Saturday, May 23, 2015

Rabbi Johnathan Cahn: Mystery of the Dark Angel



WATCH:
Jonathan Cahn Reveals Mystery of the Dark Angel


Shalom,
here's a small article from Charisma News (read below) and a small
clip of Jonathan talking abut this message during a recent airing on
the Jim Bakker Show. Jonathan will continue this IMPORTANT series of
messages this Friday May 8, 2015 at his congregation Beth Israel
Jerusalem center. This will be the 4th of this series here's the
other titles: THE MYSTERY OF PERGAMON I, THE ALTAR OF THE DARK ANGEL,
THE MOUNTAIN OF THE DARK ANGEL.


When
the Bible predicted the destruction of the Temple Mount, did it mean
more than once? 
That's
what New York Times best-selling author Rabbi
Jonathan Cahn spoke with Jim Bakker about. 
"That
what Jesus Messiah speaks of will happen again," Cahn says
before getting into the history—and the links—of Israeli and
biblical prophecy compared to Greek and Roman mythology. 
It
boils down to what Cahn calls the Dark Angel: The spirit that
inhabited Baal was the same one that drove the Greeks to create Zeus
and the Romans to worship Jupiter—both gods of war that intended to
destroy Israel. 
Sure,
these stories have historical insight, but what does the mystery of
the Dark Angel mean for the future of today's Israel?
Watch
the video to find out.





