I want to begin by sharing some thoughts on the upcoming election in America. I am telling you up front that I do not see all things with perfect clarity regarding upcoming events, but I want to share those things I am discerning. The Bible declares:
Amos 3:7
Surely Yahweh God does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets.
At the same time we read:
I Corinthians 13:8-9
If there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away... For we know in part, and we prophesy in part...
I have seen some things in part, and I will share that part. I will also declare to you some signs for you to judge yourself. If God gives you insight into them, I would be interested in hearing from you concerning them.
Let me begin with an apology. In the post Sarah Palin, Champion of Christianity? I was overly critical of those who spoke of the experience of weeping as they watched her give her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. I did not allow for the possibility that it was the Spirit of Christ moving upon the people of God, concluding that the emotion was likely the result of false hopes and a wrong understanding of doctrine.
I have heard from more people about this event, and some have been very persuasive in sharing that they believe it was the Spirit of Christ moving upon them. I still believe that the reason for the tears needs to be understood. Although many people reported experiencing great hope, tears do often indicate great sorrow. Sarah Palin is also a sign, and I believe it may have been that the Spirit was moving upon people due to what her life signifies more than what she will personally accomplish for the nation. One sister wrote me the following:
Dear Mr. Herrin,
Several friends send me your parables blog. I read them with interest. Much of what you have written seems to parallel my own life. I wanted to make a comment on Sarah Palin but just to let you know where I am coming from let me give you a recent brief history.
I was one of the first to urge caution about Lakeland. I took my share of beatings but continued to write and post on various sites. I have NEVER been on board with C. Peter Wagner, Chuck Pierce or any of the rest of them. I do not follow man (Isaiah 2:22). I left the church system several years ago. I have been on a "wake up" journey since approx. 1994.
When 9/11 happened, the first thing I heard from the Lord was the passage about the Tower of Siloam from Luke 13. "Unless you repent, you will all perish as they did." The second thing I "saw" was that God's judgement IS His mercy. His judgement is designed to bring repentance and cause a return to Him. The day of 9/11 I began to weep and pray for America more than I had ever done before (Most of my years as a Christian had been spent praying over the church). I began to pray America would "wake up" (particularly the church) and not go back to sleep again. I begged God fervently and repeatedly with much weeping that we would not go back to the way we had been before. But later what I saw in a vision was a slumbering giant who woke up just enough to roll over and go back to sleep again. The giant never fully awoke.
I used to cry out to God and ask Him to judge America because I hated what I saw around me and I thought there was no other way to stop the garbage that is being perpetrated in this nation. One day God said to me in a very stern voice..."I WILL judge America, but YOU had better be praying for mercy!" I changed my tune then. I have since prayed for God's mercy for us all...I don't know what form that mercy will take...
During the campaigning for this election I saw no hope for this nation. I just figured it was a goner. I knew very little about any of the candidates and the ONLY thing I knew about Sarah Palin was that she was governor of Alaska. I never even considered that she might be a running mate for any of the candidates. I just knew that I did not care if I voted or not. I believed that Obama had the reins and he would win.
Here is what happened to me. I did not watch the democratic convention, I was not interested in watching the republican convention although I had heard that McCain had chosen Sarah Palin as his running mate. I happened to turn on the television at the moment they were introducing her. I am an observer...I watch, I observe...that is the way I do things. So I sat down to "watch." As she stood up and began to speak, I suddenly felt these intense tears of gratitude and something inside me flipped. I was filled with excitement, joy and hope. I knew it was the Spirit of the Lord because of the intensity and the awe I felt. I felt that God was giving America another chance (perhaps the last one).
I cannot explain it except to say that I KNOW this was God. It was not influenced by ANYONE ELSE and I have had a burden to pray for Sarah and John McCain every night since then.
Do I think that they can "fix" America...NO I DO NOT! Do I think that AMERICA will still be judged...YES I DO! It is inevitable unless we become as Nineveh (repent as they did)...perhaps that is what God is doing...giving Nineveh a chance to repent before destruction comes.
There is a lot of evil that has happened in the political hidden places of this Nation...there is more evil that has happened in the hidden rooms of the "church." God must judge the church first (because we should know better) or, as many have said, God will have to apologize to every drug addict/porn lover/pedophile...etc.
