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In part one, I discussed the 3 steps of the Transition bridge being worked through by the remnant in this month of Elul. I want to show you another passage of Scripture that adds further depth of understanding to this process. Come with me to Zechariah 3. Here we see the transformation of Joshua, the High Priest. It is significant that Joshua is mentioned because it connects us to the leading of the people of God into the Promised Land. Moses could only take the people of God so far, just as John the Baptist could only contribute a certain segment of the journey into the fullness of Kingdom purposes. There had to be a change of leader; a change of teacher.

God is the One who sets up kings and removes kings; who changes the times and the seasons. It becomes obvious in the natural that the season has changed when the territory changes. Transition was the order of the day because they had come to the end of the journey in the wilderness and all its sifting, loss and hard-earned lessons. It had been a threshing floor purging the dross and positioning the people who survived for the promised inheritance that lay ahead. This was territory they had never set their eyes on before – and the taking of their portion of inheritance required Heavenly strategies they had not yet heard. There was no way leaning on their own understanding was an option! The remnant stands in this position today. There are giants ahead of us, huge challenges, but God is equal to the task of defeating them and releasing the fullness of His kingdom promises to us. We just need to receive His blueprints and mind for each situation. There can be no leaning on our own understanding in territory we have never encountered before.

Now you may have been watching the speedy rolling in of the elite's plans for world domination, the development of the DNA-altering vaccine and the mayhem on the streets. It may not feel like you are entering the Promised Land at all. This is why it is imperative that you keep your focus on the face of the Lamb upon the throne. You are going to have to endure like Moses did when He left Egypt – by gazing on Him Who is invisible. And so, yes, you need to begin to see into the spiritual realm ever more clearly. May our eyes be opened to see the troops of angels assigned the saints in this hour. More are those that are for us than those that are against us!!  Do you remember how Joshua stood looking at Jericho after the people of God had been circumcised and celebrated their first Passover in the Promised Land? An angel appeared before him. There is no record of him seeing an angel before. But after Joshua took over leadership of the people of God and stepped into the Heaven-ordained map for his future, his eyes were opened to the spiritual realm in greater detail. Pray for the gift of discerning of Spirits. This doesn't mean only being able to tell if someone is possessed. It means having spiritual eyes open to the spiritual realm, to see both demonic activity and angelic troop movements.

I have seen many things in the unseen realm but I have yet to see the angels that have been sent to minister to the heirs of salvation. Being able to see them is not my focus, but I do believe that the remnant on earth and the heavenly angelic army will work together more than ever in the Day of the Lord. Mahanaim, where David went after crossing the Jordan, means 'the place of the double camp' because Jacob saw a troop of angels there. In this place, those who had crossed over with David found that a feast had been prepared for them and their every need anticipated and catered for – even beds had been provided. This is what awaits us once we have completed the crossing over into the new season. There is not lack and need ahead of us. There is abundant provision up ahead but NOT by the work of our own hands! Our God prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. We just have to learn how to focus on the feast and not on the enemy lurking behind our chairs! It just depends where your focus is. Does the Word not say He will keep in perfect peace the one whose mind is stayed on Him? This is your key for this hour. Do not anchor your gaze on the news stations. Anchor your gaze upon His face. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of your face and run this race as He ran it. FOR THE JOY SET BEFORE HIM, HE ENDURED THE CROSS.

Now let's focus on Zechariah 3 and look at the 3 stages of the Transition Bridge depicted there. (Notice that Zechariah was shown these things by an angel!):

DISORIENTATION

Zec 3:1  THEN [the guiding angel] showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at Joshua's right hand to be his adversary and to accuse him. Zec 3:2  And the Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! Even the Lord, Who [now and habitually] chooses Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this [returned captive Joshua] a brand plucked out of the fire? Zec 3:3  Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the Angel [of the Lord].

Joshua had been in the fire, probably for a good long season. He had become familiar with its fiery atmosphere and the dealing with the dross, even if he can't see much except flames. Now suddenly he is standing before the Angel of the Lord, who is Jesus. He is in a totally different spiritual location, and what's more, he can clearly see satan standing right next to him to accuse him. Joshua's spiritual eyes have been opened to a whole new spiritual location. He is a brand plucked from the fire but he is aware of the filthy state of his clothing, the close proximity of the Lord and satan. How vulnerable and exposed he would have felt. And he can see exactly what satan is doing. Joshua is experiencing disorientation. He does not know this location and how to deal with it. He has been used to repenting and releasing dross and yet in spite of all that spiritual homework he did, he is still not very presentable and now he is face to face with Jesus and it's too late to get ready anymore!! There is nothing he can do, in spite of everything he can see.

