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Prophetic word for today Katrina is hard on Big Easy (Part 7) First posted: October 29, 2005 Word received: August-October 2005 Received by: Shamah-Elim Bible Studies
This is a continuation of the words on hurricane Katrina posted earlier...
This is the prophetic interpretation of these events: The keys to the spiritual restoration of Cushites (i.e.- black people) can be found in the chapter that prophesies about Cush, Isaiah chapter 18:
"3All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. 4For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest." (Isaiah 18:3-4)
As we have said before, the Canaanite spirit is the one most directly related to carnal "fashion trends", and "carnal trends" are generally related to the "world" in Scripture:
"1And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." (Ephesians 2:1-3)
Therefore, Scriptural references to the "world" are generally implicit references to the system of carnal trends promoted by Canaanite spirits. Since pastors turn into Canaanites when they stray from God's will and righteousness, we can safely say that the "world" refers to the "pastoral matriarchy" system that emphasizes Canaanite emotionalism. Therefore, the "inhabitants of the world" referred to in Isaiah 18:3 above point to the people strongly influenced by the Canaanite spirit.
As we have said before, the word "Girgashite" literally means "clay dweller". Therefore, it is evident that the phrase "dwellers on the earth" in Isaiah 18:3 above is a reference to those who are strongly influenced by the Girgashite spirit. Since teachers turn into Girgashites when they stray from God's purposes, "earth dwellers" are people strongly influenced by Girgashite teachings that perpetuate earthly traditions.
From all of the above, we can see that the Lord directs Isaiah 18:3 at those who are dominated by the two "female" ministries: (Canaanite) pastors and (Girgashite) teachers. Cushites have not been restored because of the domination of the "female" soul throughout mankind. As long as the Spirit is covered up by the soul, Cushites cannot be restored.
Notice that, in Isaiah 18:4, Isaiah doesn't simply say, "thus sayeth the Lord". Instead, he says, "the Lord says unto me". This speaks of a word spoken in deep intimacy. Therefore, the true solution that will lead to the restoration of black people will not be a word that is "widely known and accepted". It will be spoken by God to the few of you who prefer to abide in the wilderness, outside the structures of the Church that is currently ruled by Canaanite pastors and Girgashite teachers. The true solution will be a word launched in anonymity by black-horse riders from out in the wilderness and into the matriarchal structures of the Church and the world.
In Isaiah 18:4, the Lord says that He will "take His rest". This phrase was translated from the Hebrew verb shaqat, which means "to be quiet, calm, undisturbed". The word shaqat also appears in the following verse:
"A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife" (Proverbs 15:18) [The word "appeaseth" was translated from shaqat]
Unfortunately, this is one of the most misconstrued verses in Scripture, and it has been used to condemn any expression of "anger" as sin. However, most people have failed to notice that this verse speaks about two types of people: the "wrathful" and the "slow to anger". Notice that it says, "slow to anger" (as opposed to "non-angry"). Both types of people (the "wrathful" and the "slow to anger") will get angry, and both can get intensely angry. The difference lies in what motivates their anger. The word "slow" in Proverbs 15:18 above was translated from the Hebrew word arek, which is translated as "patient" in the following verse:
"Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit" (Ecclesiastes 7:8)
Notice how this verse shows "arek patience" to be the opposite of pride. Therefore, a person who is "slow" (or arek) to anger is a person whose anger is not motivated by stubborn pride. As we have seen before, Cain was a stubbornly proud man who was set in his ways, and this stubborn pride led to his angry murder of innocent Abel. He refused to admit his mistake in the way that he offered sacrifices unto God. As the Lord pressured him into repentance through His red-horse rider Abel, Cain's stubborn refusal to admit the mistake in his ways exacerbated the tension between God and he.
The word arek also appears in the following verse:
"And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar" (Ezekiel 17:3)
The word "longwinged" was translated from the Hebrew words eber (meaning "pinion, wing") and arek. As we have said before, "eagles" and "flying" are spiritually related to prophetic grace. Therefore, the Hebrew word arek is spiritually related to prophetic grace. People who are slow (i.e.- arek) to anger are those whose anger does not come against genuine prophetic grace. When Cain got angry at Abel, he refused to recognize the prophetic access that Abel had to God (Luke 11:49-51). Abel had learned the right way to make sacrifices as a result of his direct relationship with God, but Cain refused to recognize Abel's prophetic relationship with the Lord because of his stubborn pride. Those who are "slow (arek) to anger" are grace-aware judges who get angry at unrighteousness without destroying genuine grace in the process.
