The Seven Thunders: 7
Thunders a prophetic picture
Rev 10:3-4
3
and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted,
the voices of the seven thunders spoke.
4
And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I
heard a voice from heaven say, "Seal up what the seven thunders
have said and do not write it down." (NIV)
One day as I was studying types and shadows
concerning the two witnesses of Revelation, I came upon this scripture
concerning the 7 thunders. After reading it I immediately asked, “what
are the 7 thunders and what did they say?” “Why were they sealed
up?” God answered me this:
Amos 3:6-8
6
Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be
afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
7
Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret
unto his servants the prophets.
8
The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken,
who can but prophesy?
God spoke clearly to me and said, “I am
unsealing the 7 thunders, and this is what they said. First, language is
very important here. God has a certain language when He talks…
concerning these mysteries. It is simple and yet it takes a spiritual
alarm going off on the inside of us to perceive what God is saying. There
is nothing mystical and there is nothing complicated about the 7 thunders
and yet it is something that has been sealed since John heard it on the
Isle of Patmos.
The seven thunders are the seven thunders
heard by men in the Old Testament and relate to seven thunders witnessed
in Revelation. These thunders have been primarily covered up because of
the obscure language that is seen in the translations. One must ask
the Lord, why do we have all these imperfect translations when Your word
is so perfect. It is because God has hidden the mysteries of God in
language and has progressively been unfolding the truth that is hidden
when men crave God enough to dig for it. It is not about academics, it is
about revelation knowledge that uses the tools of researching aids.
Passover week 1999 God spoke concerning these 7 thunders and my research
led me quickly to the Hebrew. First we must take note that the number 7 is
God’s number of perfection.
6963 qowl (kole);
or qol (kole); from an unused root meaning to call
aloud; a voice or sound:
1) a voice, a sound, a noise, thunder
Translated Thunder or Voice
Every time this Hebrew word “qowl”
is used, it is used for physical thunder that is heard in a
natural sense. For example you would hear “qowl”(thunder) and
lightning. Other times when this Hebrew word is used it is translated voice.
How is it that one word can be used with two different meaning? This is
where it gets interesting. It is not two different meanings to God.
When you see this word it means GOD’S THUNDEROUS VOICE! This Hebrew word
is used by God to convey physical thunder in the natural and
it is used to convey God’s thunderous voice in the
spiritual. Now to teach this there must be a pattern to establish the
doctrine. So God brings us to the New Testament first.
John 12:28-30
28 Father,
glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I
have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
29 The
people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered:
others said, An angel spake to him.
30 Jesus
answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your
sakes.
This is the only time that thunder is heard in
the New Testament aside from Revelation. When God spoke, some heard
thunder instead. This is important to set a precedent of how God combines
His voice with thunder. I call this His thunderous voice. When
God speaks then man will perceive it as thunder.
In the book of Revelation we can hear thunder
7 times. The number “7” is God’s number for perfection, culmination
and completion. In all 7 times that we hear thunder in Revelation, we see
that it is accompanied by the voice of God. Nothing else can be seen accompanying
thunder in Revelation every time except God’s voice, not
even lightning. The Old Testament thunders 7 times and each time
represents a part of the plan of redemption. If we are looking for some
mystical key to unlock future events - that is not what God is saying
here. God is unfolding a revelation of His plan of a built temple and it
is the 7th thunder that signals the completion of it.
As George Warnock writes in his book “The
Journey Of The Bride” - God brings us to this “one thing”, that with
David we might say,
Ps 27:4
One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek
after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.
“These are not really three separate things,
but ONE thing in three dimensions: to dwell in God’s House…for it is
there that we would see His beauty, and it is there that we would be able
to inquire of Him concerning His ways. In vain do we talk about the House
of God, the Temple of God, if the beauty of His presence is not there. And
if He is truly there our inquiry will center entirely on Him, and His
ways, and the desire of His heart for His people.” George Warnock wrote
a great truth here. We must inquire these things that we discuss
concerning “the 7 thunders” with an inquiry at His feet instead of an
inquiry to obtain more knowledge. An inquiry at His feet eats of the tree
of life to obtain its knowledge.
We must check our hearts when we inquire of
the Lord to unseal these mysteries concerning the Book of Revelation. Are
we looking for a climatic event to take place or are we longingly waiting
for Him? Are we trying to figure these things out with our head or are we
listening to Jesus’ voice as He explains these treasures to us? As we
proceed onward you will observe that the purpose of unveiling truth is
RESTORATION OF RELATIONSHIP! These are the 7 thunders of God:
THUNDER
OF ALIENATION –
THUNDER 1
Gen 3:8 – 1st
thunder
And they heard the voice (qowl-THUNDER)
of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool
(wind or spirit) of the day: and Adam and his wife hid
themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the
trees of the garden.
Purpose – shows man’s response to God when
alienated
In the interpretation of scripture there is a
law called the “the principle of first mentions”. When something is
mentioned for the first time there is a precedent being set. It can be a
seed truth that will become a principle that grows. The thunder in this
scripture becomes a foundation that will be built upon. It is quite
important because God will weave a thread of truth from this thunder
throughout the entire Bible.
As we know, Adam and Eve ate the wrong fruit
and the immediate result was that their eyes saw their own nakedness. They
attempted to cover their loins with figs leafs. Previously, Gen
2:25,3:7 said – “And they were both naked, the man and his
wife, and were not ashamed.” (Then they sin), verse
7- “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that
they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves
aprons.” Picture this, when God comes to Adam and Eve they are not
naked, they had an apron. When they meet God for the first time in this
nakedness state of alienation, we see that naturally they had a man-made
cloth covering them. Instead of seeing God, they hear
His thunderous voice! The scripture says that God’s voice is walking,
not His feet, His voice. The language is important in this entire
story so take note. The location was the garden and it was the cool of the
day. This word Hebrew word that is translated “cool” is never
defined as cool temperature. This word is ALWAYS defined and used
as wind or spirit.
Let’s put it all together. As God’s
thunderous voice is walking in the Spirit of the day, man who has tried to
clothe himself hides because of nakedness. They have tried to clothe
themselves with the VEGETATION from the ground and now in trying to hide
their naked bodies though covered with fig leaves they now hide using the
vegetation of the trees in the garden. The idea of “vegetation” is
important in this passage because in Revelation we hear thunder and then
we see hail and fire destroy 1/3 of the Earth’s vegetation. God uses
these related pictures to interpret what He is saying in Revelation.
