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Wild assesFirst posted: September 19, 2004
If you have been reading our recent articles, you will have noticed that we have been studying on what the Lord says about the coming spiritual Revival through Isaiah chapters 31 and 32. This article will study the rise of spiritual "wild asses" in these latter days that was prophesied by the Lord in Isaiah 32:14.
Index
The passageIn Isaiah chapter 32, the Lord declares the following:
"13 Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city: 14 Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;" (Isaiah 32:13-14)
Obviously, this passage was not added to Scripture by God to inform us that some old, run-down palaces in the Middle East would be full of wild asses. These words were written under the anointing of the Spirit, and even when they indeed had some sort of literal fulfillment, these words are the expression of principles and "jet streams" in the spiritual world that must be understood. These words apply to us, and to limit them to a mere prediction of literal historical events is an affront against Almighty God.
In our previous article, we discussed the meaning of the "palaces" that shall be forsaken, according to verse 14. This article will focus on who the "wild asses" of verse 14 are, and on why the forts and towers shall be a source of joy for them in these latter days.
Fruits, asses, and prophetsThere are several different words in Hebrew that can be translated as "ass". The Hebrew word that appears in Isaiah 32:14, and was translated as "wild ass", is pere. This word only appears 10 times in the Old Testament, in Genesis 16:12, Job 6:5, 11:12, 24:5, 39:5, Psalm 104:11, Isaiah 32:14, Jeremiah 2:24, 14:6, and Hosea 8:9.
The word pere is derived from the Hebrew word para, which, interestingly enough, means "fruitful", and is related to the almost identical word parah meaning "to bear fruit", from which the name "Ephraim" is derived. This is why the only appearance of para in Scripture is associated with Ephraim:
"11 I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath. 12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid. 13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children. 14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. 15 Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels." (Hosea 13:11-15) [The word "fruitful" in verse 15 was translated from para]
As we said above, the Hebrew word for "wild ass", pere, is derived from the word parah meaning "to bear fruit". Another word in Hebrew besides parah that means "to bear fruit" is nuwb, which is very similar in sound and spelling to the word nabiy, which means "prophet". This illustrates a strong spiritual connection that appears throughout Scripture between "wild asses", "fruitfulness" and the "prophetic spirit". An example of this connection can be seen in the following section.
Arab wild assesThe Lord prophesied the following to Hagar, mother of Ishmael:
"11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. 12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. 13 And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? 14 Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. 15 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael." (Genesis 16:11-15)
The word translated as "wild" in verse 12 above is the Hebrew word pere mentioned in the previous section; in other words, verse 12 should really say, "he will be a wild-ass man". The name of the well that is mentioned in verse 14, "Beerlahairoi", is derived from 3 Hebrew words: beer, meaning "well", chay, meaning "living, alive", and roeh, which means "prophet, seer, prophetic vision". As you may know, today's Arabs are descendants of Ishmael. Therefore, this passage shows that God has placed a strong prophetic anointing on the Arab people. As we have studied in previous articles, prophets who stray from the Lord's will are prone to be manipulated by Hittite spirits of deceit. As we shared when we studied them, Hittite spirits are spirits of terror, despair, and suicide. It's no wonder that the "suicide terrorist spirit" is so strong among Arabs. They have a strong prophetic calling from God, but, until now, they have chosen to walk in their own stubborn will. God, however, is working them over. Al-Qaeda's attack (God curse them) on September 11th, 2001 is like a boomerang that will come back to destroy them. This attack gave Almighty God the "legal right" to unleash His wrath on the Muslim spiritual stronghold in the Middle Eastern area:
"25 And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound. 27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire: 28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err. 29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel. 30 And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. 31 For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod. 32 And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it. 33 For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it." (Isaiah 30:25-33)
Notice that verse 31 speaks of God beating down "the Assyrian". The Assyrian empire occupied the northern part of modern-day Iraq, so it is no wonder that the Iraqi regime had to fall as a result of the fall of the towers (v25). Verse 28 declares that God would "sift the nations with the sieve of vanity"; the Hebrew word for vanity here is shav, which means, "emptiness, falsehood, vanity", meaning that verse 28 speaks of God's judgment against the Hittite spirits, since, as we have seen before, Hittite spirits are spirits of emptiness and purposelessness. This prophetic word not only applies to the literal, modern-day Assyria (i.e.- Iraq) and modern-day terrorists; it also applies, in a more profound way, to God's judgment against the spirit of Assyria and the Hittite spirits of purposeless that are currently inside the modern-day Church because of the pastoral matriarchy that has ruled the Church for centuries.
