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Prophetic word for today

The 8 terrorists

First posted: April 24, 2005

Word received: Late 2001

Received by: Shamah-Elim Bible Studies

 

In late 2001, I was lying on my bed in the dark, and the Lord showed me a vision. I was standing on a flat rooftop, and the sky had a dreary tone of gray. There were 8 men standing on the edge of the rooftop. One of them looked back at me with a sullen and spiteful stare, and the 8 men then flew away, looking like black birds flying off into the gloomy, gray sky. I asked the Lord, "Where are they going?", and the Lord said, "They are going west". The vision ended there.

 

 

This is the prophetic interpretation:

 

It has been a few months since we have felt the need to post this vision, and, this week, the Lord gave us a tremendous sense of urgency, telling us that this was the next prophetic word we were called to post. I experienced this vision in the last few weeks of 2001, a few weeks after 9/11.

 

During the vision, it was evident to me that the 8 men represented Al-Qaeda terrorists, but I could not understand what the Lord meant when He said that they were "going west". This prompted me to look for passages in Scripture that spoke about groups of "8 men", which led me to the following passage in Jeremiah:

 

"But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites" (Jeremiah 41:15)

 

In order to understand why Ishmael and the "8 men" escaped, we have to go back to the end of Jeremiah chapter 40:

 

"11Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan; 12Even all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much. 13Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, 14And said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not. 15Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish? 16But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael." (Jeremiah 40:11-16)

 

Gedaliah was the man whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor of Israel after the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and Israel, and, as can be seen from verses 11 and 12, the Lord blessed Gedaliah, and he became like a magnet that drew the dispersed Jews back to the land of Judah where they began to prosper.

 

Notice that Johanan warned Gedaliah that Ishmael had been sent by Baalis, king of the Ammonites, in order to kill him. Yet, Gedaliah ignored Johanan's warning, believing that Johanan was "exaggerating" about Ishmael. The next chapter (Jeremiah chapter 41) narrates the fact that Ishmael and 10 other men did kill Gedaliah, as Johanan had warned.

 

In order to understand how this story relates to the events surrounding 9/11 and Al-Qaeda, we must study some of the story's elements individually before we can put it all back together and reach a conclusion on the spiritual reason why Osama bin-Laden has not been captured yet.

 

The Ammonites

Jeremiah 40:14 declares that Ishmael was sent by Baalis, king of the Ammonites. Whenever the King James translators used the word "Ammonites", they were actually translating a combination of two Hebrew words: ben, meaning "son", and ammown, the Hebrew word for the name "Ammon". In other words, the word "Ammonites" should really say "sons of Ammon". Unlike with other nations, the Holy Spirit always refers to the Ammonites as "sons". There is a spiritual reason for this, and this reason can be found if we go back to the patriarch of the Ammonites. According to Genesis 19:30-38, the Ammonites are descendants of the child that Lot begat with his own younger daughter:

 

"30And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. 31And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth: 32Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. 33And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 34And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. 35And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 36Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. 37And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. 38And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day." (Genesis 19:30-38)

 

Lot fled from Sodom right before the Lord destroyed it. Originally, God had told Lot to flee to the mountains, but Lot "negotiated" an intermediary place of refuge:

 

"17And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. 18And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: 19Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: 20Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. 21And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. 22Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. 23The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar." (Genesis 19:17-23)

 

Notice that, in verse 19, Lot used the "grace" he had found with God as a "bargaining chip" to change his place of refuge from the "mountains" to Zoar. If God had told him to flee to the mountain, wouldn't it be obvious that God would see to it that he and his family reached the mountain safely? Why, then, did Lot say that he could not escape to the mountain for fear that something "evil" would overtake him along the way? This shows that Lot clearly lacked the faith to "go all the way" in his obedience to God. There are two reasons why Lot was not comfortable with the "mountain" option:

  1. It was too far away, which means that Lot lacked apostolic endurance, i.e.- the ability to remain under God's judgments until the process was complete. He did not trust in the fairness of God's judgments. He believed that God would unfairly kill him if he remained for too much time under His judgments. This shows the Canaanite, judgment-hating influence in Lot's life.

     

  2. It was too high up, which means that Lot lacked the desire to escape from Girgashite earthliness in order to enter into the spiritual heights of a prophetic intimacy with God. He was more comfortable living at spiritual "sea level". The height of the mountain would cause his nose to bleed, and Girgashites don't like to shed their blood for God. Girgashites prefer to die with their blood inside of them before shedding it in sacrifice for others.

 

Notice that Lot emphasized the fact that the city he preferred as a place of refuge was "little" (v19, 20). This is the reason why the city was called "Zoar", since the name Zoar literally means "little". Notice also that God said to Lot, "I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken" (v21). This means that God's original intention was to destroy the wicked city of Zoar along with Sodom, but He desisted from doing so due to Lot's desire to hide there. Therefore, Lot's plea in favor of Zoar can be paraphrased as follows:

Lord, I am not willing to go all the way for you. I don't trust Your judgments and I am not too interested in an intimate relationship with you. Please, allow me to keep this tiny source of iniquity and sin in my life. Lord, it's a tiny thing. It's no big deal. Come on, God, let me keep this! You can destroy everything else. Remember, I have found grace in your eyes. I appeal to that grace. Let me keep this little "Zoar" in my life. It's no big deal. Please, pretty please!

 

Why did God acquiesce to Lot's petition? Because God has given us the prerogative to choose what we want to do with our lives. If we really don't want His apostolic judgments and His prophetic intimacy, He is not going to force Himself on us. He will respect your right to choose, but He will also leave you to the consequences of your choices when those choices are contrary to His perfect will. In the case of Lot, the Ammonites were the physical consequence of Lot's choice to spare Zoar from God's judgments in order to take refuge there. Lot did not plead for Zoar out of an interest for the people there. He did it motivated by personal convenience.

