In the NFC championship game, Philadelphia tight end Chad Lewis injured his foot and will not be able to play in the Super Bowl. Therefore, former Eagle tight end Jeff Thomason has been called up to take his place in the big game. Jeff Thomason had been out of the NFL for two years and was working as manager at a construction company in New Jersey when he got the surprising call to join the Eagles for the Super Bowl. Jeff Thomason is expected to play in the game and will wear jersey #85.

Philadelphia wide receiver Terrell Owens is also expected to play. After his foot was injured during a regular season game in December 2004, his fruitful first season with the Eagles had been cut short. He missed the rest of the regular season and the playoffs, and he was not expected to be healthy enough to play in the Super Bowl. The Eagles' doctor did not clear him to play, yet, in a pre-Super Bowl news conference, Terrell Owens boldly declared that God had healed him and that God had "cleared" him to play. He is expected to be in the game.

A few weeks before his injury, Terrell Owens was embroiled in a big controversy over a Monday Night Football game promotional TV spot where an actress from a raunchy TV show bared herself in front of him. Both Terrell Owens and other Eagles players such as quarterback Donovan McNabb laughed it off as "harmless fun".

During this week prior to the Super Bowl game, New England quarterback Tom Brady's 94 year-old grandmother passed away in California. This affected Tom Brady and his family emotionally, but he is expected to be focused and prepared for the game.

This is the prophetic interpretation:

A small clarification

I am certain that some of you might be wondering, "What in the world does a meaningless football game have to do with God's word?" To answer this, we must declare the following points:

The dominant color in the Steelers' uniform is black, since their helmets and their home jerseys are black. The dominant color in the Eagles' uniform is green, since their helmets and their home jerseys are green. The dominant color in the Falcons' uniform is red; even though their helmets are mostly black, their home jerseys are of a very bright red color, and the helmets they wore in the early 1980s used to be red as well. In the case of the Patriots, we could say that their dominant color is white. In this year's AFC championship game, they were the visiting team, and were forced to wear white jerseys while the Steelers wore black. Their helmets are of a silvery color which emanates a bright white glow when hit by the stadium's lights, and the color white is also featured in the team's logo and in parts of their uniform.

As you may recall, the 4 colors mentioned above are precisely the colors of the 4 horses of the Apocalypse which we have studied in recent articles (remember that the color mentioned in the original Greek for the "pale" horse is actually "green"). The "coincidence" does not end there...

Of the 4 cities or regions represented by these 4 teams, the city with the strongest "blue-collar", working-class tradition is Pittsburgh, by far. This is compatible with the fact that the Steelers' dominant color is black, since the black horse comes to bring scarcity and limitations on temporary grace (Revelation 6:6) so that believers will focus on eternal grace.

As you may recall, the red horse comes to take the peace from the Earth (Revelation 6:4) and to cause conflict and division within the Church's earthly structures. Therefore, it is fitting that the Falcons' dominant color is red, since the falcon is a hawk-like bird, and the word "hawk" is used in U.S. political jargon to refer to pro-war people. The falcon's predatory behavior in the wild is also symbolic of a fierce, confrontational attitude, which correlates perfectly with the behavior of a red-horse rider.

As you may recall, the green horse speaks of the manifestation of believers with a "resurrected-prophet" anointing. We have also seen how "flying creatures" are spiritually related to prophets, because the prophetic anointing causes believers to rise above the limitation of natural, earthly thinking and to see things from the heavenly, spiritual perspective. Therefore, it is fitting that the team that features the color green is the team called "The Eagles", since eagles are the creatures most directly connected with "flying high" and with "accurate vision from above".

As you may recall, the white horse speaks of a remnant Church that "goes forth conquering and to conquer" (Revelation 6:2). Therefore, it is fitting that the Patriots' dominant color be white, since they are the defending Super Bowl champions; They have conquered before and are going forth to conquer again.

Why would God set things up in such a way that the 4 final teams of the 2004 NFL season represented each of the 4 horses of the Apocalypse? Because the Lord is declaring that 2004 was the year when the 4 horses began to move about the Earth. Let him who has ears hear what the Lord is doing in these latter days.

The first and the last

Having seen the connection between each of the 4 teams and the 4 horses of the Apocalypse, it is worth noticing that the two teams that made it to the Super Bowl -- the Patriots and the Eagles -- correspond to the first and the last horse mentioned in Revelation chapter 6. This is the Lord's way of saying: all 4 horses are being represented in Super Bowl 39. 

