Daniel 5:1, 5, 13, 17, 25-28
Belshazzar the king held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand... Suddenly the fingers of a man's hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing... Then Daniel was brought in before the king... Then Daniel answered and said before the king...,
"Now this is the inscription that was written out: 'MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.' This is the interpretation of the message: 'MENE'-- God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. 'TEKEL'-- you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. 'PERES'-- your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians."
A few days ago a sister in Christ with a prophetic gifting wrote to me and shared some of the very affirming insights the Lord has given to her over the years concerning the Joseph Company, and the wilderness experience that lies ahead for the people of God. She shared with me that she had been hearing the phrase “The writing is on the wall.” She shared some things about what she was discerning, and asked me to share with her as well. In reply I wrote the following to her. (I am not using her name as she asked me not to do so at this time.)
Dear Sister,
I apologize for my tardiness in replying to your earlier post. I have been loaded down with e-mail recently, and I try to answer it all in a patient way, rather than writing off some hasty answer that will not benefit the recipient. Sometimes I put the e-mails that are more lengthy off until I can fully study them...
The Lord has been speaking to me for many years through the type of Joseph, and I know that there is a manifestation of Joseph's work and spirit through certain members of the body of Christ in this last hour. In reading your writings posted on ETPV, I can see that the Lord has also been speaking to you through this same type.
Consider for a moment Joseph's brothers, for Joseph's work can only be understood through its association with them. While Joseph was in Egypt suffering much confinement, having all liberty stripped away until he was made not just a slave, but a slave in prison, his brothers were living as the sons of a wealthy father. They had all the freedom they could ask for, but they did not use this freedom wisely. Even before Joseph was sold by them into slavery, they had been using their liberty to pursue their own evil desires. Joseph brought back an evil report of their behavior to his father, and his brothers hated him because of this.
In type, Joseph's brothers were all shepherds. This speaks of those who are appointed to shepherd the body of Christ today. Yet like Joseph's brothers, many of these shepherds of God’s flock have used their liberty to do things that are displeasing to our Father in heaven. Some have abused the sheep. Some have led them to unhealthy pools of water to drink. Some have failed to protect them from savage wolves and other predators. Some have even resorted to acts of bestiality, acting in an improper way, and taking the affection and admiration of the sheep unto themselves, and this is very displeasing to the Father whose name is Jealous. Reuben even fulfilled such an action through another type when he went into his father's concubine.
We see therefore, that the liberty of the sons of Israel was being used in a way that was displeasing to the Father. It was actually the mercy of the Father that He sent Joseph to Egypt and stripped him of his liberty that he might not follow in the pattern of his brothers. Each of the sons of God need to learn the obedience of Christ who said, "I never do anything of My own initiative. I only do the will of the Father." Joseph already manifested the beginning of this spirit when he was a free man, being exceptionally devoted to his father, and not joining in his brothers’ carnal behavior. Yet when God finds a fruitful vine He prunes it that it might bear even more fruit. Joseph was a fruitful vine and so God pruned him that he might bear even more fruit.
Genesis 49:22
Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; Its branches run over a wall.
The name Joseph means "He adds," or "He increases." However, it takes much pruning for our lives to become more fruitful.
During Joseph's captivity, his season of pruning, he appeared very barren. He had no money, no worldly esteem, no opportunity in the world, no wife, no children, no family, no father, and especially no liberty. He was a barren branch. At the same time his brothers were marrying and having children and exercising much freedom and enjoying the abundance of the world. They were not being pruned because there was no evidence of fruit in their lives. We read of one debacle after another during the early lives of Joseph's brothers. We read of the fierce wrath of Simeon and Levi who lamed oxen and slew all the men of a city for an act of reproach. We read of Reuben having sexual intercourse with Bilhah, his father’s concubine. We read of Judah going into a prostitute, not knowing it was his daughter-in-law Tamar. This is a great contrast to Joseph who refused the advances of Potipher's wife.