Roy Exum: Rabbi Cahn’s Harbinger

Sunday, May 10, 2015 - by Roy Exum/The Chattanoogan.com
Roy Exum
Roy Exum
In 2012, a Christian novel called “The Harbinger” sold over a million copies, was made into a movie and, at the close of 2013, had spent 100 weeks on the New York Times’ Best-Seller list. For the record, a harbinger is a person or a thing that announces the coming of another. The author, a Rabbi from New Jersey named Jonathan Cahn, believes the 9/11 attacks may be ‘The Harbinger’ and uses a verse from Isaiah 9:10, which reads: "The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.”
Less than two weeks ago Rabbi Cahn spoke in Washington at an annual prayer breakfast that honors our nation’s first president, George Washington, each year because Washington founded our country “under God” and was very much a man of prayer.
The breakfast is held in Statuary Hall, which was formerly the Old House Chamber and, from 1800 to 1869, was the largest church on the east coast every Sunday.
For reasons that will become quickly obvious, allow me to present the full text of what the Rabbi told our nation’s leaders 12 days ago:
* * *
It is April 29, 2015. Two hundred and twenty six years ago this day, George Washington readied himself for the first ever presidential inauguration, to take place the following day, the day America as we know it came into existence, with a president's hand resting on the Word of God. That day would conclude with America's first government gathering in prayer to dedicate the nation's future into God's hands.
A century and a half earlier, another seminal event took place on the same day. On April 29, 1607, the voyagers of the Susan Constant, the Discovery, and the Godspeed, gathered together in prayer at Cape Henry to set a wooden cross in the sands of Virginia Beach, and dedicate the new civilization to the will and purposes of God.
America's biblical foundation would be reaffirmed over and over again by its forefathers, from the Pilgrims of the Mayflower, to the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay, to the leaders of the first American colonies who declared publicly and in writing that the new commonwealth had come into existence solely for the glory and purposes of God.
No historian can rewrite that. No president can expunge it. And if a thousand angels swore on a thousand bibles that this was not the case, it would in no way alter the fact – that this American civilization was conceived, established, dedicated, and founded on a biblical cornerstone; America was brought into existence for the will and purposes of God.
On this night, over two hundred years ago, George Washington held in his hand the first ever presidential address. In that address was a prophetic warning: It was this: "The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself hath ordained." In other words, if America should ever turn away from God and His ways, if it should ever disregard His eternal rules of order and right, then His blessings, the smiles of Heaven, would be removed from the land.
It was an ancient warning. It had been given in Hebrew words by the prophets to the kingdom of Israel. But Israel turned away from God and disregarded His eternal rules of order and right. 
They drove God out of their government, out of their public squares, out of their culture, and out of the lives of their children. They worshiped idols and served other gods. They celebrated immorality and persecuted the righteous. They lifted up their children on the altars of foreign gods. And the blessings of God were removed from the land and replaced with judgment.
It is two and half thousand years later, and America has made the same mistake. We, too, have turned away from God. We, too, have driven Him out of our government, out of our public squares, out of our culture, and out of the lives of our children. We too have profaned the sacred and sanctified the profane. And we, too, have killed our most innocent, over fifty five million of our unborn children, and our collective hands are covered with blood. What we were warned never to do, we now have done.
And now we gather in the city named after the one who gave that prophetic warning. And yesterday, in this city, in the building that sits across from this hill, the justices of the Supreme Court took up their places on the bench to decide whether America should strike down the biblical and historic definition of marriage. The very fact that such an event took place is, in itself, a sign that the America of Washington's warning is here and the day of which he warned is now. 
We have become a civilization in spiritual schizophrenia, a nation at war against its own foundations. The Supreme Court opens its sessions with the words: "God save the United States and this Honorable Court." But if then this honorable court should overrule the word of God and strike down the eternal rules of order and right that Heaven itself hath ordained, how then will God save it? 
Supreme Court Justices, can you judge the ways of God? Can you, with manmade verdicts, overrule the eternal laws of God? There is another court, and there is another judge. And before Him, all men and all judges will give account. If a nation's high court should pass judgment on the Almighty, should you then be surprised if the Almighty should pass judgment on that court and that nation.