Man and animal

It is interesting to note that the teams that played in the AFC championship game had names of "persons" ("Patriots" and "Steelers"), while the teams in the NFC championship game had names of "animals" ("Eagles" and "Falcons"). This ensured that the Super Bowl would match a "person" team against an "animal" team. There is a prophetic reason for this.

Animals are generally endowed with some sort of physical prowess. Lions, for example, are strong and ferocious creatures that are capable of killing with one bite. Eagles are creatures capable of flying at great heights and are gifted with tremendous vision. Owls are capable of silent flight and have extraordinary night vision. Bears are powerful, strong, and have an exceptionally sensitive sense of smell.

On the other hand, human beings have no major physical prowess they can boast about. Unclothed, a human being is defenseless against the weather; animals at least have furs to protect them; human beings don't. Many animals possess extraordinary eyesight, hearing, or sense of smell; human beings are average, if not "inferior", in all these categories. Man shows his physical inferiority even when it comes to the art of walking; even deer and sheep can walk shortly after being born; man has to wait many months before he can finally walk on his own! Therefore, on a physical level, human beings are the "living image of weakness" when compared to animals.

This means that, in the context of man vs. animal, animals represent spiritual gifts and abilities, while man represents weakness and dependency. In a sense, animals represent left-handed grace and power, while man represents right-handed truth and weakness. By placing a "man" (the "patriot") and an "animal" (the "eagle") in the final game, God is declaring that, in the latter days, the operation of the 4 horses of the Apocalypse will yield a Church that recognizes its weakness and dependence upon God while at the same time being aware of its calling to manifest spiritual grace and power.

Double portion

In the 20 previous Super Bowl match-ups between teams named after persons and teams named after animals, the "persons" teams have won 13 times while the "animals" teams have won 7 times. By winning today, the Patriots will make the record 14-7, meaning that the persons teams will have won twice as many games as the animal teams. This points to the following passage:

"⁹And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. ¹⁰And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. ¹¹And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven." (2 Kings 2:9-11)

Why did Elijah tell Elisha that the one condition for having a double portion of Elijah's spirit was for Elisha to "see him when he was taken away" (v10)? The answer can be found by meditating on the verse that follows. Notice that verse 11 declares that a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated Elijah from Elisha. This means that these supernatural manifestations stood in the middle between the two men. Elisha's natural reaction would have been to marvel at the supernatural manifestations in front of him and forget about the frail man who was standing behind them (i.e.- Elijah). Elijah would have then left without Elisha seeing him, and he would not have been given a double portion of Elijah's spirit.

In the same way, many believers are awe-struck when they see the supernatural gifts manifested in "ministers" and forget that, behind those gifts, there stands a person as weak and dependent on God as they are. When one studies the life of Elijah, it becomes evident that God did many powerful manifestations through this man because this man recognized his weakness before God. This is why the Holy Spirit inspired James to write the following:

"¹⁶Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. ¹⁷Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. ¹⁸And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit." (James 5:16-18)

The manifestations in Elijah did not happen because Elijah was a "privileged man", i.e.-  a man with gifts that no other person could dream of having. For example, Michael Jordan was born with extraordinary athletic skills shared by few other humans. Most of us could learn to play with Michael's heart and determination, but no amount of training and effort would enable most of us to dunk a basketball by jumping from the free-throw line! No matter what the commercial says, some of us ain't never gonna be "like Mike"!!! In that sense, Michael Jordan is a privileged man, and the rest of us have no option but to watch his highlights and be awed.

Unfortunately, most believers seem to think that things operate in the same way in the spirit realm. Even though all of us are born with different spiritual gifts and abilities, we are all inherently capable of manifesting God's supernatural nature. If a "minister" does a great supernatural manifestation, it is not because he or she is a "privileged" human being. It is simply because that person at one point decided to believe God; that person recognized his or her utter weakness and impotence before God and allowed God to work through him or her:

"⁹And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

When God begins to manifest a supernatural gift through a believer, His purpose is not to have the person with the gift be admired and worshipped. Instead, His purpose is to have that person impart the gift to others so that the people around him or her may move in the same gift as well (even with physical skills, a slight invisible impartation can take place!). This is why the Lord placed Elisha in the life of Elijah and why Elijah was forced (against his will) to impart the spirit he had to Elisha before leaving Earth. When one studies the life of Elijah, it becomes evident that, at one point, Elijah forgot that all the powerful manifestations that the Lord did through him were a result of his yielded faith and obedience; at one point, Elijah began to believe that he was a "privileged" man, a "man above men", and, when he believed this, he was no longer useful in God's plans, and he was forced to leave before his original time was up. If one looks at the life of Elisha, it becomes evident that Elisha finished out many of the things that Elijah left undone.