Therefore, Proverbs 15:18 is not an indictment against "anger" per se. It is an indictment against the wrong kind of anger, i.e.- anger that is motivated by:
Proverbs 15:18 also illustrates a spiritual principle: the wrong kind of anger intensifies the strife because it acts to protect the roots that led to the conflict in the first place. The wrong kind of anger defends those unrighteous roots, stubbornly claiming that they are righteous, which only makes the problem worse. The right kind of anger, however, ends the conflict because it directly targets the root of the conflict. Instead of defending the unrighteous roots, the right kind of anger attacks those roots. The wrong kind of anger attacks the agents of restoration (as was the case with Cain when he attacked Abel); the right kind of anger attacks the hindering agents. Since it deals with the root issues, the right kind of anger leads to long-term peace, even if it leads to short-term war.
Because of His righteous anger, Jesus the man remained in constant strife against the religious leaders of His day, and He only exacerbated that strife by calling them "pleasant" things such as "hypocrites", "whited sepulchers", and "murderers". Strife is only "wrong" when you are in strife against the truth. Strife is justified in God's eyes when you are in strife against unrighteousness, and the intensity of the strife must be determined by the level of "unrighteousness" and "non-repentance". When Nineveh was practicing unrighteousness, God's wrath was headed towards that city, but, when Nineveh repented, God turned away His wrath (Jonah 3:10).
The word "wrathful" used in Proverbs 15:18 above was translated from the Hebrew word chemah, which is derived from the word yacham meaning "to be hot". In other words, chemah has the connotation of someone who is "burning mad". This word is used to refer to God's anger throughout Scripture:
"27And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; 28Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins." (Leviticus 26:27-28) [The word "fury" in verse 28 was translated from chemah. Notice how this passage correlates "wrath" with "strife". If we "walk contrary unto" Him (i.e.- if we enter into conflict with Him), He will "walk contrary unto" us (i.e.- He will enter into conflict with us), and His wrath will be kindled against us.]
"28And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day. 29The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." (Deuteronomy 29:28-29) [The word "wrath" in verse 28 was translated from chemah. Notice how this passage makes a "strange" transition from God's wrath in verse 28 to the "secret things" of God in verse 29. The Lord is saying here that those who do not understand righteous wrath will never understand the secret things of God. It is impossible to grow in God's deep wisdom without a zeal for the words of His laws (v29), and that zeal implies a righteous wrath and indignation against all unrighteousness. A person who prejudges "anger" as a "sinful emotion" will never grow in God's wisdom, because he or she will lack God's zeal.]
"22And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. 23Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. 24The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it." (Jeremiah 30:22-24) [The word "fury" in verse 23 was translated from chemah. Notice how this passage connects the restoration of God's people (v22) with God's wrath (v23). This means that restoration is impossible without the manifestation of His wrath against unrighteousness. The phrase "in the latter days ye shall consider it" (v24) means that we will finally understand this connection between "righteous wrath" and "true restoration" in these, the latter days. The matriarchal Church has been dead set against "righteous wrath", but her meddlesome interference in God's plans shall be no more.
Notice that verse 23 refers to the Lord's wrath as a "continuing whirlwind". The word "continuing" was mistranslated from the Hebrew word garar, which literally means "drag, cut, chew". "Coincidentally", this is the word that appears in Leviticus 11:7 when referring to animals that "chew the cud". As we have said before, those who "chew the cud" are those who "meditate" on God's laws and judgments. As you meditate on His logos word, the zeal of His righteousness will intensify in your life; you will proactively abhor unrighteousness all the more as you grow in God's deep wisdom.
As we have said before, "whirlwinds", or things that go in "circles", are spiritually related to God's judgments in Scripture. It is no coincidence, therefore, that God sent "whirlwind" Katrina to "cut" or "chew through" indolent New Orleans.]
"2God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. 3The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 4He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. 5The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. 6Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him." (Nahum 1:2-6) [The words "furious" in verse 2 and "fury" in verse 6 were translated from chemah. Notice that verse 3 says that the Lord is "slow to anger", while at the same time saying that "He will not acquit the wicked". The phrase "slow to anger" has been used by Canaanite pastors to portray God as a "nice old grandpa" who "lets everything go". Notice, however, that the Lord's "slowness to anger" is mentioned here in the context of intense wrath from God. Only those who are in the Spirit can come to understand how "slowness to anger" and "intense wrath" can harmoniously coexist inside a person without the person being a "schizo".]