In the Book of Jeremiah, it is written: "Has a nation ever exchanged its gods... Yet my people have exchanged their glory for that which cannot help them." Let us not pretend as to what we are now doing. We are doing exactly that which Israel did on the altars of Baal. We are exchanging our God for idols, our light for darkness, and our glory for that which cannot save us. Are we ready to risk that which comes on the other side of that exchange, the day when the blessings of Heaven are removed from the land?
We began with a word from the president of our nation's first days. So I now speak a word to the president of our nation's most recent days. Each time I have spoken here, I have asked a question. Now I will answer it. "Mr. President, with all respect that is due, 'What happens if one assumes the presidency by placing his left hand on the Word of God, and then, with his right hand, enacts laws that war against the very same Word of God on which he laid his hand? Such an act invokes the judgment of the Almighty.
To swear an oath on the Word of God in which it is written "Defend the weak" and "Do not murder," and to then to not defend the weak, to not protect the unborn from harm, but, instead, to advance their murder, is to invoke the judgment of the Almighty.
To swear an oath on the Word of God, in which it is written, "Do not cause your brother to stumble," and then to seek to force those who uphold the Word of God to transgress the Word of God, by partaking in the killing of the unborn and the celebration of sin, is to invoke the judgment of the Almighty.
And to swear an oath on the Word of God, in which it is written, 'Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people," and then to take part in leading a nation away from "the eternal rules of order and right that Heaven itself hath ordained," and against the very Word of God on which you laid your hand to swear that oath, is to invoke the judgment of the Almighty. 
When the leaders of ancient Israel turned away from God, when they abolished His precepts, and broke His covenant, they did so in the shadow of Moses, whose voice cried out to them in warning. 
"Mr. President, when you address the nation from this house, look up. Look up above the Senators and Representatives, above the Supreme Court Justices, and above the invited guests - and you will see a face – the only full visage on that wall – looking back at you. It is the face of Moses.
And if that face could speak, it would say this: "No king can overrule the laws of God, no order can annul the order of God, and no judgment of man can stand against the judgments of God. Invoke not His judgment. But choose life. And lead in the way of repentance. Invoke the grace of God, that He might have mercy on this land."
We have come to a most critical moment. As Elijah stood on top of Mount Carmel and cried out to Israel in its hour of decision, in between two altars and two gods, his voice now cries out to America and says to us, "Choose you this day whom you will serve." Seventy years ago, the Chaplain of the United States Senate, cried out in the same voice, and said to this nation, "If the Lord be God, then follow Him! But if Baal, then follow him... and go to hell!"
Tonight, America stands at the crossroads.  And as Elijah came to the summit of Mount Carmel to make a declaration, we have come this night to Capitol Hill to declare... that our God... is not Baal. Our God... is not Molech. Our God... is not government. Our God... is not money. Our God... is not power. Our God... is not pleasure. Our God... is not political correctness or any other manmade thing.
We have come to this hill to declare... that there is only one God - And He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God of Israel and of all nations. And He alone is the Rock upon which this nation has come into existence.
And from this high place we make this declaration: We will not bow down our knees to Baal. We will not bow down our knees to political correctness. We will not bow down our knees to a morality that is as shifting as wind swept sand. We will not bow down our knees to the laws and precepts of rebellion or to the sacred cows of moral apostasy. We will not bow down our knees to the idols of man. We will not bow down to Baal.
We will bow down our knees only... to the Lord our God, come what may, and we will have no other gods before Him.
For some trust in chariots, and some trust in princes, some trust in supreme courts, and some trust in white houses, some trust in governments, and some trust in wall streets, some trust in powers, and some trust in idols.
But we will trust in the name of the Lord our God, in the name above all names, above all kings, and above all powers. We will trust in the only name given by which we can be saved. 
We will trust in the name of Yeshua Ha Mashiach, Jesus the Messiah, the King of all kings, the Lord of all lords, the Judge of all judges, the Light of this World, the Glory of Israel, the foundation stone upon which this nation came into existence, and the only answer, the only chance, and the only hope America has, that it might once again shine with the light of the fire of the presence of the glory of the Living God ... and not ... go to hell!
* * *
How’s that for a harbinger?
"Taking the seal in his right hand and lifting it up, he began to explain. "The Fourth Harbinger: In the wake of the calamity, the nation responds without repentance, humility, or reflection, but with pride and defiance. Their leaders vow, 'We will rebuild.'~ The Harbinger (pg. 61). THE BOOK THAT IS STILL UNFOLDING! Get your copy today! 
http://www.theharbinger-jonathancahn.com/
WWD EXCLUSIVE~ THE COMING SHAKING