What we see in the garden is man’s response
to alienation to God. Adam knows he is naked when he hears
the thunderous voice of God, even though he has dressed himself in
vegetation, fig leaves. Let this statement resound in your human spirit,
it is a truth that has much below its surface. The Book of Psalms says
“SELAH” which means stop and meditate on that. WHEN ALIENATED MAN
HEARS GOD’S THUNDEROUS VOICE HE SEES HIS STATE OF NAKEDNESS AND ATTEMPTS
TO HIDE HIMSELF WITH MORE VEGETATION.
Ø
What was God’s response
to man’s dilemma?
Gen 3:17-21
cursed is the ground for thy sake;
in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and
thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the
field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return
unto the ground; Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make
coats of skins, and clothed them.
God curses the ground, which is where all
future vegetation shall come from. It is God’s way of saying that
redemption for this alienation shall never come from the ground, the
Earth. Our chapter called the “Test of Responses” bears this out. It
does not come from the natural man, the soulish man, and the carnal man.
Redemption will only come from heaven therefore look up, that is where
your redemption shall come. Look to verse 21, this is God’s response to
man’s condition- redemption. God takes the vegetation that man has taken
from the cursed ground (fig leaves) to cover a nakedness that is
uncover-able and God replaces it with ANIMAL SKINS. God slays as a
sacrifice, the first animal for the purpose of covering the nakedness of
man. This “coat of skin” pointed to One that would come that would
become a coat to all who would wear Him – Jesus is that coat.
THUNDER
OF JUDGMENT –
THUNDER 2
Exod 9:23 – 2nd
Thunder
And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the
LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran
along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land
of Egypt.
Purpose – Revelation of God’s judgment on
sin and rebellion
The Egyptians were a race of people who were
“tillers of the land” and the Israelites were a despised people
because they were “keepers of the sheep”. The world system always
despises “keepers of sheep” and approves only the “tillers of the
ground”. God sent judgment of thunder, hail and fire and we see it
“ran along the ground”, a phrase that God uses similar to “walking
in the garden”. God is making a point here. The judgment fell ONLY on
the “tillers of the land”, the Egyptians, and it destroyed all their
vegetation! God is saying something concerning vegetation that we must
grab a hold of.
There is only one acceptable vegetation –
Jesus the tree of Life. He is the root of Jesse and Zechariah along with
Isaiah and Jeremiah give Him the Name – BRANCH. But didn’t we read
that anything that comes out of the earth is cursed? Isaiah 53:8 gives
us our answer – He was cut off from the land of the living.
As we said in chapter 10, God gives a great picture of this when we see
two witnesses, two spies Joshua and Caleb. They go into the land and look
for the PROMISE. They find the branch (full of fruit) and the scripture
says that they cut off the branch; and they hung the branch with its fruit
(not barren) on a pole between two men. This was a
prophetic
picture of Jesus the Branch who would be cut off from His land and hung on
a cross between two men. This is a picture that popped out at me in a real
way even though I had read this passage a hundred times yet never saw that
it typified Jesus. The branch that was full of fruit, was cut off, hung
between two men, on a pole, carried out of the land and shown to the
people of God – WHO REJECTED HIM. Numbers 13:23
To add to the concept of Jesus being the
Branch we see something that helps us later in interpreting Revelation. In
Isaiah 11:1 it says “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” (NIV) This had a DUAL
fulfillment. One in the physical first and then one in the spiritual.
Jesus fulfills the physical when He grew up in Nazareth and
was called a Nazarene. The name of this city comes from the Hebrew word
used for branch. Why did God select Nazareth for Jesus to grow up?
God is making a point. God selects a city obscure with little popularity
and that city is named after the Name of the Branch that will grow up in
it. Jesus spiritually fulfilled it after He died, rose again and ascended
to the Father and provided us the redemption that joins us to Him from the
state of alienation. Once joined to Jesus, He becomes the Branch we are
grafted into and we bear fruit only from the Branch. There is no bearing
fruit, no redemption apart from the Branch. The physical fulfillment
(Nazareth) is not the end but it is the pointer to the
real fulfillment – Spiritual reconciliation. So we have
the prophecy from heaven, then the physical fulfillment - then the
spiritual fulfillment.
Joshua and Caleb cut off the Branch and said,
“Here is what we got from the land”; it PROVES that the promise is
true. God’s people rejected Him but it was necessary for the Branch to
be cutoff from the cursed land – TO PROVIDE REDEMPTION FOR ALIENATED
MAN. God saved animals in Noah’s ark but ALL vegetation
was destroyed. Again, this is God’s judgment on both wicked man and
vegetation. Every single sacrifice pointed to Him Who would be sacrificed.
Esau the firstborn exchanges his inheritance for a bowl of vegetable
stew and Jacob received the promise because of the sacrifice of two goats.
God’s details in scriptures go unnoticed to many of God’s people but
God shows His love for us through all of it.
The second thunder deals with judgment on
vegetation. Whenever we WORK and offer to God our labors, it is judged as
unacceptable, it is vegetation. When we REST in the finished sacrifice of
Jesus, it is as the animal skin. Jesus said that there would be those that
would say in that day, “Did we not cast out devils, did we not prophesy,
and did we not DO wonderful WORKS – all in Your Name? Jesus rejected
their works because they were wood, hay and stubble – they were
vegetation. On that day we all will have an offering to give to Jesus. Our
offering will be either from the ground or from the Blood sacrifice.
Malachi 3:3 says, “that they might offer unto the LORD an offering
in righteousness”.
1 Cor 3:13
Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day
shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire
shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
The second thunder will destroy the vegetation
with hail and fire. There are two “SORTS” of man’s work. Your work
is as one who is a “tiller of the land” or it is as one that is a
“keeper of sheep”. This is the thunder heard in Egypt and this is the
thunder heard in Revelation 8:5 which will destroy a third of the
Earth’s vegetation. JUDGMENT ON VEGETATION IS COMING!
Isa 42:14-15
"For a long time I have kept silent, I have
been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I
cry out, I gasp and pant. I will lay waste the mountains and hills and
dry up all their vegetation; I will turn rivers into islands and dry
up the pools. (NIV)
Deut 29:23-25
23 The
whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur-- nothing
planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be
like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the
LORD overthrew in fierce anger.