"11And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds: 12And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: 13Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands. 14And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities. 15And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard." (Micah 5:11-15) [The word "fury" in verse 15 was translated from chemah. Notice how verse 12 speaks of "witchcraft" drawing God's wrath. As most of you may know, New Orleans was famous for its voodoo and other occult practices. Therefore, God sent the fury of His wrath against that wicked city. The "witchcraft" mentioned in verse 12 refers to more than literal occult practices. People are attracted to "witchcraft" because it offers dynamis power to get "what you want" without "having to worry about" righteousness. Therefore, the pastors in the Church who only offer temporal "blessings" and who offer spiritual power as the solution to people's problems are "witches" in God's eyes. These workers of iniquity are only interested in releasing dynamis power to solve people's "problems", but are not interested in releasing judgment logos to deal with the roots of unrighteousness that brought about the problem in the first place. In short, dynamis power without logos judgments is witchcraft, and the Church is full of pastors who practice "witchcraft". Cursed are the pastors who promote witchcraft!!!]
Notice how all of the verses above show that God is not "shy" about exhibiting His chemah fury whenever necessary. The Bible has never portrayed God as a "kind ol' grandpa" who frowns upon "anger". Obviously, there is anger that is unpleasant to God; the anger motivated by carnal pride and unjust judgments is of the flesh and is, therefore, contrary to the Spirit. Ironically, fleshly anger angers God. However, the anger birthed by a zeal for God's righteousness is of God. The "new man" that God has placed within us does get angry with unrighteousness because he has been created according to God's Nature (Ephesians 4:24-26, Colossians 3:10), and the intensity of the "new man's" anger will depend on the level of unrighteousness and non-repentance encountered.
After reading the verses above, many would argue that only God has a right to "get angry". However, the following passages clearly deny that idea:
"6And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 7And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; 8And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. 9And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. 10And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 11Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. 12Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: 13And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel. 14Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites. 15And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian." (Numbers 25:6-15) [The word "wrath" in verse 11 was translated from chemah. Notice that God did not scold Phinehas for killing the sinful Israelite and his sinful Midianite wife. Instead, He gives unto Phinehas His "covenant of peace" (v12). Why would God make a covenant of peace with a man who had just committed such a violent act? Because, as we have said before, the "peace of God" requires that we first go through the process of God's judgments. Without this judgment process, only a false peace can be achieved.
When Phinehas saw the Israelite man (v6) parading the Midianite woman before Moses and the whole congregation, he saw a defiant man who was challenging God to judge him; he saw a man who was inciting the rest of the people to sin against God as he blatantly and unashamedly paraded his sin before all. At the time when all of this was taking place, God was already unleashing His wrath upon the Israelites for committing whoredom with the daughters of Moab (Numbers 25:1-3). Therefore, when the Israelite man paraded the Midianite woman in front of all, it was as if to say, "God, I'll do what I please; come and get me ... if you can". This stirred an outburst of wrath in Phinehas that led to him thrusting a javelin through the man and the woman.
After Phinehas did this, the "plague" that God had sent against the people ceased (v8). Why? Because, as we have said before, prompt, proactive judgments by God's people stave off greater wrath from God. When people postpone the making of judgments, they do nothing but accumulate God's inevitable judgments at the door, and, when those judgments finally burst through the door, the damage is catastrophic and irreparable. This is what happened with Katrina and New Orleans.
Notice also how God declares that Phinehas "made atonement for the children of Israel" (v13). Isn't that a "strange" way of making "atonement"? When most pastors speak of "atonement", they get all "puppy-eyed" and "tender", and they feel "nice and gooey" on the inside. However, as shown by the passage above, God's "idea" of "atonement" is very different from man's. Through an act of judgment, Phinehas released restoration into the Israelite people, because Zion shall be redeemed through judgment (Isaiah 1:26-28, Amos 5:24).]
"9Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets. 10To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it. 11Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days. 12And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD. 13For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. 14They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace." (Jeremiah 6:9-14) [The word "fury" in verse 11 was translated from chemah. Notice how the Lord says, "To whom shall I speak?" (v10). Does this mean that God was thinking about making His literal voice heard in the sky so that the Israelites could literally hear Him speak? Of course not! God speaks through men who are submissive to Him. He spoke through Jeremiah and other men many times, but the people were unwilling to listen. This explains why the Lord says, "I am full of the fury of the Lord" (v11), instead of saying, "I am full of My fury". This refers to the men and women who allow themselves to become vessels of God's judgments on Earth. These men and women allow God's judgments to be poured into them, and God then pours those judgments from out of those vessels and upon the people of the Earth. This is what happened when Jesus the man saw the merchants and moneychangers at the Temple. The zeal of God's House consumed Him (John 2:17), and He poured out God's judgment upon them by throwing them out and overturning their tables and seats (Matthew 21:12).]
