"You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you, and all your bands, and the people that is with you: I will give you to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. … And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and … the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel. … this is the day which I have spoken of... and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, says the Lord GOD" —Ezekiel 39:4-10.

Scripture makes it clear that God has two unresolved controversies with human kind. The FIRST is with His people because of their disobedience and the SECOND is with the NATIONS because, among other things, they went beyond the constraints of judgement.

Micah 6:1-2: "Hear now what the LORD says; Arise, contend before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, O mountains, the Lord's controversy, and you strong foundations of the earth: for the LORD has a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel."

Few Nations have suffered like Israel and yet her greatest suffering is still future. Many bible students miss the point that the great tribulation is called Jacob's Trouble. In deciding about "pre" and "post" and now the latest "pre-wrath" theory, a key to understanding these and most other prophecies, is Israel. God has a controversy with His ancient people and that will be worked out in Jacob's Trouble in the recurring past and the remaining future.

Jeremiah 30:7-10 "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. For it shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and will burst your bonds, and strangers shall no more serve him: But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up to them. Therefore fear not, O my servant Jacob, says the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid."

When you see that the prophesied future seven year period of unprecedented "tribulation" relates to Israel and not the Church, many problems are solved and difficult questions answered. But it's not our purpose to deal specifically with the issue of End Times and the Rapture of the Church now. We may well do this in a future article and, in the meantime we direct you to the present series on Eschatology in Vanguard written by Aaron Linford, with this caution. We have EVERY right to disagree. We have NO right to become disagreeable. Try to live by the adage—"In ESSENTIALS unity; in NON-ESSENTIALS liberty; in ALL THINGS charity."

God's other controversy is with the Nations and it's the build up to this, which is our particular concern in this article.

Jeremiah 25:31: "A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD has a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, says the Lord."

From the context it is clear that Jeremiah, at times, is addressing immediate concerns about the Babylonian captivity. Equally clearly he, at times, goes way beyond that localised and national event. Words such as "to the ends of the earth", and "he will plead with all flesh" point to this fact. The verses that follow add weight to this conclusion. As you read note the expressions "nation to nation", "the coasts of the earth" and " from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth".

Jeremiah 25:32-33: "Thus says the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground."

Bible Hermeneutics: TWO Principles

While it is true to teach that the New Testament Church is the spiritual counterpart of Israel it is very wrong to teach that the Church replaces Israel. If you do that you end up allegorising Scripture in the same way as the liberals. You effectively destroy the original record and turn the historic fact into fiction. However "allegory" is a Bible word and a biblical method of applying and interpreting Scripture.

Galatians 4:21-31 "Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free-woman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the free-woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, bringing forth to bondage, which is Hagar. For this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. … Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. … So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free."

Allegory is legitimate. Here, in Galatians Paul makes direct reference to it as he extrapolated spiritual and moral truth from actual events, historically real people and literal location. Our Lord did exactly the same thing on a number of occasions. Parabolic teaching has the same basic element but it's sourced in an earthly or human story with a heavenly or spiritual meaning. There is little or no difference. This is what I have referred to in my series of articles on SPIRITUAL WARFARE (see Vanguard February, 1999 edition) as legitimate midrash. As a principle of teaching spiritual and moral truth it abounds in the New Testament and throughout the Bible. *1 Allegorical teaching is wrong when it does one of two things:

• It turns the literal historic event or fact into a myth; or

>• It replaces the original with something different.

Usually liberal teachers end up doing both of these things, and this is exactly what happens when you try to argue that the Church has replaced Israel. The Old Testament promises about land and location, nationhood and inheritance and population and place lose their significance. They are effectively reduced to the level of "myth" simply because the original "Israel" is replaced by the new and different "Church".
NO—the Church has not and never will replace Israel. However there is legitimate allegorical truth that can be extrapolated from the history of Israel. Neither replaces the other; each retains its integrity and its existence. In the very strict sense this is Biblical Midrash. *2
It can be expressed this way—"As goes Israel so goes the Church."

