We are in the midst of a radical shift, where the earth has moved out of the age of religion and into the age of the outpouring of God’s glory. Times of epic transition are characterized by corrupt world systems and even obsolete systems that God established in prior seasons being judged and dismantled, in order for the new to come forth. The last time this happened was a little over 2,000 years ago, with the advent of our Savior. Dissecting the patterns and challenges of that transition can help us walk through our present day shift with greater clarity.
The prior transition began with John the Baptist, whose birth to parents who were reproductively “dead” is a picture of both the painful death of the old and the supernatural birth of the new. His job was to “prepare the way” for the new thing by tearing down the old. And he did that from the inside out, by revealing hidden sins of the heart and calling for repentance. His message was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2).
Yeshua preached that same message and instructed his disciples to preach it, too. But He moved the dismantling process outward, not only continuing to address issues of the heart but also destroying tangible structures like the tables of the moneychangers. A very important key for us today is to allow the Father to “shake everything that can be shaken,” leaving only the unshakable (Hebrews 12:27).
We know what happened next. Jesus died on the cross, offering His sinless blood on the heavenly mercy seat, forever completing the law and causing that entire system (which God Himself instituted through Moses) to become obsolete. Then 40 years later, the judgment of this old system was made complete, manifesting in the natural realm with the destruction of the physical temple. Now, it was not just unnecessary to offer animal sacrifice to atone for sin; it was impossible.
HOW DO WE WALK PEACEFULLY AND VICTORIOUSLY DURING SUCH A VIOLENT AND RADICAL SHIFT?
1. Realize that we don’t know what the new is going to look like. I don’t think we fully understand the magnitude of that transition just reading about it. Just like people in Yeshua’s day had trouble understanding what was happening and just like the disciples had trouble understanding that He was going to die (even though He told them plainly), we too cannot even fathom what the new will look like. We must be led by His Spirit.
2. Receive a double portion of grace and extend that same grace to others. It is very difficult to walk through these types of seasons, which is why the Father pours out a double portion of grace for us to do so. The day that the children of Israel transitioned from the wilderness to the Promised Land, they ate both manna and the fruit of the land – a double portion! This is why we must also have a double portion of grace for one another during these times, remembering that we really do “know in part and prophecy in part” (I Corinthians 13: 9-10).
3. Pray in the Spirit. I think everyone has an opinion about what is happening in the US and in the nations of the earth right now. Most of us are very passionate about what we believe is going on. And very few (if any) of us agree on everything. But one thing I believe we can agree upon is that there is much wickedness and corruption that has been hidden and is now coming into the light. Praying in the Spirit is absolutely crucial in this season. As Ruach Ha Kodesh breathes the perfect prayer through us, co-creating through our voices the Father’s will in the earth, we are no longer limited by our lack of understanding. It also edifies (or builds up) our spirits so that we are not sucked into the fear and chaos swirling around us but are able to rise above it and to speak to it. Pray in the Spirit with a conscious awareness of your position seated in Christ in heavenly places – in a position of advantage over principalities, powers, rulers, thrones and dominions.
4. Untangle from corrupt and obsolete world systems that are being judged. Just like strongholds in the human soul are made up of many components like generational curses, lies we believe, emotional wounds and traumas, etc, so principalities over particular geographical regions, nations or sections of the cosmos are housed in intricate systems consisting of structures where humans are in agreement in government, media, pharmakeia, arts and entertainment, education, finances, etc. These “Babylonian” world systems are judged with every transition, and they are being judged right now.
Revelation 18 speaks of the judgment of God upon Babylon. This is talking about a literal ancient city (now Iraq), which was destroyed sometime around 539 BC. But, in Biblical symbolism, we know that Babylon also represents fallen and corrupt world systems. Revelation 18:23-24 tells us that these systems are characterized by sorcery, deception and bloodshed. Demonic world systems are being judged as we have never experienced before in our lives, and the call of heaven is, “Come out of her.”
And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.”
-Revelation 18:4-5, NKJV
This “coming out” is what Yeshua was talking about in John 17:
I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
-John 17:15-16, NKJV
Daniel is a perfect Old Testament example of being in the world but not of it. Though he was a captive in literal Babylon, he refused to trade with that system when holding a position of governmental authority. In the book of Daniel, we see multiple times where he refused to compromise. And we also see that he and his 3 friends were “ten times better” than all the Babylonian wise men. It is possible!
When Yeshua wept over Jerusalem in Luke 13 and also Luke 19, He was announcing judgment upon the old and corrupt system and was issuing that same cry to “come out of her,” or, in other words, to untangle from that system and to find refuge under the covering of His wings.
5. Yield to the Spirit of Truth, allowing Him to determine what needs to die, knowing that it is UNTO resurrection and ascension and remembering that the harvest is always exponentially greater than the seed that dies.
6. Live above it. We are already seated with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:4-6). We are citizens of heaven, with access to everything we need (Philippians 3:20). We are not human beings who have supernatural experiences. We are spirit beings having a human experience.
7. Judge corrupt world systems and the demonic entities trafficking through them from the courts of heaven.
The word for God in Genesis 1:1 is the Hebrew word Elohim. It is defined as “rulers, judges, divine ones, angels or godlike ones.” Elohim first refers to Father, Son and Holy Spirit creating together in the beginning, but this same word can also be used of you when you create with Him, functioning out of your union with Him!
When the Pharisees accused Yeshua of blasphemy for saying that He and His Father were one, He responded by saying:
Isn’t it written in your Scriptures that God said, “You are gods?” The Scriptures cannot be denied or found to be in error. So, if those who have the message of the Scriptures are said to be “gods,” then why would you accuse me of blasphemy? –John 10:34-35, TPT
The word “god” here is the Greek word theos, but Jesus is quoting from Psalm 82:6, which, again, is the Hebrew word elohim. As God’s “little-e” elohim, we get to rule and to judge with Him, from heaven to earth. Paul even mentioned this when he was rebuking the Corinthian church for their carnality and immaturity, asking them why they were unable to judge small, earthly things, since we are called to judge the world and even the angels!
Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren?
– I Corinthians 6:1-5. NKJV
Another powerful example is found in the book of Zechariah:
Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘If you will walk in My ways, and if you will keep My command, then you shall also judge My house, and likewise have charge of My courts; I will give you places to walk among these who stand here.’”
– Zechariah 3:6-7, NKJV
So, we see that walking the ancient paths, being in charge of God’s courts and judging the world and the angels are all functions of mature sons, who have died to self and false judgment and who can be trusted to bear the heart of God!
In last week’s Zoom call, we discussed all these things and more. We also did an activation where everyone got to practice legislating from the courts of heaven. We went into the Court of Kings, decreeing four key points:
TRUTH to bring all hidden things into the light
JUSTICE for those to whom it is due
RIGHTEOUSNESS to be established in the earth
LIFE to displace everything of death.
We rendered every agreement between demonic beings and the earthly “kings” they trade with and traffic through null and void based upon the fact that the power, wealth, fame and influence did not belong to these beings and was not theirs to trade. The kingdoms of this world were purchased by Christ with His precious blood. These beings have made trades with stolen goods. So every trade is invalid and all power is stripped from those benefiting from them, leaving them naked and exposed.
If you missed the call, here is the replay. And we hope to do more activations in the future, giving everyone an opportunity to become familiar with and to grow in confidence in your job of ruling, reigning and judging with your heavenly Father from heaven to earth.
Until next time,
Virginia