The fall of the regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq was the manifestation of God's indignation. Afghanistan was payment for the Twin Tower that was hit by the second plane and fell first. Iraq was payment for the Twin Tower that was hit by the first plane and fell last. Why? Because, as you all must know, Iraq's regime was hit first in 1991, but it fell until 2003; Afghanistan's Taliban regime, however, was hit in 2001 and fell immediately. The fall of these regimes opened a spiritual hole in the Muslim covering of darkness over that region, and, in the years to come, that hole will continue to widen, and a great prophetic revival will then hit the Arab world like a wildfire. When that day comes, the Arabs, who have been handing their prophetic gift over to Hittite spirits will finally surrender it to the leading of the prophetic Holy Spirit, and God's purposes for the Arab people will be fulfilled.
Interestingly enough, the Bible records that Ishmael's firstborn was "Nebaioth" (Genesis 25:13), and the word "Nebaioth" is written almost identically in Hebrew as the word nebiyah meaning "prophetess", differing only in the last two letters, as can be seen below (remember that Hebrew is written from right to left):
Notice, again, how there is a strong connection between Ishmael, the "wild-ass man" of Genesis 16:12, and the prophetic spirit.
As we saw in the previous section, the Hebrew word for "wild ass" (pere) is derived from the word for "fruitful" (para). This is why the Arab people are blessed with the abundance, or "fruitfulness", of oil. This shows once again how "wild asses", the prophetic spirit, and fruitfulness are spiritually intertwined.
Joseph, the wild assIn Psalm 105, the Holy Spirit declares the following:
"8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. 9 Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; 10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: 11 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance: 12 When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it. 13 When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people; 14 He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; 15 Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm." (Psalm 105:8-15)
Notice how God says that Abraham's sons are His "anointed" and His "prophets" (v15), even when they were weak and few in number (v12). In verses 16 through 22, Psalm 105 proceeds to speak of Joseph, who was sent by God to suffer slavery and imprisonment in Egypt, preparing things for God's salvation and God's aggrandizement of the entire people of Israel:
"16 Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread. 17 He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: 18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: 19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him. 20 The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. 21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance: 22 To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom. 23 Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. 24 And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies." (Psalm 105:16-24)
The word "increased" in verse 24 was translated from the same Hebrew word parah meaning "to bear fruit" that was mentioned before. Notice again, the implicit spiritual connection between the prophetic spirit, mentioned in verse 15, and "fruitfulness", which is mentioned in verse 24 through the word parah. Since the word for "wild ass" in Hebrew, pere, is derived from parah, we can also infer that the concept of a spiritual "wild ass" is also implicit in this passage. Since the passage's "central" character is Joseph, we can also say that Joseph was a spiritual "wild ass". This statement is confirmed when one considers Joseph's character.