This is especially so in regard to the sins of both Israel and the Church and the ensuing judgements of God. As Paul wrote in Romans 11:21-22: "For if God did not spare the natural branches (ie Israel), take heed lest he does not spare you (ie the Church). Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness: otherwise you shall be cut off also."

This principle has a converse application, which is equally true. You must not bring the literal Israel with its laws and types and shadows back into the Church. This results in Judaising the Church, which is the indoctrination process of the false Hebrew Roots Movement (HRM) *3 and is sadly something that is being done by certain Messianic Jews such as Dick Reubens and Michael Brown of the false Brownsville Assemblies of God Pensacola revival.

Israel and the Church are separate entities. To confuse the two is to teach error. That is a very important principle of Bible Hermeneutics. Another principle is that cited by Peter the apostle:

1 Peter 4:17-18: "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that do not obey the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?"

This principle finds its outworking in both Testaments and will apply in the End Times both in respect of Israel—in the great tribulation—and the Church—in the great apostasy and the appearance of the man of sin. Paul tells us that the final great judgment of God upon the Church on earth is the "strong delusion, that they should believe a lie"—2 Thess 2:11.

This is precisely where we are at now!

ONE AGAINST FOUR HUNDRED—A STORY FOR OUR TIME

In the setting of our study passage, 1 Kings 22, we have a divided Israel represented by a wicked leadership in the person of King Ahab on the one hand and a good leadership in King Jehoshaphat on the other. Jehosh-aphat made an alliance with Ahab and was later rebuked by God for doing so—2 Chr 19:1-3.

This does not represent a divided CHURCH. The Church cannot be divided. Christ said he would build it and promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against it. If you have a divided Church then the gates of hell have prevailed. The picture is that of Christendom Divided. If Rick Joyner applied his crazy "dream" about the civil war between the blue and grey coats, to Christendom then maybe he would have some credence for a small part of what he says. In applying it as he does to the CHURCH OF CHRIST the idea is rubbish.

According to Jacob Prasch in his An Explanation of Midrash— http://www.cw.co.za/moriel/ Copyright © Jacob Prasch 1996—"Midrash interprets prophecy as a cyclical pattern of historical recapitulation (prophecies having multiple fulfilment), with an ultimate fulfilment associated with the eschaton, *4 which is the final focal point of the redemptive process."

Micaiah was a true prophet of his time and, standing as he did against the overwhelming opposition of 400 false prophets and a wicked king, the story provides us with a pattern of something similar, which is being prophetically re-enacted in our time. So let's briefly recount the story:

A three year period of peace, presumably following the covenant made between Israel and Syria as recorded in 1 Kings 20:34, was about to be broken by King Ahab when, in league with Jehoshaphat King of Judah, he decided to attack the King of Syria at a place called Ramothgilead in the Trans-Jordan Mountains surrounding Israel. Four hundred prophets of Ahab's palace prophesied the success of the battle in Ahab's favour. In his call for a "prophet of the LORD besides" (verse 7) it would appear that good
King Jehoshaphat was not overly impressed with the 400 prophets of Ahab or with their positive message of success. In the end it came to a prophetic show-down between Micaiah, one true prophet of the Lord and 400 false prophets of Ahab led by one
"Zedekiah the son of Chenanah", who, rather significantly, appears to charge around frantically in the manner of a bull, somewhat similar to some "torontoised charismaniac" of our time.

Ahab was the master of ceremonies and the judge of the prophecy contest so the outcome was predetermined and of course the "positives" prevailed over the "negatives". It usually happens that way. Possibly due to the pending marriage of
Jehoshaphat's son, Jehoram to Ahab's daughter, Athaliah (2 Kings 8:18, 25-27) the issue was too delicate for Jehoshaphat to refuse to go, especially seeing he was the junior partner in the alliance and a sort of "vassal" king under Ahab at this time. In any event the agreement was reached and the battle joined but not before the true prophet, Micaiah revealed what had gone on behind the scenes in the divine planning and what was about to happen to Ahab and to Israel. Of course he was right and the 400 false prophets were wrong, despite their animal conduct and all their hype and tripe.

