According to an AP report, some 1,500 sheep jumped off a cliff in Gevas, a town in Van Province in eastern Turkey. The "sheep jump" began with one sheep jumping to its death. The other sheep then followed. 450 sheep died; the others survived the fall because they were cushioned by the sheep that had already piled up at the bottom, but the surviving sheep were "wasted", according to a witness. The families who owned the sheep were stunned at what had happened.

This story was reported on July 8, 2005.

This is the prophetic interpretation of these events:

This incident points to the following passage:

"¹³But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. ¹⁴Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." (Matthew 15:13-14)

This incident is a figure of how believers in the Church are blindly following their leaders into the spiritual precipice. They blindly surrender their spiritual authority to their "leaders", and, by doing so, they cast their prophetic calling into the valley of Gehenna:

"¹⁵Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. ¹⁶Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! ¹⁷Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? ¹⁸And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. ¹⁹Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? ²⁰Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. ²¹And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. ²²And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon." (Matthew 23:15-22)

According to verse 16, blind guides can see the value of the "gold", but they cannot see the value of the "temple" itself. In the same way, today's "ministers" can see the value of their church activities and their large and famous organizations, but they cannot see the value of the "temple", and, according to the Lord, we are the temple of God:

"¹⁶Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? ¹⁷If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)

We are the temple of God because the Spirit of God dwells inside of us. However, His Spirit is invisible, and it can only be discerned by those who have a true awareness of the invisible God. When today's blind guides see a believer, they see the "gold", i.e.- they "see" all that they can get out of him or her; they see the hours of free church activities they can obtain, and they see how the believer's presence in the congregation increases the size and prestige of the congregation, but they cannot see the God-potential inside that believer. They therefore relegate the believer to tons of spiritually worthless activities, which is equivalent to the "defiling of the temple of God" (v17), because it is equivalent to using a holy thing for vain and mundane purposes.

Even though most of today's "ministers" are mentally aware of 1 Corinthians 3:16, they are unwilling to truly see their brethren as the "temple of God" because they cannot see God inside of them. They do not see the great value and potential that each believer has in the eyes of God. Therefore, when believers follow these blind guides, they are placing their future in the hands of people who do not value their future, and who therefore will waste that future away. They are acting like the sheep who followed the first sheep that threw itself off the cliff.

"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." (Matthew 7:6)

According to 1 Corinthians 3:17, you are holy. You have been set apart unto God for a high and mighty spiritual purpose. Therefore, you must not surrender yourself to "dogs". In Scripture, "dogs" are a figure of the Canaanite spirit because of their instinctive, people-pleasing nature, and as we have said before, pastors turn into Canaanites when they stray from God's will. Therefore, the "dogs" of Matthew 7:6 are a prophetic reference to pastors under a Canaanite influence. Such people are unable to value holy things deposited under their care, and they eventually end up "trampling them under their feet".

According to Matthew 15:13, God will uproot the blind guides from among His people. He will expose their subtle iniquity, and He will make it evident to all that they are not His.

On the night of July 7, 2005 (the day before the sheep story became public), a group of us were studying the Word, and the topic of Noah's ark came up. The Lord then led us to talk about Mount Ararat and the spiritual reason why the ark ended up there (of all places). The fact that the sheep incident happened in Turkey immediately reminded me of mount Ararat.

Mount Ararat is in Turkey, between the river Araxes and the lakes Van and Oroomiah. Therefore, it is not a "coincidence" that the sheep incident happened in Van province in eastern Turkey. Mount Ararat must be close to where this sheep incident happened.

The word "Ararat" literally means "precipitation of curse". As we have said before, Noah was a man of judgments and justice, and the only words quoted directly from the mouth of Noah in Scripture begin with the words "Cursed be Canaan" (Genesis 9:25). Hebrews 11:7 declares that Noah used his faith to condemn the world. Therefore, God is saying that He is raising up latter-day "Noahs" who will pronounce judgments on the Church ruled by Canaanite pastors. These curse judgments will bring about the destruction of the structures in the Church that have led to the massive loss of sheep's lives. These curse judgments will reveal and make evident what has been going on surreptitiously inside the Church. Those who wake up from their "religious trance" will stop following the blind guides and seek the fulfillment of their calling in Christ. Those who refuse to wake up will follow their leaders and jump off the cliff.