 

According to Genesis 19:30, Lot did take refuge in Zoar, but he eventually left Zoar and dwelt in the mountain. In other words, he eventually went to the place that God had indicated earlier. The Scriptures do not say why Lot did not stick around in Zoar. Yet, the comments by Lot's older daughter when they were dwelling in the mountain provide a clue:

 

"And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth" (Genesis 19:31)

 

I am sure that Lot's daughters weren't ugly women. Genesis 19:14 says that they had had husbands in Sodom, so they had proven themselves to be "marriage material" (the husbands perished in Sodom because they refused to believe in God's judgments). Why, then, would Lot's older daughter say that "there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us"? Scripture does not explicitly say this, but I am convinced in my inner being that the "eligible bachelors" in Zoar were scared to death of Lot's daughters. They knew that Lot and his daughters had been rescued by God Himself from Sodom's destruction, and that the only reason why Zoar was still standing was because Lot had asked God not to destroy it. Zoar's eligible bachelors must have said to themselves, "Let's better not get near Lot's girls; if their fearsome God finds us 'unworthy' in any way, He will surely destroy us as He did with Sodom and Gomorrah". Every time Lot's daughters tried to flirt with any of the handsome men in Zoar, they would simply flee in fear!! To Zoar's eligible bachelors, Lot's daughters were as good as radioactive uranium!

 

Just as Zoar's young men stayed away from Lot's daughters, it is certain that Zoarites in general stayed away from Lot himself. To the Zoarites, the presence of Lot and his family in Zoar were a constant, physical reminder of God's fearsomeness. They were constant reminders of how God had completely wiped out two large cities along with the surrounding communities. If the God of Lot had done such a terrible thing to those large cities, they could only imagine how easily He would destroy a small city like Zoar. Therefore, the best thing for them was to make sure of staying on God's "good side", and they would accomplish that by not messing around with Lot or his daughters.

 

Since Lot and his daughters were unable to engage in any type of soul communion with the Zoarites, Lot became uncomfortable about staying in Zoar, and he said to himself, "I might as well go to where God had told me to go in the first place; the mountain is a lonely place, but, the way things are going here in Zoar, living in Zoar is worse than being alone". That is how Lot ended up in the mountain with his daughters. However, the damage had already been done. His decision to go to the mountain was not motivated by repentance over his initial decision to hide in Zoar, but rather by the inconvenience of remaining among the Zoarites. This is why Lot's decision to go to the mountain did not undo the damage that had been done in Zoar.

 

In the mountain, Lot's older daughter said to her younger sister that no man in the earth would come unto them "after the manner of all the earth" (Genesis 19:31). These words reveal a strong tendency on her part to rely on "earthly", "natural" methods. Based on her experience in Zoar, she knew that no man would have a natural interest in being a husband to either of them. However, instead of praying to God so that He would provide them with husbands, she resorted to an "exit strategy" that relied on natural means. It seems as if Lot's older daughter had a sincere interest in "preserving the seed of her father" (v32). Her intentions were good, but the means which she chose were immoral, though "effective" in the natural sense.

 

Genesis 19:30-38 (quoted above) also reveals the nature of the relationship between Lot's two daughters. If you read through this passage, you will notice that the only one who speaks is the older daughter, while the younger daughter remains silent and obedient. The one who came up with the "incest scheme" was the older sister, while the younger sister simply limited herself to submissive obedience, without once daring to question her older sister's plan. This is a figure of how a great number of believers leave the "thinking" to the higher authorities in the church "hierarchy", limiting themselves to obeying, denying themselves the right to judge or question what the higher authorities are telling them to do.

 

As we have said before, Girgashites place a great deal of faith in "hierarchies" because of their focus on "methods and procedures". To them, something becomes "good" by the mere fact that it was declared by a higher-rank authority. Girgashites don't hesitate in saying, "If my pastor told me to do this, it must definitely be God's will". When Girgashites read in John 16:13 that the Lord would send the "Spirit of truth" to guide them to all truth, they understand the "Spirit of truth" to mean "the pastor at my local congregation". To Girgashites, obedience to God can be summarized in one phrase, "obedience to all my higher church authorities". They sincerely believe that they can stand before God on judgment day and say, "God, you cannot hold me accountable for such and such action; I was only obeying the orders of my authorities at church". To Girgashites, obedience to visible religious leaders serves as a perfect and infallible "covering" for all their actions in the face of God. According to Jeremiah 23:36-40, however, people who think like this are earning for themselves an "eternal reproach" and a "perpetual shame" from God:

 

"36And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God. 37Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken? 38But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD; 39Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence: 40And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten" (Jeremiah 23:36-40)

 

From all of the above, we can see that Lot's younger daughter was a Girgashite who gladly complied with every command her elder sister gave her. After she obeyed her elder sister's command to sleep with her father, she gave birth to "Ben-Ammi" (Genesis 19:38). The name "Ben-Ammi" literally means "son of my people", which hides a great spiritual truth. Just like Lot's older daughter, many church "leaders" are sincerely interested in producing children unto God, i.e.- in converting people unto the Lord. However, just like Lot's daughters, they realize that unbelievers are not naturally drawn to a God of judgments and righteousness. Therefore, instead of relying on supernatural spiritual means that defy a natural understanding, they force things by making "small" changes to the Gospel in order to make it more palatable to their target audiences. Youth pastors all across the world are plagued by this attitude. They know that young people will not be naturally drawn to a Gospel that preaches a fearsome God of judgments and justice. Judgments and justice are simply not "cool" or "hip". Heavy metal and skateboards, on the other hand, are "cool" and "in". Therefore, youth pastors are willing to adapt the satanically-inspired sounds of heavy metal music to the Gospel. By replacing the satan-worshipping lyrics with "Christianoid" lyrics, such music becomes "acceptable". To appeal to the young audiences, they also produce idiotic music videos that show young people skating down public sidewalks and stairs on their "cool" skateboards, and they call such videos "Christian" because the group singing the song is supposedly a "Christian" group, even if the lyrics don't ever say anything about God.