1 Kings 22:17: "And he (Micaiah) said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace. … (22:26) And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back …(22:27) And say, … Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace. (22:28) And Micaiah said, If you return at all in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me. (22:35) And the battle increased that day: and the king was propped up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at evening: and the blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot. (22:36) And there went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country. (22:37) So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria."

2 Chronicles 19:1-3: "And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Should you help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore wrath is upon you from the LORD. Nevertheless there are good things found in you, in that you have taken away the groves out of the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God."

Step Back for a Closer Look

In 1 Kings chapter 20 we have the record of Ahab, the most wicked King of Israel being duped by the worldly King of Syria and ending up making a league with him contrary to the explicit command of God's Word—c/f Judges 2:2. Here is a picture of an End Time Church leadership lacking discernment and ending up being destroyed by the very thing with which they formed an ungodly association. An anonymous prophet of the Lord rebukes king Ahab, who instead of repenting of his worldliness goes into a sulk:

1 Kings 20:41-43: "And he hastily took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. And he said to him, Thus says the LORD, Because you have let go out of your hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people. And the king of Israel went to his house sullen and displeased, and came to Samaria."

This is followed by something, which has become a scourge of modern day Church leadership—spiritual abuse of those who seek to cling to their godly heritage. 1 Kings 21 is the story of Naboth's vineyard and of wicked King Ahab's coveting and eventual possession of it after Jezebel had organised Naboth's murder to establish her husband's legal right as king to the deceased estate. It's a story of intrigue and deception on the part of leadership in contrast to faithfulness and godly loyalty on the part of an ordinary person who was forced to become a martyr to his just cause. That story can be told over and over again throughout Church history including our time.

All of this, forming as it does a back-drop of treachery and deception, becomes a natural precursor to the events of 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 18, which describe the battle plan, a prophecy contention, the exposing of the "lying spirit" in the mouth of the establishment prophets and the death of the king all of which were about to follow.

ATMOSPHERE AND OCCASION

1 Kings 22:2-6 and verses 10-12: "And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. And the king of Israel said to his servants you, know that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we are still doing nothing to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria? And he said to Jehoshaphat, Wilt you go with me to battle to Ramothgilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are my people as your people, my horses as your horses. And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray you, at the word of the LORD to day. Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I refrain? And they said, Go up; for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king."

"And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a wide place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made himself horns of iron: and he said, Thus says the LORD, With these shall you push the Syrians, until you have consumed them. And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the king's hand".

Just add the element of soul stirring emotional music and replace the natural battle plan with "spiritual warfare" and you have a modern charismatic/ neo-pentecostal gathering. For hype and tripe you couldn't distinguish between the two. Then, as now, the leadership had already decided what was to be done; and the establishment prophets were all in unison (masquerading as "unity") so what could possibly be wrong?

King Jehoshaphat was the one man who had a measure of discernment. Something didn't gel. It all seemed to be too contrived. King Ahab and his palace prophets were play acting and there was that clown, the leading prophet Zedekiah, acting like a bull pushing with his horns around the place. Mind you it was all so very positive—"GO and prosper." They all prophesied the same thing so presumably it had to be right.

A similar thing pertains today. Have you noticed how the "new prophets" and so called "Revival Now" teachers seem to ape each other. Rodney Howard-Browne goes "Ho, ho, ho; hee, hee, hee; ha, ha, ha." So his many "followers" do the same with predicable results. I could name a number of them. They are no different than the 400 false prophets of King Ahab.

Why are we so foolish to conclude that the majority must be right when history proves the opposite? We don't really want to be out of step; we have our positions to protect and our friends to stand by. We can't let them down now, can we? Significantly Jehoshaphat did let his "friend" King Ahab down miserably and his condemnation was all the greater because he sensed there was something wrong from the outset. The true prophet confirmed his fears, but still he fell in with the majority and so Ahab was led as a lamb to the slaughter.