Verse 18 of Psalm 105 above declares that Joseph's feet were afflicted with "fetters" and that he was "laid in iron"; In the original Hebrew, the latter part of verse 18 literally says that his soul entered iron. Iron in Scripture is associated with "correction judgments", i.e.- with judgments that punish people that are in willful, unrepentant sin. Joseph's soul was exposed to correction judgments dealt to him by people who thought that he had committed sins that he had to pay for. As you may recall, Joseph was sent to prison by Potiphar, who believed the false accusation that his adulterous wife made against Joseph (Genesis 39:7-20), and Joseph was a slave at Potiphar's house because he had been sold into slavery by his brothers, who thought that the prophetic visions that he shared with them were a sign of Joseph's arrogance, without realizing that it was God who was speaking to them through Joseph's prophetic visions (Genesis chapter 37). Here, we see how his Girgashite brothers falsely accused Joseph of being an arrogant, "self-proclaimed" prophet, and how Potiphar's wife, a Canaanite adulteress, accused Joseph of rape because he dared to pronounce words of judgment against her. Girgashites, moved by earthly envy (James 3:14-16), label "little people" who "claim" to have prophetic visions and word from God as "arrogant", while Canaanites equate words of righteous, apostolic judgment with emotionally violent rape, since they see any angry word of righteous indignation as the manifestation of a soul that is doing violence on others because it is emotionally "out of control" (interestingly enough, Canaanites hypocritically exclude their own angry indignation from their "anger and violence are bad" rule). As we have said before, the Girgashite and the Canaanite spirits form the spiritual foundation of the pastoral matriarchy in the Church, since they are manifested through pastors and teachers who have gone astray from the perfect will of God. This means that the souls of modern-day Josephs are being beaten with iron rods of correction by a pastoral matriarchy that unjustly labels the manifestation of any prophetic or apostolic anointing in them as "sin".
I have read and heard preachers who label Joseph as "indiscreet" for sharing his visions with his brothers. Without actually saying it, they imply that Joseph "had it coming to him" when he "blurted out" to his brothers -- and even to his father -- the dream that "insinuated" that all of them would one day bow before him (Genesis 37:5-11). Are these foolish preachers saying that Joseph's time in Egypt was a deserved punishment imposed by God because of his "indiscretion"? Psalm 105:17 quoted above clearly says that God sent Joseph to Egypt as a "forerunner" for his family, not as punishment for sin. Genesis 37:11, inspired by the Holy Spirit, clearly judges Joseph's brothers as being "envious", and the entire story of Joseph's life shows that God allowed him to suffer unjustly because He had a higher purpose in mind, using the brothers' sin against itself (Genesis 50:20, Romans 8:28). The reason why God prompted Joseph to "blurt" out his dreams to his brothers and his father was to show them that their spiritual condition was inferior to that of Joseph because Joseph was spiritual and they were earthly; God wanted to make them see how earthly they were so that they would repent and be spiritual, like Joseph. Instead of accepting God's prophetic message, however, Joseph's brothers decided to get rid of the messenger.
During 13 years, between the ages of 17 (Genesis 37:2) and 30 (Genesis 41:46), Joseph endured slavery and prison. Despite the "iron beatings" that the Girgashites and the Canaanites unleashed upon him, Joseph remained faithful to God, and allowed those years to mold his character under God's purifying judgment word, as Psalm 105:19 declares:
"18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: 19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him." (Psalm 105:18-19)
This shows Joseph's stubborn disposition to endure. Such an attitude is "typical" in asses, which are animals known for their "stubbornness" and their ability to "patiently" carry heavy burdens for extended periods of time when domesticated.
However, Joseph did not only show the righteous "stubbornness" and "endurance" of an ass; he also had a "wild" side, which made him a "wild ass". Why? Because he constantly showed an unwillingness to submit to human authority when that "authority" ordered him to do things that were contrary to God's commands. For example, when Potiphar's wife ordered him to "lie with her" (Genesis 39:7), he refused to obey, despite the fact that she was the master's wife, which made her an authority figure that he was supposed to obey. Not only did Joseph disobey her; he also dared to judge her (Genesis 39:9). Wild asses are unafraid to judge and defy authority when "authority" goes astray. This is why Joseph even dared to say that his brothers, who were older than him, would one day bow before him.
When Joseph prophesied that "the sun and the moon" would bow before him (Genesis 37:9), his father Jacob understood that "the sun" represented him, and he asked Joseph, "Are you insinuating that I, your father, will bow before you?" (Genesis 37:10). Notice, however, that Joseph did not go, "No, daddy, how would I ever dare to say such a thing? You are my father, and I am the one who must bow before you". Instead, Joseph simply remained quiet because he knew that what he was saying would come to pass, and it did:
"And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance." (Genesis 43:28)
"29 And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt: 30 But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. 31 And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head." (Genesis 47:29-31) [The word translated as "bowed himself" in verse 31 is the Hebrew word shachah, which is the same word that appears in Genesis 43:28 above when referring to Joseph's brothers bowing before him]
Notice that, in verse 29 above, Jacob pleaded with Joseph in the same way that a "royal subject" pleads before a "king", and, in verse 31, Israel (i.e.- Jacob in the Spirit) did bow in the presence of Joseph, fulfilling the prophetic dream that Joseph had dreamt.