 

I have heard preachers say, "We have to speak to them in their language". Such a statement sounds "logical" and "sensible", but there is a point which these preachers refuse to understand. For example, if I want to convert a group of heavy-drinking and cussing men, am I supposed to guzzle down a lot of beers and cuss like them in order to convince them that Christians are not "square", and to get them to go to "church"? Of course not!!! I will not speak their language if that language is a foul language that is offensive to God!!! The preachers who promote the "speak-their-language" doctrine are quick to point out the passage where Paul says that he is as a Greek with the Greeks and as a Jew with the Jews, but they fail to notice a couple of things about that passage:

 

"19For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. 20And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; 21To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. 22To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." (1 Corinthians 9:19-22)

 

Notice that Paul says all of the above in the context of "servitude". The word "servant" in verse 19 was translated from the Greek word doulos, which literally means "slave". In other words, Paul was willing to enter into "slavery" in order to gain others. He was willing to become a slave carrying "extra burdens" in order to gain others unto the Lord. When he was with the Jews, he would take on the extra burdens of the Mosaic Law in order to reach the Jews, meaning, for example, that he would not eat pork while sharing the word with Jews, even when he knew that he was free to eat pork. When he was with non-Jews, he would forsake the restrictions of the Mosaic Law, going to the extreme of doing things which he might not be comfortable doing because of his Jewish background. For example, Paul knew that he was free to eat "camel meat", yet, his Jewish upbringing and the fact that camels were prohibited by the Law (Leviticus 11:5) might have made him a little hesitant about ordering a "camel sandwich" too frequently. Still, Paul would not have hesitated to perform the unpleasant task of eating a "camel sandwich" with a non-Jew if that meant winning the non-Jew unto the Lord. Therefore, the passage above speaks of acting like a slave that carries unpleasant burdens in order to gain people unto Christ. Those who promote the "speak-their-language" doctrine do not promote it in the light of "slavery" or "unpleasant burdens", which shows that they do not understand the spirit of the passage above.

 

A second point that the "speak-their-language" promoters miss is the parenthesis in the middle of verse 21 above. Even though Paul behaved "as without law" with those who did not live under the Law, the Spirit of God inspired him to emphasize that that did not mean that he would forget God's spiritual laws when sharing with those "without law". When he said that he would be "as without law", he was referring to the external elements of the Mosaic Law, not to God's spiritual laws. In other words, Paul would never break any of God's spiritual laws in order to draw unbelievers unto Christ. He would have never engaged in any type of demonic ritual in order to "convert" demon worshippers unto Christ. He would have never adapted the Gospel to the likings of his audience. Notice how zealous Paul was about the preaching of an unadulterated Gospel:

 

"8But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. 10For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." (Galatians 1:8-10)

[Notice the reference to "servitude" in verse 10, which correlates with the reference to "servitude" in 1 Corinthians 9:19 above. In other words, Paul's willingness to become a slave for others was never at the price of forgetting his slavery to Christ. As verse 10 shows, he was more interested in serving and pleasing Christ than in serving and pleasing man. Any serving and pleasing of man would have to be in the context of serving and pleasing God.]

 

Fellow believer, my tastes in music are by no means "traditionalistic". In fact, my personal tastes in music might even shock most traditional evangelicals. Yet, I can still distinguish between intense music with a prophetic anointing and purposeless cacophony. If you are in the Spirit, you will be able to discern the prophetic anointing even in "strong" music that is not labeled as "religious" or "Christian", and you will discern the vanity and lameness even in "soft" music that is labeled as "traditional" or "evangelical". Having said this, I must say that most of the "Christian" music out there that targets young people is devoid of any true prophetic anointing. Much of this music is nothing more than soap-opera sentimentalism, and much of the rest is nothing more than outright garbage.

 

All across the globe, Christian youth meetings are filled with young girls wearing tight low-rise pants. When one walks into these meetings, one can literally feel how the atmosphere oozes "soulishness" (for lack of a better word). Instead of sensing an atmosphere of holiness and cleanness, one senses carnality and vanity. Why? Because most of those young "believers" have been won over through adulterations of the Gospel. Instead of winning them over through supernatural means, youth pastors have resorted to natural and unholy means to convert them, just like Lot's daughters. In their zeal to produce children unto God at any cost, they have committed spiritual incest and produced "sons of God's people", not "sons of God". These new "converts" are born out of the will of "flesh and blood", not out of the will of God. They are born out of the will of the people, not out of the will of God. This is why God calls them sons of the people, not His sons.

 

Is there any passage in Scripture that certifies that the teenagers in the Primitive Church were preached a certain brand of the Gospel while grownups were preached another brand? In fact, is there even proof that there was such a thing as a "youth pastor" in the Primitive Church? When Paul was preaching to the Christians at Troas, why was the young man Eutychus in the meeting with all the "grownups"? (Acts 20:7-12). Why wasn't he in a separate room listening to a separate, youth-oriented sermon? When Peter pronounced death judgments on Ananias and Sapphira, why were the young men there to pick up their cadavers (Acts 5:6,10)? Why weren't they at a separate youth meeting?

