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Pre-parousia 1

 

This article is the first in a series of articles dealing with the spiritual events --- as prophesied by the Lord in Matthew 24 --- that are already taking place prior to the coming of the Son of Man.

 

Index

The motivation

Come again

Coming out to come back in

The spirit of anti-Christ

Rumors in the dark

Wars in the social club

There is more to say

 

 

 

The motivation

In my first years as a born-again Christian, I would remember reading Matthew chapters 24 and 25 without really understanding what I was reading. I would hear "eschatological scholars" preach on these chapters, and even though I accepted what they were saying, many questions remained unanswered, and, at times, I felt as if certain passages from these two chapters contradicted what these men taught. However, I at the time had no alternative explanation to offer, so I silently accepted the traditional interpretation of these chapters.

 

In the Sunday afternoon of November 7, 2004, I sat down to study the Word, and I asked the Lord, "What do you want me to study?". A song then began to play in my mind. It was a song called "Right here, right now", a song by Jesus Jones that hit the secular charts in 1991(we included the lyrics of this song in a previous prophetic word). The phrase "watching the world wake up from history", that is part of this song, made a strong impression on my heart, because it reminded me of this verse in Ephesians chapter 5:

 

"Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light" (Ephesians 5:14)

 

It was then that Lord said to me, "I want you to study about the rapture and My second coming". I then began to study a passage related to the rapture, but, to be honest with you, I ended that study more confused than when I started. I wanted to share with other members of our Bible study group about what the Lord had told me to study, but I did not feel God's authorization to do so.

 

I was amazed at how God independently began to speak to each of the other members of the group about the importance of studying on his "second coming", and as they shared this with me, I understood that God wanted us to write articles on it. Since there were many things that we did not understand, I initially thought that those articles would be written a few months from now. This past Monday, however, the Lord said to me, in no uncertain terms, "I want you to write about My Second Coming next week". I said, "OK, Lord, I have very little to say on this, but I know that You will provide".

 

As the week went by, I found that I had learned very little, and as my natural mind began to consider writing about something else, one of the members of the group spoke to me yesterday about a dream he had had on Wednesday. It was a very vivid dream about the Second Coming of the Lord. He could not recall the details of the dream; he felt as if God had erased the details from his memory, and all he could remember was that the dream was about His Second Coming. I was amazed to hear this, since God had very explicitly warned me against telling this brother about the subject I had to write on this week. The dream served as a strong confirmation, and I felt as if God was telling me, "Son, you are going to write about My Second Coming this week, whether you like it or not".

 

"Come again"

One thing that God has taught me is that you must be willing to shed your mind of all the traditional, hand-me-down, "seminary" doctrine that men have taught each other down the centuries. Most preachers who go to seminary school fill their minds with meaningless historical information and Biblical interpretations which they accept as true without ever sitting down to hear the witness of the Holy Spirit. Fellow believer, no matter what you hear and who you hear it from, you must always, always allow the Holy Spirit to confirm or disprove what you have heard:

 

"10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." (Acts 17:10-11)

[The word "word" in verse 11 was translated from the Greek word logos]

 

Notice how the Holy Spirit calls the Bereans "noble" (v11) because they had a mind ready to receive the logos Word of judgment and because they would go to the Scriptures daily to verify whether what Paul and Silas were saying was true or not. Notice that the Bereans did not say,

"Oh, great and mighty lord Paul and lord Silas, whatever thou sayeth must-eth be true-eth, because thou both haveth the revered title-eth of apostle-eth. We are all lucky-eth to stand-eth in the warm-eth glow-eth of your holy presence".

 

Instead, they would go to God in the Spirit and ask,

"Lord, are these men speaking the truth? Are their words consistent with the spirit of the words you wrote in Scripture? Please help me to learn Your truth and judgments, regardless of whether or not I like what You say to me."