Storm clouds gathering around U.S., says bestselling author
As the climax of the “Shemitah” year draws near, the man who popularized the once-obscure Hebrew word sees more cause than ever for concern.
America is in for a great “shaking,” says Jonathan Cahn, author of the New York Times best-sellers “The Harbinger” and “The Mystery of the Shemitah.”
The Shemitah year began on Sept. 25, 2014, and will hit its climax on Sept. 13, 2015. That is exactly four months away, when the Hebrew calendar lands on Elul 29, the same biblical day of reckoning that brought record stock-market crashes in September 2001 and September 2008.
The Shemitah comes once every seven years and, according to Cahn, can bring blessings or judgments. For a nation that started out dedicated to God but falls into apostasy, each Shemitah year can bring progressively worse judgments until the nation repents and turns back to God, he said.
Cahn remains cautious about making any specific predictions on how the Shemitah will play out over its final four months. He emphasizes that nobody can predict with absolute clarity what will happen as August turns into September and September into October.
But as he looks into the approaching storm, here are his main concerns:
President Obama continues to foster poor relations with Israel, reaching an agreement on Iran’s nuclear enrichment that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has characterized as a “bad deal” for his nation’s future security.
America continues to slide into the moral abyss, embracing homosexual marriages and pushing transgenderism in the public schools. A landmark Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage is expected in June.
At the same time Obama alienates Israel, ISIS continues to rise in the Middle East and recently carried out a brazen attack on the U.S. homeland with an attempted mass shooting at a free-speech event in Garland, Texas, last week.
The FBI now says it has active investigations into ISIS sympathizers in all 50 states. ISIS claims to have 71 fighters with targets in 15 states. It has threatened to infiltrate the ranks of refugees, which continue to flood into the U.S. from the Middle East and Africa by the thousands every month. Many are coming from known terror-supporting states like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia. Mosques are rising in cities across the U.S., and the White House Task Force on New Americans is working feverishly in cooperation with governors and mayors to lay out the welcome mat.
While Islam is on the rise, Pew Research Center released a poll this week that found a stark decline in the number of Americans who consider themselves Christian, falling 8 percentage points in just seven years. Only 70 percent now call themselves Christian, and those self-identifying as agnostic reached an all-time high of 56 million.
Cahn sees a connection between what he calls “the apostasy” or falling away from God and Judeo-Christian values, the willingness to abandon Israel and the rise of Islamic terrorism.
A familiar enemy
“The pattern revealed in ‘The Harbinger‘ could be significant concerning America’s future,” he said.
“When ancient Israel was destroyed in 722 B.C., the agents of its destruction were the ancient Assyrians, the same ones who were responsible for inflicting a strike of terror on the nation years before. Assyria was the originator of terrorism,” Cahn told WND. “America’s first strike came on 9/11. Since America has followed the fatal pattern of ancient Israel in defiance and apostasy, since the harbingers of judgment have not stopped manifesting, I wondered whether this part of the pattern would also replay.”
That pattern is this: The same forces responsible for the first strike on ancient Israel returned years later to deliver another, more devastating attack.
In light of this pattern, Cahn sees the rise of ISIS, an outgrowth of al-Qaida in Iraq, as ominous.
“The agents of ISIS not only claim the same region as that of the ancient Assyrians, but they practice the exact same acts as savagery, mutilation of their victims, beheadings, and the publicizing of these acts to inspire terror throughout the world,” Cahn said. “The fact that America is now engaged again with the agents of terror, and in the days of its deepening apostasy from God is doubly ominous.”
And Cahn is not the only Christian leader who sees judgment on the horizon for America. Many others, from Franklin Graham to James Dobson to Joel Richardson have all spoken out with words of warning in recent months.
This week a new voice, Ann Graham Lotz, daughter of the Rev. Billy Graham, added her name to the list.
Lotz issued a “Mayday” alert for Americans to engage in a week of steadfast prayer and intersession for the country May 15-23. She believes the U.S. is careening headlong toward judgment “and it’s going to be ugly,” she wrote on her website.
“Institutions will collapse. Banks will close,” Lotz wrote. “The stock market will plunge. Planes will fall out of the sky. Cars will crash on the road. Government in America at every level will disintegrate. Families will be torn apart.”
Lotz even mentioned the tetrad of “blood moons” as major signs that judgment is coming, affirming the work of pastor Mark Biltz, author of “Blood Moons: Decoding the Imminent Heavenly Signs.”
Though the pattern of the Shemitah is that it’s most dramatic consequences tend to come at the end, Cahn believes the beginning may hold clues to the end.
In the Shemitah of 2007-08, for example, the beginning seemed uneventful. Yet on its opening day, there was a quiet clue that few even noticed. The first major bank collapse in more than 100 years occurred in Britain. This event foreshadowed the colossal collapse of the global financial system that would take place at the end of the Shemitah year.
As the current Shemitah began last September, Wall Street suddenly began reeling. It quickly stabilized and then gradually continued its ascent. All concerns were forgotten.
“Could it be a foreshadowing of the collapse of America’s economic and financial realms?” Cahn asks.
And there are other potential foreshadowing events that took place last September.
“An earthquake of over 6 on the Richter scale struck America – on Sept. 25 – the very opening day of the Shemitah. Could it be a foreshadowing of future natural disasters?” Cahn wonders.
And the first manifestations of the Ebola virus in America took place on Sept. 25, again on the opening day of the Shemitah.
Still, Cahn tempers his concerns, saying, “We can’t be dogmatic. God doesn’t have to do anything more in this present Shemitah. The dynamics of the Shemitah can manifest more strongly in one cycle and less in another.”