Just like their spiritual father Canaan, these Canaanite leaders are cursed, i.e.- condemned unto destruction, and those who persist in following them will be cursed as well. The structures of purposelessness shall be destroyed along with all those who uphold them, and a new Church will rise up. This new Church will be full of believers who have a direct relationship with God. These believers will move in the "male" ministry anointings. They will make apostolic judgments, move in the prophetic anointing, and act like evangelistic conquerors. In the new Church, the sheep-leaping incidents will be no more.

When Noah cursed Canaan, he also blessed his sons Shem and Japheth:

"²⁵And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. ²⁶And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. ²⁷God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant." (Genesis 9:25-27)

Even though this passage has powerful spiritual connotations, it also has a literal application. As we have said before, the "Caucasians" are the physical descendants of Japheth. Therefore, Europe is the continent of Japheth. The United States, which is a nation founded by Europeans, is a spiritual extension of Japheth (this is the reason why America seems to go unmentioned in Scripture).

After cursing Canaan, Noah declares that God shall enlarge Japheth. The word "enlarge" was translated from the Hebrew word pathah, which can also mean "persuade". Therefore, God has prophesied that He will persuade the Europeans so that they may dwell in the tents of Shem (v27), and He will thereby enlarge their spiritual influence on Earth. To "dwell in the tents of Shem" means to dwell under the influence of the "God of Shem" (v26).

The Israelites (and the Arabs) are physical descendants of Shem. As we have said before, the Israelites (and the Arabs) are aware of a fearsome God of judgments that the Europeans still do not know. The Israelites are not shocked to hear of a God who would order Joshua to kill every living creature in Jericho (except for Rahab's family) without asking any questions (Joshua 6:17-21). The Israelites are not shocked to hear of a God who in His wrath would kill 23,000 in one day (1 Corinthians 10:8). Israelites like Matthew were not shocked to hear that God would bring destruction over Jerusalem because it had rejected the Messiah (Matthew 23:37-24:2). An Israelite like Paul was not shocked to encounter a God who would leave him blind for 3 days and compare him to a mule (Acts 9:5-9). Israelites like Peter were not shocked to see God instantly killing two believers for telling a half-lie with regard to an offering they had made to the Lord (Acts 5:1-11). On the other hand, "Europeans" (including Americans) do not yet know such a God.

God has prophesied, however, that Japheth will dwell in the tents of Shem. Japheth will be persuaded, and he will come to know the fearsome God of Shem; and, when he does, he shall be enlarged. The latter-day revival that will impact the Earth will come through Japheth, which (in the natural realm) means Europe and America.

As we have said before, being a "descendant of Japheth" is a spiritual quality, and it refers to accepting the spiritual covering of "European" values such as "rule of law", "human decency", and "respect for your fellow man". No matter your race or nationality, if your heart is not envious towards American and European influence in the world, you become a "descendant of Japheth". This is why Japan has been such a prosperous nation. Instead of closing its cultural doors and rejecting European influence, Japan embraced that influence and emulated it before any other Asian nation did, and that has led to them being blessed by the Lord (at least on the economic level). A closer study of the descendants of Noah in Genesis chapter 10 also reveals that the prophetic remnant is hidden inside Japheth. As we said above, being a "Japhethite" is not a matter of skin color but rather a spiritual quality.

The sheep incident in Turkey was reported on July 8, 2005, and the terrorist attacks on London took place on July 7, 2005. As we have said before, the London attacks are another indication of God's spiritual shift towards the European continent as a result of America's "spirit of delay". Therefore, this sheep incident is added confirmation of that spiritual shift. Because of Turkey's Middle Eastern influence, it is safe to say that Turkey is a nation with a mixture of Shemite and Japhethite influences. Therefore, the fact that this incident took place in Turkey is a prophetic figure of Japheth coming under the covering of Shem.

Turkey is also on the east end of the European continent. As we said before, London will rebuild a section of east London for the 2012 Olympics, which is a prophetic figure of God laying an "east-side" (or "right-side") foundation in Europe. Therefore, God is saying the following through the sheep incident:

I shall enlarge Japheth and bring it under My covering, for I am the God of Shem. I shall manifest My judgments in Europe and they shall come to know My true nature, for the time has come for great and true wonders to be done in My Name. I shall break the matriarchy of the shepherd in Europe, for I have cursed it unto destruction. I am at work among the sons of Japheth. Europe shall be restored, and many will be amazed at the work I will have done.