{This is the second part of an email sent to a visitor who asked about the spiritual significance of Super Bowl 41, America's NFL championship game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears played on February 4, 2007.

This posting contains many references to (American) football and to the National Football League (NFL). If you are not an NFL fan, please make an effort to look past the details to see the spiritual significance behind the words being shared.

It is worth noting that this train of thought is spiritually connected to what the Lord had us say before regarding Isaiah 41:14}

... All of the above [the first part of the email] correlates with what you said about Lovie Smith, Rex Grossman, and the Chicago Bears. The name "Lovie" refers to George Bush's desire to appear as a "compassionate, people-loving conservative". The name "Rex" literally means "king", pointing again to the name "Reggie Bush". The word "gross" in "Grossman" speaks of things that remain "unpolished" or "unpruned" (as in the term "gross sales"), and which, therefore, are "overweight". Thus, the name "Grossman" points to the fat-frog queenly spirit that King George has settled into. In the same way, froggy New Orleans remains with many things "unpruned", for she persists in celebrating Mardi Gras ("Fat/Overweight Tuesday" in French). As you said in your email, Chicago points to the "pastoral matriarchy" that remains strong in America. This is the spirit that has tainted George Bush's work and has led to the stagnation and public ridicule his presidency is now in.
 

As you said in your last email, I have been a Colts fan for many years. In 1981, the first year I became a faithful, diehard Colts fan, they won the first game of the season against New England 29-28, and they beat them again in the last game of the season 23-21. The sad thing, however, was that they lost all 14 games in between! They were awful, just plain awful! They had an acceptable offence, with (Louisianan) Bert Jones at quarterback, but their defence could not stop anybody. The next year (1982), the Colts went 0-8-1 in that strike-shortened season. Their only non-loss was on a cold and snowy Sunday afternoon in Baltimore when they tied with the Green Bay Packers 20-20. To this day, I am convinced that there is a spiritual connection to that "insignificant" game and the Packers' resurgence many years later.

I remember that the people of Baltimore were deeply hurt when the Colts sneaked out of Baltimore and bolted for Indianapolis. Bob Irsay, the Chicago-based Colts owner, was a reviled figure in Baltimore long before the Colts' departure. Home attendance at Colts games was low, and the team's woes only made things worse. Baltimore has always been a city trapped in the past, and it had a hard time accepting that the Unitas glory years were over. Despite the fact that the Colts were able to win 3 straight AFC East titles in the mid-70s when Irsay was already the owner, Baltimore felt that Bob Irsay did not care for the team or the city. It is only until now that I am beginning to see that Irsay was not the only "guilty" party in the move to Indianapolis.

Despite the Colts' departure from Baltimore, I continued to be a faithful Colts fan. In Indianapolis, the Colts continued their losing ways, and it was only after the end of the 1985 season that things began to get better. They brought in Eric Dickerson and the team began to gain some respectability. I continued to support the Colts into the 1990s, and I can still remember the Colts' "magical" 1995 season. That season, with Christian brother Jim Harbaugh at the helm, the Colts won many games through divine intervention (literally), and a team that was not expected to do much, with a defence that seemed vulnerable at times, was able to make it to the AFC Championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I can still recall how close the Colts came to winning that game. Through God's help, they were able to go ahead in the score very late in the game. I remember that the Steelers quarterback (Slash, I believe) threw a short pass towards the end of the game that a Colts defender almost intercepted; the ball fell out of his hands. Had the defender held on to the ball, the Colts would have been able to run out the clock and win that game. As I prayed for the Colts during that game (as I had in other games that season), I could sense how God was sustaining the Colts, but I felt a resistance; I felt a hurdle that could not be overcome. It was as if there was something in the Colts that made it impossible for them to win that game. The Steelers were able to score on their final drive, and they went ahead. I then prayed for a miracle, and I still remember that Harbaugh threw a long, long pass on the last play of the game, and one of the Colts receivers almost came down with it in the end zone. After the ball bounced off several hands, it dropped to the ground a millisecond before he could get his hands under the ball. I know in my spirit that it was God who made that play as close as it was, and it was His way of saying, "Son, I hear your prayer, but there is something that is preventing Me from helping the Colts more". I know that, as I was praying during that game, a spiritual battle was being waged and a spiritual process was being forged, a process that transcended that game. All the people in that stadium that day (and the people who watched the game on TV) went away having been touched by the presence of the Lord without them even knowing it, for God had visited the playing field that day and had influenced everything that had happened during that game. The Steelers went on to lose in the Super Bowl, but I am convinced that many of the events that happened during that game acted as seeds that allowed the Steelers to win the [prophetically significant] Super Bowl last year. Bill Cowher was already the coach of the Steelers in 1995. Now that the Steelers and Bill Cowher have had their redemption from their 1995 season-ending loss, I guess it is time for the Colts to have theirs.