 

"12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12-13)

 

The reason why church leaders came up with the "youth pastor" position is because their messages are so spiritually stale that they cannot expect young people to be motivated or interested by such dead messages. Instead of asking God for an anointing that will bring their messages to life, both to the young and to the old, they have decided to send the teenagers to a separate meeting where they can relate with others their age. By doing so, they have subliminally emphasized a destructive tendency in teenagers' lives: social accommodation. Instead of emphasizing an individual relationship with God, youth meetings emphasize a religious relationship with God in the context of friendship with other teenagers. This leads to teenagers who want to go to the youth meeting to be with their friends, not with God.

 

In recent weeks, God has brought this to the forefront through the deaths of two young girls in Florida, USA: Sarah Lunde and Jessica Lunsford. Both girls were very active in their local Christian churches, and both had come home from Christian youth activities when they were kidnapped, raped, and killed. Both died by asphyxiation (i.e.- "drowning"). One was found floating in the water and the other is said to have been buried alive. Why would God allow these two young Christian girls to die such tragic deaths? He allowed it to embarrass the evangelical church and to show her how worthless her spiritual covering is. The Christian Church believes that its members are spiritually covered and protected through the execution of multiple religious activities and the assistance to multiple religious meetings. The Church emphasizes a relationship with God in the context of social communion with other members. Obviously, there is nothing inherently wrong with communion with other brethren, but the communion should be centered at the spirit level (not the soul level), and it should flow out of an individual relationship with God that does not depend on communion with any other person on Earth. Those who love God in their intimate lives will have a desire to seek after others, but not to get friendship and communion from them, but to give to them and bless them in the Spirit, and to help them in their individual relationship with God. When the God-potential becomes the unifying factor, our relationships with others are selfless, outward-looking and expansive. When the soul becomes the unifying factor, our relationships with others are selfish, inward-looking and implosive.

 

Just as it did with Sarah Lunde and Jessica Lunsford, the Church drowns the spiritual potential of believers in tons of worthless activities that do nothing to promote true growth in the Spirit. Instead of "covering" and "protecting" them, these Girgashite activities become the instruments through which the enemy pillages and rapes the prophetic potential of millions of believers.

 

As you may have noticed, the last names of both young girls begin with the letters "Lun". As I asked the Lord about this, He reminded me of the word "lunar", which refers to things related to the moon. In Scripture, the moon is generally a figure of the soul. Therefore, the sad and tragic deaths of Sarah Lunde and Jessica Lunsford speak of a Church that is spiritually defenseless against the enemy because it does everything at the soul level, not the spirit level.

 

Because of their focus on the soul and not the spirit, and because they have chosen to adulterate the Gospel in order to "convert" more people, youth groups are filled with semi-converted Ammonites. Just like Lot's daughters, "youth ministers" are too impatient to work in the Spirit in order to produce true spiritual conversions in young people, and their earthly, impatient techniques do nothing but interfere in God's spiritual process, leading to believers who are not fully converted unto God. These prematurely-born believers are born out of the will of man and not the will of God. This is why God calls them the "sons of My people".

 

It is true that Paul describes himself as "born out of due time", i.e.- an "abortive birth", in 1 Corinthians 15:8, but that does not mean that Stephen or anyone else watered down the Gospel in order to make it more palatable to Paul. On the contrary, Stephen angered Paul even more against the Gospel (Acts 7:54-8:1, 9:1-2) before Paul eventually converted. The "abortiveness" of Paul's spiritual birth refers to the spiritual pressure of judgment that God placed on Paul in order to convert him (Acts 9:5), not to any pandering on God's part in order to get Paul to "like" Him!

 

The Moabites, who are descendants of Lot's child with his older daughter (Genesis 19:37), are the physical consequence of an attitude in Lot's heart that is betrayed by words he spoke while still in Sodom (Genesis 19:8). God willing, we will study this Jebusite attitude in Lot's heart in a future article where we will study whether David should have killed Saul when he had a chance.

 

Ishmael

Now that we have studied what the Ammonites represent, let us look at what the Ishmael of Jeremiah chapters 40 and 41 represents. According to Jeremiah 41:1, Ishmael was the son of Nethaniah, who, in turn, was the son of Elishama. Here are the meanings of these 3 names:

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Elishama: my God has heard

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Nethaniah: given of Jehovah

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Ishmael: God that hears

 

This sequence of names speaks of a person who trusts that God will hear his request ("Elishama") and who exercises a gift from God in order to have God fulfill that request ("Nethaniah"). After the request is fulfilled, the person will say "God hears me" ("Ishmael"), and will see the fulfillment of his request as confirmation that the request was pleasing to God. However, there is an element of spiritual deception in this sequence of events.

 

As we have studied before, believers like Hezekiah in Isaiah 38:1-5 who pray towards the "wide gate" can get their requests fulfilled even when those requests are unpleasant to God. Why? Because the "gift" that the name "Nethaniah" refers to speaks of the prerogative that God gives all people to choose the level of sacrifice at which their lives will be. If you refuse to make any sacrifice for God, He will respect your choice. If you choose to make 1/3 of a sacrifice, He will respect your choice. If you choose to go 2/3 of the way, He will respect that. If you choose to go all the way, He will not only respect that; He will love you and empower you so that you may be able to sacrifice yourself completely and glorify His Name (Philippians 2:13, Luke 22:39-43). In return, He will exalt you and glorify you, and you will be One with Him for eternity (Philippians 2:5, 9-11, Revelation 21:7, 2:8,11,17,26-28, 3:5,21). God's Nature is one of complete self-sacrifice because God is Love, meaning that we can only be One with Him if we manifest the same type of complete self-sacrifice.