As far as all the "christian" organizations with their agendas...one of the biggest things the church needs to do is to stop being politicians themselves. They need to PRAY, be obedient to God and let God take care of the results. I am personally sick of all their prophecies...let people hear God for themselves and stop trying to FORCE the Body of Christ into a mold they have designed.
Sherry Mason
Note: I added the emphasis in this sister’s writing. She had not heard of the symbolism found in the Kentucky Derby which I will share here, and it caught my attention when she used the phrase, “Obama had the reins and would win.”
What first struck me about this letter was the spirit of humility that it was written in. The writer was very patient in explaining herself. She set forth her topic in a mature way, not being offended that I had suggested that those moved over Sarah Palin were merely manifesting emotion. Her words indicated that she genuinely wanted me to understand that the Spirit was moving upon people, and because of the evidence of such spiritual fruit in her communication I was led to pay great heed to what she was saying. Thank you Sherry!
I wrote the following in reply:
I have weighed this matter in my heart, and I have asked the Lord to reveal if there is error in my thinking. I too am convinced that no matter who gets elected, America is still going to fall. The young man who has opened his home to me in Indiana also has a very humble and spiritually sensitive demeanor, and he shared with me that the Lord spoke to him a phrase he had never heard before. It was in Greek, and he did not know how to spell it, much less understand it. It remained in his heart for some time and he finally did a Google search on it. He had misspelled it by one letter, and Google suggested the correct spelling. When he clicked on it he found that it was the final words of the Lord on the cross when He said "It is finished" (tetelestai).
The Spirit revealed to him that America's cup of iniquity was full and His judgment would not now turn back. In my writing on Sarah Palin, I was... seeking to get the saints to use discernment, and to refute the interpretation of her candidacy espoused by so many Christians, including Dutch Sheets. She will not change the course of America, or bring peace to the land. She will not avert the hand of judgment that is coming. Sarah herself must undergo judgment, and I believe this is part of the revelation pertaining to her wearing the shirt with the number 22 on it.
It is quite possible that Sarah Palin will play some significant role in coming days, and should she also be purified along with a remnant from the body of Christ my heart would greatly rejoice. As it is, I know there is much reason for all of us to be crying out for mercy. It has been my continual prayer as I have prayed about coming days that in judgment God would remember mercy.
Habakkuk 3:2
Yahweh, I have heard the report about Thee and I fear. O Yahweh, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy.
Let me share that I do not think America will repent like Nineveh. Right after 911 America and the church had the opportunity, but as this sister shared, America began to arise as a sleeping giant, but then just rolled over and went back to sleep.
Let me now speak of some prophetic symbolism relating to Sarah Palin and the current presidential race. Sarah is the 11th governor of Alaska, and she was born on February 11th. Although this is a number relating to Joseph, the 11th son of Jacob, I believe in this instance the number is to be understood in the way E.W. Bullinger has defined it.
If ten is the number which marks the perfection of Divine order, then eleven is an addition to it, subversive of and undoing that order. If twelve is the number which marks the perfection of Divine government, then eleven falls short of it. So that whether we regard it as being 10 + 1, or 12 - 1, it is the number which marks, disorder, disorganization, imperfection, and disintegration.
[Source: Numbers in Scripture, E.W. Bullinger]
Eleven “is the number which marks, disorder, disorganization, imperfection, and disintegration.”
Even as Sarah Palin’s household is out of order, so too is the church in America out of order. Sarah is ruling over men while her husband is a keeper at home. Symbolically, a woman ruling over men typifies the feminine soul ruling over the masculine spirit. If you are familiar with the writings on the Heart4God website, you will realize that the primary message the Spirit of Christ has placed in my mouth to speak is one of walking by the Spirit of Christ in all that we do. This is the message of the book Sabbath, and dying to the desires of the soul to do only the will of the Father as revealed by the Spirit, is a central theme in all of the writings I have been directed to share with the church.
The church in this hour is operating out of the soul. This is why the church has not brought forth mature sons after the image of Christ. Christ never operated out of the soul. He declared, “I never do anything of My own initiative. I always do the will of the Father.” In order for God to bring a body that is in disorder (11) into order, He must perform a flesh cutting (22). Both of these numbers are prevalent in Sarah Palin’s life.
Sarah, as previously mentioned, wore the number 22 on her jersey when playing basketball for Wasilla High School.
