COUNTDOWN!

For a long time the digital alarm clock would read 2:22 when the Lord woke me in the middle of the night. Two weeks ago it became 4:44. I thought that was incredibly strange, and certainly NOT coincidence! The first morning I was awakened at 4:44 I came downstairs and logged onto my e-mail to see if there was any prophetic word coming forth through someone. First I had the prompt, "There are 44 messages in your inbox." Then when I opened one of them, it was a call to read Ezekiel 44!

One of the other women in our home fellowship was awakened last week and her clock said 5:43. When she asked the Lord, "What does this mean?" He responded, "It is a countdown. I am showing you a countdown, a timing gauge." This morning I awoke very abruptly and my clock read 3:21. It IS a countdown, and we are very, very close to whatever He is showing us. But it is more than that. It is a call to prayer and a call to unwavering faith and obedience. I pleaded with Holy Spirit this morning, "Is this a countdown to our Exodus, Lord? What should I take? Where should I go? Please give me instructions!" But after a long period of silence, I heard only this: "You will know when you need to know. Do not take any gold or silver or copper in your belts. Take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic or sandals or a staff."

I chuckled thinking of the large box and bag in my car, full of extra "tunics" and "sandals," water and camping supplies. The Israelites did not have cars, much less bags with extra clothing and food, did they? Completely and utterly dependent upon their God, they were in the wilderness for forty years and they never went hungry nor did their clothing or their sandals wear out! I believe our Father is calling us to be READY for our wilderness journey, and being ready means a willingness to leave everything behind - perhaps even our family members who do not believe. Will we be ready? Will we obey and go?

I believe the reason I will be able to leave everything behind and go is found in the verse Ezekiel 44:4. In fact, I believe that's what the 444 I am seeing now is really all about. A sister in Kansas sent me an e-mail this morning with a dream someone had about her husband, and in this dream her husband was lying on the floor weeping, and this person felt her husband had been asked to go somewhere and did not want to go, so he was clinging to the floor in tears. That is not what we find in Ezekiel 44:4: "Then the man brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. I looked and saw the glory of the Lord filling the temple of the Lord and I fell face down."

It is the season of Passover/Unleavened Bread. It is the time just before we celebrate the Redemption of Israel through the Red Sea, and their journey to the Promised Land. The Lord brought them out (of bondage) to bring them in (to the Tabernacle in the Wilderness where the glory of Yahweh dwelled). 5-4-3-2-1! Countdown to the 44:4 temple in the Kingdom where we fall face-down in the glory of the LORD! Are you ready? Will you leave it all behind?