24 All
the nations will ask: "Why has the LORD done this to this land? Why
this fierce, burning anger?"
25 And
the answer will be: "It is because this people abandoned the
covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, the covenant he made
with them when he brought them out of Egypt.(NIV)
Ø
What the Hail did not
destroy, the locusts did destroy.
Exod 10:14-15
14 And
the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all
the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no
such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.
For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the
land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the
fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not
any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all
the land of Egypt.
Now we will see the release of a last day’s
locust. They are a judgment that will not destroy the
Earth’s vegetation as in Egypt. God mentions to us what they “were not
commanded to do” because He is making a point to us. The normal things
for a judgment of locusts to do is destroy the Earth’s vegetation but
these locusts are commanded NOT to harm this vegetation
because it was a judgment on man who has refused the sacrifice of skin.
These locust were sent to attack man who was had “no seal”. “No
seal” represents people that cover themselves with vegetation and it is that
vegetation that now gets judged, that is the vegetation they
are wearing instead of the Earth’s vegetation. Each of us is
wearing a seal, a clothing, and a covering. We can call our vegetable
garments the seal of God but there will come a day when the UNCOVERING
WILL COME. We will be exposed to what we are truly wearing. Are our
Christian activities a work of vegetation or does each activity that we do
rest upon the finish work of Jesus.
Rev 9:4
And it was commanded them
that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any
green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the
seal of God in their foreheads.
God’s issue with us is one of responding to
the Gospel of reconciliation with the response of covering ourselves with
our own works and methods of salvation instead
of with Christ Jesus. Judgment falls on those that reject Jesus’
clothing for our nakedness. Judgment is part of the message of
reconciliation.
Rev 6:1
And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals,
and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the
four beasts saying, Come and see.
The 2nd thunder of Revelation is
where judgment starts. It says, “come and see” and what you see is
seals opening in judgment on the world system. Revelation 6:1 – The
O.T. and the N.T. thunders are in agreement.
THUNDER
OF CONSECRATION –
THUNDER 3
Exod 19:16 – 3rd
Thunder
And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that
there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon
the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so
that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
Purpose – preparation for God’s people but
they responded in fear.
Consecration is God’s process to
cover man’s nakedness. In Exodus we see the third thunder, three being
the number of “complete testimony”. Before the third thunder strikes
we see Moses coming down from the mountain to consecrate the people and
wash their garments. Moses says, “Be ready for the third day and
do not go near a woman. On the third day came the thunder. This is
an awesome event that is
prophetic and yet quite incomplete. There is
thunder and lightning, a thick cloud and the sound or voice of a trumpet.
Moses brings the people of God out of the camp to meet God; this is so
exciting. They all stand at the foot of the mountain and God descends upon
the mountain in fire. The smoke ascends and the mountain quakes. And all
of this ends with Moses speaking forth to God.
There is no judgment in this thunder but there
again is the theme of redemption. It is a day like the “Day of
Atonement” seen in the Feast of Tabernacles. In the Feast of Tabernacles
we start off on the first day with the “Blowing of Trumpets”. The
Feast lasts from the 1st day to the 22nd day of the
7th month. The 10th day is the Day of Atonement; it
is a day where the bride is making herself ready. As with tabernacle
truths that we discussed in a previous chapter, the feast days can be
reflective of different areas of our lives. In one area you may be going
through Atonement and another area is just now getting to Passover. In
applying truth simply allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you that which He
wants dealt with.
Num 29:7
And ye shall have on the tenth day of this seventh month
an holy convocation; and ye shall afflict your souls: ye shall not do
any work therein:
Before the third thunder there will be an
afflicting of our souls. Moses put it another way in his commands to the
people – “do not go near a woman”. That was an afflicting of souls
for the men. In Revelation we see a people that obeyed this command –
the 144,000. In addition, the Day of Atonement speaks clearly for us to
cease from our own works. Get the vegetation out of your life.
This event is the thunderous voice that
signals RECONCILIATION BACK TO GOD. God has a plan to redeem us from the
curse of the law and the curse of the ground. Except for this plan we
would all return to the dust that we were made from for all eternity -
eternal separation and alienation from God. But now it is time to MEET
GOD. The third day is about meeting God.
The third thunder is a voice that comes from
heaven AFTER the people FIRST consecrated themselves and WASHED
their garments. Many times we want to believe in consecration, preach on
consecration, but when it comes time to LIVE IN CONSECRATION we choose a
life of soil. When we wake up in the morning we begin our day consecrated
to God’s purposes and when we go to bed at night we end with the soil of
the Earth all over us. IT COVERS US. Consecration is about changing your
clothing. We seem to think it is a submitting ourselves to law and instead
it is the opposite. The law is again covering us with the vegetation of
the ground. Grace on the other hand will exchange your nakedness, your
soiled flesh and give you HIS FLESH. HIS FLESH is what consecration is all
about. It is faith in wearing His Flesh, RESTING in HIS CLEANLINESS,
EATING of HIS meat, which is His will.
If we will rest in the finish work of Jesus
and place our every hope, desire and faith in Him, we shall be a spotless
bride. When the third trumpet blows it signals that the bride has
consecrated herself. The heavens will open up as a result and God will
DESCEND UPON THE MOUNTAIN.
Exod 19:16-18
On the morning of the third day there was thunder
(the 3rd one)and lightning, with a thick cloud over the
mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp
trembled.
Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with
God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
Now Mount Sinai {was} all in smoke because the LORD
descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a
furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.
The 3rd thunder of Revelation (Revelation
8:5) continues judgment as the angel with the censer offers up the
incense of our prayers and then fills the censer with fire to burn the
vegetation of the Earth. The fire of the censer descended to
the Earth. It is a judgment on that which alienates us from God. Though we
may see a physical 1/3 of the Earth’s vegetation destroyed, it has a
spiritual significance that is more important. The censer of fire caused
thunders and an earthquake and sounded the first trumpet blast. This is a
picture that looks like a repeat of Exodus 19:16-19.
THUNDER
OF THE COMING –
THUNDER 4
Exod 19:19,20 –
4th Thunder
And when the voice of the trumpet sounded
long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice
(qowl-THUNDER)
Vs 20 And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top
of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and
Moses went up.
Purpose – Moses is a type of the church that
will meet God on the mountain – FACE TO FACE.