This attitude is part of living under the New Covenant:

 

"But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him" (1 John 2:27)

 

"And 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 31:34)

 

Having said all of the above, I will now briefly share with you what I was taught as a "young child" in the faith about latter-day events and the Second Coming. I am sure that this will be consistent with what you yourself have been taught:

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Life on Earth will go on as usual, while the Church continues "saving souls"

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One day, believers all over the world will instantly disappear (the "rapture")

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Great tribulation and judgments will be sent over all those who remain on Earth

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Jesus will marry the Church in Heaven ("the marriage supper of the Lamb")

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Jesus will physically come back with His bride to the Earth

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He will dethrone all literal kingdoms and establish a literal 1,000-year kingdom, ruling the world from the city of Jerusalem in Palestine

 

All the items listed above are the result of literal interpretations of various passages in the New Testament. However, a closer study of these passages reveals that the sequence above has many "unfilled gaps". Many of the verses surrounding these passages are left unexplained, and are even contradicted at times, by the sequence above. We will begin a series of articles where we will reveal these "unfilled gaps" and contradictions. However, it is first necessary that we take a "come again" attitude. When people are told something they don't understand, they sometimes respond with the phrase "come again", as if to say, "Could you run that story by me once again? I didn't quite catch it the first time around". We must clean our mental slates and approach the Lord with a "come again" attitude, re-reading the Scriptures with a prophetic ear that's attentive to the voice of the Spirit (not man) in order to get a comprehensive, and internally-consistent understanding of the Lord's Second Coming.

 

Coming out to come back in

Matthew chapter 24 is popular among "eschatological scholars" when speaking of the Lord's Second Coming. This chapter begins with the following verses:

 

"1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" (Matthew 24:1-3)

 

Why would the Lord's description of His coming be born out of comments on the temple buildings? Girgashite Biblical scholars would answer, "Because Jesus was predicting the destruction of the temple by the Roman commander Titus in 70 AD", to which I would say, "Yes; you just gave a literal interpretation of verse 2, but your answer fails to do two things: First, it fails to explain how verse 2 can have a direct spiritual application in the life of a believer today, and, second, you failed to explain what the destruction of the temple has to do with the Lord's Second Coming". To truly answer the question, we must begin reading from verse 1 with a prophetic attitude.

 

Notice that verse 1 speaks of Jesus "going out" and "departing from the temple". The phrase "went out" was translated from the Greek verb exerchomai, which literally means "to come out", while the word "departed" was translated from the verb poreuomai, which literally means "to go", and appears in the following verses:

 

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"And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name" (Acts 5:41)

[The word "departed" was translated from poreuomai]

 

Notice how the word poreuomai here is used in the context of Jesus' disciples departing from the "council", which represented the recognized and accepted religious structures of their day.

 

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"And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed!" (Luke 22:22)

[The word "goeth" was translated from poreuomai]

 

Notice how the word poreuomai here is used in the context of Jesus "going" as He is killed by the religious leaders of those days, who hated and fought against His Word.

 

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"2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:2-3)

[The words "go" in verses 2 and 3 were translated from poreuomai. The word "come" in verse 3 was translated from the Greek word erchomai.]

 

Notice how the word poreuomai here is used to refer to Jesus going out of the earthly structures of this world to prepare a spiritual place for us. 

 

From the verses above, we can infer that the word poreuomai used in Matthew 24:1 has the connotation of departing from earthly structures that hold us back from reaching our spiritual potential. Jesus' "departure from the temple" is a prophetic figure of how the latter-day remnant is called to depart from relying on the humanly visible religious structures (the visible "temple"), in order to enter into a true relationship with an invisible God:

 

"20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:20-24)

 

The word exerchomai, which was translated as "went out" in Matthew 24:1 also appears in the following verse:

 

"12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. 13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. 14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come." (Hebrews 13:12-14)

[The phrase "go forth" was translated from the word exerchomai. The word "continuing" in verse 14 was translated from the word meno, meaning "to abide, to remain"; therefore, a better translation would be "for here we do not have a city that remains", which speaks of the city's temporality.]

 

In the verse above, exerchomai is used to say that we must be willing to suffer and be reproached outside of Jerusalem, just as Jesus did when He died on the cross outside the city's gate. Jesus was rejected and crucified by the religious leaders of His day who refused to believe the message of confrontation and transformation that He brought (Luke 12:49-53, Luke 14:26-27). Therefore, the passage above is calling us to be willing to suffer outside of the comfort of the religious structures. Why? Because we are not to be interested in the comfort of the present, temporary "Jerusalem", but are called to seek a city that is "to come" (v14).