"15For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. 16And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. 17Then took I the cup at the LORD’S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me" (Jeremiah 25:15-17) [The word "fury" in verse 15 was translated from chemah. Notice how God tells Jeremiah to take the cup from His hand and to cause the nations to drink it so that they may be easily destroyed by God's sword.]
"7And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. 8And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. 9Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off." (Micah 5:7-9) [These verses appear right before Micah 5:11-15 quoted above, which include the word chemah in verse 15. Most pastors and prophets who preach about the "dew from the Lord" speak about it in the context of God's presence bringing blessings and "good feelings" to God's people. Even though the "dew from the Lord" can be a wonderful presence that brings wonderful sensations, it never ceases to be a righteous and reverence-inspiring presence. Notice how God says that the latter-day remnant will be as a "dew from the Lord" (v7) that shall be as a "young lion" that "treadeth down, and teareth in pieces", and from whom there is no escape (v8). This means that the latter-day remnant is not a bunch of "lovey-dovey" believers with un-erasable smiles on their faces as they wave the "peace" sign to all. The latter-day remnant shall be a group of judgment-making lions who are not afraid to act as spiritual vessels of God's righteous wrath on Earth. This latter-day remnant is already launching spiritual judgments into the atmosphere that are creating (and will continue to create) cataclysmic consequences in the natural and spirit realms. In the midst of this "judgment launching", God's latter-day remnant will not forget its "first love", remembering that God's desire is to foster the grace and the spiritual potential of others.]
From the passages above, it becomes evident that God wants us to share in His zeal for righteousness, which means that we are called to share in His anger against unrighteousness. As we have said before, God only executes redemptive judgments on Earth through human agents (Psalm 115:16, Psalm 82:1-2, John 5:22). If God were the only One allowed to get "angry" (as some evangelicals seem to believe), no judgments would ever get made on Earth, and no righteousness would ever be forged. When we fail to make spiritual judgments, we are abdicating our responsibility, and we become liable before God.
Another passage regarding "wrath" that is often misconstrued by pastors is the following one:
"24Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: 25Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul" (Proverbs 22:24-25) [The word "furious" was translated from chemah]
Up until very recently, I thought that this verse meant that we shouldn't "hang around angry people" because we would become angry like them. However, such a conclusion presupposes that "anger" is inherently wrong, but, from what we have seen so far, God gets angry at unrighteousness, and He calls us to share that anger. Therefore, the passage above is really about something else, and the key to understanding it lies in the word "ways" (v25).
When two people have different ways of "seeing" (i.e.- judging) things, there will automatically be "anger" when differences arise, and that "anger" will result in "strife" (Proverbs 15:18, Proverbs 30:33). Obviously, strife is inherently unpleasant, and no one likes to abide in an atmosphere of constant strife and tension. Therefore, if you continue "going" around and "being friends with" (v24) a person who forcefully defends his own views (which are different from yours), you will be forced to give up your own views and adopt his, in an effort to end the strife. This is what many people do to preserve soul friendships. They prefer to drop their own convictions, not out of a sincere "conversion" to the other person's views, but because they are too emotionally attached to that other person. As we studied before, Hosea 7 reveals that the people who are most likely to be snared into deceitful traps are "leader pleasers". Therefore, it is not surprising that verse 25 above speaks of a "snare to thy soul". If you are too emotionally attached to a leader who forcefully defends views that are different from yours, you will be forced to change your own views in order to please that leader. Your change will not be motivated by a sincere conversion, but rather by a desire to appease the leader and avoid conflicts with him or her. You will "learn that person's ways" (v25) and you will unrighteously depart from your original convictions. In other words, Proverbs 22:24-25 is declaring that being the follower or friend of a person who soundly denies your convictions will set your mind up for a "mind-enchantment" snare. Proverbs 22:24-25 is neither a condemnation of "anger" per se nor a word about "anger contagion" per se. It is a word about the danger posed by the unrighteous appeasement of a stubborn person.
Cain was an angry man who was stubbornly set in his unrighteous ways. Therefore, Proverbs 22:24-25 is saying that you should not follow or be friends with "Cain-like" people. Whenever you identify a Cain, separate yourself from him (or her). Leave Cain alone, and go your own way!