Moses speaks to God and God answers with the 4th
thunder then God comes down to Earth on the top of the mountain. God
actually comes down from heaven in this
prophetic event of Jesus Who will
come down from heaven and set foot on the mountain as the Book of
Zechariah describes. When God came down on the mountain He CALLED MOSES UP
TO BE WITH HIM. Moses is a type of the Church of the last days. The
alienation that occurred in the garden is for the first time restored with
a man. Moses spoke with God face to face. Moses represents a people that
will know God face to face. There is no longer ANYTHING that separates.
In the Old Testament it was exclusive all the
way down to just one man – Moses; but through Jesus our Lord it is to whosoever
will. We are all included. You are included in this magnificence that
Moses experienced. Our Gospel is simply about the Love of God demonstrated
in the sacrifice of God’s Own Son so that we may be restored to
fellowship and no longer alienated from God’s presence. No more
hiding, no more trying to sew vegetation on us through good deeds. We
wear Jesus Christ as our garments and God the Father says – IT IS
ENOUGH! God hides our sin where it cannot be seen. Sin no longer has power
to separate in our lives – unless you empower it. When you
became born again, your old man died, he was buried and he is not to be
resurrected. The new man is NOW clothed in Jesus, the new man has no shame
of nakedness.
Sin is like a tree cut off at its root. As we
taught earlier, in chapter 18, sin in your life has been cutoff at the
root the moment you were saved. The tree sits there on the ground with no
power to give life to those leaves. Your old man that was alienated has no
power to give life to those sins. You are cutoff from the cursed ground.
UNLESS YOU EMPOWER IT! Those leaves may still look green but they will die
if you will be patient and continue in the faith. Those leaves are but
dead things. They have no power to continue because they are the ones
alienated now, not you from God. Empowering sin in your life will keep you
from going to the top to meet God face to face. A revelation of sin being
a dead thing and also of the purity that God desires from you – will
cause you to go to the top of the mountain where God is. The Christian
life is a growing process that learns to make Jesus Lord in every area of
living and make sin subdued in the same area of living. Jesus is not
reigning as Lord, anywhere that sin is reigning and empowered. We are
invited to the top but we can only get there in Jesus Christ, there is no
other way. Declare that sin is dead and Jesus is Lord over your entire
life then proceed up the mountain clothed in the garments of a bride, the
garments of our Lord.
God wants you to go to the top. He does not
want you to send your pastor or your prophet. He wants you to have the
face-to-face conversations with Him. He wants you to be the one that hears
His thunderous voice that causes you to fear God and yet approach Him in
holiness. You are God’s Moses that is destined for time on the top of
the mountain. You are the one called even if no one you know has gone; it
doesn’t matter he is wooing you – His bride.
Ø
The 4th thunder
of Revelation is an awesome one!
Rev 11:18-12:2
The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time
has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the
prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and
great-- and for destroying those who destroy the earth. "Then
God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark
of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of
thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm. A great and wondrous
sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under
her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and
cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. (NIV)
What an event! But what does it mean? Though
we see dimly in the completeness of some of these passages, this one
points to some things we are teaching. You are God’s temple in the
spirit, in the heavens and Jesus is God’s Ark of the Covenant. We see a
time that when the temple is open – JESUS IS SEEN. It is a time when the
church has grown up, matured, finished her course just like the Apostle
Paul did. I see the woman seen afterwards as simply another picture of the
temple we just saw previously. She is not simply a church that gets
blessed, and receives glory but she is a church that gives birth. Some see
her as the nation of Israel; they are simply confused about what the Holy
Spirit is saying. God’s word is about you – Jew and Greek in Christ
Jesus comprising Jesus’ body.
The 4th thunder of the Old
Testament causes Moses (you) to hear the answer of God’s thunderous
voice, Moses (you) meets God face-to-face then Moses (you) goes down to
the people. When Moses (you) reached the people he had the priests
sanctify themselves and brought them near. Then God SPOKE and REVEALED the
law of God which would then later become written on stones and hid in the
Ark of the Covenant (Jesus). Then Moses was changed by God’s glory. You
are changed by God’s glory, but that Glory only CAME when you answered
His thunderous voice and met Him at the top. The point is this:
2 Cor 3:18
But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a
mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image
from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (NAS)
This is so important to this passage in
Revelation chapter 12 and I am just now starting to see it more clearly.
God will have a mature people that when all of heaven looks inside of
them, they will see Jesus. The reason the church finally gets there is
because she heard the thunder and decided to go to the top to meet God and
therefore was transformed as 2 Cor 3:18 confirms. In Rev. chapter 12 God
gives another picture of this mature church – she is a woman, she is
pregnant and she is ready to give birth. If we are the “woman” then
that means maturity gets you pregnant! So what does the woman give
birth to?
Rev 12:5
She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule
all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was
snatched up to God and to his throne. (NIV)
A male child! Who is the male child or as the
King James Version puts it “man child”? I know that many teach that
the man-child is the mature sons of God. Though that is close, I never
perceived that that is all the Holy Spirit was saying. This verse
always sounded like Jesus to me at first glance, so I keep that in mind.
Scripturally we see the term “rule the nation with a rod of iron”
found in three places in Revelation. It is seen here in chapter 12; it is
described as pertaining to “overcoming” Christians
in Revelation chapter 2; and pertained to Jesus in Revelation
chapter 19. What a puzzle, but remember that God communicates in pictures
that are to be interpreted by the people who are walking with God on the
mountain instead of by the brainy scholars. Listen to what the Holy Spirit
is teaching you about who is who. Proper interpretation will be the
following: The man-child is only the group pertaining to overcoming
Saints. This is in agreement with Revelation chapter 2. Or
the man-child is Jesus as described in Revelation chapter 19. Finally
the man-child can be both Jesus and the overcoming Christian; if
this is the case then we must balance our focus. Psalm 2 confirms that
the Christian overcomer is granted the promise that was originally
given to the Son of God only. Psalm 2 was a promise to Jesus that we are
now granted the privilege to receive as our own. So which interpretation
should we use for the man-child?
The answer of whether it is only referring to
Saints, to Jesus, or simply both is given only through what the Holy
Spirit is saying through scripture and can never be know by “figuring it
out”. Therefore let us observe some truth that we already know. Remember
the scripture of how Paul took the act of ministering and used a picture,
a metaphor to illustrate the principle. He used several pictures meaning
the same thing. We are an eater of meat, a drinker of milk, a field
receiving planting and water, or a temple being built. These are different
pictures and yet only one principle being taught. Giving more than one
picture brought clarification to what Paul was
teaching and also added detail to the
teaching.