 

As we saw above, when God granted Lot's request to spare Zoar so that he could flee to that city, it was not because God was pleased with the request. Lot used his grace before God (i.e.- his "Nethaniah") as a "bargaining chip" in order to get his wish granted. However, God left Lot to suffer the consequences of his decision, and, to this day, one of the things concerning Lot that is most remembered by people who study the Bible is his drunken incest with each of his two daughters.

 

When God granted the Israelites' request for "flesh to eat" in Numbers chapter 11, it was not because He was pleased with the request. In fact, He was enraged with the Israelites' attitude, and, in granting their request, He condemned them to die before they could finish enjoying their fulfilled request. As we have studied before, the complaining Israelites of Numbers chapter 11 were gripped by Girgashite spirits of earthliness, and God respected their decision to abide in Girgashite earthliness. Still, God did not absolve them from the consequences of that decision, because our God is a righteous God. 

 

"5For every man shall bear his own burden. 6Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. 7Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." (Galatians 6:5-9)

 

When we use our God-given prerogative ("Nethaniah") to make self-centered requests unto God, we open the way for "Ishmael" spirits to come in and kill us. When we choose not to go all the way for God, we place our prophetic destiny in danger, even when our temporal requests are granted.

 

The Ammonites which we studied in the previous section are one of the 3 different manifestations of the Girgashite spirit (God willing, we will study the other 2 in a future article). Notice also how the Girgashite spirit is also preeminent in "Ishmael".

 

Gedaliah

Jeremiah chapters 40 and 41 speak of the murder of Gedaliah at the hands of Ishmael. According to Jeremiah 41:2, Gedaliah was the son of Ahikam, who in turn was the son of Shaphan. Here are the meanings of these 3 names:

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Shaphan: rabbit, coney, rock badger

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Ahikam: my brother has risen

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Gedaliah: Jehovah is great

 

The Hebrew word for the name "Shaphan" appears as a word (and not as a name) in the following passages, translated as "conies":

 

"The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies." (Psalm 104:18)

 

"The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks" (Proverbs 30:26)

 

Notice how the coney is related to "rocks" in both passages, where the word "rocks" is translated from the Hebrew word cela, which literally means "crag, cliff, rock". The word cela appears in the following passage (translated as "rock"):

 

"The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower" (Psalm 18:2)

 

Notice how the word cela refers to God as a fortress of salvation, a rock of refuge to which we can run. This explains why Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan became a magnet that drew the dispersed Israelites back to Judah (Jeremiah 40:12). All of this (along with what we have shared on "rocks" before) points to an evangelistic anointing that draws multitudes of people unto God's salvation.

 

The meanings of the other two names --- Ahikam and Gedaliah --- explain why the evangelistic anointing was so strong on Gedaliah. The name "Ahikam" ("my brother has risen") speaks of a person who is not attracting others to exalt himself but who is attracting them in order to lift them up. Such a person sees others as potential brothers and sisters (sons of the same Father, God -- John 20:17) and not as potential subjects in his or her personal little kingdom. The name "Gedaliah" ("Jehovah is great") speaks of how God is "enlarged" and glorified on Earth when His nature is reproduced in multitudes of brothers and sisters. This is what brings gladness and rejoicing to the spiritual Gedaliahs. This is why God anoints them with such powerful evangelistic grace.

 

In order to desire the "rise of my brother" ("Ahikam"), we must have prophetic vision. We must be able to see past what the natural eye can perceive and visualize the hidden God-potential in others. If you cannot visualize God in others, your prophetic vision is still incomplete.

 

We must be careful, however, not to allow our prophetic vision to turn into Canaanite naiveté. Just as we must visualize the God-potential in others with "prophetic eyes", we must also see them with apostolic eyes of judgment. We cannot simply ignore the unrighteousness in others. When the "first love" (Revelation 2:4) is in us, we will be zealous about the removal of that unrighteousness because we will see it as an impediment to the fulfillment of the potential we see in the person. For example, if a teacher sees great academic potential in a lazy student, it would be unwise for the teacher to simply ignore the laziness. Instead, he or she will confront the student in order to remove the laziness so that the student's academic potential may be fully manifested.

 

In the case of Gedaliah, however, his prophetic vision was not tempered by apostolic judgment. When Johanan warned him that Ishmael was out to kill him, he naively ignored the warning, and he even accused Johanan of launching false accusations against "innocent little Ishmael":

 

"But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael." (Jeremiah 40:16)

 

Johanan

According to Jeremiah 40:15, Johanan was the son of Kareah. The name "Johanan" means "Jehovah has graced", which points to the prophetic ministry since, as we have said before, the ministry most innately aware of its "spiritual grace" before God is the prophetic ministry. The name "Kareah" means "bald". In a negative sense, "baldness" speaks of a soul that refuses the covering of the Spirit. In a positive sense, however, it speaks of prophetic boldness that is not afraid to be "alone" and under no human covering.

 

Just like Gedaliah, Johanan represents a strong prophetic anointing. However, the difference between Johanan and Gedaliah can be seen in the following words:

 

"Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?" (Jeremiah 40:15)

 

Notice that Johanan was willing to slay one man in order to preserve the future of all the others. To Johanan, it was better to destroy one person than to see everyone else's future destroyed, just like when a surgeon removes a tumor in order to save the rest of the body. Johanan understood that a little leaven cannot be simply "left alone" because it will inevitably grow and contaminate the whole mass. This means that Johanan's prophetic vision of others did not prevent him from making apostolic judgments:

 

"3For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 4In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5To deliver such an one unto satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 6Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 7Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:3-7)

 

70/80

According to Jeremiah chapter 41, Ishmael, whose unrighteousness Gedaliah ignored, did kill Gedaliah, as Johanan had warned. Ishmael and 10 other men not only killed Gedaliah, they also killed all the Jews that were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with the Chaldeans and the men of war who were there (Jeremiah 41:3). Because Gedaliah refused to kill one guilty man, many non-guilty men were killed in the process. That is what always happens when prompt spiritual judgments are not made.