Fellow believer, when you allow Elijah's chariots and the horses of fire to dazzle you, it becomes impossible for you to receive an impartation from him. Just like Elisha, you have to remember that, behind all those wonderful supernatural manifestations stands a weak and dependent human being, as frail and needy as you and me, for it is by faith that we are to walk, not by merits or privilege:

"³⁴Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: ³⁵But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." (Acts 10:34-35)

As we said above, when the Patriots win today, the record between "persons" and "animals" in the Super Bowl will be 14-7, a 2 to 1 ratio. While animals are privileged with great physical gifts from birth, human beings are not. In a prophetic sense, Elisha is the "weak person" and Elijah is the "gifted animal". When we don't allow the "animal's" gift to dazzle us, we, as "weak persons", can receive a double portion of that gift.

Number 39

There is a prophetic reason why the "Elijah-Elisha" prophetic figure described above is happening during Super Bowl number 39. As you may know, there are 39 books in the Old Testament, and book #39 -- the last book -- is the book of "Malachi". The entire book is a prophetic word of confrontation against the corrupt priesthood in God's people, and is a word of judgment against today's corrupted Church "leadership". Chapter 4 speaks of how the Church will be restored in these latter days:

"¹For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. ²But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. ³And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts." (Malachi 4:1-3)

Notice that verse 3 says that those who have a sincere fear for God's Name will "tread down the wicked" under the soles of their feet in the latter days. It does not say,

"And the nice and smiling evangelical Christians will come out with gooey love and caress the heads of the proud and wicked people, telling them that Jesus loves them, and showing them God's love and mercy".

It doesn't say this because that would not be true love. True love is willing to confront and does not rejoice with unrighteousness, rejoicing only in truth (1 Corinthians 13:6). It is willing to bear suffering and death for the sake of others (1 Corinthians 13:7), but only if that suffering restores them unto righteousness and holiness. True love never suffers in order to cover up and perpetuate the unrighteousness of others. As we have repeatedly shared before, Peter did not speak "kind and tender words" to the crowd on the day of Pentecost. He called them "murderers" (Acts 2:36), and he told them that there was hope for restoration, but only if they repented (Acts 2:37-38), which led to the salvation of 3,000 in one day. While full of the Spirit (Acts 7:55), Stephen called an audience "stiffnecked", "uncircumcised in heart and ears", "prophet killers", "betrayers", "murderers", and "law breakers" (Acts 7:51-53). This earned Stephen a death by stoning, but, as we saw in a previous article, Stephen's bold prophetic sacrifice became the seed for the birth of Paul's ministry some time later (Acts chapter 9). Anyone can give you gooey, soap-opera "love", but very few are willing to give the true love which is willing to confront others with the truth and sacrificially die in the process. That is the true love!!!

Some brother out there might be saying, "Malachi is part of the Old Testament, and does not apply to us", but such a person would be ignoring the fact that Malachi chapter 4 specifically speaks of the "day of the Lord", i.e.- a day in the future, not a day during Malachi's time. Most pastors don't hesitate in quoting Malachi 4:6 when preaching sermons on the importance of "family". If verse 6 applies to us now, why would verse 3 not apply to us? It is this selective interpretation of Scripture which has led to the corrupt Church of today. Verse 3 does apply to us, and, instead of shoving it under the rug and pretending like it does not exist, we as a people should confront ourselves and go before God in prayer asking, "What does verse 3 mean? How can we carry it out?" By the way, some might argue that verse 3 is speaking about evil spirits only. Yet verse 4 --- which says, "but those who fear His Name" --- discredits this theory. By starting with the word "but", verse 4 is declaring that the passage is distinguishing between human beings (and specifically, between believers) that fear His Name and those who do not fear It. Obviously, the "treading down" of verse 3 is spiritual (it does not mean that we will literally go around stomping on people), but "treading down" will always mean "treading down", no matter what language you say it in, and no matter if it is "spiritual" or "literal".