Remember how during the ministry of John, the people had to repent and bear fruit and voluntarily follow through on what John was preaching in order to be prepared? But John explained that when Jesus came, HE would clean His threshing floor. HE would winnow. HE would store the grain in the barn. HE would ignite unquenchable fire on the chaff. This signified a profound change of season. The Bride makes herself ready but when the Bridegroom appears, the preparations come to an end. The state you are in is the state He sees you in. There is no more preparation time left and no doubt, like Joshua, the High Priest, we may feel woefully ill-dressed for the occasion. And it seems the close proximity of satan only aids his assignment to point fingers at us.

I discovered something interesting. The word translated 'accuse' means to 'resist, oppose, accuse' and is written 'satan'! Yes, you read that right... His very name embodies his character. He is positioned at your right hand (the side without a shield in battle) and he is gunning for your vulnerabilities, seemingly unphased by the presence of the Lord. But how good it is to know that the scripture in Psalms is true – God is your shade at your right hand. He is your defense. You don't need to come up with an explanation in this place of feeling so vulnerable and disorientated. Jesus is your defense and He rebukes satan! Most of Elul will be taken up with disorientation from the old chapter and the beginnings of recalibration. We do not realize how deeply we are bonded to the old spiritual space. We have been in it so long... but like Esther who had a whole year of preparation and overnight found herself in a very different location and station, so too, the Lord has this planned for His faithful remnant.

It is a work of Heaven on behalf of a bondservant with whom He is well-pleased. The dove descending and remaining on Jesus signifies a fullness of the Spirit apportioned him as He is acknowledged as the Son of God. In the same way, there is a fullness of the Spirit coming for the faithful remnant.

RECALIBRATION

Zec 3:4  And He spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And He said to [Joshua], Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich apparel. Zec 3:5  And I [Zechariah] said, Let them put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with [rich] garments. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.

Recalibration is a work of the Lord and not of the saint. It is HIS voice that triggers the alignment to Heaven's highest purpose. Sound from the mouth of Jehovah is creative and carries supreme authority. You only have to read psalm 29 to realise the power and effect of His voice released over people and places! God does not even draw attention to those filthy garments. They are garments of a past season; the season of purification and preparation to be a firebrand in the earth. He orders them removed. Joshua does not undress himself. THE OLD GARMENTS ARE REMOVED FROM HIM WITHOUT ANY EFFORT ON HIS PART. In fact, during this whole encounter, Joshua says nothing. This is Heaven's work. Recalibration involves a change of garment to mark the change of season and they are not just any old garments. No jeans and teeshirt here. These are RICH garments, garments of investiture. They carry a meaning and are suitable for the new spiritual position that Joshua is about to be awarded. Recalibration is about removal of anything attached to the old season and clothing for the new season. And this clothing is about garments of state; garments to rule in. Joshua couldn't have his garments from the fire washed, ready to wear again. NO! The kind of garment he is going to wear in the spirit he has never worn before. His old garments were priestly garments. These are kingly garments! And there is a clean turban to accompany them. This indicates a new mindset – a different way of thinking; a clean slate. The old has gone; the new has come! Joshua hardly recognizes himself in the garments he has been endowed with. He has no frame of reference for these garments. He was given them without any effort on his part. He just stood before the Lord and received whatever the Lord willed! He only knows how to be a priest. This is all so foreign to him. He feels out of his depth. But reorientation is coming.

REORIENTATION

Zec 3:7  Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in My ways and keep My charge, then also you shall rule My house and have charge of My courts, and I will give you access [to My presence] and places to walk among these who stand here. Zec 3:8  Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your colleagues who [usually] sit before you--for they are men who are a sign or omen [types of what is to come]--for behold, I will bring forth My servant the Branch.

Now Joshua is told that he has a new spiritual place to stand if he continues to walk as a bondservant of the Lord. And this place is a place of ruling; a place where he exercises authority he did not have before. He is now having his spiritual eyes opened to the area before the throne and it seems this is to be not only a place to visit but a place to stand permanently. He is being given continual access to the Lord's presence and fellowship with others who also stand in this spiritual dimension. He is being reoriented to a whole new heavenly reality after being disoriented from an earthly chapter. Things will never be the same again. This is the place his garments speak of. This is the revealing of the blueprint of Heaven concerning him. He is told the parameters of his portion and later the fact that the seven spirits of God; which is the fullness of the Spirit, are to be apportioned him. A stone with seven eyes... Who has seven eyes? It is the Lamb upon the throne. So Joshua is being given access to the mind of the ruling Christ and the authority to operate in all the seven spirits of God. He is a type of God's servant, the Branch, Who will be brought forth in these end times – a Melchizedek priesthood; priests who operate as kings!