 

The word exerchomai also appears 3 times in the following passage, as part of the phrase "went ye out":

 

"24 And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind? 25 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings’ courts. 26 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet." (Luke 7:24-26)

 

Here exerchomai is used in the context of John the Baptist, who was Jesus' precursor in His "first coming". People had to go outside of Jerusalem in order to hear John preach. This desert-dwelling, locust-eating man clothed with camel hair (Matthew 3:4, Luke 1:80) was not a well-respected scribe or priest recognized by the religious leaders of his day (Matthew 21:24-27). This means that only those who were willing to go outside of the comfort of the religious structures (represented by "Jerusalem") were able to prepare their hearts through John's preaching in order to believe in the One who came after John, i.e.- Yeshua.

 

From all of the above, we can conclude that, before the Lord's Second Coming, a prophetic remnant who will be sick and tired of man's religious structures inside the Church will begin to go out into the desert, even at the price of being reproached by those who have placed their faith in the covering provided by the visible temple of human traditions and doctrine. This spiritual exodus is occurring even as we speak, and it is through those who come out that Jesus will come back.

 

Those who prefer to stay under the "warm" covering of the visible temple will discover how temporary their covering is. Just as the temple at Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus in 70 A.D., the current temple of human traditions and doctrine will be destroyed by God, and those who refused to be "out in the cold" for a short time will be forced out into the cold forever. They will not be allowed to enter into the temple that abides for eternity:

 

"7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Revelation 21:7-8)

[The "part" that verse 8 refers to is the person's spiritual inheritance (referred to in verse 7). Cowardly believers who prefer the comfort of the Church's religious structures will lose their spiritual inheritance; they will lose their conditions as "sons of God", according to verse 7, since only those who are willing to brave the cold of human rejection will be called "sons of God" for eternity.]

 

"And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it" (Revelation 21:22)

[The phrase "I saw no temple" means that the true temple cannot be seen with the natural mind. The true temple is not comprised of visible human organizations and hierarchies ruled under human methodologies and agendas.]

 

The spirit of anti-Christ

In Matthew 24:4-5, the Lord continues by saying the following:

 

"4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." (Matthew 24:4-5)

 

Girgashite eschatologists take the passage above to mean that, in the latter days, leaders of religious sects would surface claiming that they are the reincarnation of Jesus. Obviously, this has happened, but most people, especially believers, can easily see through these deceptions. You must remember, however, that Jesus did not speak the words in Matthew 24:4-5 to the "unbelieving world"; He spoke them privately to the disciples who had faithfully followed Him (Matthew 24:3). Therefore, Jesus is saying the words of Matthew 24:4-5 to believers inside the Church today.

 

When a scam artist introduces himself, he does not say, "Hi, I am Johnny LeCrook, scam-artist extraordinaire; do you want to do business with me?" In the same way, no one would be "dumb" enough to stand up in front of a congregation and say, "I am the Christ; submit to me unconditionally, because I am the one and only Son of God". The fool would get booed off the pulpit and thrown out by the deacons in a New York minute!! Who, then, are the people saying "I am Christ" in these latter days?

 

The word "Christ" is derived from the Greek word Christos, which literally means, "one anointed". Therefore, the phrase "I am Christ" reads as follows in the original Greek: "I am the anointed one". Compare this to what John the prophet declared in the following passage (already quoted earlier):

 

"But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him" (1 John 2:27)

 

Based on the passage above, all of us who have received Christ into our hearts are "anointed". We are the "anointed people" of God. Notice how the following verses speak of the anointed ones in the plural:

 

"14 He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; 15 Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm." (Psalms 105:14-15)

[If you read the verses that precede this passage, you will notice that the Lord is referring to the entire generation of believers who entered the Promised Land with Joshua, not just to the "leaders of the people"]

 

"Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God" (2 Corinthians 1:21)

 

As we have shared before, the Anointing of God unifies, meaning that we are One in Him when we walking in the Anointing. However, the Church is full of "ministers" who subliminally reinforce the separation between "ministers" and "laymen". They claim that their ministerial positions afford them a more direct access to God, meaning that they can truly hear God while the rest cannot. This turns the other believers into lame and dependent sheep who must unconditionally follow the voice of their human leader. At this point, the human leader becomes "the Christ", the only one who is truly anointed. Instead of being channels of impartation for God's Anointing, these "ministers" become hoarders of the anointing. They become the "chosen one", the revered leader before whom the rest of the believers must bow in full acquiescence. The "non-chosen" must accept that their "spiritual" service consists of two things: volunteering time to serve at the church cafeteria and paying their tithes and offerings so that the "chosen ones" may continue with "the Lord's work". Obviously, there is nothing inherently wrong with tithing, offering, or serving at the church cafeteria, but these acts become a meaningless service before God when done under the attitude of relinquishing one's anointing and calling to "the chosen ones". When you do this, you are saying that the minister is "Christ" (i.e.- "anointed") and you are not. You then become one of the "many deceived" that the Lord refers to in Matthew 24:5, because you bought into the minister's lie that "he (she) is Christ".