Malachi chapter 4 ends with the following verses:

"⁴Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. ⁵Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: ⁶And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (Malachi 4:4-6)

Before Jesus' first parousia, John the Baptist appeared with the spirit of Elijah on him (Matthew 11:13-15), and he did not come with flowers in his hands, blowing kisses at every one (Arafat-style). If you read Matthew chapter 3, you will see that John the Baptist came with harsh words of confrontation and judgment, and he set the "harshness level" in accordance with the hardness of the hearer's heart. To those who were receptive to the truth, he spoke with softer, kinder words. To those who refused to accept the truth, he spoke with harsh and cutting words. Before Jesus' second parousia in these latter days, God is raising up believers like John the Baptist who are not out to win popularity contests but who long to see the manifestation of God's Glorious Nature in His Church. Such men and women understand that structures must be torn down before the Lord can appear. They understand that certain things (and even certain people) must be cursed unto destruction before He can be truly manifested in believers. This is why the passage quoted above ends with the word "curse". This word might be too harsh for some to stomach, but, rest assured, fellow believer, that our God is a Holy and Righteous God -- so much so that He even crucified His own Son on the cross so that justice might be fulfilled!!! Under the anointing of the Spirit, I can tell you that many believers who have already passed away and "gone with the Lord" were surprised on the days of their death when they faced a Yeshua Who was completely different from the flower-carrying Jesus portrayed by the evangelical Church, but, by then, it was too late for them to do anything about it. Fellow believer, you and I are still in time. Hallelujah!

When Malachi 4:6 declares that the spirit of Elijah will come to turn the heart of "the fathers to the children", it is not talking about "bringing happiness back to conflictive, unhappy homes and families". In a very superficial way, it does, but, at a deeper level, it is talking about something much more profound. It is referring to how God will change the ministry of the Church so that those who are in leadership (the "fathers") will finally begin to sacrifice themselves for the believers under their care (the "sons"). A good father wants his son to have all that he had and more. A good father rejoices in seeing his son accomplishing greater things than he accomplished. A good father rejoices when he sees his son become mature enough to go out and make a living independently from him. A good father never seeks to possess his son forever by trouncing his growth so as to have control over his life until the day he dies. Good fathers seek to give impartations of themselves to their sons so that their sons may not have to "work from scratch" in order to have what they already have. Though he did it grudgingly, Elijah gave a double portion of his spirit to Elisha, and Elisha ended up doing twice as many major miracles ---14 --- as Elijah did -- 7 (notice that this corresponds to the 14-7 record we mentioned earlier). A good father sees an image of himself in his son, and never sees him as an "inferior" being. He just sees his son as a little version of himself that needs to be developed and nurtured, but is at no point "inferior" to him. So is the Father's attitude towards us, and so should our attitude be one towards another.

When Malachi 4:6 declares that the spirit of Elijah will come to turn the heart of "the children to their fathers", it is speaking of the restoration of judgment inside the Church. If you read Hebrews chapter 12, you will notice that the main theme of the chapter is "God as our Father", and, within that context, judgment and correction is mentioned constantly. This means that a place that denies judgments automatically denies God the right to exercise His Fatherhood. There are too many rebellious and arrogant children in the Church (especially pastors) who hate judgments, and whose hearts are therefore turned away from God's Fatherhood. Fellow believer, a person who speaks judgment word to you in love is a channel of God's Fatherhood for your life; such people are your real "fathers". In the latter days, the confrontational spirit of Elijah will convince many to turn their rebellious hearts back towards God's judgments, and those who have been acting like true spiritual "fathers" will be heard instead of being rejected, as they are now.

"I did nothing wrong"

It is laudable to see Terrell Owens boldly testifying that God healed him, even at the risk of being ridiculed by the secular media; this shows that Terrell Owens has the calling of a prophet. His immediate likeability and natural grace reveal that the man is also an evangelist. Terrell Owens, therefore, is a prophet-evangelist, meaning that he moves in the anointing of the two grace ministries.

