oil from the apostolic fire of judgments has gone on for centuries. This is why the Lord said the following through the prophet Isaiah:

 

"6For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth. 7And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed: 8And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights: 9And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. 10O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you." (Isaiah 21:6-10)

 

In Scripture, "watchmen" are spiritually related to the prophetic ministry because watchmen stand on high and "visualize" what is coming in the future. In many Bible versions, the beginning of verse 8 is translated to say "and he cried like a lion ...". The word "cried" in verse 8 was translated from the Hebrew word qarah which can also be translated as "to proclaim" or "to herald", which, as we have seen before, is strongly connected to the apostolic ministry. As we have also seen before, the "lion" is a figure of judgments in Scripture. Therefore, the "watchman" (i.e.- the prophet) is roaring like a lion and proclaiming apostolic judgment word in verse 8.

 

Notice that, in the following verse (v9), the watchman announces that "Babylon" has fallen. As we have said before, "Babylon" in Scripture is a figure of the pastoral matriarchy that has ruled over the Church; this is certified by the references to "pastors" (or "shepherds") in God's judgment word against Babylon in the book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 50:6, 50:44, 51:23). Therefore, the Lord is declaring that, when the prophetic and the apostolic finally come together (Isaiah 21:8), the pastoral matriarchy in the Church will fall (Isaiah 21:9) and the Lord's "Second Coming" will take place (Isaiah 21:11-12). There is a great deal to say regarding Isaiah chapter 21 and its relationship to the Lord's Second Coming, and, God willing, we will share more on it in a future article.

 

When the prophetic and the apostolic come together, God's Glory will be manifested in His Church and all spiritual castes will be destroyed. This is the reason why pastors (including the pastor in the dream) have fought so hard to prevent the two from coming together. Once they do come together, the pastoral domination of the Church will end, and believers in general will manifest the "Ark of the Covenant" that is inside of them. All of this will happen during the 4th and final prophetic intercession movement that is beginning even as we speak. The 3rd prophetic movement overcame the Girgashite spirit in order to establish the prophetic flow inside the Church. The 4th movement will overcome the Canaanite spirit, and once the two spirits are defeated, the Church will enter into a spiritual "3rd level" where the 3 "male" ministries will predominate and where the 2 "female" ministries will work to support those in the Spirit, instead of working to suppress the Spirit and exalt the soul, as has been the case until now.

 

Starting over 

In the dream, sister Catha knew that she "would have to do it all over again", meaning that the 4th prophetic movement will have to start from scratch. Once the 3rd prophetic movement of the late 1990s and early 2000s went "Canaanite", it became a stumbling block rather than a stepping stone, and those of you who are working in the 4th prophetic movement were forced to "start all over again".

 

Having to "start all over again" also speaks of "spiritual regeneration". Those who are operating in the 4th prophetic movement understand what Noah understood: that there are times when things go so crooked that they must be utterly destroyed in order to start from scratch, just like the Lord did when He wiped out all the inhabitants on Earth in order to start anew (Genesis 6:1-8:22). Those who are operating in the 4th prophetic movement understand that iniquity must be cursed unto destruction before the Lord's parousia can take place.

 

The two witnesses, again

If you read sister Catha's previous dream, you will have noticed that many of the same principles appear once again. This means that the two dreams witness to the same principles. This is no coincidence. As we have said before, the "two witnesses" of Revelation 11:1-14 (represented by the two altars in this dream) are a figure of the latter-day believers who will exhibit a prophetic anointing and who will not hesitate to "roar like lions" in order to speak words of apostolic judgment:

 

"4These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 5And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed." (Revelation 11:4-5)

 

The word "proceedeth" in verse 5 above was translated from the Greek verb ekporeuomai, which also appears in the following verse:

 

"4But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4)

 

The word "word" in the verse above was translated from the Greek word rhema, which is derived from the word rheo meaning "to pour forth". Therefore, rhema has the connotation of "flowing waters", which, as we have seen before, correlates with the prophetic ministry.

 

Since the words ekporeuomai and rhema are used together by the Holy Spirit in Matthew 4:4, we can infer that the fire that is "proceeding" (ekporeuomai) out of the mouths of the two witnesses (Revelation 11:5) refers to apostolic judgments that will flow out of them as they speak prophetically.

 

Notice also that Revelation 11:5 does not say that anyone who may try to hurt them will be "forgiven" and "loved". Instead, Revelation 11:5 speaks of them being "killed" by God's judgments. Believers with the two-witness anointing are believers who are not infected by the sin-condoning mercy that is prevalent throughout the "menstrually-contaminated" Church. They will be prompt to pronounce God's fierce judgments, but without forgetting their "first love". When sister Catha wanted to set the altars on fire, her intention was to restore the altars, not to destroy them. Those who have the "first love" in their hearts do not long to pronounce judgments for sadistic reasons. They long to pronounce them so that God's Glory may be manifested on Earth. They long to pronounce them because they truly love God.