Sarah was born on February 11th, which is 2-11. Multiplying these numbers, we arrive at the number 22 again. This is a number that the Spirit of Christ has been bringing forth with tremendous significance for the days ahead. Sarah is also 44 years old, this number being a multiple of both 11 and 22. The number 4 speaks of humility. In a day of great calamity, disorder and disntegration God will perform a flesh cutting work upon His people, and out of it will arise a humble and purified remnant.
Isaiah 26:9
For when the earth experiences Your judgments the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
That this will occur is something I say confidently, for the Spirit has revealed many witnesses to it. The recent and profound sign of Miss USA falling for the second year in a row at the Miss Universe pageant speaks very loudly.
It captured my attention from early on that Sarah came upon the national scene around the same time as Hurricane Ike. As mentioned in a previous post, Ike is a shortened form of the name Isaac, and Sarah was the mother of Isaac and the wife of Abraham. This seemed too much to be coincidental, and I recently looked up the date of Ike’s formation and the announcement of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate. Wikipedia provided the following information:
On August 29, 2008, in Dayton, Ohio, Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, announced that he had chosen Palin as his running mate. Hurricane Ike is the ninth named storm, fifth hurricane and third major hurricane and the second category 4 of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. A Cape Verde-type hurricane, it started as a tropical disturbance off the coast of Africa near the end of August.
It is apparent that both made their appearance very close to one another. Ike was named on September 1st when it became a tropical storm. A mother should appear before her son. I have spoken of the significance of the storms that bear names relating to barren women, and how this speaks of a church that has been failed to bring forth mature sons after the image of Christ. That Ike is a hurricane, and a major one, speaks of the manner in which these mature sons will come forth. It will be through great calamity, tremendous birth pangs, as a hurricane that bears down with disintegrating power upon an unprotected people.
Hurricane Ike has been a category four storm twice, and has caused much devastation both times. Four, again, is a number relating to humility and therefore we are seeing the number associated with Sarah and Ike. Ike will make landfall close to the 7th anniversary of 911, which was a previous tragedy and humiliation for America.
The appearance of Sarah Palin and Ike speak of what is about to take place. Sarah was the wife of Abraham. She was a beautiful woman, even as Sarah Palin’s beauty has become a great focus in the present campaign. She was a former beauty queen, being Miss Wasilla, and coming in second at the Miss Alaska competition. Of Sarah in the Bible we read.
Genesis 12:14-15
And it came about when Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. And Pharaoh's officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
In this passage we see the world (Egypt is a symbol of the world) admiring the beauty of Sarah. She was therefore taken into the house of the ruler of the world (The White House is the equivalent of Pharaoh’s house today). This is actually a parable of the church being courted and brought into the political systems of the world. This has certainly been accomplished in this hour.
Sarah remained barren until her old age. She was ninety years old when she gave birth, and her conception and the birth of Isaac were acts of God. The church is pictured in Sarah, for the church has remained barren until the time of her old age. The church has failed to bring forth mature sons after the image of Christ. In this last hour before the return of Christ the church must bring forth sons who will be qualified to rule and reign with Christ during the Millennial period.
These sons will only come forth during a time of great birth pangs. The Lord, in speaking to His disciples about the last days before His return mentions both birth pangs and “the roaring of the sea and the waves.”
Luke 21:25-26
“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world...”
Matthew 24:8
"But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”
In the church’s old age she will bring forth the sons all creation has been awaiting.
Romans 8:19-22
For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
The story of Sarah in Scripture is fixated upon her barrenness and the miraculous birth of a child in her old age. God has set this parable before us at this time for the church must bring forth sons after the image of Christ. Yet even as a hurricane is a destructive force, so too will these sons arrive in a time of great calamity.
I will mention a significance attached to her last name. A sister in Christ, Kathy Furman, pointed this out to me. Palin is a Greek word that is found in the New Testament. It is Strongs #3825. Thayers Lexicon provides the following definition:
palin, 1. anew, again a. joined to verbs of all sorts, it denotes renewal or repetition of the action: Matthew 4:8
(from Thayer's Greek Lexicon, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2000 by Biblesoft)
Palin always gives the meaning of renewal or repetition to the word to which it is attached. As Palin is attached to Sarah, it would signify a repetition of that which Sarah did. It took an act of God for Sarah to bring forth Isaac, and truly the revelation of God’s sons who have attained to a mature reflection of Christ in this late hour will be an act only God can perform.