The temple of God is OPENED in Revelation
chapter 11 and Jesus is seen as the Ark in heaven. In
chapter 12 immediately following the opened ark we see a second opening;
an opening of the womb. The woman labors in pain and now OPENS her womb so
that the “man child” can be seen in the Earth. In
this entire book we have taught you to minister the Word of God – Jesus
to others. We minister Jesus as gold, silver, and precious stones (another
picture that Paul used). We minister to others Jesus Who is the Tree of
Life. We minister Jesus without the mixture of bitter water, tares, and
false doctrine. We minister Jesus the Word of God in the SOIL of others
without soulish pride. And all of this type of ministry allows Jesus to
come forth from out of our lives through the process of maturity. This
ministry is THE WOMAN of Revelation 12, a people who sanctify
themselves to live on the mountain with God, Jesus grows up in them, they
are transformed into His image and they IMPART JESUS TO OTHERS.
Why was this Man-child caught up to the
throne? Because if we read the entire passage we seen that the adversary
wants to destroy the man-child, the woman and the OTHER offspring (“the
remnant of the woman”). God catches the man-child to heaven and is out
of reach. In other words, snatching him up to heaven divinely protects the
man-child. The woman who gave birth is divinely protected from the enemy
as well but remains on the Earth and it is the earth that saves the woman
from the flood of the dragon. This shows that God puts His stamp of
approval on Her and she should never be considered immature as some teach
– she is a life-giver, she is a mature woman, and she gives birth to
that which is caught up like Enoch, Elijah, and Jesus were all caught up.
The remnant is the one that the enemy seeks when he can’t
get to the woman and the man-child. The remnant is described as they “which
keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Therefore God puts His stamp of approval on all three pictures presented
in this chapter. God’s approval of ALL THREE must be established or we
will hinder the Holy Spirit from revealing truth. We must make natural
observations and examine what we know then the Holy Spirit gives light
beyond what we naturally know. Fortunately the Holy Spirit helps us with
the tasks of study and observations as well.
Here is another picture that I see fitting
with this passage in Revelation. Jesus gives the parable of the sower of
the Word of God. Jesus is the Word of God being sown. The adversary
attacks whenever Jesus (the Word) is sown. See this picture with me
because it illustrates the function of the enemy to attack and should be
compared to the attacks seen in Revelation chapter 12.
Mark 4:14
The sower soweth the word.
Or another way of putting it, the woman is
pregnant.
And these are they by the way side, where the word is
sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away
the word that was sown in their hearts.
This is the same picture seen in Revelation
where the dragon seeks to devour the child as soon as He is born. In the
following verses we see more attacks from the devil to prevent the Word of
God from growing up and then this parable ends with a people that have
allowed the Word of God (Jesus) to grow to PRODUCTIVITY. What God is
prophesying in Revelation and many other scriptures is; there shall be
a people that will have had seed sown in them and they will produce 30, 60
and 100 fold and they will give birth to another people that are 30, 60
and 100 fold by sowing that same seed – that seed is Jesus, and the
fruit that is produced is Jesus as well. It is not just about you
becoming mature, it is about you imparting the life that makes others
mature. You become the “mother” giving birth, you become the
“father” that raises sons that become fathers and you become the
“hard-working farmer” that labors over the soil that God is blessing.
The MAN-CHILD is CAUGHT UP to the throne to signify that the Word of God
was birthed in others and the adversary cannot get to Him.
Do you see it; God is declaring the Word that you will deposit to
others as OFF-LIMITS TO THE DEVIL as well as you are off limits to
the devil. So whom does this word get deposited to?
Rev 12:17
Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to
make war against the rest of her offspring-- those who obey God's
commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. (NIV)
The dragon could not touch the Male child
(WORD), or the woman - so the devil seeks to “make war” with the REST
(literally – others remaining, remnant) of her offspring. How do we know
that Jesus the Word of God was imparted to this offspring? Because
whenever you truly minister Jesus, you will see a people that obey God’s
commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. That is how you know that
the Word fell on good soil. This plan of God is about you becoming like
Jesus to the point you cause others to become like Jesus. The true
meaning of “making disciples”! The parable of the sower ends with
these words:
Mark 4:21-23
21 And
he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under
a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick?
22 For
there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was
any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad.
23 If
any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
The opening of the Temple to reveal the Ark
and the woman giving birth to reveal Jesus the male child is simply
another way of prophesying that the bushel shall be removed from that
candle of Jesus in you and then placed on a candlestick to light others. Whatever
you have in your heart, whoever you have been serving will be
manifested - for nothing is hid. We must have ears to hear and eyes to
see. Who is the man-child? Is it Jesus? Is it the Overcomers? Is it both?
The Holy Spirit will reveal this if you have eyes to see. What do I see? I
see the man-child primarily as a people that are so In Christ that you
cannot tell them – from Him. Jesus is the focus as the Word of God
planted and grown up, but the church is there too, just as our example in
Psalms that we gave earlier. The man-child is a promise of the Word of God
that is sown by the woman. That promise is being realized and shared by
overcoming Saints that hear and see what God is saying and produced
30-60-100 fold lives. Therefore they are as a male child caught up to
heaven as Enoch, Elijah, and Jesus. Caught up as one who walked in
intimacy, one who walked in the power of ministry, and One Who walked in
total obedience to His Father. Jesus became a culmination of all God’s
plans, a culmination of Who God is, and the Love demonstrated to conform
others to that same Image.
Revelation is not the first book that used
metaphors, parables, and symbols; these types and shadows are seen from
cover to cover. Paul used them, Peter used them, and most all writers of
scriptures taught with pictures. The 4th thunder demonstrates
intimacy through Moses heeding the thunder and then meeting God face to
face. It reveals to the world the glory of that encounter with God. Being
“caught up” to heaven is the experience of being summoned to the top
of the mountain where God is, and having a face-to-face relationship Him.
It is a place that is totally out of reach from the enemy, it is a place
Enoch had been. It is a whirlwind that captured Elijah and admonished Job
about the greatness and awesomeness of God. It is a whirlwind that comes
again according to Isaiah in the last day. The “catching up” in
Revelation has spiritual significance – NOW. The Word of
God is received on good and obedient soil that is “caught up” to the
intimacy of face to face relationship where we know when we
are acting on our authority and when we are walking
and speaking only on His authority. A relationship that lives on
the mountain and leaves that mountain in productivity – giving life to
others!