But, he advises, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
‘A great shaking is coming’
“I do believe a great shaking is coming to America – a shaking that will involve the collapse of the financial realm, the collapse of the economy, and a collapse even greater than these. This can take place within the parameters of the Shemitah or beyond, but I believe they are coming,” Cahn said.
Of the last seven cycles of the Shemitah, 100 percent of them have been linked to collapse, he said.
“The phenomenon of the Shemitah has been intensifying. In the last two cycles, the Shemitah’s dynamics have grown stronger in intensity and precision,” he continued. “At the end of the Shemitah 2001, in the month of September, the stock market collapsed in the greatest point implosion in history. The day of its collapse was Elul 29, the very last day of the Shemitah, the same day appointed by God as the day of financial nullification. In exact accordance with the mystery, in September of 2008, the stock market again collapsed in the greatest point crash in world history, and did so on the very same day, Elul 29, the day appointed in the Bible.”
There have already been several significant events having taken place in this present Shemitah.
As the Shemitah began, in its first week, the news came out that America had been overtaken as the world’s supreme nuclear power. That mantle now belongs to Russia.
“For years, I’ve warned that if America doesn’t return to God, the American age, as we have known it, will come to an end,” Cahn said.
Many historians believe the “American age” began around the year 1871, when the U.S. eclipsed the British Empire as the strongest economic power on earth.
In the second week of the Shemitah, more than 140 years from the 1871 benchmark, America’s crown was removed as the strongest economic power on earth as measured by gross domestic product. It passed to China last September as the Shemitah year opened.
“The American age has come to an end,” Cahn said. “The ramifications of this change in the days ahead will be enormous.”
Moral ‘fall’ and the race toward judgment
One of the meanings of the Hebrew word “shemitah” is “the fall.”
“A fall can come about in many ways,” Cahn said. “In 1973, in the year of the Shemitah, the Supreme Court ruled to make it legal to kill unborn children. That was a fall of a moral and spiritual nature. It was accompanied by the collapse of the financial realm and then the economic realm.”
The current Shemitah appears poised to usher in an equally significant moral fall. As it began in the autumn, the Supreme Court made the decision not to defend the striking down of gay marriage bans across the country. In the subsequent days, the number of states that had struck down the biblical definition of marriage went from a distinct minority, in the teens, to a distinct majority, now at 37.
In June of this year, the Supreme Court will issue its ruling concerning marriage.
“It will likely end the historic, traditional, universal, and biblical definition of marriage – the sign of a nation in the midst of a rapid spiritual apostasy and moral fall – the sign of a nation racing toward judgment,” Cahn said. “All this has and will all take place within the parameters of the Shemitah – ‘the fall.’”
Abandoning Israel heaps more judgment
One of the saving graces concerning America’s fall from God is that it has still blessed Israel, Cahn said. But the recent deterioration of relations between the U.S. and Israel is another ominous sign, he said.
“Abraham made covenant promises that those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed. But now, even in this realm, the signs point to judgment,” Cahn said. “At the same time America is deepening its apostasy from God, we are witnessing the worst deterioration in relations between America and Israel in the history of both countries. The (Obama) administration has promised to reassess its relationship with Israel and has given an implicit threat that it may abandon the Jewish nation in future days. If we abandon Israel or place Israel in danger, should we then be surprised if in future days we find ourselves abandoned and in danger?”
Cahn believes America has been blessed as much as it has blessed Israel and the Jewish people. But if it ever turns away from that, there is no guarantee of blessings. “And to turn away from God and Israel at the same time, is a dangerous combination,” he said.
Cahn said he sees the American financial system as a house of cards – and one that could collapse at any time.
“There’s no single pattern the Shemitah must follow. In the Shemitah of 2008, it was building up, in a series of collapses, to the collapse of the financial realm in September. In the Shemitah of 2001, the collapse came suddenly, almost out of nowhere, with the event of 9/11, which caused the financial realm to implode.”
In the present Shemitah, the final day of Elul 29 will fall on a Sunday, when the stock market is closed. The last day the stock market will be open will be the 14th anniversary of 9/11.
“Another sign we are racing toward judgment is that the harbingers of which I wrote about in ‘The Harbinger’ have not stopped but have continue to manifest – at the same time the nation descends from God,” he said.
“When I speak of a great shaking coming, some people get scared,” Cahn added. “But we are not to fear. If we belong to God, if He’s first in our life, if we follow Him – there is nothing to fear. On the contrary, I believe that without a shaking, without something to intervene in America’s moral and spiritual implosion, there would be no hope. Through shaking can come revival, among those who will return.”
A nation can be shaken through financial and economic collapse, through natural disasters, through man-made disasters, through the breakdown of a nation’s order and infrastructure, or, as in the case of 9/11, through a terrorist attack.
“When people ask, ‘How can I be safe in days of judgment?’ Or, ‘What should I do to prepare?’ I believe it is wise to have essentials on hand, so that if systems break down, one would be ready,” he said. “Beyond that, the safest place to be is not the Midwest or the South. The safest place is the will of God. And for those who are not saved, the word for safety in Hebrew is Yeshua – the Hebrew word for Jesus. The only safe place to be, is inside Jesus – and to get everything in your life inside of His will.”
THE MYSTERY OF THE SHEMITAH UNLOCKED DVD!
Order your copy of this fascinating NEW documentary today!
http://goo.gl/IQSoHH
Shalom! Here's a small interview with Jonathan via WND TV. 
https://www.facebook.com/294590057337142/videos/664678510328293/

