I was hoping that the Lord would release me from sharing the last bit of revelation He had given me concerning fire and its working in the Church and the Bride. However, it remains heavy on my heart and so I must release it. Looking back, it seems the theme of the month of June was fire, fire, fire all over the globe and it continues into July with the California wildfires. However I want to take you back to a devastating inferno which raged on the 14th June 2017. This was the fire which gutted the Grenfell tower apartment block in London. This occurred almost a full month ago and it is only now that police are releasing the final number of deaths and other statistics.

It takes time to sort through the devastating charred remains of such a fire and clarity of understanding is only achieved with time. This is an important point to remember when the Refiner’s fire passes through the Church or even through your life. It is unwise to make judgments and draw swift conclusions in the chaotic aftermath which ensues in the wake of the Spirit of Judgment and Burning’s visitation. Don’t be swift to assess and put everything into neat little boxes just to restore a sense of order in your mind and spirit. Allow the ash to settle so to speak and let the still small voice of the Holy Spirit say what He wants to say. Remember Elijah’s experience at close quarters with the God Who is a consuming fire,  and see that the still, small Voice only comes after the fire (1 Kings 19:12) and it is this voice which brings clarity; sifting soulish thoughts from Truth, and revealing plans for the future both personally and on a wider scale. (Please refresh your memory concerning this story by reading the chapter).

After the fire is the time to listen carefully, because it is this Voice that sets in motion Heaven’s plans for the next chapter. It converts a man hiding from Jezebel in a cave into a messenger focussed like an arrow on the verge of being released from the Lord’s bow.... and there is an Elisha Company still ploughing their family field, unaware that sudden change and a new mantle is about to fall about their shoulders.

‘A still, small voice’... The Hebrew root of the word translated ‘small’ means ‘to crush to powder’ and this is exactly what the voice of God does to our fleshly assessment of the situation we have just passed through. The fire must come in order to sever our past from our future assignment in the Kingdom. The past is over and, just as in the case of a natural fire, there is no way of returning to life as it was before the flames. One is thrust into the next chapter without any advance notice and God has used the flames to dismantle the comfort zone where we have been dwelling. There is no going back. And the Kingdom of Heaven has need of you to fulfil your part in its Divine plan. God takes no notice of Elijah’s self-pity. There is work to be done. The Jehu’s must be anointed to release the sound that liberates the eunuchs in Jezebel’s clutches so that they can cast her down to her prophesied end... and so, Beloved, the shaking and the fire must pass by – it triggers the changing of the guard in the Spirit.

In the Grenfell tower fire, the Lord spoke to me of a number of important points. Firstly, a tower in the Word is always indicative of the place where the watchman operates from. His role is to warn those in immediate vicinity of the approach of the enemy. The people in his sphere of influence can sleep well at night because the watchman is on duty, sounding the alarm when necessary. The name ‘Grenfell’ has two possible meanings. Firstly, ‘green field’, which immediately brings to mind the scripture where Paul refers to believers as being God’s field, in which His messengers work:

1Co 3:9  For we are fellow workmen with and for God; you are God's garden and vineyard and field under cultivation, [you are] God's building.

Green fields are places where the Lord leads His sheep to find rest in (psalm 23). So Grenfell tower is supposed to be a place where the weary, the heavy-laden and the thirsty can come and experience those ‘still waters’ which are the voice of the Spirit. The other meaning of ‘Grenfell’ is given as ‘guard of the settlement’, which speaks strongly of a watchman calling. The first mention of this surname was in the year 1161 and this man was listed as a ‘builder of churches’. H1161 in Strong’s dictionary is the word ‘alarms, terrors’. Is it not the watchman that should sound the alarm? WE are in the day of the shofar sounding an urgent warning:

Joe 2:1  BLOW THE trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on My holy Mount [Zion]. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of [the judgment of] the Lord is coming; it is close at hand--

How interesting also is the fact that Paul’s reference to us being God’s field and building is right in the chapter containing an admonition to be careful how we build on the foundation of Christ!