THUNDER
OF GOD’S GLORY –
THUNDER 5
Exod 20:18 – 5th
Thunder
And all the people saw the thunderings,
and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the
mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood
afar off.
Purpose – God’s people respond to His
glory by distancing themselves and putting Moses (a clergy) between them
and God.
The 4th thunder was glorious, out
of it came the law that became hid in Christ. But tragedy strikes because
the people refused God’s plan of removing the alienation and restoring
relationship with God and man. BECAUSE OF NAKEDNESS they stand afar off.
They see God’s glory and you would think that they would get as close as
allowed; instead they stood afar off.
Exod 20:19-21
19 And
they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not
God speak with us, lest we die.
20 And
Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you,
and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
21 And
the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness
where God was.
The people of God fulfill this
prophetic event
everyday. “Let the Pastor speak to us, let the Pastor go to the
mountain, but I will stay back”. “I do not understand the scriptures
so I must buy the newest book at the Christian bookstore.” Moses on the
other hand drew near to God. The thunderous voice of God is calling us
right now into the thick darkness where He is. Notice the scripture says
that God is in the thick darkness. Selah. Other Christians will not go
there. Other Christians have their pastors and prophets go there and when
most of them have their pastors and prophets
go there – the result is no one goes. We are called to be this “Moses
people” and we are called down from that same mountain to woo others
into coming. We are ministers of reconciliation that will reconcile
God’s people back to Himself at the top of the mountain. God’s desire
is not just the initial salvation experience, God’s entire design was
for man to walk with Him in the Earth and yet not a part of
the cursed ground. The world system grows out of the ground that is cursed
and is destined for judgment, we are traveling on that ground but we are
not rooted in it; we do not Christianize world governments – they are
cursed.
When you have a face-to-face relationship with
the Master and you go to the mountain to hear His thunderous voice for
yourself – it brings glory to your face. As with Moses whose face shines
with Glory that he put a veil on it, God says get that face of glory but
now it is time to take the veil off. We must impart life to others and bring
them to the top of the mountain “with God” in this hour. Who
is it that will finally go? It is the ones that will hear this thunder
being proclaimed and will draw near to God in response. One may be the
Bible scholar of the millennium and never reach God’s face. One may have
seen thousands healed, raised from the dead and demons cast out - and be
the one who stood aloof from God’s holy presence. One may be the most
admired and gifted minister and yet failed to go to the top with God and
failed to go back and bring others to the top to meet God. God is looking
for ANY WHO WILL to go to the top, then leave and bring back others to
meet God. Are you that one? Also, if the thunder of God’s glory
causes the people of God to stand aloof, what will happen when the
glorious church comes on the scene? If you do not go back down – they
will all stand aloof.
Rev 14:2-19
2
And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and
as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers
harping with their harps:
4
These are they which were not defiled with women; for they
are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he
goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits
unto God and to the Lamb.
5
And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault
before the throne of God.
The sound of thunder gives way to the sound of
harps and the voices of harpers. They are singing the Psalms of God and
maybe Psalm 33, which is quite an appropriate song for the occasion. The
harpers are the 144,000 and they are singing a new song that cannot be
learned unless you are a member. God is not in the
business of forming exclusive clubs like some Bible teachers malign
Him as doing. God always says whosoever wills! The 144,000 are NEVER a
number LIMITED to a physical number. God speaks with spiritual numbers and
unless we see that truth, Revelation will always be a mystery to us no
matter how much we study it. Some will respond by saying, “are you not
over-spiritualizing the scriptures and events in Revelation?” These
scriptures are very spiritual and they are hidden FOR those that have eyes
to see and ears to hear. These scriptures do have fulfillment in
both spirit and physical. There will physically be a people that the
144,000 represent. I also perceive that there will be physical calamities
as are depicted in Revelation but each one has a spiritual truth attached
to it. Each physical event communicates God’s plan to man.
The 144,000 are ones that “were not defiled
with a woman”. This is very much like the command of Moses read earlier,
“do not go near a woman”. Moses spoke this as a word of sanctification
to the people of God. Is the Holy Spirit saying this is simply a command
to sanctify us thoroughly or is the Holy Spirit saying that this is
limited to men who choose to never have sexual relations with a woman? You
must hear what the Holy Spirit is teaching to know the answer.
Verse 5 blatantly reveals something very
important that many Bible teachers teach against. There are many Bible
teachers that believe that it is heresy to teach that the people of God
can walk in such a way where their maturity is without sin. In verse 5 we
see a people that walked in this life with no guile, no lies, and no
falsehoods. They are a people that are without blemish, without spot – a
perfect people. Though God’s standard of measure does not
always mean “UTTERLY”, it does have a strong comparison
sense that they shall walk in righteousness where no one can find blame.
Other church members, or the world system, or the devil cannot find blame
in them. God himself calls them BLAMELESS. Not on their own merits but we
are talking of a fruitful walk that comes from abiding in Jesus to such a
capacity that the fruit of sin is absent and the fruit of righteousness is
the ONLY fruit available from their tree. These Bible teachers claim
scripture proficiency and yet in reality they miss some of the simplest
teachings found in scripture. They stand aloof from God’s truth. They
lack the intimacy that the Holy Spirit brings to truth.
7
Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the
hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and
earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
8
And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen,
is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine
of the wrath of her fornication.
Now comes the separation. The hour of judgment
has come. Immediately revealed is Babylon, a city that represents a
religious people that does not know God. The 5th thunder of the
Old Testament separates the people by giving a revelation of God’s glory
that results in a people that “stood aloof” from God. It is a people
that choose to stay aloof. These “standing aloof”
people become “BABYLON”! Now in Revelations’ 5th
thunder they are judged because not only did they stand aloof but they
also intermingled with the nations of the world. They are the first to get
utter judgment before the world system.