Truth is the first casualty even before the war starts; in fact just as the battle plan is being laid. Of course Ahab's death was predetermined by God, but Jehoshaphat, the good king, didn't have to be party to it. In the end he found himself almost swallowed up by it—"..if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect", (Matt 24:24). If you do not passionately love the TRUTH then God Himself will deceive you—see 2 Thess 2:10-11. Jehoshaphat had enough sense to cry out before it was too late c/f 1 Kings 20:32.

Another parallel between that time and ours is this: It was a time of aggressive extension—a sort of humanly driven evangelistic drive and a huge Church Planting operation. Strange isn't it that when men can't get their way legitimately with Naboth's inheritance, how they will corrupt themselves and their calling to achieve their end.
Rebuked by the prophet, Ahab humbled himself only to rebel again (see 1 Kings 21:27-29). In the planned battle at Ramothgilead Israel would break the covenant King Ahab had made with Benhadad King of Syria three years previously. It could be argued that the initial agreement lacked wisdom, but a covenant is a covenant even if unwisely negotiated. First, through the intrigue of his wife Jezebel he had set at naught the covenant rights of one of his citizens. Now with the same motive of extending his own kingdom he ignores a covenant he had made with his competitor. It was the same motivation in both instances.

Again you don't have to be a genius to see the parallel in the denominational drives of our time—especially within the charismatic pentecostal camp. Take as an example my former colleagues the leaders of the AoG in Australia. As we have reported elsewhere in this issue of CETF they hypocritically broke the covenant of their founding fathers in respect of their own tenet of faith about the pre-millennial return of Christ. Now they are seeking to "jump the gun" by presenting themselves as the great leaders and initiators of the new (?) Christian Churches of Australia—as if such a thing never existed before. This is a direct insult to all the good and godly Evangelical Churches of Australia who have sacrificially served the Lord for decades.

Our Lord speaking of the aggressive evangelism of certain religious people said, "you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves." In both the natural and the spiritual when a dynasty is about to die there is frequently a concerted effort to extend its borders, by illegitimate means. It has always amused me to think that so called Christian leaders can even consider extending Christ's true Kingdom by illegitimate means e.g. a watered down or false gospel, by swallowing up other groups or from a wrong motive. The everlasting Kingdom must be built upon TRUTH. And truth is honesty, faithfulness and integrity as well as speaking what is true.

SOVEREIGNTY AND SERVITUDE

1 Kings 22:7-9 and verses 13-14: "And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we might enquire of him? And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, quickly bring Micaiah the son of Imlah.

And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good. And Micaiah said, As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that will I speak. (verse 19) I saw the LORD sitting on His throne …"

God "seated on His throne"! This is the doctrine of sovereignty. The human inclination is to confuse it with fatalism. False prophets seldom distinguish between the two and so they end up negating the true rulership of the Lord. One recently called it the Doris Day theology—"Whatever will be will be." That is a travesty and mockery of God Almighty.

WHO'S IN CONTROL HERE

True prophets are never up for sale; false prophets always are. This is the problem with the establishment prophets. They have their own position and job security to consider. They have chosen to serve mammon, which in the Aramaic indicates one's retirement fund. Our Lord said you can't serve God and your retirement fund. Not that there's anything wrong with having a retirement fund, but when the chips are down and you have to make a choice between doing God's Will and speaking His Word or serving the interests of your security, where your vote goes determines whom you serve.

Micaiah was a true prophet because he chose to serve the sovereign Lord, whom he had seen sitting on His throne and in consequence had decided to say only what God told him to say. He was not of the "new breed" who speak only positive things as espoused by Dale Carneigie and Norman Vincent Peale et al. Micaiah was a prophet of the Lord who told it as it was. This is why King Ahab hated him and this was what was at the heart of King Jehoshaphat's discernment—"Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him?" He saw through the 400 and their phoney prophecies.

