Monday, May 26, 2008

Plagues, Frogs and Carnivals

Plagues, Frogs and Carnivals
Joseph Herrin (05-26-08)

Dear Saints in Christ,

Surely the Lord has ordered my steps in bringing this issue of what is being touted as “revival” in Lakeland, Florida and at Morningstar Ministries to my mind. Person after person has written to me concerning this, until I discerned it was the Spirit who wanted to draw my attention to it.

I can tell you from the Spirit of Christ, what is transpiring is of GREAT importance in this hour. There is TERRIBLE danger for all who would be caught up in this work, for it is a work of unclean spirits. Yet its very existence is according to the will of God the Father, for He is using it to bring a marked division between those who are pure in their devotion to Christ, and those whose hearts are divided.

What is the mark of one whose heart is pure in their devotion to Christ. The apostle Paul wrote:

II Corinthians 11:2-4
For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.

In the previous post titled “Another Gospel,” I spoke of the matter of there being a false gospel promulgated in this hour. This false gospel offers forgiveness of sin without an accompanying turning away from sin. It lifts up the cross of Christ while rejecting the cross appointed to every disciple of Christ. It is a gospel that leaves men worldly, and sensual, and in pursuit of all the things of the world that they formerly lusted after.

Because a multitude of Christians have embraced this false gospel, preferring the lies of ease and comfort and pleasure over the truth of suffering and the cross, God has given them over to delusion that they might believe a lie.

II Thessalonians 2:9-12
The one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

Let me be as plain about this as I can be. This false revival of Todd Bentley is an act of judgment from God. It is intended to deliver all those who have not loved truth over to the darkness of deception. You may ask, “How did we not love truth?” In that you despised the message of the disciple’s cross, in that you were unwilling to suffer for Christ, in that you would not lay down your idols and the love of the world, you have not loved truth. In that you chose a message of prosperity that appealed to the flesh, you have not loved truth.

AND FOR THIS CAUSE, GOD IS EVEN NOW DELIVERING HIS PEOPLE OVER TO DARKNESS AND DECEPTION. HE HAS REMOVED THEIR ABILITY TO DISCERN TRUTH AND ERROR. BECAUSE THEY HAVE LOVED LIES, HE HAS GIVEN THEM OVER TO THE FATHER OF LIES.

I tremble as I think of what is occurring in this hour, for indeed the judgments of God are terrible to behold. I can understand why Noah planted a vineyard and became drunk after the flood. He had witnessed a side of God that many Christians deny even exists today. Noah had seen the judgment and wrath of God, and knowing his own weakness and failings, he trembled at the holiness of One who has all power and authority.

The Spirit has testified to me that the plagues of God are now being loosed upon a Babylonian church. For years the Spirit has been crying out the following:

Revelation 18:4-5
"Come out of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities...”

For years the Spirit has been calling the people of God out of Babylon, yet many have not wanted to leave. Though Babylon is a land of confusion and mixture, a land of idols, the people of God have grown comfortable there. They love the prosperity and the success of Babylon, and have been loathe to depart. Now the plagues are being unleashed, and the people of God still in Babylon will know all their evil.

A recent devotion by Os Hillman began with these insightful words:

The goal of the Christian life is death, not success.

This is why Christ told all who would be His disciples to count the cost first. In order to enter into resurrection life, one must pass through death to the sinful flesh. Following Christ will cost you EVERYTHING.

If I am correct in discerning what the Spirit is declaring, that God is now sending plagues upon Babylon, the mother of harlots (I am assured of this - witness the recent tornado in Macon, Georgia where I live. Macon was laid out by her Masonic founders after the pattern of ancient Babylon), then what can we discern in this regard?

During the plagues of Egypt, God made a separation, a distinction, between His people and the Egyptians. The plagues that fell upon Egypt were not known in Goshen, where the people of God dwelt. The Spirit testifies that in this hour He is once more making a distinction. His people who are in bed with the world will suffer all of the plagues He is sending. Those who have separated themselves will be spared.

Frogs in the Baker’s Field

About the time that the revival of Todd Bentley was hitting its stride, a news item was brought to my attention. It spoke of a city in California being overrun with frogs. Frogs had been proliferating in the cities retention ponds, and the environment was perfect for their multiplication. Frogs were coming out in the thousands and taking to the streets of Bakersfield.

(See link: http://www.newsnet5.com/video/16273891/index.html?rss=nn5&psp=video )

About the same time I was sent a prophetic word by Hollie Moody, and the following Scripture was cited, which was quickened by the Spirit.

Revelation 16:12-14
And the sixth angel poured out his bowl upon the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings from the east. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs...

The Spirit is testifying that Yahweh is sending forth a plague upon Babylon, the mother of harlots. This plague is a plague of frogs, a release of many unclean spirits. Those who have not heeded the call to come out of Babylon will find these unclean spirits entering their homes, and into every area of their lives.

Exodus 8:2-4
“Behold, I will smite your whole territory with frogs. And the Nile will swarm with frogs, which will come up and go into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and on your people, and into your ovens and into your kneading bowls. So the frogs will come up on you and your people and all your servants."

