In Illinois we found my parents in amazingly good spirits, ready for us to join with Mom in celebrating her 90th birthday! She had moments of clarity and great joy as we shared cake and ice cream, presents, singing, and lots of laughter. This is my favorite picture, which John caught in a tender moment.
In Missouri we had the incredible blessing of staying with two young families - each of whom have four children under the age of 8. They are living out the example of the apostles in the early church, selflessly pooling their resources and sharing all they have with one another. There is no TV in the house and we spent the evening praising Yeshua together with two of the parents on guitars and the children beating drums, shaking eggs and dancing with abandon, as David danced! At the dinner table eight little children sat respectfully and used manners we have not witnessed in years - all showing one another love and blessing - a great encouragement to us about the young families in Messiah!We ministered again to the Gates to Zion congregation in Columbia, South Carolina, and it was there that the Ruach began to speak to us in a "four-fold witness." We know that scripturally it only takes two witnesses to confirm a matter, so when the thread of this message kept unfolding more and more during our trip, we felt the spirits within us were leaping for great joy! I brought a message to this congregation based on Isaiah 60:1-2: "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and His glory appears over you." I had not shared the title of this message, so when the children of this congregation came up on the stage just before I was to speak, I was not prepared for what was about to happen! The lights in the auditorium were shut off completely and we were plunged into darkness. Suddenly each child lit their (battery-operated) candle and they began to sing, "Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the LORD rises upon you!" Needless to say, the hair stood up on the back of my neck and I was overcome with this astonishing "illustration" that YHVH had planned without any of us knowing it!
My message was a pleading with the people to rend their hearts in repentance in order that we could become a people ready to receive this outpouring of YHVH's glory upon us. He has promised this last-days outpouring of His Spirit in Joel 2, and it is coming! The phrase "glory of the LORD rises upon YOU" should be taken personally! And yet as many of us gather in prayer meetings and cry out for the Lord to visit us with the weight of His glory, or like Moses begged, to "show us His face," we need to understand that if He came in the fire of His glory before we are made ready, it will kill us!
After the message was delivered, pastors Jan and Craig O'Dell shared with us a book they had been reading entitled The Sons of Zadok by C.R. Oliver. We read it aloud on the way home, and our spirits became more and more excited that this must be the breakthrough we have been praying for! For the last several years I have been calling congregations to see the difference between going to church and asking God to bless and minister to us, and going before His Presence and ministering to Him! The example I use is found in Ezekiel 44:15-16, which, of course, is taking place during the Millennial Reign: "But the priests, who are descendants of Zadok, and who faithfully carried out the duties of my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to come near to minister before Me....they alone are to enter my sanctuary, they alone are to come near my table to minister before Me and perform my service."
They alone! With all my heart and soul I have sought to understand who these "sons of Zadok" are that the LORD desires to minister to Him in that Millennial temple! They are a new priestly order - in the Order of Melchizedek! C.R. Oliver writes, "the third millennium will hear a spiritual trumpet blowing. It is a heaven-born sound announcing the rise of the true Sons of Zadok. God has been preparing them in the wings for many years. They are like the hidden multitude of Elijah's day, 'who have not bowed the knee.' They are the Gideon 300, not the 10,000. They are a breed far different than history has ever seen. Willingly they have already counted the cost, and willingly, they will lay down their very lives to usher in the Kingdom of our LORD and of His Messiah."
After this thrilling revelation we received an article over the internet with excerpts from a book by Dr. Rachel Elior, who has been deeply researching the Dead Sea Scrolls and the many references to the purity of the sons of Zadok. In this article she literally takes on the issue of the modern-day folks who are "scanning the sky for the new moon, disagreeing about the sighting among themselves, perhaps even erring." Is Yah really looking for a new priestly order of people that think this is all about the correct keeping of a calendar and sighting of a moon? Is He concerned about who has it all exactly right, and who has the most knowledge? Is He looking at our heads - or at our hearts?
The response to this question given by our friend Mike Clayton was riveting: "The moon did not hang on a tree for me - Yeshua did." Selah - stop and ponder that!
Our fourth witness came yesterday in a prophetic word of the LORD delivered by prophet Michelle Holderman. Listen to the confirmations of all I have written above, which appeared in the pages of Michelle's prophecy:
"It's about to get really good for those who are on board with My Order.
I AM calling My prophets to not only rend their own hearts, but to call My people into rending their hearts also (Joel 2). I AM lining up your hearts with My own in what is coming, for a time like no other looms on the horizon.
I AM preparing you to carry such a great message of My heart to those who do not know what - or precisely WHO - they are missing. Yeshua is the message!
All those who in this past season have remained hidden and concealed by My Order are going to be let out and released to serve the people of God.
I AM pouring out a fresh, new sound.
I will awaken this sound through you who are My prophets as you carry My Order to My people.
Your place is before My throne.
Unity and not division among my saints - this is what the times are calling for. All the petty bickering and all the false bearing of witness against one another MUST STOP.
I Am gathering My own to carry Yeshua's message of love and hope to a dying world.
Yeshua is the message!"
Will we desire to become a part of this new Order who will draw near to the Holy One of Israel to minister to Him? Or, will we continue staring into the sky, arguing over the calendar, while thousands die without the True Message?"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and His glory appears over you."
Are you ready????