From all of the above, we can now understand why the Lord says that He will "take a (shaqat) rest" in Isaiah 18:4. The Lord will find believers who will get chemah-angry for Him, and He will rest because He will have found believers who will spiritually enforce His judgments on Earth. God cannot rest in "peace" in the face of accepted unrighteousness, but He can rest once He finds people on Earth who refuse to accept that unrighteousness. Once He finds a conduit for His chemah wrath on Earth, He can channel His wrath through that conduit and rest. He can rest because restoration is already underway, and true peace is just a matter of time (Numbers 25:12, Isaiah 32:15-17). This is what happened with Phinehas in Numbers 25:6-15 (quoted above). When Phinehas allowed himself to be a conduit for God's wrath, he attacked the root of the problem and saved the Israelites from a worse wrath. As a Father, God can "rest" when His sons and daughters are doing the work they were called to do. The "new man" in us is made after the image of the Father, meaning that the new man's wrath is consistent with the Father's "on-the-nose" wrath.
"22For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the son: 23That all men should honour the son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him." (John 5:22-23)
The "Cushites" have not been restored because, until now, there have been few (if any) conduits of God's wrath against the unrighteousness in the Cushite culture. In these latter days, however, God is finding willing conduits, and through them, He will do the following:
"5For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches. 6They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them." (Isaiah 18:5-6)
Notice that, after God's shaqat rest, judgment comes, meaning that God's "rest" does not signify the end of "contention", but rather the transfer of that contention to the willing conduits who share His zeal. Notice that, in Isaiah 18:3-4, the Lord is the One speaking, referring to Himself as "I" (in the phrase "I will take My rest"). In verse 5, however, the Lord speaks of a "he" cutting off the "sprigs with pruning hooks". Who is this "he" who will be cutting while the Lord takes His shaqat rest? To answer that, we have to go to another verse where the word shaqat appears:
"How thy garments are warm, when he quieteth the earth by the south wind?" (Job 37:17) [The word "quieteth" was translated from shaqat]
As we have said before, the "south" is often associated in Scripture with a weak prophetic remnant that will be manifested in the latter days. The word "south" was translated from the Hebrew word darowm, which appears 17 times in 14 Old Testament verses (it appears 13 times in the book of the prophet Ezekiel alone). The number "14" represents a prophetic remnant that is "working" but is not yet manifested, while the number "17" represents a manifested remnant. Therefore, we can conclude that the "he" in Isaiah 18:5 who will be making judgments as God rests is His prophetic remnant as it rises from the south in weakness and anonymity and is manifested on Earth with power. As we have seen before, this manifestation is associated with the green horse of the Apocalypse. There is a spiritual war being waged by God's remnant in the spirit realm as satan battles to stop the full-blown transition from the black horse to the green horse. The enemy can delay this transition, but he cannot stop it. As this transition is made, God's remnant will continue unleashing judgments against Cushite unrighteousness (Isaiah 18:5-6), and the Cushites will be restored; they shall then flourish in Christ (Isaiah 18:7). As the transition from "black" to "green" is made, the prophetic and evangelistic potential of black people will rise from the darkness of anonymity and out into the light.
As we saw above, the restoration of the Cushites requires the release of God's chemah wrath against the unrighteousness in Cushite culture. One of the consequences of God's wrath outpouring is found in the following passage:
"18Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it: 19And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them." (Ezekiel 36:18-19) [The word "fury" in verse 18 was translated from chemah]
Notice that, as God pours His chemah wrath (through His zealous remnant), a "scattering" or "diaspora" will take place. In a sense, the diaspora of black people has already been taking place for centuries. Notice that verse 18 above speaks of God's wrath being drawn in because of the people's idolatrous practices. For centuries, and even to this day, black Africa continues to be plagued by the worship of "ancestral spirits" and the well-accepted practice of witchcraft. Black Africa's stubborn refusal to quit these practices has led to a "forcible" diaspora of black people around the world. Just as He did with the Israelites, God exposed black people to a period of temporary slavery that forcibly removed them from the spiritual darkness of their ancestors:
"And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years" (Genesis 15:13) [The word "serve" was translated from the Hebrew word abad, which is almost identical to the Hebrew word for "slave". Therefore, God was certifying to Abram that his seed would be held in slavery in a foreign land for 400 years. Notice, however, that there was a time limit for that slavery.]
