This passage is, and should be, a picture of us in this very day. We are called to enlist in the End-Time Army of Yeshua, and our weapons of warfare are our prayers. Every prophetic word being issued right now in our day, by those considered to be trustworthy prophets, is a call to battle! We are being given countless forewarnings of the dire days ahead, and the great need to be prepared emotionally and physically - but most especially spiritually.
If you are still clinging to a pre-tribulation rapture scenario, may the Holy Spirit guide you into all truth so that you come out of that place of denial! That false teaching (false report) is being used by the enemy to keep many asleep, thinking they will escape any time of tribulation and testing, and fly right on up to Heaven while the Jewish people endure the battle on earth alone. Not true! The apostle Paul warns in 2 Thess. 2:3-4, "Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that Day [the coming of Yeshua Messiah] will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness [Torahlessness] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
I believe we are entering a season we have not experienced before; and although I believe it will be a time of great persecution and terrible disasters, I also overwhelmingly believe it will birth a time of great revival such as has never been seen before, and a tremendous outpouring of God's glory! It will be a time of testing such as we have never known, and we MUST be prepared. But how are we to prepare for such a time as this? With the inauguration of a President and emergence of a new cabinet in the United States (note that SEVEN cabinet members have resigned, indicating the completion of an old regime and the emergence of a new, probably far more evil one), and elections in the nation of Israel, all in the same week, we should be on our knees and on our faces as the saints of God, filling the angel's bowl with our prayers, to be hurled upon the earth as fire!
In the worship of the ancient Levitical priesthood, the incense did not give forth its perfume until it was
burning; and the only fire allowed to be used in kindling it was holy fire from
the altar of burnt-offering. This intimates that we are to be as burnt offerings before our God - surrendering our will, our souls and bodies as a sacrifice (Romans 12:1). There can be no incense-prayer without fire - and the fire must be kindled in the heart by coals from the altar of
Calvary, by the love of God shed abroad by the Holy Spirit!Five of us gathered this past Wednesday at David's Tent to do this. It was the first of weekly worship and intercession meetings here in our town, and it was filled with the Presence and the Power of the Ruach haKodesh (Holy Spirit). We cried out for protection, justice and mercy for the righteous in this nation, despite the coming judgments. We interceded for the Jewish people, the apple of God's eye, asking for the veil over their eyes to be lifted, and for God's chosen person to be elected there to lead them through this critical season in time. We blew the shofar to seal our prayers, and we fell on our knees in repentance before the throne. Only FIVE of us came - representing both the five books of Torah (Truth) and also Grace (Spirit)! The Lord says there is power in prayer when two or more are gathered and agree, and we were more than two!
This is how we become prepared. This is how we build up our spirit-man in faith and courage! We cannot stay indifferent and asleep, like the five foolish virgins who had no extra oil. We must be filled completely, super-charged with the Power of the Holy Spirit, and ready to do battle in the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony - and we must not love our lives even to the death.
As Francis Frangipane wrote, "God's personal plan for me was not to improve me, but to remove me, so that Messiah could live through me" (Galatians 2:20). Yes, that is the key! We may not have to die physically for our King, but we MUST allow our selfish, controlling flesh to die, so that it is YESHUA who dwells in us. Then we shall be prepared! Then we will not be afraid. Then we will be sealed with the mark of God (Rev. 9:4) which is, by the way, the only mark that should concern us!
If you are in northern Colorado, please come join us on Wednesday evenings. Details are on our website at http://www.doorkeeperministries.com/davids-tent.html. If you are not near us, start your own prayer gatherings. Let us, the people of YHVH, lift up the smoke of the incense of our prayers before Him in the angel's hand... the time is NOW.
Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes - who are they, and where did they come from?" I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tent over them. (Rev. 7:13-15)
If you make El Elyon your refuge - then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent." (Psalm 91:9-10)