9
And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any
man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his
forehead, or in his hand,
The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God,
which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and
he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy
angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and
ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his
image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
In Rev. 7:3 we see the 144,000 having the SEAL
OF GOD in their foreheads. Is this a physical mark? Most would agree it is
not a physical mark but it is a spiritual mark. If we follow this same
pattern in relationship to the “mark of the beast” then we should
conclude that the Holy Spirit is talking about a spiritual mark. Does that
mean there will be no physical marks handed out? That would be trying to
guess something that the Holy Spirit is not teaching. The Holy Spirit is
teaching us to FOCUS on the spiritual mark. Though the physical mark could
become a physical reality, our focus is in the spiritual fulfillments. You
can be out looking for the physical mark and have avoided it and the whole
time you have received the spiritual mark of the beast.
12 Here
is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of
God, and the faith of Jesus.
13 And
I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead
which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they
may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
14 And
I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto
the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp
sickle.
15 And
another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that
sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for
thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
16 And
he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth
was reaped.
Israel’s last feast is the feast of
tabernacles, which is a feast of reaping and then a gathering together
what has been reaped. There is two gathering: of the righteous fruit and
the wheat - and of the wicked tares. This reaping is a great divide just
as the Kidron (meaning dusk) valley in Jerusalem was a divide that
represented light separating from darkness. In this chapter the sickle is
swung twice. The second swing fills the winepress or wine vat with the
fruit from the vine of the Earth – BLOOD. A winepress squashes, crushes
those grapes with feet and this judgment on our enemies uses the feet of
God to crush our enemies. The place this event happens is outside the city
meaning Jerusalem. I see the wine vat as Kidron valley, remembering that
it is the spiritual application that we are hearing from God concerning
these events.
THUNDER
OF ENEMY’S DEFEAT –
THUNDER 6
1 Sam 7:10 – 6th
Thunder
And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the
Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered
with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and
discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.
Purpose – The people respond to the
enemy’s attack by calling on Samuel (clergy). God defeats the enemies of
God’s people.
Six is the number for man and this thunder is
to deal with men who are God’s enemies. God’s people call upon Samuel
to help them. Samuel was their mediator; Samuel was their savior, just as
Moses had been. The Philistines who represent the world system and the
enemies of God’s people - were about to attack. This is a
prophetic event that will be fulfilled in the last day. Samuel’s
response was to sacrifice a Lamb to the Lord. It is the Lamb of God that
destroyed the enemies and He will do so in totality at His coming down on
the mountain. God’s response to the enemy was thunder and it was a
thunder FOR HIS PEOPLE.
The thunder threw the enemy into confusion and
the people of Israel defeated them. The Philistines became spoils for the
people of God. From that day forth the Philistines were defeated in the
land of Israel all the days of Samuel.
John 12:29-33
The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said
that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him. Jesus
answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now
is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be
cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto
me. This he said, signifying what death he should die.
Jesus said now, in relationship to the
Lamb being slain - that the enemy would be defeated and cast down. This is
a fulfillment of the 6th thunder and yet a more final 6th
thunder will be revealed shortly. In other words, the prince of the world
was already cast down according to Jesus and yet there is an appropriation
of this event that has yet to be fully realized. It is now being realized
by the people of God that are walking towards the mountain.
The 6th thunder of Revelation
dramatically adds to this judgment for the last day.
Rev 16:18-21
18 And
there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great
earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so
mighty an earthquake, and so great.
19 And
the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations
fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her
the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
21 And
there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the
weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of
the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
Final judgment is now signaled throughout the
world and yet it will take one more thunder to remove the last enemy.
Man’s response to this last judgment on Earth is blaspheming God. It is
a total rejection of the Gospel, the ministry of reconciliation and the
plan of redemption. Man chooses to continue beliefs in salvation through
works – a covering of vegetation. Man continues to believe in godless
scientific theories, in the pride of politics, in the piety of Hollywood,
success from their talents, in its riches that they have stored, and in
every effort of self-preservation. The bottom line is that they DO NOT
REPENT.
Rev 18:8
Therefore shall her plagues come in one day,
death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with
fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
The end result of the 6th thunder
is the death of the apostate church. The apostate church is an enemy that
has corrupted the church because of her proximity, her closeness. Her
doctrine has consistently lied to the saints and corrupted the church. Her
flirtation with the world system has enticed believers all over the world
to forsake Jesus for other things. The Babylon church now receives her
reward – utter judgment. The biggest enemy of the church is defeated. No
more opinions of man, no more perversions of the nature of God, and no
more oppressing the people of God by keeping them off of the mountain.
THUNDER
OF RESTORATION –
THUNDER 7
1 Sam 12:14 – 7th
Thunder
If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice,
and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall both ye and
also the king that reigneth over you continue following the LORD your God:
But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against
the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against
you, as it was against your fathers. Is it not wheat harvest to day? I
will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that
ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have
done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king. So Samuel
called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day:
and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
Purpose – The people placed Moses (prophet),
Samuel (priest) and a king (Saul) to rule over them. God answers them with
thunder and a voice that calls for ultimate reconciliation and restoration
of God’s people back to Himself – FACE TO FACE.
The people of God had made a prophet to
mediate between them and God and then a priest to stand in the gap
and now a king. The early church did not have a dividing line of
clergy and laity. This latter church of ours however has alienated her
just as the Israelites had done. Starting with the Catholic Church into
present day prophetic movements, we still see this same alienation. This
alienation did not surprise God; He prophesied it in the seven thunders.
This alienation did not start with God’s people in the church of the
Middle Ages, it was an alienation seen in God’s people in the days of
Moses, Samuel and Saul.
The 7th thunder is the final
thunder, the perfect thunder. It must accomplish completely what God had
set out to do since the 1st thunder. It started in alienation
and it must end in total reconciliation. It must end in a unity, a
gathering together of all God’s people with God Himself! It cannot end
with the people at the base of the mountain, it cannot end with God’s
people standing afar off and it cannot end with God’s people setting up
prophets to hear and meet God for them.
We got men going to heaven for us, we say,
“we need their prophecies”, and “we need their newest
revelations”. Now listen up for God’s thunderous voice – NO MORE!!!
God will no longer allow you to have a pastor / Moses or the
prophetic
seer of your choice. So what does God do about it? He sends thunder to
deal with the final thing that stands before Him and man – OTHER MEN.
There is a perfect gift of ministry through men of God, but it is the
people’s RESPONSE to ministry gifts that God is after not the ministers
themselves. I am a minister therefore do not misunderstand and think I am
talking about the destruction of ministry. I am talking about the
destruction of the vegetation that we are wearing. It is vegetation that
places a minister between God and us. This last vegetation rests in the
finish work and experiences of the minister instead of resting in our own
face-to-face relationship. All ministers that hear the 7th
thunderous voice of God will simply move out of the way and go up WITH THE
PEOPLE.