However, there is a major area lacking in Terrell Owens, which is typical in many believers throughout the Church in whom grace is abundant. When the criticism over his raunchy TV spot surfaced, he simply laughed it off and firmly claimed that he had done nothing wrong. Even his teammate, Donovan McNabb saw it as "harmless fun". If Terrell Owens is so aware of God in his life, why did he not hesitate in doing a TV spot that would promote the Canaanite spirit of lust and the Amorite spirit of  fornication? In the TV spot, Terrell Owens is supposedly preparing for the game in the locker room when the raunchy woman appears. When she bares herself in front of him, she says to him, "Stay with me", to which Terrell responds, "I guess the Eagles can play without me tonight". Since the man is indeed a prophet, he was prophesying to himself without realizing it! A couple of weeks later, he was injured, and he missed the rest of the regular season. This was God's way of saying, "Terrell, you really think the Eagles can play without you? OK. Wish granted!" I know of one believer who prayed for judgment against Terrell for having done the TV spot, and his wish was granted too!

By affirming that he did nothing wrong, Terrell is showing that he still does not know the God of apostolic judgments. This is the only thing missing in this young man before he can become a spiritual "wild ass" who will do great things for the Lord. Despite the judgment injury, Terrell is still not aware of his own wrongdoing. There are many in the Church like him, but, as we said above, the spirit of Elijah is here to make believers aware that God the Father is a judging Father (even under the New Covenant, as shown by Hebrews chapter 12). The black-horse riders come to restore sanity back to a Church that has gone Canaanite-mad.

The 4th attempt

The Eagles had been to the NFC championship game 3 years in a row prior to this season and had always failed to reach the Super Bowl. Therefore, the fact that they finally reached the Super Bowl is a prophetic figure of how the spiritual Josephs and Jonahs will in these latter-days  come out of their seemingly "never-ending" imprisonment and be manifested publicly.

Since the "Eagles" represent the "resurrected-prophet" anointing, it is not surprising that they made it to the Super Bowl on their 4th attempt since, as we said before, there have been 3 prophetic intercession movements in the last 40+ years that have failed to usher in the latter-rain revival, but the one that is beginning now (the 4th one) will succeed.

The resurrection of the dead

Jeff Thomason's call to play for the Eagles in Super Bowl 39 has a powerful prophetic significance. He had been out of the NFL for 2 years, which points to the following passage:

"²⁰And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. ²¹And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand: ²²But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him. ¹And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river." (Genesis 40:20-41:1)

Despite the fact that Joseph's interpretations came to pass, the "chief butler" forgot about him after his own personal problems were solved. Joseph had to spend 2 more years in prison. After the 2 years, he was finally called out of prison by Pharaoh and became the most powerful man in Egypt, second only to the king --- just as Jeff Thomason was called to play in the biggest game of them all after 2 years in retirement. In a sense, Jeff Thomason's NFL career had been "dead" for 2 years, and, "out of nowhere", that career was resurrected.

As we said above, the Eagles represent the green horse, which speaks of the spiritual Josephs who will emerge from the Sheol prisons they have been relegated to (by the Church's principalities) in order to manifest God's Glory on Earth.

Made in New Jersey

The fact that Jeff Thomason was working in New Jersey also has spiritual meaning. "Jersey" is the name of a breed of dairy cattle of a reddish-brown color. The "dairy cattle" points to what we shared on "whey" earlier. The "reddish-brown" color points to what we shared in a previous word concerning the color "brown": it speaks of a mighty, "green", prophetic anointing hidden underneath "red" weakness.

The fact that Jeff Thomason was working at a construction company speaks of how Sheol prison becomes the place where God works on the spiritual Josephs, preparing them in the darkness of loneliness and anonymity for the day when they will come out of Sheol and manifest God's Glory.

The fact that Jeff Thomason was working as manager at the construction company also correlates with the fact that Joseph was in charge of the Egyptian prison (Genesis 39:22) that he came out of.

Melchisedec priests

The fact that Jeff Thomason wears jersey #85 also has spiritual significance. This number appears in the following verse:

"And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod" (1 Samuel 22:18)

Ahimelech and the other 85 priests were murdered for inadvertently helping David as he fled from Saul. When David appeared before Ahimelech, he asked for bread:

"³Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. ⁴And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. ⁵And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. ⁶So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away." (1 Samuel 21:3-6)

In other words, David and his men ate of the bread that only the priests were allowed to eat. This was a prophetic figure of what would happen later under the New Covenant, where all believers are now priests of the Most High God (Revelation 1:6, 1 Peter 2:9). As we have said before, we all are part of the Melchisedec priesthood, and we all have direct access to the Holy of Holies, as long as we approach it in the awareness of (and the longing for) God's Righteousness and Holiness (Hebrews 12:24-29).