The true prophet of the Lord ALWAYS brings a message of warning. He does not engage in euphoric predictions about blessings and great revival. He will regularly pray for revival and preach the cost of revival. He won't prophesy it in the manner of the new prophets of our day who talk about stadiums overflowing and football fields jammed with people seeking God. These are wish-fulfilment and in some cases self-fulfilling prophecies, but not the Word from the Lord.

THE SCENE ON EARTH

1 Kings 22:15-18: "So he came to the king. And the king said to him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we refrain? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king. And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure you that you tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the LORD? And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell you that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?"

Micaiah found himself in a catch 22 situation. If he told the whole truth he was doomed by the word of the King who had predicted that Micaiah would be negative towards the enterprise. If he told only part of the story, he was such an honest man that all would see through him. He chose the latter course with predicable results. Even Ahab detected that he was mocking the false prophets and insisted on the full story, so he got it. God would strike the King on the Mountains of Israel and the people would be like "sheep without a shepherd". So Ahab was right. Micaiah did speak evil of him and his plan.

Incidentally Micaiah's first prediction illustrates well the initial consequence of the activity of the "lying spirit in the mouth of his (false) prophets" in our time—thousands of sheep without a true human shepherd. Their number will increase—men and women who have opted out of church altogether. But we must remember that "NO CHURCH" is not the answer to "BAD CHURCH". We all need the fellowship and support of other Christians. One of CWM's visions is to gather the scattered sheep and direct them, where possible, to Bible based fellowships, which are increasingly difficult to find in our western countries, but they are there.

THE SCENE IN HEAVEN

1 Kings 22:19-23: "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said in this manner, and another said in that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him. And the LORD said to him, how? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, You shall persuade him, and prevail also:
go forth, and do so. Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets, and the LORD has spoken evil concerning you."

God is sovereign. He rules in the ultimate sense over all beings good and evil. What He will not do is force human-kind to chose something against their wills. Nor will He force good men to do evil things, BUT He will remove the restraints and constraints that He normally keeps in place to protect us from evil, if we are determined to rebel. No "lying spirit" can get into the mouth of a true prophet of the Lord. The pure sevenfold Spirit of the Lord will likewise never enter or influence a false prophet. TRUTH and FALSITY are worlds apart. As it was then, so it is NOW. The mammon serving prophets of the establishment, always in the majority, are ready fruit for the picking. Heaven's vision becomes earth's reality.

Here again is the test of the TRUE and FALSE prophet. Lies are Satan's stock in trade. Those who tell lies by way of exaggeration, false reports about facts and events or heresy in regard to Scripture reveal themselves as being false—more on this later.

VIOLENT MARAUDING SPIRITS

1 Kings 22:24-28: "But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go from me to speak to you? And Micaiah said, Behold, you shall see in that day, when you shall go into an inner chamber to hide yourself. And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son; And say, Thus says the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace. And Micaiah said, If you return at all in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you."

It was an "evil spirit" that entered the prophets; and evil spirits manifest themselves by certain characteristics. Lies, violence and animal conduct are not manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Nowhere in Scripture do you have a case of a good man acting like a lower creature. Only when Nebuchadnezzar came under the judgment of God did he behave like an animal.

Then again a true prophet never physically attacks a false prophet. Once a demon possessed man struck me across the face as I was commanding the evil spirit to come out of him. I felt virtually nothing—no sting, no pain—Nothing.

A third thing to note is that evil spirits are under the authority of Satan and they do well what their leader and champion does best. He is called the Father of Lies and a "liar from the beginning".

It is these natural dispositions of the devil, which will rise to ascendancy in the end to set the scene for the final conflict. There are signs that this is beginning to happen in respect of the counterfeit Revival Now movement and the False Anointing, already.

Full Of Lies

As we have documented in previous issues of our CETF journal leaders of the false Brownsville AoG Pensacola Revival have told lies, some of them, like the claim about the Police taking car loads of delinquent youth to the Church for conversion and counsel, apparently deliberate lies. Police chiefs have denied the reports. The claim about the drop in the crime rate was also based upon a false premise and falsified statistics. *5 There are a number of documented lies that Benny Hinn has told. *6 This seriously reflects on the leaders themselves as well as on those other leaders who are promoting the lie. A lying spirit has entered.