1Co 3:12  And if anyone builds on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, straw, 1Co 3:13  the work of each will be revealed; for the Day will make it known, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire will prove the work of each, what sort it is. 1Co 3:14  If the work of anyone which he built remains, he will receive a reward. 1Co 3:15  If the work of anyone shall be consumed, he shall suffer loss; but he will be saved, but so as through fire. 

Grenfell Tower and the fire that raged through it is a prophetic picture of the coming fire to those ministries that have been built and called as watchmen to the Church and the nations where they are situated. The tragic truth about the cause of the fire and the speed with which it engulfed the whole building contains further sobering warnings for the Church of today. Firstly, the fire started with gas fridge in an apartment on the 4th floor. On the 4th day of creation, God set lights in the heavens to give light upon the earth and to indicate seasons, to rule and separate light from darkness. This is the task of all those who are supposed to be dwelling in heavenly places and most certainly the watchmen whom God has called. Yet the man who lived in this apartment packed his own bags before warning his neighbour and calling the fire department. In other words, he was more concerned with his own possessions and safety than that of the others dwelling around him. Self was his priority and his preoccupation with saving his own material possessions contributed to the tragedy which unfolded. He could have significantly changed the outcome of this event if he had immediately sounded a warning about the fire exploding in his own personal space because one thing about fire is that it spreads. You can be sure that if the Refiner’s fire is visiting your neighbour, it will very soon be visiting you!

Secondly, the Grenfell Tower had been recently fitted with cladding on the outer surface in order to make it more visually appealing to rich neighbours who looked onto the tower from their windows. Extra care and expense were taken with the outward appearance, but the building had no external fire escape or sprinkler system, and only one internal staircase. In other words, those responsible for building were more concerned with how their construction looked to the outside world than the safety and wellbeing of those in their care. Little thought and attention was given to planning and channelling funds into features which would save lives. What a graphic and tragic prophetic picture of many so-called Watchman ministries in today’s church circles! In fact, those who chose to make their dwellings under the covering of this particular watch tower were placing themselves and their families unknowingly in mortal danger.

Hos 9:8  Ephraim was [intended to be] a watchman with my God [and a prophet to the surrounding nations]; but he, that prophet, has become a fowler's snare in all his ways. There is enmity, hostility, and persecution in the house of his God. Hos 9:9  They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah. The Lord will [earnestly] remember their iniquity; He will punish their sins.

The Grenfell Tower tragedy is a shofar blowing in the spiritual realm warning that the day that burns like an oven is coming those who consider themselves Prophets and Watchmen and many will be left in mourning and ashes.  It was, not coincidentally, the highly inflammable, external cladding which caused the tower to be engulfed like a lit match in the raging flames. In the same way, all that has been added to ‘clad’ these ministries in a manner that will make them attractive to those who are wealthy, will become the tinder that carries the consuming fire. And those dwelling under their shade will be left frantically trying to escape the judgment that has befallen their spiritual homes. One thing that struck me when reading of those who had lost their lives in this tragedy was the fact that they had chosen this tower because of the amazing view over the city from the higher stories of the building. Beloved, you may be associated with a ministry that is giving you beautiful views and visions in the spirit over the area where it is situated, but please take careful stock of the place where you are currently dwelling and the ministries you are closely associated with. If there is not structure or teaching in place for your protection and deliverance in the day of the Refiner’s fire; if there are not fire alarms strategically positioned at every level you ascend in the spiritual hierarchy; if there is no external ‘staircase or fire escape’ built into the structure of the ministry so that you may safely exit freely at any level you need to, then please urgently make preparation to move to a safer location. Do not be deceived by the beautiful ‘cladding’ that has recently been added when upgrading the watchtower. It may be pleasant to the eye but it could be the cause of utter destruction for you and your family. If your ‘landlords’ are more concerned with receiving your money and lining the outside of the building so they can attract more ‘tenants’, you have chosen to live in the wrong place spiritually!

Isa 56:10  [Israel's] watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, they love to slumber. Isa 56:11  Yes, the dogs are greedy; they never have enough. And such are the shepherds who cannot understand; they have all turned to their own way, each one to his own gain, from every quarter [one and all].