In the same way that Jeff Thomason came "out of nowhere" to "exercise his football calling", so to speak, the latter-day prophetic remnant will appear "out of nowhere" to publicly exercise their Melchisedec priesthood and to help empower all believers to exercise that priesthood.

The peace of God

The name "Jeff" is short for "Jeffrey", which, according to a name-origin site, is a variation of the name "Geoffrey", which apparently means "peace of God". The last name "Thomason" means "son of Thomas", and the name "Thomas" means "twin". By combining the two meanings, we get that the peace of God ("Jeffrey") is the son of twins ("Thomason").

As we shared before, Isaiah 32:15 declares that the peace of God involves 3 stages:

1. The wilderness of apostolic judgments

2. The fruitful field of prophetic productivity

3. The forest of evangelistic impartation

Once the "forest" stage is reached, the "peace of God" begins to reign.

Therefore, the "twins" in the name "Thomason" are the apostolic and prophetic anointings of stages #1 and #2. As we have said before, the apostolic and prophetic anointings operate like a two-person "tag team" that works together to set the foundation for the manifestation of a mighty evangelistic anointing (Ephesians 2:20, Luke 10:1). In a sense, the apostolic and the prophetic anointings are complementary twins.

Therefore, the name "Jeff Thomason" means that the 4 horses of the Apocalypse are being released into the Church to forge the true peace of God through apostolic judgments and prophetic vision that defies earthly authority. Once the true peace is achieved inside the Church, believers in general will be endowed with a mighty evangelistic anointing that will shake the nations of the Earth.

It is no coincidence that both conference championship games prior to Super Bowl 39 were played in the state of Pennsylvania (in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia). The name "Pennsylvania" literally means, "Penn's forest", which points to the "forest of evangelistic impartation" of Isaiah 32:15 where God's peace rules.

Grandma Brady

The death of Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady's grandmother at age 94 during the week leading to the Super Bowl also has spiritual significance. When drafted out of college, Tom Brady was not expected to be much of a success, especially because he didn't  seem to have the physical weight and strength to endure as an NFL quarterback. This is a prophetic figure of what we shared earlier on how man (in this case, a "patriot") is physically weak when compared with the physical attributes of animals (such as an "eagle"). The emotional blow of his grandmother's death further emphasizes Tom Brady's frailty and humanity (believe you me, nothing reveals the frailty of man like death).

As I pondered the meaning of the age of Tom Brady's grandmother (94), I sensed a strong witness in my spirit that it was related to Psalm 94. To be honest with you, it is only until now, as I am writing this, that I finally understand the connection:

"¹O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. ²Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud. ³LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? ⁴How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? ⁵They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage. ⁶They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. ⁷Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it. ⁸Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise? ⁹He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see? ¹⁰He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know? ¹¹The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity. ¹²Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law." (Psalm 94:1-12)

[The word "heathen" in verse 10 was translated from the Hebrew word goyim, which literally means "nations"]

Notice that, in verses 2 and 3, the psalmist (under the anointing of the Spirit) asks for vengeance against the proud and the wicked who defy God by their unrighteous actions; as you may recall, the proud and the wicked are precisely the two types of people that Malachi 4:1 refers to. This means that this psalm is closely tied to the spirit of Elijah discussed above.

Upon closer observation, we can see that this is the psalm of a soul that is asking the Spirit to execute purifying judgments. It is not the prayer of a soul with petty, capricious resentments against another person. It is the prayer of a soul that feels righteous indignation when it sees people defying God through their actions, acting as if God were not seeing what they are doing (v6, 9). In verses 4-6, the righteous are portrayed as weak before the attacks of the unrighteous, which fits in with man's (i.e.- the patriots') weakness and frailty mentioned above. Notice also that verses 10-12 speak of God as a chastiser, which correlates with Malachi 4:6 (mentioned above) which speaks of the spirit of Elijah restoring the Church's awareness of God as a judgment-making Father.

In essence, Psalm 94 deals with man confronting death-causing truth and judgments, which means exposing oneself as weak before God and accepting His judgments without making excuses. This is why Tom Brady's grandmother died this week at 94.

Truth vs. Grace

A "truth-accepting" attitude is prevalent throughout the Patriots. They are a quiet, disciplined team that is very respectful of their head coach and of each other. They never make boastful statements to the press, and they prefer to let their playing do the talking.