Wild asses recognize that spiritual authority is derived from the anointing, not from human titles. This does not mean, however, that the Church must establish a hierarchical system of authority where the so-called "more-anointed ones" permanently rule over the "less-anointed ones". According to Psalm 105:15, 1 John 2:20-27, Isaiah 61:1-9, and 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, all of us who are spiritual children of Abraham are anointed of God, and have the anointing in us. We are to submit to one another as the anointing manifests itself in each one of us:
"Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." (1 Peter 5:5) [As we explain in a previous article, the word "elders" mentioned in this verse is not to be taken to refer to people with a literal religious title of "elder"; a literal interpretation of the word "elder" does not make sense here if we consider the rest of the verse, which speaks of submitting "one to another".]
Wild asses not only recognize that spiritual authority is derived from the anointing; they also understand that, as you submit to the anointing, that anointing gets imparted on you. As we explain in a previous article, the shadow of the anointing begets the anointing on the person being covered, meaning that, the more we expose ourselves to an anointing, the more that anointing becomes part of us. The anointing, therefore, is not an excuse to exercise "superiority" over others; instead, it is the way to impart God's nature one to another so that we may all eventually be like Him (Ephesians 4:11-16, 2 Corinthians 3:18, 2 Peter 1:1-4, Romans 8:29, Galatians 4:19):
"2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." (1 John 3:2) [John writes this right after speaking of the "anointing" throughout the entire previous chapter: 1 John chapter 2]
Joseph's brothers resented his stubborn, wild ass attitude that refused to abide by human structures of hierarchical submission. According to them, Joseph had to be the quiet, little "errand boy" of the group because, after all, he was the second youngest (Benjamin, the youngest, apparently was a very small child at the time, since Joseph did not recognize him right away when he saw him in Egypt many years later, according to Genesis 43:29-30). Wild asses defy earthly, Girgashite authority, and, as we have shared many times before, that is precisely what prophets are designed by God to do. God will vindicate the wild asses in the presence of those who oppose them, and they shall be blessed at the end for enduring in righteousness:
"22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: 23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: 24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) 25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: 26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren." (Genesis 49:22-26)
Notice that verse 22 above speaks of Joseph as "fruitful", which was translated from the Hebrew word parah mentioned throughout this article; this reinforces the fact that Joseph was a pere, i.e.- a spiritual "wild ass". Notice also that verse 26 speaks of a crown on Joseph's head, which makes a reference to the crown of righteousness that we studied in our previous article.
In verse 25, Israel (i.e.- Jacob in the Spirit) said that the God of Joseph's father shall help him. This means that Jacob recognized that his son Joseph had a direct relationship with the same God that he himself knew, meaning that Jacob, as a human father, did not stand in the middle between Joseph and God in some sort of religious hierarchy where Joseph was supposed to "report" directly to Jacob, without daring to skip Jacob and go directly to God.
Notice also that, in verse 26, Israel says that the blessings of Joseph have "prevailed over" the blessings of Jacob's progenitors. The word "progenitors" here is a mistranslation of the Hebrew word harah, which literally means "to conceive, to become pregnant". In all 42 appearances of this word outside of Genesis 49:26, it refers specifically to women conceiving. This means that, in verse 26, Jacob is saying that Joseph's fatherly blessings prevailed over all of Jacob's motherly blessings, which is a prophetic reference to how the latter-day Josephs will overthrow the pastoral matriarchy that has allowed "soulish", "maternal", emotion-based love to prevail over "paternal", "in-the-Spirit", truth-based love.