What does this symbolize when it says the frogs will come “into your ovens and into your kneading bowls”? What does it mean when these frogs are seen in a city named Bakersfield? The testimony is the same. The frogs are unclean spirits and they will enter into that which Babylon is preparing as food to be eaten. In the New Testament the symbolism of “food sacrificed to idols” is synonymous with the phrase “doctrines of demons.” Read every word of the following passage closely, for it is written not to the world, but to idolatrous churches.

Revelation 2:20-24
“But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray, so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent; and she does not want to repent of her immorality. Behold, I will cast her upon a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. And I will kill her children with pestilence; and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.”

God has given a Babylonian church time to repent. He has given His people time to come out of her. He has not wanted His people to participate in her sins, sins which include acts of immorality and eating things sacrificed to idols (impure doctrines like the prosperity gospel offered up to the idol of mammon and covetousness). A remnant have come out, but many have remained in Babylon, participating in her sins, and now they are partaking of her plagues.

What does it mean when God says, “I will cast her upon a bed of sickness..., into great tribulation..., and I will kill her children with pestilence”? These things are figures of speech, for Revelation is a book of symbolic language. The people of God will be given over to that which will make them spiritually sick. Frogs will enter into their kneading bowls and ovens and will defile all their food. The people of God will eat things which do not profit them. They will consume greater and more wicked deceptions until the children of the harlot begin to experience spiritual death. Darkness will descend upon them, and the light of the Spirit of Christ will be extinguished in their midst. Was not one of the plagues of Egypt a plague of darkness? All of the plagues will be experienced by those who have refused to depart from Babylon.

When Joseph interpreted the dream of the baker and the cupbearer, once more God made a distinction between two men, for they stood for two kinds of people. The baker’s dream was interpreted as a message of forthcoming death. The cupbearer’s dream foretold his restoration before Pharaoh, and a resumption of his duties. What made the difference?

The cupbearer dreamed that he was crushing grapes and the juice was running out and filling a cup which he presented to Pharaoh. This signifies those whose lives are crushed in order for the oil of anointing to come forth. This dream signifies those who embrace the cross, and who will be brought to stand before Yahweh in this hour to enter into service to Him.

The baker dreamed of baskets of bread and baked goods on his head, and the birds of the sky came and ate the bread out of the baskets. This is one more symbol of food sacrificed to idols, for a common theme throughout scripture is the unclean and fallen hosts of heaven being depicted as birds. This man was hanged. And note that both of these dreams were fulfilled after three days.

It has been three days since Christ, and He is returning to inspect His people (see The Sign of Bootes - http://www.heart4god.ws/id655.htm). Those appointed to death will go to death. Those appointed to life will go to life.

Revelation 13:10
If any one leads into captivity, he goes into captivity. If any one shall kill with the sword, he must with the sword be killed.
(Darby Bible)

Have you been leading others to freedom through the cross, or into captivity by proclaiming a false and deceptive gospel? Have you been using the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, to bring life, or to bring death? The answer will determine whether you are to be given over to captivity and death. Multitudes are being swept up in this false revival, and they are being led captive to lying spirits, whose end will be spiritual darkness and death.

Revelation 22:11
"Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and let the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and let the one who is holy, still keep himself holy."

The Carnival Revival

I mentioned in a previous blog that the revival of Todd Bentley has a carnival atmosphere. The word carnival means “flesh rising.” It is all hype and excitement. There is no let-up in the action. Bob Jones, the prophet associated with Morningstar Ministries, even praised it as being like a three-ring circus. I will quote the previous blog:

BOB JONES: “So what’s going on? 25 years ago I brought a prophesy. The prophesy then was that the greatest showing on earth was going to begin. I would live to see it. It would be a 3 ring circus.”

Sadly, he is right. What is going on is a three ring circus, but the circus atmosphere is not from the HOLY Spirit, but from unclean sprits.

Following are links to two recent carnival disasters in the news. You will note much of prophetic significance in these events. The first one occurred near "Angels Camp" and when the ride collapsed many children (spiritually immature) were injured. Specifically, their feet were injured (their walk was damaged) and they became entangled in the rides chains (bondage to deceiving spirits).

The second event occurred at a Catholic Church that was holding a festival. The parishioners were setting up "carnival type rides" when a gunman approached and began shooting people. Three people were injured before the gunman was tackled. He mocked those who were trying to tackle him even as he was being subdued. Sadly, in a prophetic foreshadowing of this carnival atmosphere revival that is going on, the Catholic church said they were going to re-open the festival on Sunday as they felt it would help their people to get over their trauma and grief. This is a picture of looking to "thrills" instead of "relationship" with Christ to meet man's spiritual and physical needs. The gunman used a .22 caliber rifle, 22 being the number of judgment on the man of flesh. The event occurred near Los Angeles, which of course means "the Angels."

http://ktla.trb.com/news/ktla-carnivalax,0,2864878.story?track=rss

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080517/ap_on_re_us/church_shootings

Todd Bentley has a very impure focus upon angelic activity in his ministry. This has opened him up to the influence of deceiving and unclean spirits. Those who go along for the ride will not escape without injury.

The Spirit is speaking. I hope there are some who are listening.

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