I must share with you that, as I was writing the latest posting, I was struck by the phrase "30 ass colts" that the Lord had us quote from Judges 10. I remember that, as I read that phrase, I felt the Lord saying, "The Colts" and that there was a special anointing on them this season. I must tell you that my soul resisted that word from the Lord. Now I understand how they were able to come from behind in such a miraculous way against New England to reach the Super Bowl. Both the Colts and the Patriots went 2-14 in 1981 (as I said above, the 2 Colts wins that year were against the Patriots). It is interesting to me how the 2 worst teams in the AFC in 1981 (my first season as a Colts fan) ended up the 2 best teams in the AFC 25 years later. I still believe that the Patriots' 2 ("shameful") losses against the hapless Colts in 1981 were a "spiritual sacrifice" that was reaped into the great success that the New England organisation had many years later, just as the Packers' tie in 1982 served as seed for Green Bay's success many years later.

As you may recall, the Patriots were able to rise from their disastrous 2-14 1981 season much more quickly than the Colts, making it to the Super Bowl in January 1986 against Da Bears. This means that the Patriots' first Super Bowl since their disastrous 1981 season was against the Bears, and the same can be said about the Colts. I find that rather curious. Our God is such a masterful God!!!

I believe that, in Super Bowl 41, the Colts represent the 30 sons of Jair, the remnant hidden away during civil war, whilst the Bears represent the pastoral matriarchy that is fighting against them. As you may recall, "Fort Wayne, Indiana" is a figure of the Paradise the remnant have been hidden in, so it is no coincidence that the Colts are from Indiana. As I am typing these words, some 22 years after the Colts left Baltimore, I am finally understanding the spiritual significance behind the Colts sneaking out of Baltimore and "hiding away" in Indianapolis! Last night, out of nowhere, I felt the prompting of the Lord to look up what wikipedia.org had to say about the Baltimore Colts. I found this prompting strange, since I felt I was rather "well informed" on the Colts. When I read the wikipedia article, however, I learnt a detail that I was not aware of in the early 1980s. It turns out that the Maryland legislature wanted to give the city of Baltimore the right to seize the Colts through the now infamous "eminent domain" law. This means that Baltimore and Maryland were planning to unethically seize the Colts the way pastors try to retain their brethren (the "sheep") in adulterous possession, seizing them away from the Lordship of God. In the light of this, I no longer hold Irsay as accountable for the Colts' departure from Baltimore as I did 22 years ago. Irsay wanted a new stadium, a justifiable demand, considering that Memorial Stadium was an old and rundown stadium (opened in 1950). Even so, both Baltimore and Maryland refused to budge. They wanted the benefits of a big-city NFL team without paying the price required to be a gracious host to an NFL team. They believed that they were deserving of the Colts on account of the unconditional support the city had given to the Colts during the 1950s and 1960s. Yet, the fan support during the Colts' "glory years" was not enough to grant Baltimore the right to keep the Colts forever. I remember that, during the Colts' last 3 seasons in Baltimore (1981-1983), attendance was very, very low. Even in the 1983 season, when the Colts miraculously (and I mean that word in the spiritual sense) were able to have a 7-9 record (after going 2-22-1 in the 2 previous seasons), fan attendance at Memorial Stadium was very bad. After beating the Jets in New York, the Colts were incredibly 6-4 10 games into the 1983 season. Unfortunately, they lost 5 out of their last 6 games, including a heartbreaker in Denver in which they led 19-0 in the 3^rd quarter, only to lose 21-19 in the first of Elway's many comebacks. Denver's last touchdown came on a play in which the receiver only put one foot down in the end zone. Since there was no instant replay in those days, the unfair call was not reversed, and the Colts lost the game. That botched call was the difference between them going 7-9 and them having a non-losing season at 8-8.

For some reason, I vividly recall watching a Sunday morning game on TV during the 1983 season in which the Colts played in Baltimore against the Bears. I remember that I was very interested in seeing speedster Willie Gault play, and, for some reason, I have an image recorded in my brain of him catching the ball from the air during a kick return (either a punt or a kickoff, I can't recall). In that image, I recall how Memorial stadium looked so empty, and I was disheartened by it, considering that the Colts were playing well (with a great deal of supernatural help from God). The Colts won that game, to everyone's surprise; again, I believe that the Bears' sacrificial loss at the hands of God and the Colts served as spiritual seed that propelled the Bears to their 1985 Super Bowl season, the season in which they won the Super Bowl by trouncing the Patriots, who were the Colts' "mates in misery" in 1981. By the way, Ditka was in his 2^nd year as coach of Da Bears in 1983. As you may know, Mike Ditka made a rather public conversion to Christianity during the 1990s, before his brief stint as the New Orleans Saints' head coach; I don't know Ditka's current spiritual condition, but I do know that God's presence at Memorial Stadium that day in 1983 had a strong influence in his eventual conversion to Christianity many years later. I just found out a few minutes ago (at www.bearshistory.com) that Ditka broke his hand by punching a locker after the loss to the Colts. That is how meaningful that apparently irrelevant loss was. God was dealing with Ditka's pride. He was telling Ditka that a "small" team supported by God could do more than a "talented" team led by the hand of Ditka. That cut him to the bone, literally, to the point that he broke his hand.