Pertaining to the election, I want to speak of another sign that arrested my attention some months ago. Back in early May the news was all focused upon the race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. During the height of the race an amazing occurrence took place. On May 3rd the Kentucky Derby was held, and there was no better place for two politicians to be seen than at the race. Before the race Hillary and Barack both were seen near the horses they had chosen to root for during the race. Hillary quite naturally picked the only filly running, which was a horse named Eight Belles. Barack Obama, perhaps because he is a man of color, picked Big Brown.
Interestingly enough Big Brown won the race and Eight Belles came in second, and this is the order in which the Democratic race also ended. A tragedy occurred when right after Eight Belles passed the finish line and began the cool down lap, she collapsed. It was found that she had shattered both of her front ankles and she had to be euthanized on the track. Interestingly, Eight Belles was the 40th filly to run in the Kentucky Derby, and 40 denotes judgment as is seen in the flood of Noah’s day when it rained 40 days and nights.
This seems to be a fitting parallel to Hillary Clinton’s run for the presidency. Many thought because of her strong support that she would at least be offered the vice president’s position, but it was offered to Joe Biden instead. Hillary was taken out of the presidential race completely, and if there is any prophecy in what happened to Eight Belles, I doubt she will ever run again.
Obama was rooting for Big Brown, and this horse won the Kentucky Derby even as Obama later won the Democratic nomination. Big Brown went on to race in the Preakness on May 17th, and he also came in first by a good margin. The next race for Obama is the general election.
Big Brown was then set to compete in the Belmont Stakes on June 7th to attempt to become a Triple Crown winner. He entered as the overwhelming favorite, and Obama has been the overwhelming favorite to enter the White House. Amazingly, and I do not say this lightly, Big Brown came in dead last at the Belmont Stakes. He was the first triple crown contender to ever come in dead last at the Belmont Stakes.
The symbolism of Eight Belles and Big Brown racing is clearly prophetic, but how far the analogy goes, and what the proper interpretation is, I am not certain. It has been prophesied that Obama would win the general election in November (the 11th month, disorder, disintegration) and then be assassinated. All such words should be tested, and I am not declaring this to be the correct interpretation of Big Brown’s recent history. It could be that Big Brown coming in last at Belmont points to losing the November election, but I have been troubled by the fact that he won another race after the Kentucky Derby. It would seem to point to Obama winning a second race before failing to attain the crown (coronation, inauguration).
If such a criminal event should take place, there would certainly be chaos in the country with riots erupting in the cities. For whatever reason, I know some people who are being led of the Spirit to move out of the cities at this time. David Wilkerson received a vision over 20 years ago of New York City being engulfed in flames. Martial law was instituted, and tanks were rolling down the streets. These days are coming, but I am not declaring the current political race to be the cause. I am suggesting that the saints should consider these events soberly, and be watchful over the course of coming days.
Although I do not see Sarah as the Champion of Christianity that many have set their hopes upon, I do see her life as being a prophetic sign of coming events. It is God who will be the Champion of His people in coming days. He will lead His people through a fiery wilderness experience. He will cast the world and the church into birth pangs. Out of it all a son of mature stature, in the image and likeness of Christ, will come forth. A bride will be made ready. Let us hold fast, devote ourselves to prayer, and make ourselves ready for what is coming swiftly.
Let me conclude by speaking two things. The Scriptures reveal that it is the duty of Christians to pray for their national leaders.
I Timothy 2:1-3
First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior...
Prayers should be lifted up for the leaders of the nation, including Sarah Palin. She is even now under much pressure to compromise her Christian faith. Yesterday I came across an article on CNN titled, “GOP may be downplaying Palin's religious beliefs.” The following quote is taken from the article:
He says Alaska has seen Palin's faith play out. As governor she passed ethics reform and took on what she's referred to as a "good-ol'-boys network." However, she has said she would not seek to impose her religious views on others...
"I've honestly answered the questions on what my personal views are on things like abortion and a lot of controversial issues," Palin told AP. "I won't hesitate to answer those questions about what my personal views are, but I am not one to be out there preaching and forcing my views on anyone else."
The church has truly been pressured to compromise with the world, and what is seen in Sarah Palin’s life is a reflection of this. We should pray that she would stand firm, and that God’s purposes will be accomplished in her life.
After writing this article, a sister in Christ sent me the following link to a podcast by Christine Beadsworth that speaks of the profound symbolism found in Sarah Palin and Hurricane Ike. I recommend it highly.
http://freshoil.podomatic.com/entry/eg/2008-09-09T06_04_03-07_00
Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com
Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063
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