Don't continue to dwell in a place where the watchmen are blind and love to sleep! There is very little time to move the place where you dwell spiritually as judgment is coming to the Sodoms of the modern-day Church. Fire is coming! Note the admonition in these verses for him who is in the field not to go back for his material possessions:

Luk 17:29  but on the day Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from the heaven and destroyed all. Luk 17:30  According to those things, it will be in the day the Son of Man is revealed. Luk 17:31  In that day, he who will be on the housetop, let him not go down to take his goods from the house. And likewise, he in the field, let him not return to the things behind. 

 

Lot’s wife was left as a perpetual monument warning of the danger of looking back to soulish comforts in the day of fleeing judgment. In the same way, the Grenfell Tower stands as a charred ‘billboard’ right in the gaze of the wealthy neighborhood surrounding it, reminding all of the danger of wrong associations and priorities. Like a charred giant matchstick, it silently issues a warning that cannot be ignored by passersby. One photo I saw of a message left at its base could well be the sentiment of the builders of these tower ministries in the aftermath of the Spirit of Judgment and Burning. Unfortunately it will be too little, said too late...

grenfell 2

There were some interesting prophetic parallels in the statistics about this fire released by the British police in the last few days. The official death toll has now been established to be 80. It took place on the 14th June and there were 14 residents who were not in the building at the time of the fire. They therefore did not live through the trauma of trying to escape as they had already removed themselves due to other appointments. 14 is the gematria for the words ‘Beloved’, ‘loves him’, ‘heart’, ‘David’. So we see that it is those who love Him, those who are the Beloved of the Lord, those of the House of David who are removed from the appointment with the Refiner’s fire. They are taken near, to the place of His bosom, because they dwell under the shadow of the Almighty and His protection is upon them.  Double 14 mentioned on that day – My Beloved is Mine and I am His!

Psa 91:14  Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name [has a personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness--trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no, never]. Psa 91:15  He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

14 is a small number, a remnant, of the large number who were listed as residents of that building. They were recorded as dwelling there but they had already left the building. The Bridal remnant will be called to safety in the day that burns like an oven. Actually, 80 is the number of days which a woman had to be set apart from the general population after giving birth to a daughter. Then they would both appear in the temple to be seen by all. The birthing or bringing forth of the Bride into open view as the favored of the Lord will be in the season of the Refiner’s fire. She will be separated from those watchtower ministries and brought forth quietly, in a hidden manner, before the fire strikes and her presence only recognized in the community later, because it will be noted that the fire has not in any way marred her or her garment.

One of the verses which the Spirit impressed on my heart on the day of this fire was this one mentioning the phrase, ‘the tower of the flock’:

Mic 4:8  And you, O tower of the flock, the hill and stronghold of the Daughter of Zion, unto you the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the Daughter of Jerusalem. Mic 4:9  Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king among you? Has your counselor perished, that pains have taken you like a woman in labor? Mic 4:10  Writhe in pain and labor to bring forth, O Daughter of Zion, like a woman in childbirth; for now you shall go forth out of the city and you shall live in the open country. You shall go to Babylon; there you shall be rescued. There the Lord shall redeem you from the hand of your enemies.

 There are those who are appointed as the true tower of the flock; those whom the Lord deems trustworthy to watch over His sheep and they are even now coming forth out of the city of modern Christendom and dwelling in the open country, in a place where they are able to freely provide green pastures and measured portions of still waters to bring rest to the sheep of His pasture. They are the lily trumpets mentioned in Song of Songs amongst which the Lord delights to feed His flock:

Son 2:16  [She said distinctly] My beloved is mine and I am his! He pastures his flocks among the lilies.

Here again is the word ‘beloved’, (gematria 14), and the word ‘pasture’. Let us learn from the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower and seek the Lord as to whether the watchmen and prophetic ministries we associate with are truly providing pasture for the sheep or are only covered in highly inflammable, attractive cladding. Then, as the Spirit reveals to you, flee like Lot from any association with those He warns you about. Don’t be found loitering around in the entrance halls of these unsafe spiritual edifices on the day that burns like an oven. Let the Name of the Lord be your high tower. Run into Him and you will be safe!

Selah