 

In 1 John chapter 2, the Lord connects the "I-am-Christ" deception with the spirit of anti-Christ:

 

"26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. 27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him" (1 John 2:26-27)

 

"Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time" (1 John 2:18)

 

John wrote these words over 1900 years ago, and there were already many "anti-Christs" in those days, and there are many today. The prefix "anti" in "anti-Christ" means "opposite to, in front of, instead of, in the place of". In other words, an "anti-Christ" is a person who places him or herself "in front of" God's people, thereby acting as a roadblock that impedes their direct access to the Anointing of Christ.

 

"But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." (Matthew 18:6)

 

The word "offend" in the verse above is a terrible mistranslation of the Greek word skandalizo, which means "to place an impediment", and is derived from the word skandalon, which literally means "the movable stick of a trap". Therefore, the word skandalizo is a reference to things that are used to trap someone else in order to have that person under one's control. Interestingly enough, the word skandalon is apparently related to the word kampto, which means "to bow in reverence". When the modern-day anti-Christs trap believers into thinking that they are not anointed, they create servile congregations that bow before their ruling minister. Cursed be the men and women who have hindered God's spiritual work among His people!!!

 

"Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!" (Matthew 18:7)

[The words "offences" and "offence" were translated from the Greek word skandalon mentioned above]

 

The fact that the Lord spoke of the anti-Christs as He began to speak of His Second Coming in Matthew 24:4-5 means that the anti-Christ movement will become stronger inside the Church as His Second Coming approaches. It also means that the anti-Christ spirit has to be defeated before He can come back. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Lord spoke these words while on the Mount of Olives (Matthew 24:3). Olives in Scripture are related to "oil", and "oil" is related to the Anointing (Exodus 37:29, Luke 7:46).

 

Those who are truly anointed never allow themselves to be promoted over their brethren. Instead, they seek to exalt their brethren and to see them share in the same anointing:

 

"8 The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. 9 But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?" (Judges 9:8-9)

 

The anointing does not create ministerial castes; it unifies all believers unto God.

 

Rumors in the dark

In Matthew 24:6, the Lord continues by saying the following:

 

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet" (Matthew 24:6)

 

Once again, Girgashite eschatologists take this passage to mean that, in the latter days, there will be many wars and conflicts. Obviously, this has happened, but wars have occurred throughout the history of mankind, and I would dare to say that the number and intensity of military conflicts in the world have actually decreased in the last few years. Europe is relatively tension-free since the end of the Cold War; most of the Latin American guerilla movements have disappeared; except for a few trouble spots, Africa is mostly democratic and war-free; except for the small threat of North Korea, Asia is war-free and growing economically. The only area of generalized military tension in the world is the Middle East, and, even there, Israel has not had a major, full-blown war since 1973. The world sure is much safer and more peaceful now than it was in the 1960s!!!

 

Since a literal interpretation of Matthew 24:6 is completely unsatisfactory, we must ask the Lord, "What is the true, spiritual meaning of this passage?", and the answer to this question can be found in the word "rumor":

 

"The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle" (Obadiah 1:1)

 

As we share in a previous word, the book of Obadiah is God's prophetic word against the Girgashite spirit on Earth. Since prophets are the spiritual antithesis of the Girgashites, it is not surprising that the verse above begins with a strong prophetic overtone, as it mentions the word "vision" at the very beginning, which points to the prophetic ministry. As we saw in our previous article, the name "Obadiah" also has strong prophetic overtones.

 

Why would Obadiah say that "he heard a rumor from Jehovah"? Because "rumors" are words heard "in the dark", and, many times (though not always) "darkness" or "blackness" is a figure of "secrecy", "anonymity", and "intimacy", which are left-handed concepts that are strongly associated with the prophetic ministry. In previous articles we have also shared on how the prophetic anointing allows us to shoot "spiritual arrows" from the "darkness of anonymity".

