More on 222

I got many responses to the post on "222" and I SO appreciated what you wrote and contributed. A couple of responses need to be shared with all, as they give more insight for us.

One person wrote to say that my last paragraph - concerning 1 John 2:22 - is an accurate description of the problem in the Episcopal Church today. I went back and read the last paragraph I wrote, and he is so right on! At the opening of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church a few weeks ago, the Presiding Bishop announced that she does not believe in any individual prayer of salvation through Jesus Christ. How clearly we see the "great falling away" foretold by our Messiah in this denomination that has, from the top down, eroded into denial of our Lord and Savior! This is indeed the great lie of Satan, from the Garden (see Genesis 3:15) forward to the present. If Yeshua our Messiah can be denied, and his seed wiped out forever, then Satan can claim the victory! The antichrist spirit has been present in all those in history who have sought to eradicate the Jews from the earth, since through the Jewish people came the Seed of the woman.

Concerning Haggai 2:22, another person wrote to remind me that it is not only the Muslims who will be killing their brothers in the end times. Yeshua Himself tells us, "Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My Name's sake. But He who endures to the end will be saved." (Matt. 10:21-22). Indeed, our Lord is not talking about Muslims here, but about our own families! Believers will experience the betrayal of their own family members in those days, and it is already so in many nations. In fact, when a Jewish person in Israel comes to faith in Messiah Yeshua he almost always ostracized completely from all family and friends, forced to pursue his faith in isolation and persecution.

A third person wrote to tell me that the book of Haggai has repeatedly come up in the Spirit in his ministry, and especially the second chapter. It seems that we are once again in a time of being asked to "rebuild the Lord a House" and the lessons we must undergo are the same as they were in Haggai's day. The challenges and the encouragement God spoke through this prophet are spoken to us again today to spur us on to advance His Kingdom: "Be strong, all you people of the land," says the Lord, "for I am with you," says the Lord of hosts. "According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!" (Haggai 2:4-5).

Our Bridegroom reminds us of the Covenant He made with us when He brought us out of Egypt - and He has given us His Spirit to abide with us. He is a Covenant-keeping God, and His Promises to those who love and fear Him are sure!

222

Today I spent time with the prophet Haggai - a place in the Bible I've not spent much time before! Haggai prophesied to the Jewish people after they returned to Jerusalem from the Babylonian exile; but he also has words for us today that really spoke to me. In fact, the LORD gave me two new understandings of the number 222, which He has so strongly quickened to my spirit over the past 3 years. Although Haggai begins by prophesying to the Jews of his time, he issues a second decree at the end which is clearly intended for the "end times." When we see the Hebrew idiom "in that day" we know the day referred to is "The Day of the Lord," or the "end of the age." In Haggai 2:22 the LORD says, "I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother."

Chariots and horses in Scripture refer to human strength. That is why the psalms warn us not to trust in the strength of chariots and horses. To do this is to trust in man, rather than in God. "Foreign kingdoms" refers to kingdoms other than the Kingdom of God, whose Throne is seated in Jerusalem, the City of the Great King. So this "222" warning is yet another assurance from Yahweh that He will come to the defense of His people by causing His enemies to turn on one another - just as they did in 2nd Chronicles Chapter 20, and just as they are doing now among the various sects of Islam. In 2nd Chronicles Chapter 2o the Israelites did not have to shoot an arrow or draw a weapon; they simply praised Yahweh and while they were in prayer and worship, the armies of the enemy killed one another. "Their horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother." Already around the world we see Muslim brothers killing one another in the name of their false moon god, Allah!

Then the Spirit took me to another "222" in 1 John 2:22: "Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Yeshua is the Messiah. Such a man is the antimessiah - he denies the Father and the Son." Verse 23 goes on to say, "No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also." Why does John make this point? Because the Father and the Son are ONE GOD. You cannot have one and not have the other; you cannot deny one and not deny the other!

You may remember that originally the Spirit showed me the meaning of the number 222 in the Hebrew gematria: 200 = the Head, 20 = to cover, 2 = the family or household. The Head (Yeshua) covers the family. It is a number of His divine protection. But in these two scriptures above it is also a strong warning that the family of God must stay awake and watch for the liar who will come to deceive many by saying he worships God, but "God has no Son." This lie is at the core of Islam. But this lie of Satan will fail, as Yahweh overturns royal thrones and shatters the power of foreign kingdoms, overthrowing chariots and their drivers, their horses and riders falling, each by the sword of their brothers.

Be strong - and keep the faith!