Many times, the Lord sends His people into temporary slavery so that they may enter into a greater degree of freedom. This is what God did to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, whom God sent into a 7-year slavery as an "animal" in the field:
"13I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven; 14He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches: 15Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth: 16Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. 17This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men." (Daniel 4:13-17)
Notice how verse 14 speaks of the tree's fruits being "scattered", which correlates with a "diaspora". Notice how verse 15 speaks of the "band of iron and brass" placed on the stump. This means that the 7-year judgment against Nebuchadnezzar was a period of slavery for him.Nebuchadnezzar allowed himself to become "inebriated" by all the grace he had been given (Daniel 4:29-33), which forced God to send Nebuchadnezzar into a 7-year slavery period where he became like a "beast". However, when Nebuchadnezzar realized the madness of his pride and repented, God restored his kingship (Daniel 4:34-37).
In the same way, Cushites (as a people) allowed themselves to become "inebriated" by all the prophetic and evangelistic grace they were endowed with, and they used that grace to fashion a spiritual world unto their own liking. They used their spiritual gifts to acquire dynamis power through witchcraft and to glorify themselves over their own people. This is why God sent "slavery" judgment against them. He uprooted them from the black continent and scattered them around the nations of a new continent where God had plans for their descendants down the road.
When the Israelites' 400-year period of slavery was up, those who held them as slaves got "greedy". Despite God's command to let His people go, Pharaoh refused to admit that the slavery judgment-period was up, and he held on to his title as "master of the Hebrew slaves" for dear life. This reveals a spiritual principle: there is always a period of struggle required in order to be free from those who have held us as "slaves". This struggle is our "initiation" into independence from man and freedom unto God. During that struggle, God will raise up brethren who will come from a "free" environment (literally or figuratively), but who will sympathize and share in their brethren's slavery in order to help them be free. This is what God did with Moses, who grew up a "free man" in Pharaoh's palace. This is what God did with Jesus, who grew up a man free of sin but who empathized with those under the slavery of sin, sharing the burden of that slavery in order to set us free.
When the time of slavery-judgment for black America was up, God raised up men like John Brown who grew up as "free white men" but who empathized with their black brethren's slavery and were willing to suffer through bitter conflict to set black America free. After slavery officially ended, the slavery of racial prejudice persisted, and God raised up people like Martin Luther King Jr. to break that slavery; Martin Luther King was a well-educated man who could have lived a successful and comfortable life as a "Baptist minister", but, instead, he chose to empathize with the plight of his brethren. In the cases of people like John Brown and Martin Luther King, the "right-handed" Amorite-Jebusite-Girgashite "masters" of their days were unwilling to let go of their "mastery", and a mighty struggle was required.
God's chemah wrath fell upon black Africa because of its Hittite, Amorite, and Canaanite tendencies. That wrath led to a forcible diaspora that uprooted black people from their iniquitous roots and led them into a temporary slavery period. Once that slavery period ended, God sent liberators who broke that slavery and paved the way for a new and free future. Since the Lord's intention was to uproot and separate Cushites from their iniquitous past, it is sad to see how black "leaders" in America have tried to forge a black identity that is based on the very African roots which brought on God's wrath in the first place. The phrase "African American", for example, is an effort to portray black Americans as "Africans who happen to live in America" rather than as "Americans sent by God from Africa". God made sure that most black Americans would be unable to trace back their African ancestry. He wiped out their last names and forced them to adopt European last names. The great majority of black people in the Americas have no idea what African country their ancestors originated from. God did all of this to force Cushites to establish a new spiritual identity that broke with the sins of their forefathers:
"1In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 2The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers. 3Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. 4Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD. 5Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? 6But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us." (Zechariah 1:1-6)
Therefore, efforts to institute celebrations such as "Kwanzaa" are a stubborn carnal effort to return to the African roots that God ripped Cushites from when He unleashed His wrath upon them and allowed them to be enslaved, just as He did with the Israelites.
God's solution for black America continues to include a diaspora (whether literal or spiritual). This is why God caused the people of New Orleans to be spread around different states of the Union after Katrina hit. A restoration of black America includes the separation of the redeemable from the ghetto culture that prevents many beautiful jewels from shining. Every black child that grows up in the ghetto is forced to sign an invisible "blood contract" that prevents him or her from ever saying anything bad about anything that is "black". Because of this Canaanite-Hittite-Hivite contract (Isaiah 28:14-19), anyone who denounces inherent evil in the black culture is immediately called a "traitor", an "uncle Tom", or an "aunt Jemima". People like Bill Cosby who have dared to question attitudes in black America are immediately ostracized by black "leaders". This "don't-judge-what-is-black" attitude has trapped many black men and women in a Canaanite-Hittite cycle of purposeless deterioration. The only way to break the pressure of this cycle is to provide avenues for worthy youths and families to escape from the ghetto culture and forge a destiny where they can see themselves as contributors to American culture rather than preservers of black culture.