 

Therefore, the "rumors" that the Lord Jesus is referring to in Matthew 24:6 speak of a prophetic remnant launching rhema arrows into the spiritual atmosphere from the darkness of anonymity. These "rumors" are questioning the spiritual validity of the Church's current structures and doctrines; they are creating doubt in the hearts of believers who for the first time are beginning to ask themselves whether or not the religious leaders have truly been operating in the fullness of the Spirit all these centuries. These rumor arrows are being shot from anonymity in the sense that they are not being shot by people in positions of religious eminence but rather by men and women unknown in the natural realm but known to God.

 

"2 And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. 3 But if any man love God, the same is known of him." (1 Corinthians 8:2-3)

 

Spiritual revolutions always begin with "rumors". They always begin with men and women raising questions in the inner depths of their souls, and then expressing those questions and doubts to the few people with whom they have close and intimate relationships. It is in the darkness of intimacy where revolutions get started.

 

When speaking of "darkness" in a positive sense with other believers, I have at times received a somewhat skeptical reaction, since darkness has generally been associated with bad things. However, there are passages in Scripture such as the following where darkness is not portrayed in a negative sense:

 

"And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was" (Exodus 20:21)

 

"Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness" (1 Kings 8:12)

 

"10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies." (Psalms 18:10-11)

 

Isn't it interesting that our Lord God, who is Light and in whom there is no darkness (1 John 1:5) says that He dwells in "the thick darkness"? The Lord only reveals Himself in the thick darkness of intimacy. You cannot know Him by reading a theology book; you cannot come to know Him by performing religious activities. You can only know Him if you maintain a constant relationship with Him in the inner depths of your soul. No external agent, no minister can get you to the final point of knowing God; only the witness of the Spirit inside of you can do that. External agents can help in "setting you up" in a position where knowing God is a strong possibility, but your actual encounter with God is a matter between you and Him:

 

"And 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 31:34)

 

As we have said before, the ministry most innately aware of its "grace" and "intimacy" with God is the prophetic ministry. The prophetic anointing imparts a sense of boldness before men and intimacy with the Lord. Therefore, the prophetic anointing allows you to hear the secrets of God (Amos 3:7), and you become the "first one", so to speak, to find out what pleases and displeases God about the current religious structures. As you begin to hear "rumors from the Lord" (Obadiah 1:1), your soul will become restless with His visions and purposes. You will no longer be able to slumber in Girgashite conformity. Your very life will become a constant prophetic prayer from which you will shoot prophetic arrows into the spiritual atmosphere. As you do, the "rumors" will increase, and "spiritual restlessness" and non-conformity will heighten in those who are near you, and even in those who are far. As the Lord says in Matthew 24:6, these things "must come to pass" before the "end" (or "fulfillment") of all things.

 

In Matthew 24:6, the Lord commands us "to see that we not be troubled" because of the rumors. There are several words in Greek for "seeing", but the one used in this verse is horao, from which the word horama is derived; horama is used in the New Testament to refer to "prophetic visions", as in the case when Peter saw the linen that descended from heaven (Acts 10:9-17). Therefore, the Lord is telling us in Matthew 24:6 that we should open our prophetic eyes in order to understand the true spiritual nature of the "rumors". If we try to discern the restlessness around us with a natural, Girgashite mind, we will mistake it as "attacks from the enemy" and be "troubled", instead of realizing that they are a part of God's restoration process for the Church. Obviously, not all rumors are of the Lord, but we must be able to understand that many of them are, and the number and intensity of the "good" rumors will increase as the Second Coming approaches.

 

"44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall. 45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD. 46 And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler. 47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her" (Jeremiah 51:44-47)

[The word "confounded" was translated from the Hebrew word buwsh, which literally means "shame". The rumors will bring shame upon the leaders of Babylon. As a parenthesis, it is interesting to consider that Babylon, mentioned in this passage, was physically located in modern-day Iraq, and that a president by the name of "Bush" was responsible for putting Iraq's ruler, Saddam Hussein, to shame. I still remember how shamefully pathetic he looked when they found him in his puny little spider-hole. Hallelujah!!! (Jeremiah 51:48)]

 

As we shared in a recent prophetic word, there is a new psychological trauma in the U.S. called PEST (Post Election Selection Trauma). The "poor" people suffering from PEST are obviously being "troubled" by the prophetic rumors in the air. Their subconscious perceives that there is something in the air that's beyond their control. Get used to it, PEST-sufferers, because the rumors you are hearing will grow and grow!!!