Born to be wild and lonelyIn the book of Job, the Lord declares the following through Jehu:
"5 Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? 6 Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings. 7 He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver." (Job 39:5-7)
The word translated as "multitude" in verse 7 above is the Hebrew word hamown, which also appears as "multitude" in Isaiah 32:14, and literally means "murmur or roar of a crowd". As we shared in a previous article, this refers to the noise of a multitude of souls that are not "shutting up" and submitting to the voice of the Spirit. Prophets, by nature, hate to do things just because everyone else is doing it. There is a God-given, "rebellious streak" in them that makes them very reluctant to follow purposeless and empty trends just to get along with people. As we have shared before, true prophets are not seekers of soul communion who are willing to compromise and forsake what they have heard and received from God in order to avoid loneliness. This is why the wild ass "scorns the multitude of the city", according to verse 7 above. The wild ass abhors the roar of a mediocre and spiritually-stagnant crowd of believers who simply go to church to ease their conscience and to have a "good time" with family and friends. This is why God has made the house of the wild ass to be the "wilderness" and his dwellings to be the "barren land", according to Job 39:6 above.
This is also the reason why the Lord said the following about Ishmael:
"11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. 12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren." (Genesis 16:11-12) [As we said above, the proper translation for the beginning of verse 12 should be "And he will be a wild-ass man"]
Notice that verse 12 speaks of Ishmael being in a constant state of conflict, and notice also that the angel of the Lord is saying this to console Hagar, Ishmael's mother. Prophets are designed by God to be in constant conflict with earthly men and women, and that combative nature is a blessing, not a bad thing:
"Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me." (Jeremiah 15:10)
"16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts. 17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation." (Jeremiah 15:16-17)
When the Lord told Hagar that Ishmael would "dwell in the presence of all his brethren" (Genesis 16:12), He was also saying that Ishmael would be a man of conflict. Why? There are two reasons why:
Genesis 16:12 is saying, therefore, that Ishmael would make his tent in the desert, separated from his brethren, but would continue to be an annoying presence in their faces, despite the separation, just like the prophet John the Baptist:
"4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey" (Mark 1:4-6) [Notice that the people went out to him in the wilderness, and not the other way around; this was a prophetic figure of how John the Baptist stayed spiritually separated from the "roar" of the city, i.e.- the noise of multitudes of souls that do not shut up in order to hear the voice of the Spirit and are caught up in "soulish" trends of purposelessness]
"7 Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 9 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." (Luke 3:7-9) [Notice how John the Baptist still got in the multitude's "face", despite being out in the wilderness and physically separated from them]
The latter-day wild asses will be men and women who will not be afraid to be "alone" for the Lord's sake. If abiding in the pleasantness of soul communion is more important to you than abiding in what God speaks to your heart, you are not yet a "wild ass".
Giant-killer wild assesIn Psalm 105, which we studied above, the Spirit declares that God increased the people of Israel and made them stronger than their enemies:
"And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies." (Psalm 105:24)
As we said before, the concept of the spiritual "wild ass" is implicit throughout Psalm 105, so we can infer that wild asses are made by God to be "stronger than their enemies". In previous articles, we have shared that evangelists are designed by God to be people with strong wills who can tear down the will of "strong men" in the spiritual atmosphere. Evangelists are conquerors with a warrior nature who take back spiritual territory from the Amorites in order to establish the kingdom of God in that territory. From Psalm 105:24, therefore, we can infer that wild asses are endowed by God with a strong evangelistic anointing that gives them strength and authority to tear down Amorite strongholds.
This connection between wild asses and "strength" is reinforced in Job chapter 39:
"5 Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? 6 Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings. 7 He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver. 8 The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing. 9 Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? 10 Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee? 11 Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him? 12 Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn?" (Job 39:5-12)
The Hebrew word that was translated as "unicorn" in the passage above is re'em, which, according to scholars, probably referred to an extinct species of large-sized wild bulls, meaning that it was a very strong animal, just as verse 11 above declares. The fact that the "wild ass" is mentioned together with a strong animal shows the spiritual connection between wild asses and an endowment of evangelistic strength from the Lord. This connection is also reinforced by the following passage:
"Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?" (Job 6:5) [The Hebrew word that was translated as "wild ass" in this passage is pere, once again]
Notice that the "wild ass" and the "ox" are spoken of in the same context; oxen in Scripture are a figure of "strength to serve", so we can see how this passage is once again associating wild asses with evangelistic strength.