On the Eagles' side, however, there is not as much "truth-acceptance", as shown by Terrell Owens' (and Donovan McNabb's) refusal to publicly recognize any wrongdoing regarding the infamous TV spot. Another of the Eagles' wide receivers has made derogatory comments against Patriot defenders, and has even declared his "indignation" at being "belittled" for making these derogatory comments. In other words, he has refused to accept judgments against his wrongdoing.

When truth-based people face grace-based people, the truth-based people always win in the end. It is not wrong to have grace; in fact, it would be anti-truth to deny grace, but it is wrong to have grace without a truth foundation. It is a fact of sports life that a good defense always beats a good offense. Defense is equivalent to truth, while offense is equivalent to grace. Therefore, there is no doubt that the truth-based Patriots will dominate the grace-based Eagles. This applies not only to today's Super Bowl but to the Church in these latter days.

1-3

The 1 vs. 3 pattern is prevalent throughout this Super Bowl. For example, the Philadelphia Eagles have been to the last 4 NFC championship games; they lost the first 3 and have won the last 1. This is Super Bowl 39, and 39 equals 3 times 13, and "13" equals "3 ones plus 1 ten". When discussing the dominant color of each of the final 4 playoff teams, we saw that in 3 teams, the dominant color matched their home jersey color, while in 1 team (the Patriots), it didn't. In fact, with the Patriots, their dominant color ("white") becomes evident only when bright light shines on their silvery helmets.

The connection between the 4 horses of the Apocalypse and the final 4 playoff teams also portrays the 1 vs. 3 pattern. As we shared before, a close study of Matthew 24:7 reveals that Horse #1's  anointing (i.e.- the white horse's) serves as the spiritual "theme" in whose context the other 3 horses operate. All of this seems to confirm that the operations of the red, black, and green horses are irrelevant if they are not based on the white-horse anointing.

The uniting Super Bowl

Before the 1960s, there was only one football league in the U.S., the National Football League (NFL). During the 1960s, however, a new league emerged, the American Football League (AFL), which began to compete against the NFL for player talent and market share. While the NFL's playing style was run-oriented and conservative, the AFL played with a more pass-oriented style and included many strategic innovations.

As the AFL grew in popularity and talent, questions arose over who was the true champion of professional football. This led to the organization of a game that would match the champion of each league against each other, and this game came to be known as the "Super Bowl".

In the first two Super Bowls, the NFL champion clearly overmatched the AFL champion, and the AFL's credibility was put into question. 1968's Super Bowl 3 then saw the New York Jets, champions of the AFL, matched up against the Baltimore Colts, champions of the NFL. The Colts had a demolishing defense that year and had shown their clear superiority over the other NFL teams. Since the NFL was considered superior to the AFL, most experts thought that the Colts would trounce the Jets, yet, the Jets' quarterback, Joe (i.e.- "Joseph")  Namath, prophetically guaranteed that the Jets would win the game.

During the game, the mighty Colts squandered opportunity after opportunity. It seemed as if Someone Invisible was fighting against them. Slowly, the Jets took control of the game, and ended up winning it by 16-7. Joe Namath's prophecy came to pass, and the AFL gained credibility in the eyes of all.

The following year, the AFL champion defeated the NFL champion (Minnesota Vikings) once again, which firmly established the AFL's credibility and led to the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. They have been one league ever since.

The AFL vs. NFL battle is a prophetic figure of a Church that is divided between "ministers" and "laymen". The NFL represents the "established", religious hierarchy that bases its credibility on its experience and time-honored traditions, while the AFL represents those with a prophetic anointing who are willing to break with man's earthly traditions so that God's paradigm (not man's) may be established. Just as the AFL and the NFL became one, and just as East Berlin and West Berlin became one, the artificial minister-layman division will be demolished in the Church, and the Body of Christ will finally move in the true Anointing that unifies us unto God.

Super Bowl 39 will be played in Jacksonville. As we shared before, the name "Jackson" refers to the prophetic ministry, which is the ministry most directly related to the anointing in Scripture. Therefore, since "ville" means "city", "Jacksonville" can be taken to mean "The city of the anointing". In the latter days, the Church will be a spiritual "Jacksonville" where believers in general will be One in the Anointing, and Ephesians 4:13 will be fulfilled.