 

One day after Ishmael killed Gedaliah and the others, the Scriptures declare that a group of 80 men with their beards shaven, with torn clothes, self-inflicted cuts, and with offerings and incense, were on their way to the "house of the Lord" (Jeremiah 41:5). The fact that these men had self-inflicted cuts was not a good thing:

 

"Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead." (Deuteronomy 14:1)

 

The practice of self-inflicted cuts was a pagan ritual in honor of Baal, the Canaanite god of fertility. Therefore, the 80 men of Jeremiah 41:5 point to a spirit of "evangelistic multiplication" (i.e.- fertility) that downplays God's righteousness and judgments, since Canaanites are "anti-judgment". As we have seen so far in this word, such type of evangelism leads to congregations populated by Ammonites, i.e.- "sons of God's people", instead of "sons of God". This is why Deuteronomy 14:1 begins with the phrase "Ye are the children of the LORD your God". The word "children" was mistranslated from the Hebrew word ben meaning "son". Therefore, Deuteronomy 14:1 should say, "Ye are the sons of Jehovah your God". The sons of God do not go around cutting themselves for Baal; the "sons of God's people" do.

 

When Ishmael found out about the 80 men, he went out from Mizpah to meet them, and he said to them, "Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam" (Jeremiah 41:6). When they followed him back to Mizpah, Ishmael killed 70 of them, and he cast the corpses into a pit. Ishmael forgave the lives of the other 10 men because they promised to give him treasures of wheat, barley, oil and wine that they had in the field (Jeremiah 41:8).

 

Since Ishmael killed 70 out of the 80 men, he killed 7 out of every 8 men in the group. As we have said before, the number "8" in Scripture speaks of "regeneration". The number "7" here speaks of the "seventh day" or "Sabbath", and therefore speaks of "resting", since the Lord rested on the 7th day (Genesis 2:2-3). According to Scripture, the Lord Jesus was resurrected on the first day of the week (i.e.- Sunday), which can be taken as the "8th day" of the previous week. This makes sense since the Lord's physical resurrection speaks of spiritual regeneration; for regeneration to occur, the old must die in order to make way for the new to emerge.

 

The Lord's death and resurrection was a 3-day process: He died on the 6th day, rested on the 7th, and was resurrected on the 8th day. If this process had been cut short 2 thirds of the way, the 8th-day resurrection would have never taken place. As we saw with Lot and Hezekiah above, many believers faithfully sow into God's righteousness and purposes but they at some point decide to cut off the process 2/3 of the way into it, and they fail to reap the full harvest that awaited them (Galatians 6:9). As was the case with Lot and Hezekiah, the reason for cutting off the process 2/3 of the way is because of their fear of death. They prefer to literally "rest on their 7th-day laurels". They remind God of all the good things they have done for Him (Isaiah 38:3, Genesis 19:19), and they literally ask God to "give them a break". In other words, they say to God, 

The final stretch of the road that leads to 8th-day resurrection is just too painful for me. I have given you a lot, God. I have died to many things for your sake, but these last few things you are asking me to die to are just too much for me. Besides, they are little things. Why can't I keep them? I have given you everything else, haven't I? Please break me off from the final stretch of this process. Give me a break, God!

 

By saying this, these believers stay in 7th-day rest for eternity and never live to see the light of the 8th day. In that sense, they abort their process 7/8 of the way into their "8-day spiritual week". This is the spiritual reason why Ishmael killed 7 out of every 8 Baal worshippers without killing off the "8th worshipper". Ishmael did not kill the "8th Baal worshipper" because of the promise of temporary blessings (wheat, barley, oil, and wine -- Jeremiah 41:8). In the same way, Lot, Hezekiah, and others cut off God's process in their lives for fear of losing a few temporary blessings.

 

The cautious pit of aborted dreams

The Holy Spirit says the following about the pit where the 70 corpses were dumped:

 

"Now the pit wherein Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men, whom he had slain because of Gedaliah, was it which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with them that were slain" (Jeremiah 41:9)

 

When one reads 2 Chronicles chapters 14 through 16, it becomes evident that king Asa was a man whose first 35 years of reign were righteous and in complete accordance with God's will, but whose last 6 years saw him turn away from all that he had sown in the first 35 years. It is interesting to note that Asa died on year number 41 of his reign (2 Chronicles 16:13), and the death of Gedaliah and the 70 men is narrated in Jeremiah chapter 41. This is not a coincidence.

 

Asa's "fear of Baasha" (mentioned in Jeremiah 41:9) marked the beginning of Asa's spiritual decline (2 Chronicles 16:1-10). When Lot faced his final great fear, he chose to take the "cautious route" by taking refuge in Zoar. When Asa faced his final great fear, he took "cautious refuge" in a pit. When we are unwilling to overcome that last hurdle, we end up throwing our ultimate prophetic calling in the Gehenna pit of Hittite purposelessness, and all the good seed that we have sown into the ground does not get to see the light of day. Sometimes we can be so "cautious" that our caution becomes the very pit where God's spiritual project for our lives ends up getting dumped.

 

The Korah spirit

As we studied in a previous article, the "green-horse riders" are the resurrected prophets who come out from their underground Sheol prisons to destroy the soul-matriarchy Korah spirit inside the Church and in the world. Therefore, it is not a coincidence that the name of Johanan's father, Kareah, is almost identical to the name Korah in Hebrew. Both names are written with the same three Hebrew consonants, and both names mean "bald". However, one of the names ("Korah") speaks of "soul baldness", while the other name, "Kareah", speaks of "spirit baldness". It is OK for the spirit to be "bald" or "uncovered", but it is not OK for the soul. The Korah spirit works to keep the spirit-nature of believers under covers, but the Kareah spirit works to have that spirit-nature out of its Sheol prison and fully manifested. The Kareah spirit will prevail in these final days.