Unclean and Violent

One of the chief promoters of the false Revival in Australia claims that the spirit that he received at Toronto sometimes transfixes him to the spot for as much as 15 minutes when he prays for people. While on another occasion, so he reported, this same spirit picked him up and threw him across the platform and against the wall. That is not the Holy Spirit.

Another high profile minister from Sydney Australia, in the British AoG JOY magazine, alleges that he was healed from blood pressure while rolling on the floor in Toronto. We agree with classic Pentecostal Pastor Joseph Chambers that the Holy Spirit will never manifest Himself contrary to His character. These are manifestations of this same false, ancient, lying, unclean spirit, which has entered the mouths of the establishment prophets of our day.
Sadly this uncleanness is rubbing off on others. We recently learned of someone who was laid hands on by so called "Fathers of the Faith" with disastrous results. While two numerically strong Churches in large cities in New Zealand are now closed and one pastor is out of the ministry after a visit to Pensacola and an attempt to bring "it" back to the local Churches.

The latest scam is a claim that people are having their teeth filled with gold, which is the same sort of "phoney miracles" claimed for years by sects within the Roman Catholic Church. Petra Drnovscek email <pdmovscek@tacf.org> of the Revival Now Movement — also <News@revivalnet.net> on 18 March 1999 wrote the following:

"John Arnott has asked me to forward this press release to you for distribution. Even as I type this, people are sending in testimonies of how their fillings are turning into gold!"

I tell you, this is serious business. In Ahab's day it was bad enough with only the death of a dynasty in view. Today it is the great apostasy, the emergence of the man of sin, the undermining of faith and the gathering of the nations to battle that is ultimately in view.

TRUTH FINALLY TRIUMPHS

1 Kings 22:34-37: "And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said to the driver of his chariot, Turn around and carry me out of the battle; for I am wounded. And the battle increased that day: and the king was propped up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at evening: and the blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot. And there went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country. So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria."

The ways of God are past finding out. Sovereignty manifests itself in many unobtrusive ways. Ahab did everything to avoid falling victim to the TRUTH except the one thing that was essential. He failed in terms of
2 Chr 20:20: "Believe in the LORD your God, so shall you be established; believe his prophets, so shall you prosper."
He chose to listen to the false establishment prophets and ignore the true prophets. Several times God spoke to him through Elijah and through at least two, maybe three, anonymous prophets (c/f 1 Kings 20:13-14; 22, 28) and then through Micaiah. He chose to love the lie rather than the Truth and so God deceived him by means of a "lying spirit" and yet Truth Triumphed in the end. It always does.

OPTIMISM IN FACE OF GLOOM

If you've read the last chapter you can't be a pessimist. Our Lord commanded—"And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws nigh"—Luke 21:28. The Scripture is clear, "And as it is appointed to men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin to salvation"—Heb 9:27-28

So what are the next certain events in God's Calendar?

The Apostasy will continue:

• Local & even National Revivals may occur, but there's no promise of such in Scripture;

• Antichrists (plural) will continue their influence until Christ and the Antichrist appear;

• Christ will return for those who are waiting and watching for Him. There is no promise of rapture for those who are not LOOKING for His Coming.

• Are you ready? Are you looking and longing for Christ's Return? Or are you simply taken up with this false health, wealth and prosperity gospel, vainly stimulated by false Signs and Wonders?

• If you are then you are deceived and will be deceived and you may well miss the Return of Christ—"Maranatha!"

1 See VANGUARD Feb '99 p7
2 See VANGUARD Sept '98 and Feb '99 at CWM web site
3 See website at: http://www.quantumlynx. com/SeekGod/index.htm
4 Term used in some scholarly circles to signify "the last things" from Greek eschatos.
5 See www.christian-witness.org/topic.html
6 Documented in The Confusing World of Benny Hinn see our CWM web site: christian-witness.org/

Appeared in Volume 5.1 March/April 1999