"10From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering. 11In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain." (Zephaniah 3:10-11) [Notice the reference to "Ethiopia" (i.e.- Cush) and "dispersal" (i.e.- diaspora) in verse 10. Notice also how verse 10 emphasizes the Cushite restoration prophesied in Isaiah 18:7.
Verse 11 declares that they shall no more be arrogant because of God's "Holy mountain". As we have said before, "holiness" is most intimately related to the prophetic anointing, and "mountains" are a figure of evangelistic giants. Therefore, the phrase "My Holy mountain" is a figure of the prophetic and evangelistic grace that God has poured upon His people. As we have said above, Cushites (as a people) have allowed their prophetic and evangelistic grace to "inebriate" them, filling them with pride. God will end this pride, and He will restore Cushites to a humble submission unto Him, and they will flourish in the Lord.]
Isaiah 37:9 mentions Tirhakah, king of Cush:
"9And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria." (Isaiah 37:9-10) [The word for "Ethiopia" is "Cush" in Hebrew]
The name "Tirhakah" literally means "He searches out the pious". The Lord placed this name in Scripture to reveal a spiritual principle: the restoration of black America (and Cushites in general) requires the proactive search for the "pious" who are trapped in the midst of difficult and decadent environments of "Hivite ease". Notice that "Tirhakah" does not mean "he stumbles upon the pious". A search is proactive by nature. Therefore, the name "Tirhakah" means that God wants believers through whom He will proactively search out the ghettos in America to rescue those whose wonderful gifts are being stymied by their surrounding environment. This search is spiritual in nature, but it does have overtones in the natural realm.
Ghettos across America are like Sheol prisons of purposelessness that trap many who want to fulfill their calling in life. We as believers are called to proactively "visit" those imprisoned souls in the Spirit, bearing the spiritual burden with them, clearing obstacles from their paths, grieving and suffering with them, in the hopes that their callings will not die in the ghetto. As we have said before, we are to be on the spiritual lookout for those with the ophelos spirit, i.e.- those with skills who are being left to idle. We are to visit Jesus when He is in "prison", and we are to clothe and provide for Jesus when He is uncovered (Matthew 25:41-46).
As we search out the pious ("Tirhakah") in the spirit realm, things will begin to happen in the natural realm that will enable and liberate the pious in black America. Programs will be established that will allow worthy black youths and families to relocate into new neighborhoods and attend schools that are not ruled by gangs, drugs, and immorality. This relocation program will be based on "character-measuring principles" that will reward youths and families that have displayed character and integrity in their daily lives. This "Tirhakah" program will look for people who want out of the ghetto because they dream of a brighter future, not people who simply want more money from another entitlement program. More than "money", this program will provide free resources and work opportunities that will allow the relocated to build a new life on their own.
The consequences of indignation From all of the above, we can say that the restoration of black America requires the following spiritual steps:
The entire process described above is spiritually triggered by step #1, your spiritual wrath against unrighteousness, which is invisible to the natural mind.
As we said in the previous word, Cushites (i.e.- black people) have been endowed with strong prophetic and evangelistic impartations from God. However, Cushites (as a people) have allowed these impartations to turn them away from God's "right-handedness", which has allowed the (left-leaning) Hittite, Amorite, Canaanite, and Hivite spirits to plunder and misuse their spiritual calling. Therefore, the restoration of the Cushites requires an impartation of the two right-handed ministries: teacher and apostle. This impartation must take into account the spiritual steps mentioned above.
The need for a teacher-apostle impartation is confirmed by the following passage:
"12Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law; 13That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked. 14For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. 15But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it. 16Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? 17Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence." (Psalm 94:12-17)
Notice that verse 12 speaks of "chastening" and "teaching". Chastening refers to the application of God's apostolic judgments, which means that both the apostolic and teaching ministries are referred to in this passage. The word "rest" in verse 13 was translated from the Hebrew word shaqat used by the Lord in Isaiah 18:4 (mentioned above). Therefore, this passage says that God's "chastening" and "teaching" lead to shaqat rest. Combining this passage with all that we have studied so far, we can see a spiritual "chain reaction of wrath and rest":
In other words, the chain reaction can be summarized as follows: God gets angry ... He then rests as ...... man gets angry "for Him" ... and man then rests God rested on the 7th day after He created man on the 6th day. Why? Because God now had a "God-agent" who would carry out His work on Earth as He rested.