Over 6 Million People Hear Jonathan Cahn's Warning to Supreme Court


JESSILYN JUSTICE/charisma news

The Mystery of the Shemitah Unlocked



THE MYSTERY OF THE SHEMITAH UNLOCKED DVD!

Order your copy of this fascinating NEW documentary today!
http://goo.gl/IQSoHH

THE CHRISTIAN HOLOCAUST: JONATHAN CAHN'S SPEECH TO THE U.N.-FULL VERSION

CHARISMA NEWS EXCLUSIVE: Jonathan Cahn: Will America Avoid Calamity?
I take no joy in being the bearer of bad news.
That might sound strange coming from the author of The Harbinger and The Mystery of the Shemitah. But that's the point. If I must be that bearer, then there has to be a very strong reason behind it. And so when I'm asked to write how America can avoid judgment or calamity, I find myself in a predicament. The reason is this: I don't believe it will be avoided. And if we don't look at the magnitude of the situation, we'll be of no effect, impact or good in the matter.
What we are now witnessing is unprecedented in the history of America and modern culture. In the 1970s Ruth Graham made the statement: "If God doesn't judge America, He'll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah." Those words were spoken at a time when the Ten Commandments were still displayed in public schools and government buildings, when marriage was overwhelmingly upheld, when the idea that God and Jesus could be mocked on national television as the object of comedy would be unimaginable, when the idea that there would come a time when half or more of American children would be born out of wedlock and the president of the United States would be endorsing homosexuality would be unimaginable. And yet if Ruth Graham could speak of God's judgment on the America of that day, how much more true is it now, and how much farther is this nation down the road to judgment?
While individual believers, churches and ministries may see success in ministry and many brought to salvation, the state of the church as a whole with regard to the culture that surrounds it is another matter altogether. Despite what many preach, these are not the best of times and things are not getting better—but decidedly worse. There has been no great national revival on American shores in years. But there has been a great apostasy. And that apostasy has deepened in its intensity, widened in its scope and accelerated in its speed. And most of the church has been ineffective in slowing it down, much less stopping or reversing it.
We now find ourselves on the defense, having our jobs threatened for merely standing on the Word of God. And rather than causing us to grow stronger, too many believers and ministers have grown timid and weak, not wanting to pay a price for their faith. And in the midst of the greatest moral and spiritual decay in modern times, the pulpits have largely grown silent in answering it, more focused on how God can fulfill our will and desires than calling the church to fulfill the will and desires of God. And we wonder why the culture around us is going to hell. If the American church had been the salt and light it was called to be, there is no way that the culture could have grown so dark and rotting.
So do I believe that we can avoid God's judgment, the hand of His shaking? No—not any more than could ancient Israel. No nation, so blessed with God's blessings, can so blatantly war against the God of its blessings and expect those blessings to continue. I believe a great shaking is coming to this nation. Does that mean I have no hope? No, not at all. Rather I believe that America has grown so far from God that without a great shaking there would be no hope. I believe America has grown so deafened to God's voice, that it will not be in His whispers but in His crying out and shouting that it has any chance of now hearing. Most of us came to the Lord, or drew closer to the Lord because there was some kind of shaking in our lives. If that's true for individuals, why do we think it less true for nations?
In the days after 9/11, it looked as if there was going to be a national revival. And there was a window of time when it could have taken place. All across the nation, people flocked to churches and prayed for God's blessing. But there was no revival because there was no repentance. And without repentance, there can be no revival. And so it was not only that America failed to return to God, but in the years following 9/11, grew much farther away from God than it had ever been before. I believe it will take an event even greater than 9/11 for America to wake up and return. I don't believe that it's a choice between judgment or revival. At this point in America's descent from God, I believe it will only be through judgment, as in a great shaking, that revival would come—to those who will hear and turn.
Do we have a role to play in this? Yes. Do we have any biblical model to give us direction? We do. The prophet Elijah likewise lived in a time of national apostasy and judgment. And yet he was powerfully used to accomplish God's purposes. What does he reveal to us about our calling in this day?
A Time of National Apostasy