Zechariah 4 is the record of a vision about the two sons of oil who stand before the Lord of the whole earth. This is exactly where Joshua has been told he may stand. The sons of oil are the Melchizedek priesthood who walk in an continually flowing anointing. So we realise that this transition bridge that moves us from the Spirit of Elijah training chapter to the face to face encounter with the Lamb of God is also a bridge that brings forth the Melchizedek Priesthood in the earth. They are His servant, the Branch.

One of the names of Rosh Hashanah is 'the coming of the King' or 'the crowning of the King' and it is the day on which a king would be crowned and begin his reign in Israel. Remember the seven month Tishrei is also called Ethanim (its original name). Ethanim means 'continually flowing streams'. It is a time of year when only the perennial streams flow because they come from deep underground springs. All annual streams which consist of rainwater and only flow in the rainy season become dry at this season. Spiritually Ethanim speaks of those who are anchored in the 'speaking Place'; the Holy of Holies, where God meets with His bondservants. Ethanim speaks of a clear indication in the earth of who are truly bondservants of the Lamb, because rivers of living water still flow from their mouths, even in a time of great drought.

Separation involves Silence
for Some...

In the past few days, the Lord said to me that, in the coming months, a large number of His people would become spiritual widows, no longer having access to their Husband's presence or voice because He was going to withdraw Himself from them. This would be happening as a result of their refusal to choose consecration, because they insisted on going to the world or Egypt for their help and because they rejected the warnings of His seers and prophets (see Isaiah 30). He brought to mind Rev 11 and the dividing off of the outer court which would then be trampled for 3&1/2 years. To choose lawlessness over consecration is a very dangerous thing to do in these days.

Remember John the Baptist's words: Jesus would cleanse His threshing floor. Cleansing a threshing floor happens after the threshing has happened. When the wheat grains have been separated from the chaff, the threshing floor looks very messy. One can't tell easily who's who in the zoo because it is all lying in a heap together. But when the winnowing process begins, instant separation occurs - and it is the power of the wind of the Spirit that does the separating. However, it is not only the wind that decides who is taken away and who remains to be put in the barn. It has to do with the weight or substance that is contained. Chaff has very little inner substance, it is dry and very light in the spirit. When it was closely attached to and surrounding the kernels of grain, it was seen as part of the valuable crop. But after threshing, detachment occurs and the grain stands alone, carrying the weight of true nourishment. Yes, they both carry the DNA of the parent plant, but the chaff retains no moisture or nourishment and is separated instantly from the grain kernels chiefly because of its own lack of spiritual weight. The grain on the other hand is tossed up and falls to the ground on the threshing floor, unhindered and fully revealed and separated into the category of usefulness to the Master. Those who carry His name on their lips but their hearts are far from Him; those who sat under the repentance message of the Spirit of Elijah and yet refused to change or bear fruit of repentance are relegated to the fire, just as the goats are sent to the left in the parable of the sheep and the goats.

The transition Bridge is a weighty place in the Spirit. It is the place of qualification and disqualification; the place of promotion and demotion; the place of drawing near and the place of casting away. By the time Yom Kippur comes round, the difference between those relegated to the fire and those stored safely in the barn and released into the glory realm will be starkly apparent. After Yom Kippur, MANIFESTATION comes.  Remember this is when Jesus came forth in the power of the Spirit from the wilderness proving time. After this, he began to teach and to show forth the glory HE carried within by miracles. Tabernacles, celebrated from the evening of 2nd October, is the time of God being in the midst of His people and a wall of fire being round about them. It is a time of provision and feasting; a time of rivers of living water flowing and rejoicing in His manifest presence. There may be dense darkness in the earthly realm but for those who have heard 'This is My beloved son in whom I am well pleased', for those who have been found useful to the Master because they are vessels of honor, there is glory and peace, protection and miraculous provision.

So the remnant are moving from the threshing time to the winnowing time, from the hearing to the seeing season, from the preparation season to the investiture season, from the personal cleansing and refining to the setting in appointed places of spiritual authority. The Transition Bridge brings a change of station, a change of garment, a change of mindset and a change of function. It is a work of Heaven in a surrendered bondslave people. May He have His way in us. May His kingdom come and His will be done in and through our earthen vessels. The power and the glory are His forever and ever, amen.