 

The Egyptian option

When Johanan found out about the atrocities that Ishmael had committed, he and other men came to fight against Ishmael (Jeremiah 41:11-14), which takes us to the verse that we quoted at the beginning of this word:

 

"But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites" (Jeremiah 41:15)

 

Why did Ishmael escape from Johanan's grasp? The reason can be found at the end of chapter 41and in chapters 42 and 43 of Jeremiah. This is what Johanan and the men that were with him did after Ishmael escaped:

 

"17And they departed, and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt, 18Because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land." (Jeremiah 41:17-18)

 

Notice again how fear led Johanan and the others to take refuge in Egypt. Egypt became Johanan's "Zoar". Jeremiah chapter 42 declares that Johanan and the others with him went to Jeremiah to ask for directions from God as to what they were supposed to do:

 

"1Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near, 2And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:) 3That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do." (Jeremiah 42:1-3)

 

After 10 days, God said this through Jeremiah to Johanan and the others:

 

"9And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him; 10If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you. 11Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. 12And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land. 13But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God, 14Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell: 15And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there; 16Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die." (Jeremiah 42:9-16)

 

Unfortunately, Johanan and the others refused to believe God's warning, just as Gedaliah had refused to believe Johanan's own warning (ironic, isn't it?):

 

"2Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there: 3But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon. 4So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the LORD, to dwell in the land of Judah." (Jeremiah 43:2-4)

[The phrase "thou speakest falsely" in verse 2 is almost identical to what Gedaliah said to Johanan regarding Ishmael in Jeremiah 40:16]

 

The reason why Johanan was unable to kill off Ishmael and the "8 men" was because Johanan had the same seed of "cautious fear" that Lot, Hezekiah, and Gedaliah had. In order to complete the regeneration process, we must be willing to destroy all the unrighteousness, and this requires a heart that is willing to go "all the way" and not allow "cautious fear" to convince us into taking the "safe choice". Gedaliah was afraid to allow Johanan to kill Ishmael because he wanted to "err on the side of caution". He was not 100% certain that Ishmael was a traitor, so he preferred to give him an ample "benefit of the doubt". This "politically safe" decision cost Gedaliah his life and the lives of many others.

 

Ishmael Hussein

Now that we have shared all of the above, we can apply Jeremiah chapters 40 and 41 to two recent series of events.

 

The father of the current U.S. president -- George H. W. Bush -- was president of the U.S. between 1989 and 1992. He was the 41st president in U.S. history, which is not a coincidence, considering that we have extensively studied Jeremiah chapter 41. In order to distinguish the former president Bush from the current one, the former one is normally referred to as "Bush 41".

 

During Bush 41's presidency, Saddam Hussein invaded neighboring Kuwait, which prompted Bush 41 to lead a coalition of nations that drove Hussein's army out of Kuwait during the first Gulf War. The coalition forces overwhelmed Saddam's army, and they were in the position to drive into Iraq and get rid of Saddam Hussein for good. However, Bush 41, on the advice of Colin Powell and others, chose to take the "cautious route". Polls showed Bush 41's popularity in the U.S. to be around 90% at the time, and Bush 41 had qualms about prolonging the war for fear that something might go wrong and for fear that popular support for him and the war might decline.

 

Because Bush 41 was too afraid to end Saddam Hussein's regime for good, God punished him by allowing a recession and other events that eroded his popular support, leading to his eventual defeat by a young Democratic governor from Arkansas named Bill Clinton. When the first Gulf War ended, Bush 41's popularity was so high that most believed that he would win reelection by a landslide. To everyone's surprise, Bush 41 ended up being one more in the embarrassing list of "one-term presidents".

 

Since Bush 41 was too afraid to take the potentially unpopular decision, God had to raise up Bush 41's son, the current president Bush, to complete what his father had not been brave enough to do. Despite popular opposition in the U.S. and abroad, Bush 43 completed the task of driving Saddam Hussein out of power. Twelve years after the originally intended time, the Iraqi people were finally free.

 

Based on all of the above, we can see how Bush 41 acted as the cautious Gedaliah, Saddam Hussein was the Ishmael whom Gedaliah did not finish off, and Bush 43 was the Johanan who drove off the Ishmael that his father had been unwilling to terminate.

 

Even as "the Johanan of the story", Bush 43 showed some of the same cautious fears that his father had shown. We have the Spirit's witness that Bush 43 was to attack Iraq in the week between September 18 and September 24, 2002, but Bush 43 allowed Colin Powell and Tony Blair to convince him into taking the more cautious "U.N. route". You may recall that this led to the infamous U.N. resolution 1441, which "coincidentally" features the number "41" once again. Bush 43 was about to commit the same mistake that Bush 41 had committed, but, fortunately, he finally attacked Iraq 6 months after God's original timetable. This was essential in him getting reelected. Otherwise, God would have punished him as He did with his father, and Bush 43 would have been added to the "one-termer club".

 

Just like Johanan in Jeremiah chapters 41 through 43, Bush 43 took the "Egyptian option" after Saddam Hussein had been toppled. Instead of attacking Syria, the neighboring terrorist state, he limited himself to a cautious "threat" against Syria for fear that the already-unpopular Iraq war might become even more unpopular. He did not move troops towards Iraq's Syrian border, which allowed the influx of terrorists from Syria and Jordan into Iraq. These terrorists have been causing the mayhem which continues to plague Iraq until today.

