dragon

On the 21st Sept - at 2:58am, I was awakened and heard the Lord speak, "Now the Bride will bring to birth the manchild". I knew from the way it was spoken that the birth pangs had been going on for some time but now the baby was going to emerge into full view. Immediately I was reminded of Revelation 12 and the description of the woman with 12 stars on her head travailing to bring forth the manchild.

Now when the Lord said to me that it is the Bride who will bring forth the manchild, I was aware that until this event, the manchild company had been hidden within the Bridal company, secretly growing and maturing and that the completion of birthing would in effect bring separation and definition of two separate companies. No longer would there be confusion as to the identity of the two companies. What is also profoundly important is that the manchild's head emerges into the atmosphere fouled by the breath of the dragon. Immediately upon emerging, the hot sulfurous breath of the dragon is the first breath the manchild is exposed to.

That air is filled with cursing and words of death and destruction, which, if allowed to bring forth fruit, would result in the death of the manchild. And then God catches this company up to a seated position at the throne, from which the manchild can view all subsequent events from God's vantage point. Once the manchild company is set in place in heavenly places, the Bride then flees to the place prepared for her and remains there under God's protection for 1260 days. Of course, the dragon wishes to destroy her too with the river of death words from his mouth, but she is protected and he turns his attention to making war on the remnant seed. These, however, have the testimony of Jesus and the power of the Blood of the Lamb and love not their lives unto death, so the dragon's war is in vain.

Going by the statement spoken to me in the last minutes of third watch of the night,  it seems evident that we are in the season of the emergence of the manchild company and therefore it is important to be aware that this emergence is not met by a trumpet fanfare but rather the release of death threats and curses. Just as Herod sought to destroy Jesus by releasing a wide-reaching death decree, so too the enemy desires to wipe out the manchild company as they emerge from the birth canal. The eyes and ears of the manchild are exposed to the onslaught of strong witchcraft and death assignments, even as the shoulders of the manchild are still making their way through the narrow portal into full exposure. The war is on the mind and perhaps there is even the thought of longing for the safety of the womb of preparation as opposed to being birthed into this flaming battlefield. The catching up and setting in place at the throne level then restores peace and rest as things look very different when looking from God's vantage point. But this only occurs once the manchild has emerged in entirety and so there is a short season of being face to face with the dragon.

On Monday night, I attended a symphony concert to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, Feast of Trumpets. As I walked with my friends towards the auditorium, a very smartly dressed young woman approached us and, indicating our shofars, asked if we intended to blow them at the concert. She expressed her excitement at attending and then said she hoped the shofars wouldn't 'do something' to her when they were blown en-masse. She then held out her right arm and showed us two bracelets round her wrists. She was a high-level sangoma or witchdoctor! Then she turned and entered the seating area. It was somewhat of a shock to discover that within the Bridal company crowd, mostly dressed in white, there was a highly trained witch. I immediately knew the Lord had prompted her to reveal herself to us as we could then pray accordingly for any witchcraft to be cut off and rendered null and void and for her to be delivered.

This incident remained with me in the days following and I was aware that the enemy was going to be revealing what was up his sleeve, just as she had done; that the Sovereign Lord was going to be unmasking the hidden sources of witchcraft within the company who called themselves the Bride of Christ. He would be separating light from darkness (or counterfeit light) and labeling each according to its real character. In this way, the true Bridal company would be able to identify the source of the dragon's breath up close and personal.

Not coincidentally, I have been battling a severe infection in my right eye since the concert. Seeking understanding from the Lord, I was led to the following scripture:

1Sa 11:1  AND NAHASH the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you. 1Sa 11:2  But Nahash the Ammonite told them, On this condition, I will make a treaty with you, that I thrust out all your right eyes and thus lay disgrace on all Israel.

Nahash was king of the Ammonites and he was not interested in any form of peace treaty - his desire was to completely blind the right eyes of every man in Jabesh-Gilead and bring them into total disgrace. One-eyed men are unable to fight effectively because their sense of spatial perception is damaged. Spiritually speaking, the removal of the right eye speaks of attack against the ability to see in the spiritual realm, destroying it permanently. So the attack is upon the seer-prophet, that part of the manchild company with the ability to see and understand what the company ought to do.

The name Nahash means 'serpent, oracle or bronze.' Please bear in mind that the Greek word translated 'dragon' in Revelation 12 also means 'serpent' and bronze was used to make shackles for slaves. So the threatened attack of Nahash represents the decree of death breathed by the serpentine dragon over the face of the manchild company as it is emerging into full view. But let's look deeper...

An oracle is a priest or priestess acting as a medium through whom advice or prophecy was sought from the gods/demons. In other words, Nahash also represents the words coming through the counterfeit prophetic movement operating in a spirit of divination. However, as in the case of the sangoma, those operating in a spirit of divination are mingled in with the true followers of the Lamb. The attack comes from those you may have been face to face with and its intention is to severely hinder your ability to see and hear in the spiritual realm, to enslave you with shackles of bronze so you cannot move freely in the Spirit. And there is no possibility of making peace with the Nahash crowd. They have been sent up against you in order to destroy you.