I have spoken before about the false doctrine
of shepherdship in this book. I have a hatred for this leaven more than
other false doctrines that I encounter. I watched nice people get
destroyed because of it and it almost destroyed me years ago, but that is
not why I hate this sin so much. After seeing the 7th thunder I
realized that it is a leaven that utterly alienates man from God by
placing a “minister” in between you and Jesus. Unfortunately they are
not quite the caliber of Moses, but even if they were, if we will listen
to God’s thunderous voice, it says NO MORE.
No more shall I have a man between Me and My
people. No more shall man rule My people and become a crutch for My
people. The time for kings is over, the time for priests is over and the
times for prophets are over for I have called my entire people to be My
prophet, priests and king. I have called My people to reign with Me
face-to-face in an intimacy that can be found only on My bosom. This is no
place for those that are timid, no place for those that are weak, it a
place for My Gideons who will fight to get to a place of rest with Me that
cannot be counterfeited and cannot be mastered. Those who try to stand
in-between shall be removed, they are opposed to the 7th
thunder of My awesome voice saith the Lord.
So Samuel says that the 7th thunder
will show us the great wickedness that we have done in the sight of God in
asking for a king. When the thunder CAME the people SAW. They perceived
how great that wickedness was, they saw their wickedness in asking
for a human mediator and repented. Their wicked King Saul would be
replaced by King David who represented the only King we would ever serve,
the King from Heaven.
1 Sam 12:20-22 - … the Lord has
been pleased to make you a people for Himself!
After the 7th thunder ends God
reveals to us WHY. All of these thunders happen to finally bring us to a
place where we habitually live in Him, for Him and WE BECOME HIS! It
pleased Him to sound the thunders to make you a people for Him.
God takes pleasure with a people reconciled to Him and no longer alienated
in any way. God takes pleasure in having redeemed you from the curse of
the law and of the ground – for Himself. You are for Him, not for anyone
standing in-between. Your favorite minister cannot be your voice of God
any longer it must be God Himself. Your pastor cannot be your king, your
discerner or your sole adviser. God must be your Husband now. The gift of
men can be partaken from, whether it is my gift to you or your pastors -
but it ends there. I am bringing you to the base of the mountain but it is
up to you to proceed upwards. I cannot go for you and you
cannot go for me. I plead with you to go and do not look back, He is up
there waiting for you and all He desires is that you come boldly to His
throne of grace and obtain the mercy to Love Him Face-to-Face without
shame and nakedness ever again. Never standing aloof, and never shrinking
back.
The 7th thunder of Revelation
sounds for what becomes the completion of the entire plan of redemption.
It pleased God to make you a people unto Himself. Not a people that does
what she wants, says what she wants, and chooses the brand
of Christianity she wants. You have become a people He takes
pleasure in - without spot, wrinkle or blemish.
Rev 19:6-9
6
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the
voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings,
saying, Halleluia (Praise ye God): for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
7
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the
marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
8
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
9
And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called
unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are
the true sayings of God.
My brethren, this is the final voice of
God’s thunder. We must observe the finality, the completeness, and the
perfection of what God is saying from His thunder. We are granted, we are
called, and we are blessed to have this marriage invitation. If you have
yet to choose Jesus then we must not wait any longer. We have made the
initial commitment but not lets make our FINAL COMMITMENT! Jesus wants you
reserved for Him and your past has no bearing on your future. Whatever
defilement, whatever tragedy and whatever pains you have - becomes
swallowed up if we will commit to the MOST EXCELLENT WAY of our Lord
Jesus. If we are attached to anything unlike Jesus – commit to cast it
off now. If we have accepted doctrine that Jesus does not agree with then
purge it out of your bread. If we have failed to serve Jesus with our
whole being and have not given Him total authority over our lives then let
us repent and go up to the mountain of our Lord. Without shame, without
nakedness we are clothed with Jesus Who is sufficient in the eyes of our
God. Our lives are to be a sweet fragrance to His nose; our lives are to
be good fruit eaten of by our brethren and our lives stand as judgment
against those that refuse the covenant of God. Cry out to God for mercy
and cry out to God for the grace to enter in by faith to the rest of God
where we cease from works and are instead clothed in His glory. Do not
let your race become disqualified by fainting, by standing
aloof, or by accepting teachings that do not resemble Jesus and His
glorious plan of total reconciliation. It is how you finish the race
that counts. Do not finish like King Solomon that built the house and then
served other gods; or like King Hezekiah that God selected for death after
a race of honor, and when he got an extension with life through healing
– turned away from God and finished in rebellion. We must proceed to the
high calling of God, the more excellent way – the finishing line. It is
how we finish that counts. We must finish as fathers, we must finish as
mothers, we must finish as the Moses that brings the people to the top of
the mountain – to be reconciled – spirit, soul, and then at the
culmination – THE BODY.
There are so many more details with these
scriptures that build on the glory of God’s plan. God has so many ways,
so many pictures to show us these simple truths. It is never a new
revelation but a revelation seen in the Old Testament, but with a clearer
vision until that time of the great Marriage Supper Feast of the Lamb –
the Gathering Together of God’s people unto Himself. God’s love story
starts in Genesis 1:1 and ends in Revelation 22:21. This is the day that
we receive glorified bodies that are flesh of His flesh and bone of His
bone. And forevermore we shall be with the Lord and we shall be known by
His Name. We shall be married to our Lord. We are the City of God, we are
the dwelling of God –His temple, we are His bride and wife, and we are
His people Whom He takes pleasure in. Come Lord Jesus, we receive Your
free gift, drinking from Your spring. Come Lord Jesus, we have made
ourselves ready for You. Come Lord Jesus, we have become Your
habitation, a temple not made with the hands of man, but a temple made solely
by the hands of Your Spirit; for God’s temple is not made by
might (human), nor by power (man’s) , but by My Spirit saith the Lord.
Amen.
Rev 21:2-17
I saw the holy City (God’s people), the new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully
dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now
the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. THEY WILL BE HIS PEOPLE, AND GOD HIMSELF WILL BE WITH THEM AND BE THEIR
GOD.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or
mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed
away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making
everything new!" He
said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without
cost from the spring of the water of life. He
who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the
churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning
Star." The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him
who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and
whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. (NIV)
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