Even in the face of great evil and persecution, Elijah never succumbed to the temptation to live on the defensive. He lived decidedly on the offensive. He knew that no matter what it looked like, God was in control and so as long as he followed God, he would be living on the winning side. Elijah lived, not to be acted upon, but to act upon the world around him. In the same way we must resist the temptation, in a day of great evil, to become reactionary and to live on the defense. The Lord didn't give us that option. We are of the kingdom that only advances. We must therefore live proactively, resolving that we will not be affected by the world, but the world will be affected by us. We must set our hearts, make it our goal, to impact the darkness around us with the light.
Lights in the Darkness
Elijah was engaged with the nation and culture surrounding him. He was a light shining in its darkness. We must be the same. No matter what age we live in and no matter what the state of its culture, our calling to be the light of the world remains. The light doesn't ignore the darkness. The light doesn't pretend that the darkness isn't really that dark. It doesn't tone down its light to be politically correct or not to offend. It doesn't hide its radiance in fear of persecution. Nor is it content to live a self-absorbed existence focusing on itself and its own prosperity. If it does any of these things, then it ceases being the light. What does the light do? It shines. It lights up the darkness. It changes the world around it. If we want to see revival, we must do likewise.
Weaned and Plugged In
Elijah lived in the midst of famine, and yet was unaffected by it. He had weaned himself of dependence on his culture and world. At the same time he became more and more dependent on God. The two things go together. Likewise, in the days ahead, we must become more and more independent of the world and culture around us. We must wean ourselves, our spiritual life, our emotional life, our thought life, our identity from the world. How do we do that? By becoming more dependent on God. The more plugged into God we become, the more independent of the world we will be. We must root and ground our lives all the more deeply and strongly on God and His Word. That which can be shaken will be shaken. But that which is rooted and grounded in God's Word and truth will not be shaken.
Prayer, More Than Ever Before
In the same way, Elijah was a man of prayer. And the Bible records that his prayers were heard and effective. In the days ahead, we must become, even more so, people of prayer. In days of apostasy and chaos, it will be our sustenance and our strength, an anchor in the storm.
The Righteousness Key
Elijah was a man of righteousness. The Bible reveals that his righteousness was a key part of his ability to impact what happened to his nation. If we want to impact the future of our nation, we must likewise live lives of integrity and walk in righteousness. One of the most central Scriptures of revival, 2 Chronicles 7:14, involves as a key component that the people of God "turn from their evil ways." If we walk in darkness, how can we be a light to that darkness?
If we walk in the ways of the world, how can impact it? And if we're afraid of being different, how can we make a difference? It is crucial that we do whatever we have to do to live lives consistent with our faith, and walk in righteousness.
Living to Bless
Elijah knew nothing of a self-centered faith, focused on increasing his blessings and prosperity. Had he been focused on such things, he would have become of no effect. We must reverse the momentum. Instead of living to be blessed, we must live to be a blessing. That's how Paul lived. That's how Messiah lived. And that's the vessel that God will use to impact the world.
Unadulterated, Uncompromised
Elijah never softened the Word of God and never compromised. In the same way, we must reject a watered-down gospel. If we want to see the full power of God's Word, we must take that Word at full strength.
We can't compromise to win people. Rather it is when we don't compromise that we burn with the passion of God and shine with His glory—that's when revival comes.
Your Own Revival
Elijah didn't just preach the calling of God—He lived it. So we too must not only preach revival and pray for revival—we must start living in revival now. We can't force others to walk in revival, but we can choose it for ourselves. If there is anything in our lives which has no place in the life of a saint, and which is under judgment, the time is now, not later, not tomorrow, to get it out of our lives. And if God has been calling us to answer His call, and we have not yet done it, the time is now, not later, and not tomorrow to answer it. Revival begins with us—or it doesn't begin at all.
The Time for Greatness
We must not pray that God will spare America hard times, but rather that God will do whatever it takes to bring about repentance, salvation, and revival. The ministry of Elijah wasn't hindered by calamity or persecution—rather it thrived. So the days in which we enter will not hinder our calling. In fact, these are the days that cause those who hold true to God's Word to become great. When the dark grows darker, the lights grow brighter. Choose to do the right thing, even when it's hard, even when it costs. Choose to be great and you will be—in His power. The eyes of the Lord search to and fro throughout the entire earth seeking the one whose heart is completely His. You be that person. And let us be that people. And God will greatly use us to accomplish His will on the earth for such a time as this.