The word translated 'caught up' in the Greek means 'to take for oneself'. How does this catching up happen? We find it described in Malachi 3 concerning those who fear the Lord:

Mal 3:17  And they shall be Mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I publicly recognize and openly declare them to be My jewels (My special possession, My peculiar treasure). And I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him. Mal 3:18  Then shall you return (or look back) and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who does not serve Him.

The public recognition and open declaration is the process of the 'adoption' or setting in place/ manifestation of the sons of God or manchild. This is the same process that is occurring in Psalm 2 where God says openly, "You are My son, today I have begotten you" or "today, you have been declared to be of My DNA, My lineage. You now have the authority to manage My business. You will rule with a rod of iron". Not coincidentally, this rod of rule is the reward of the overcomers in the Laodicean church of Revelation 3. It is the portion of those who have had no part in Jezebel's witchcraft schemes.

Now let's look at the name of the settlement which Nahash attacked. Jabesh means 'dry' and this particular Hebrew word is used to describe the state of the ground when Noah was permitted to exit the ark. So it is a state of dryness which speaks of safety to emerge from the place of hiddenness, moving in God's precise timing - in other words, a full-term birth. Within the ark, God had sheltered the pure remnant seed while He dealt with all mixed and defiled seed in the flood judgment.

When your earthen vessel is jabesh or dried up, you are small in your own eyes, much reduced, not swelled up with moisture but humble. When the earth was jabesh, then Noah (the remnant seed) could come out of the place of refuge and fulfil the command to be fruitful and multiply. It is at this juncture, when the remnant seed comes out of the hidden place of preparation in God's perfect timing, that Nahash, the oracle operating in divination and false prophetic/witchcraft comes up against you and your family. This is not a battle won in the natural because you wrestle not against flesh and blood. Seek the mind of Christ on the matter, war with the Word. Do not succumb to fear. God has given you a spirit of power and love and a sound mind.

Remember when Moses was told to throw down his staff before the Pharaoh. What was God up to? It wasn’t to display Yahweh's power but to make the magicians throw their staffs to the ground ie, put their cards on the table. Those staffs were their demonic scepters. (The Egyptians worshipped the snake-goddess Wadjet, whose name was derived from the Egyptian word for papyrus) so the rod turning into a snake made them think that Moses was in their camp and part of their unholy huddle. Only then could Moses snake devour the serpents of the magicians and they were left without legitimate spiritual authority, stripped of their wands or scepters. In other words, they were stripped of their weapons. Then Moses used the very same rod to set in motion the cycle of 10 judgments by striking the waters of Egypt. The fact that the snake goddess derives her name from the word for papyrus indicates that the serpent has some writings of his own which he throws into the ring to bring confusion as to what the truth really is. Can you hear the echo from the garden of Eden..."Did God really say....?"

So, the first thing God does in His Master plan to deliver His people is get the false prophetic, the prognosticators and diviners to show what's up their proverbial sleeves; to get them to put their cards on the table, to throw their staffs of authority, their writings into the ring and then His servant's staff  or rightly divided revelation of the Word promptly devours and destroys them.

Isa 44:25  [I am the Lord] Who frustrates the signs and confounds the omens [upon which the false prophets' forecasts of the future are based] of the [boasting] liars and makes fools of diviners, Who turns the wise backward and makes their knowledge foolishness, Isa 44:26  [The Lord] Who confirms the word of His servant and performs the counsel of His messengers

When you have sources of strong witchcraft attack exposed to you, remember to bless those who curse you as you hide under the shadow of the Almighty. When the enemy comes with his version of what is written, refresh your knowledge of the real Truth. Devour the Word, not his death-laced words. In this place of dwelling as the wife of the Lamb under the wing of His bridal covenant, you need not fear.

Psa 91:5  You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day, Psa 91:6  Nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor of the destruction and sudden death that surprise and lay waste at noonday.

The word 'pestilence' is 'deber' which comes from the word 'debar' meaning words or speech. This verse describes a death assignment released through words that operate stealthily under cover of darkness - but you do not have to fear their effect. A causeless curse cannot alight. Even though word spears fly continuously during the day, you are hidden under His wings and feasting on the abundance of His house (Psalm 36). Keep your eyes on Him, knowing that you will be lifted out of this death breath atmosphere and set in place in the twinkling of an eye. Never return evil for evil, but on the contrary, blessing, so that you show you are sons of your Father in heaven, who rains on the just and the unjust. Make sure a river of life flows from your lips and do not under any circumstances lend your tongue to contributing to the flood emerging from the dragon's mouth. Let God deal with those who curse you.

Selah