 

God has a word for those who are filling the atmosphere around them with "rumors" because of the prophetic vision that their souls are pregnant with:

 

"Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace" (Acts 18:9)

[The word "vision" was translated from the word horama mentioned above]

 

Wars in the social club

Besides "rumors", Matthew 24:6 also speaks of "wars". In a previous article, we saw how the clash between God's prophetic anointing and the Girgashite spirit leads to spiritual war and controversy. This emphasizes the fact that, in these latter days, the prophetic anointing in God's spiritual remnant will create spiritual agitations that will shake the Girgashite structures of earthliness inside the Church and throughout the Earth.

 

Before John the Baptist came on the scene, the religious atmosphere in Israel was nice and peaceful. The Pharisees and scribes had unquestioned control over all religious matters, and no one seemed to complain. In the darkness, however, men and women such as Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:25-38) were prophetically interceding for the restoration of Israel and the manifestation of the Anointed One. In these latter days, the same thing is happening once again. As the Simeon's and Anna's have prayed, John the Baptist, i.e.- the Spirit of Elijah (Matthew 11:11-14, Malachi 4:5-6), has come to cause war and strife in the spiritual atmosphere of the Church and the Earth. A true restoration requires plucking out deep roots, and such uprooting will inevitably lead to war and conflict.

 

I remember a song in 1986 called "Rumors" by a group called "Timex Social Club" (as we have shared in previous articles, it is amazing how music in secular circles seems to be laden with "prophetic content", and it unfortunately seems as if this prophetic content is even greater than the one in "Gospel" music). The singer in "Rumors" speaks of how he is tired of all the rumors that are floating all around him, and there is a part where he jokingly sings that Congress should pass a bill ordering that all those who start rumors "be shot". This is a prophetic figure of how Girgashites like to wage war against "prophetic rumors" through the enforcement of organizational laws and regulations with the intention of "hushing the unrest" and preserving the status quo.

 

It is also surprising to me how the name of the group -- "Timex Social Club" -- is so prophetically descriptive of the Church:

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The word "Timex" obviously refers to watches and to time, and, as we have said before, the people most "bound by time" are the Girgashites, since the Girgashite spirit is one of earthliness and temporality. Since "Timex" is the first word in the group's name, it is not surprising that their one and only hit song, "Rumors", was prophetically related to the war between prophets and Girgashites.

 

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The words "Social Club" in the group's name refer to "soul communion", which points to the Canaanite spirit. This speaks of how the Church has turned into a social club where believers go to have communion with each other at the soul level, instead of being a place where people go to have face-to-face encounters with God. Obviously, soul communion is not inherently wrong, but it is wrong when it becomes the dominant element. We should relate to each other at the spirit level first, not at the soul level, because we are primarily spirit-beings, sons and daughters of the Father of spirits (Hebrews 12:9).

 

As we have said before, teachers who stray from the Spirit tend to become Girgashites, while pastors who stray from the Spirit tend to become Canaanites. Therefore, we can see how both of the "female" ministries are represented in the group's name, meaning that the name speaks prophetically of the Church ruled by the pastoral matriarchy. Is this a coincidence? I don't think so. Who in the world would name his group "Timex Social Club"? It definitely is a very unorthodox name for a music group.

 

There is more to say

You may have noticed that we have only studied the first 6 verses of Matthew 24!!! There is a great deal more to say, and, God-willing, we will do so in the next articles.

 

You may also have noticed that we named this article "Pre-parousia 1". The word parousia is the Greek word that is generally used in the New Testament when referring to the Second Coming of the Lord; this is the word that is translated as "coming" in Matthew 24:3. The word parousia is the present particle of pareimi, which is derived from para -- meaning "besides, near" -- and eimi -- meaning "to be". In other words, the Lord's parousia refers to the days when He will be beside us, or "present" in the midst of us:

 

"10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. 13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me." (Hebrews 2:10-13)

 

The secret behind the Lord's Second Coming is wrapped up inside the passage above. Let those who have ears hear what the Spirit is saying to His Church. Prepare for His parousia.

 

{The next article is titled "Pre-parousia -- Internal turmoil"}