As you, fellow believer, abide in the prophetic zeal and the apostolic endurance of the "wild ass" spirit, God will endow you with evangelistic strength to conquer spiritual giants in high places.
This is the reason why the Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem on the colt of an ass:
"14 And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, 15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt." (John 12:14-15)
"28 And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem. 29 And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, 30 Saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither. 31 And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him." (Luke 19:28-31)
Notice that, according to verse 30 above, the colt had never been ridden before. This means that the colt had never been submitted to the rule of man. Those on whom the Lord Jesus will ride into Jerusalem (i.e.- the Church) will be asses that are willing to submit unconditionally to God and to God alone. As we have said on numerous occasions, this does imply that we must submit to a brother or sister when we discern the Spirit of God speaking through him or her, but we must not submit based solely on the human title of that person.
Since "wild asses" are too "rebellious" to be ridden and controlled by men in the flesh, they have been tied up and left outside of the religious structures, just as the colt of Luke 19:28-31 was, and just as Joseph was when he was made a slave and a prisoner for 13 years. The time will come, and the time is now, when God will loose the wild asses that have been discarded by the Church's religious structures, and God's Glory will ride into the Church through them. Notice that, in Luke 19:31, the Lord prophesied that the people would ask, "Why do you loose him?", as if to say, "Why are you setting him free from the religious structures and limitations to which we have tied them?". There are many wild asses out there (and I hope that you are one of them) that have refused to play along with the religiosity game that is played in churches throughout the world. Because of this, they have been rejected and imprisoned spiritually, and are not being allowed by the "Christian" religious structures to exercise the full dimension of their spiritual potential to help bless and transform others. God is about to change this, and it will be through those that the religious structures have belittled that He will appear, just as He did with the "forgotten colt" that was tied outside.
"5 Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? 6 Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings." (Job 39:5-6)
When Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on the young ass, Scripture declares that He was recognized by the people of Jerusalem as a prophet, reinforcing the spiritual connection between "wild asses" and the prophetic spirit:
"10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? 11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee." (Matthew 21:10-11)
Notice that they did not say, "Jesus the gentle pastor", "Jesus the famous apostle", or even "Jesus the renowned teacher". Notice also that His entrance on the young ass drew the attention of a multitude. As we have said before, evangelists are the ones most anointed with the ability to draw and to conquer multitudes of souls unto the Lord. Evangelists have the anointing to conquer spiritual cities and strongholds, and this is why the word "city" is mentioned in verse 10 above. This means that, as He entered Jerusalem on the "young ass", Jesus not only appeared with a strong prophetic anointing, He also appeared with a strong evangelistic anointing. He came as an evangelist that was shaking up the spiritual atmosphere of the entire city, and He arrived there to tear down strongholds. This is why He proceeded to clean up the so-called "Herod's Temple" right after He entered the city.
The name "Herod" literally means "heroic"; a "hero", by definition, is a person whose name is famous for having performed some great feat, meaning that Herod was possessed by an Amorite spirit that made him crave fame and admiration. As we have said before, Amorites are seekers of earthly glory who want to hear their names pronounced or "uttered" by multitudes of people. When Herod restored the temple at Jerusalem, he did it in an effort to be admired, not only by Jews but by foreigners; this is why the temple's restoration was so splendid and magnificent. From what I have heard, the temple at Jerusalem was considered one of the most majestic and beautiful buildings in the world during its days. All of this means that there was a strong Amorite presence in the House of God when Jesus entered Jerusalem, just as there is a strong Amorite presence in today's Church, embodied in pastors and other full-time ministers who have made themselves to be the lords of the Church and who make an effort to quench the prophetic spirit in God's people, because they hate to have the "common wild ass" questioning their commands and decrees.