During the Colts' last years in Baltimore, Baltimore was living on memories of the past. It is no coincidence, therefore, that Baltimore's rundown stadium was called "Memorial Stadium". In the same way, many believers in America are trapped in the "glory" of the past. They want America to return to the "good ol' days", without understanding that God is forging something completely new that smashes all of man's long-held paradigms. Just as was the case with Baltimore and the Colts, the American Church believes that she can ride on the coattails of some past faithfulness to God, without realising that God was calling her to pay a higher price, the price required to cross the River Jordan.

Yesterday, the Lord reminded me that the only time we have spoken specifically about Baltimore and Maryland in any significant way is in the "Red Sox win!" word. There, the Lord prompted us to speak about the "curse of the Bambino" and how it points to the spiritual curse on the American Church brought about by the pastoral matriarchy's unfettered influence. When I realised that this was the only context in which we have written about Baltimore in any significant way, I began to wonder, "Lord, was the Colts' departure from Baltimore and Maryland a good thing?" To my surprise, I am beginning to understand that the answer is "Yes". Thus, the fact that the Colts are now facing the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl seems prophetically fitting, since, as you said in your email, Chicago represents the pastoral matriarchy spirit. The Colts are facing off against the spirit that has hounded them and accused them of "treason" (Jezebel-style) all these years. That is the same shaming spirit that has been accusing Peyton Manning, #18, of "big-game incompetence" during his entire professional career (Luke 13:11-16). Granted, there have been times when Peyton has deserved criticism; he used to think a little too much at the line of scrimmage, and he would at times be a little too harsh on his team-mates, but his big-game failures have been mostly due to factors outside of his control.

As I awaited the game between the Colts and the Patriots, something bothered me about the prospect of New England winning, not because of any loyalty to the Colts but because of the spiritual message it would send out. If New England won, it would indicate that America is still on its way to being a New "England" in which the God of apostolic judgments shall be manifested. It would indicate that everything was "AOK" in America and that the American Church had not deviated from God's plans, which were geared towards turning America into a spiritual "England" of righteous judgments. New England's miraculous loss, therefore, certifies that America is not on a path to becoming a "New England". Instead, it remains a "New Orleans" that remains unwilling to repent from its matriarchal deeds.

As you said in your email, the fact that the Colts wear blue has spiritual significance. As you may know, the dominant colour in the Hoosier Dome's playing field is blue. In a sense, when the Colts were snuck out of Baltimore in those infamous Mayflower lorries, they were being wrapped in a blue prayer shawl and sent to die an ignominious death. That colour blue now stands for the spiritual bubble of protection they have found in "Fort Wayne, Indiana". In that hibernation bubble, they are protected from the bears' attacks.

As you may recall, the Lord had us mention a story about a Japanese man who survived for 24 days without food or water by falling into a state of hibernation. In your email, you mentioned the number "24" when you said, "you have been a Colt fan for some 24 years", in reference to what I said last year in the Brittany posting. That means that this is year #25. Just as the Japanese man came out of his precarious hibernation experience on the 25^th day, the Colts are coming out of their hibernation experience to overcome the bears they have been hiding from all this time.

As you may recall, the Colts first playoff game [after the formality of beating Kansas City 23-8] was against the Baltimore Ravens, and the Lord made sure that the Colts would have to visit Baltimore rather than the other way around. Despite the experts' opinion, the Colts won that game 15-6, with no touchdowns being scored by either side. This means that they went to the very land that had reviled them so and beat them there. It was prophetically fitting, therefore, that the Colts' Super Bowl run would have to start with a win in Baltimore. The fact that the game against Baltimore only involved field goals points to how the Colts won their first Super Bowl 36 years ago. As you may recall, the Colts won Super Bowl 5 with a game-ending kick by Jim O'Brien. After that, a Super Bowl game was not won on a game-ending field goal until 31 years later, in Super Bowl 36, when New England beat St. Louis 20-17 on a kick by Adam Vinatieri, who "happens to be" the Colts' current kicker! As you know, Vinatieri repeated the feat by kicking a 41-yard game-winning field goal in Super Bowl 38 when New England beat Carolina 32-29.

As you said in your email, the Bears will be the "home" team in Super Bowl 41. Just as the Colts were forced to go to Baltimore and win there, they are being called to go on "foreign turf" to win there. The foreigner rejected shall return with vindicating vengeance. Since the Colts are the "away" team, they will be forced to shed their blue colour and wear white. This is a figure of the 6^th-seal manifestation of the "white horse" hidden inside the remnant. God's remnant operate throughout the first 5 seals with the white-horse anointing hidden inside of them; that white-horse anointing operates in the spiritual background, permeating all that they do. While in the 5^th-seal stage, the impatient remnant are given "white robes", which is a sign that the conquering white horse hidden inside of them is about to be openly manifested, and that white horse ["colt"] comes out to unleash revenge upon the Lord's adversaries:

"¹¹And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. ¹²His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. ¹³And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. ¹⁴And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. ¹⁵And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. ¹⁶And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. ¹⁷And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; ¹⁸That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. ¹⁹And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. ²⁰And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. ²¹And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." (Revelation 19:11-21)