As we have shared before, red-horse riders are teacher-apostles who channel God's red wrath against all unrighteousness and its promoters. This means that the "right hook" of judgments that will restore black America (and the Church in general) must come from believers who are willing to be endowed with the red-horse anointing. Only those who are willing to be strife-inducing "pestilences" can be used by God to restore the Cushites.
Because of their anointing to "separate", the presence of red-horse riders leads to spiritual (and literal) diasporas. Because of their "right-handedness", their presence also leads to the establishment of "temporary slaveries" that "hook in" (2 Kings 19:28) distorted left-handedness and lead to eventual rest and restoration (Psalm 94:13).
"Coincidentally", some days after the Katrina disaster, the "O'Reilly Factor" program (on the Fox News Channel) aired an interview with a former public school teacher named Brandy Stokes. She taught 8th-grade English at "Brentwood Middle School", and, because of Brentwood's demographics, her class was comprised mostly of black students; Ms. Stokes is white. While she taught there, some of the 8th-grade students began to constantly harass her, swearing at her, using racial epithets and vulgar sexual language against her, threatening to rape and kill her -- all in the middle of class, in front of all the other students. Ms. Stokes consistently referred these students to the principal, but, generally, the students would be back in her class some 20 minutes later, and the harassing would simply continue.
At one point, Ms. Stokes confronted the principal about the whole problem. In the interview with Bill O'Reilly, Ms. Stokes said the following: "The principal told me that I had to accept these kid's behavior; it was part of their culture, and that, if I was going to teach at Brentwood, I would just have to accept their behavior. It was the way they were."
Other teachers at the school were also subjected to the same type of harassment. Some teachers rationalized it; others were upset by it but chose to remain quiet for fear of "rocking the boat". Ms. Stokes and 2 other teachers, however, chose to stand up to the unrighteousness, and they appealed to the higher-ups at the district office. Unfortunately, the district office did nothing either, which forced Ms. Stokes to file a lawsuit against the school district.
According to Ms. Stokes, it was very difficult to teach in such an environment. Besides the students who harassed her with racial and sexually vulgar language, the rest of the class was constantly rowdy, and Ms. Stokes was forced to spend most of her time trying to gain order in the classroom. With no support from higher authorities, her efforts to "gain order" became a futile battle.
The principal's reaction (quoted above) is a typical example of the roots of unrighteousness ingrained within the culture of black America. Notice how the principal defended the violent and obscene behavior of the black students by associating it to the black "culture". The principal was arguing that such behavior was "acceptable" within that culture, and that any white outsider (like Ms. Stokes) who "dares to" come into "black-culture territory" and challenge that culture must be an intolerant racist. Cursed be those who stubbornly defend unrighteousness, no matter if it is "black" unrighteousness, "white" unrighteousness, or "yellow" unrighteousness. For the stench of sin is abhorrent to God, no matter the color of the skin!
As we have said before, the teaching ministry is a ministry of much responsibility and little authority. Without the support of others who have a more "coercive" influence over the student, the teacher's task becomes very difficult. In the case of Ms. Stokes, the principal turned into a protective, Canaanite mother who shielded her "precious" black "babies" from the "mean" white woman who dared to judge them and their culture (Genesis 19:9). To this Canaanite principal, it was inconceivable how Ms. Stokes was raising such an uproar simply because those "precious sweethearts" were threatening to rape and kill her! Instead of supporting Ms. Stokes and helping her to pluck out the unrighteous roots in that public school, she told Ms. Stokes to accept that unrighteousness, leaving her (and the 2 other teachers) no option but to separate themselves from those unrighteous structures.
Just as Psalm 94:16-17 (quoted above) shows, red-horse riders will often feel unsupported and attacked by man from all sides. This leaves them no recourse but to clamor for supernatural help in the form of a destructive judgment from above. Like the widow of Luke 18:1-8, red-horse riders are forced to appeal to a "higher court"; in the natural realm, this is what Ms. Stokes did when she decided to sue the school district after the principal and the district refused to right the wrong.
Even though all the Scriptural principles above delineate how we are to fight the battle in the spirit realm, it also lays the foundation for practical teacher-apostle measures that can be implemented in the school system to transform black America:
Along with the school-system measures listed above, the following teacher-apostle measures should be applied to help transform black society in general:
As we said at the beginning of this section, the restoration of black America (and Cushites around the world) is an eminently spiritual endeavor achieved through black-horse prophetic intercession. As the fight is waged in the spirit realm, doors will be opened that will allow the red-horse measures listed above to be manifested in the natural realm.
There is more to say regarding Katrina, but we will share it in the next prophetic word... |