 

Ishmael bin-Laden

Jeremiah chapters 40 and 41 can also be applied to the events surrounding 9/11. As you may know, U.S. president Bill Clinton (Bush 41's successor), had at least one clear opportunity to capture Osama bin-Laden, Al-Qaeda's ringleader, while he was in Africa. However, just like Gedaliah with Ishmael, Bill Clinton underestimated the potential danger of bin-Laden and Al-Qaeda. Instead of acting aggressively against Al-Qaeda's increasing presence in Afghanistan, Bill Clinton acted with fearful caution, which allowed Al-Qaeda to eventually carry out the attacks of 9/11 during the first year of Bush 43's term. As you all know, it was Bush 43 who eventually attacked Afghanistan and drove bin-Laden and Al-Qaeda out of that country, toppling the tyrannical Taliban regime in the process. 

 

Here we see that Bill Clinton acted as the cautions Gedaliah, Osama bin-Laden and Al-Qaeda were the Ishmael whom Gedaliah did not finish off, and Bush 43 was once again the Johanan who drove off the Ishmael that his predecessor had been unwilling to terminate. It is not a coincidence that "Ishmael" is also the name of the patriarch of the Arab people (Genesis 16:11-13). Both of the "Gedaliah dramas", the one in Iraq and the one in Afghanistan, involve Arab and Muslim nations. 

 

Just like Ishmael in Jeremiah 41:15, Osama bin-Laden was able to escape from Afghanistan. According to Jeremiah 41:15, Ishmael fled to the land of the Ammonites. As we share at the beginning of this word, the Lord led us to Jeremiah 41:15 as a result of the "8 men" vision I had in late 2001. The gray and gloomy sky in the vision speaks of Hittite depression and despair, and the black flying birds speak of prophets that have distorted themselves into Hittite terrorists.

 

When I went to a map to find where the "land of the Ammonites" was, I was surprised to find that it was in what is now the country of Jordan. It is not surprising, therefore, that the capital of Jordan is called "Amman", which is almost identical to the name "Ammon". Fellow believer, from that day on, I have been convinced that the Al-Qaeda leadership moved its "headquarters" from Afghanistan to Jordan. As you may know, the leader of the Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks in Iraq is a man by the name of "Zarqawi" who "happens to be" a Jordanian.

 

As we said at the beginning of this word, when I asked the Lord where the 8 men were going, the Lord said that they were going west, which makes "natural" sense since Jordan is to the west of Afghanistan and Iraq. Their "going west" also makes "spiritual" sense. As we have said before, Hittites prefer to escape the dominion of God's Law in the "east", choosing instead the lawlessness of the "west". The only way to destroy the Hittites is through the imposition of "law and judgments". When that is achieved, the Hittites can no longer operate.

 

Just like the Canaanites, Hittites become bitterly resentful of people who impose right-handed law and judgments on them. This explains why one of the men in the vision (apparently the leader) looked at back at me with a sullen and spiteful stare. The men resented being driven away from their safe refuge.

 

When the U.S. attacked Afghanistan, it was convinced that the Al-Qaeda leadership fled east into neighboring Pakistan, but they really fled in the opposite direction. This is why Osama bin Laden and others remain on the loose. 

 

Just like Johanan, Bush 43 once again took the "Egyptian option" with regard to Al-Qaeda and 9/11. By not chasing the terrorists into Syria and Jordan at the end of the 2003 Iraq invasion, Bush 43 has allowed Al-Qaeda to continue launching their cursed operations from Syria and Jordan. Yesterday (April 23, 2005), Syria began its "pullout" from Lebanon. Had the U.S. not bought into the Syrian president's double-talk shortly after the recent anti-Syrian protests in Lebanon, events would have eventually escalated into a coalition invasion of Syria that would have ended the Syrian terrorist regime and greatly weakened Al-Qaeda. From there, terrorist ties into Jordan would have been uncovered, which would have led to the total dismantling of Al-Qaeda for good.

 

All that we have shared in this word ties in with a dream about "3 cockroaches" that a sister had on September 26, 2004, exactly 210 days before the day of this word's posting (April 24, 2005). 210 days is equivalent to seven 30-day months (being a lunar calendar, the months in the Hebrew calendar are all 30-days long). Notice the reference to the "seventh month" at the beginning of Jeremiah chapter 41:

 

"Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah" (Jeremiah 41:1)

 

The "3 cockroaches" dream was posted on October 15, 2004, exactly 191 days before the day of this word's posting (April 24, 2005). Notice that the number "191" contains the three digits of the date "9/11", with the "9" hidden in the middle of the two "1"s.

 

It is worth noting that Jeremiah 41:2 speaks of Ishmael killing Gedaliah with the help of 10 men, while Jeremiah 41:15 speaks of Ishmael fleeing with 8 men. This means that there were 11 men (including Ishmael) in verse 2 and 9 men (including Ishmael) in verse 15. Notice that the numbers 9 and 11 appear here. Once again, this is not a coincidence.

 

Because of "political correctness" and his inherent affinity for Hispanics, Bush 43 has constantly looked the other way when it comes to securing the border with Mexico. If he continues with this Canaanite naiveté, Al-Qaeda will launch an attack that will infiltrate the U.S. from that very border, and he will regret the fact that he refused to heed the constant warnings "Johanan" has been making.

 

The spiritual "Ishmaels" can only be defeated by men and women who are willing to "go all the way" without any interest in taking safe refuge in "fearful caution". Imagine what would have happened if Moses and the Israelites had given up after 9 plagues. The 10th plague was the "clincher" that allowed them to reap all that Moses and others had been sowing during their entire lives. Never allow "cautious fear" to separate you from the full manifestation of God's purpose for your life.