Through the strong prophetic and evangelistic anointing on today's wild asses, the Lord Jesus will clean up His Church. He will drive out all those who have turned the Church into a social club where people go to do "soul commerce" instead of "soul surrender":
"12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, 13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves." (Matthew 21:12-13)
The soul commerce in today's Church goes as follows: pastors give believers a "gospel" tailored to the believers' likings, and all judgment-word that is based on truth, kingdom, and prophetic purpose is removed from the church's doctrine; in exchange, believers surrender their spiritual authority to the pastor and vow never to question anything the pastor says or does. Pastors and complacent believers, beware!!! The young asses are being loosed and they are coming, and Jesus is riding on them!!! God will clean up the Temple through them, and God's Glory, not man's glory, shall be seen.
Heaven on EarthWe began this article by quoting Isaiah 32:13-14:
"13 Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city: 14 Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;" (Isaiah 32:13-14)
Now that we understand who the "wild asses" of verse 14 are, what is the passage above telling us? In verse 13 and the first part of verse 14, the Lord is declaring that He will end the joy of soul communion that is so characteristic in today's Church. As we said above, most believers around the world go to church to ease their conscience and to have a "good time" with family and friends, instead of going with the idea of having face-to-face encounters with God and to help their fellow brethren to have such encounters and grow in their spirits.
Pastors are to blame for this focus on soul communion, and Almighty God will judge them harshly for it. God will desolate the pastoral palaces of earthly and "soulish" delight, and the "wild asses" that have been cast away from these palaces will come and dwell in them. The palaces where these wild asses are now being tortured and killed shall become a place of joy, a place of victorious exultation, because the Eternal Spirit of God will at last be ruling in the latter-day Body of Christ, not earthly man.
The word translated as "forts" in verse 14 above is the Hebrew word ophel, which can be translated as "hill" and comes the word aphal that means "to lift, to swell up". As we shared in our previous article, this refers to the temporary Amorite kingdoms that ministers raise up on the basis of a "ground-swell" of earthly, Girgashite support. These Amorite strongholds will be taken over by wild asses with a strong evangelistic anointing that will turn them into bastions of God's kingdom, not man's.
The word translated as "towers" in verse 14 above is the Hebrew word bachan, which comes from an almost identical word meaning "to examine, to test, to scrutinize" (both of these words appear only once in Scripture; the word meaning "to examine" only appears in Isaiah 23:12). The word for "towers" used in Isaiah 32:14, therefore, refers to a high place from which judgments of rejection are made. As we have shared before, Canaanites hate spiritual judgments, and they tend to be very harsh and judgmental against those who make judgments (thereby contradicting themselves). When the angels went to execute God's judgments on the Canaanite city of Sodom, the wicked people of that city wanted to rape the angels, and Lot stood at the door (a figure of judgment) trying to hold them back, and declaring that what they were intending to do was wicked:
"4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: 5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. 6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, 7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly." (Genesis 19:4-6)
Notice how the Sodomites reacted:
" 9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. 10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door." (Genesis 19:9-10)
When Lot "dared" to call their "indecent proposal" a "wicked act", the Canaanites decided to rape Lot as well. Their pressure on the door is a figure of their dogged determination to judge and condemn those who dare to judge.
The "towers" of Isaiah 32:14, therefore, refer to high places that keep away God's righteous judgments by judging those who judge. Since "high places" in Scripture generally refer to Amorite spirits, these towers are Canaanite posts that Amorite ministers use to preserve their earthly, religious kingdoms and keep God's true spiritual kingdom out.
In these latter days, Isaiah 32:14 declares that the Girgashite "forts" and the Canaanite "towers" that serve as the foundation for the pastoral matriarchy in the Church shall be turned into "dens for ever". The word translated as "ever" here is the Hebrew word olam, which can also be translated as "eternity". This means that God will bring an impartation of eternity into the Body of Christ that will turn the Church from a place for earthly, pastoral kingdoms into spiritual outposts on Earth of God's Heavenly Eternity. During this impartation of eternity, the spiritual wild asses, i.e.- those with a true prophetic spirit and an endowment of the evangelistic anointing, will finally feel at home. |