After many years of pruning God finally brings Joseph out of the prison and the promised promotion is realized. The pruned vine becomes a fruitful bough. Joseph is adorned with ruling authority. He is given a wife, and he has sons, one of whom he names Ephraim, for he said "God has made me FRUITFUL in the land of my affliction (pruning)" (Genesis 41:52). Joseph begins his earthly ministry in a time of great fruitfulness upon the earth, during the seven years of plenty. These seven years are a symbol of the overcomers who come forth at the beginning of the seventh day, even the man child that you have written about.
You wrote that the Lord brought it to your attention that the seven years of plenty occurred AFTER Joseph was brought out of the prison. This is because fruitfulness always follows pruning. No Christian can be a fruitful bow if they have not submitted to the work of the cross in their life. Joseph had submitted, and now his life is marked by fruitfulness. Notice that even after the years of famine began, Joseph does not revert to a barren life. He has a magnificent house, and many treasures. He continues to walk in glory. He has storehouses filled with grain. He does not lack for anything, and even when the rest of the world is being stripped of all their possessions as were the Egyptians, all of this wealth is flowing into the hands of Joseph, and ultimately is being given to Pharaoh who serves as a type of Yahweh who rules over the nations of the earth.
After many years of riotous liberty, bringing much disgrace upon themselves and their father, the sons of Israel finally begin to show some signs of fruit. When they come before Joseph their hearts are tested, and we see that a change has been taking place. Whereas they had only thought of themselves in days past, bringing sorrow and shame to their father, now they are concerned for their father. We see this concern for their father as the brothers tell Joseph why they cannot bring their youngest brother to Egypt. Yet Joseph persists, and tells them they will not see his face unless they bring him back.
Upon returning to Israel, first Reuben, and then Judah, tell their father that they will become surety for the lad, watching over him, and making sure he returns safely to the father he loves. An awakening to the desires of their father has been occurring. This comes to full view when Judah pleads with Joseph to allow him to be Joseph's slave in place of Benjamin, for he could not bear to see the sorrow that would befall his father. Judah has become so awakened to the heart of his father that he would rather become a slave, and endure suffering himself, than witness the great sorrow of his father.
What a parable this is! Now Judah is ready to submit to slavery in Egypt even as did Joseph, in order to not grieve his father. In the same way, God has been preparing the hearts of some of His sons that they might embrace the suffering of the wilderness in order to no longer grieve their heavenly Father by continuing in a self-centered life of carnal liberty. This is what is about to occur in the church. Many who have been walking in careless liberty, pursuing their own carnal desires while bringing sorrow and shame to their Father, are about to have a change of heart. They are being awakened to the heart of the Father, and will in coming days be faced with a choice of either entering into a wilderness experience to avoid any further grieving of their Father's heart, or they will fall away completely and God will give them over to judgment.
It is only those who show signs of fruitfulness that God prunes. This pruning, as represented in Joseph's life is very difficult. However, those who show no signs of fruitfulness are gathered into bundles and cast into the fire, which is much worse.
John 15:2
"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.”
It was necessary for God to bring a Joseph company through their time of pruning before their brothers in order that they might be there to minister salvation to their brothers in the days of their pruning. The pattern is ever "first the natural, then the spiritual." This Joseph Company has stored up the bread of heaven to feed their brothers in a time of famine for the word of God. The spiritual bread that the Joseph Company will feed their brothers in the wilderness will sustain them, resulting in the preservation of many lives.
All those who have been enduring the confinement of slavery in Egypt and confinement in Pharaoh's prison have been acquiring wisdom. As their branches have been pruned away they have driven themselves deeper into the Vine, who is Christ, to draw forth life abundant. It is from this depth of union with Christ that they will bring up treasures old and new in coming days to feed to their brothers who are about to enter a time of great spiritual famine, which coincidentally will occur during a time of great upheaval among the nations.
There are revelations that the Lord has given me in the years of my captivity that will be made known to my brothers in coming days. The greatest thing they will learn, however, is the need to abide in Christ. They will learn that it is the will of God that they be led of the Spirit in all things; that they do nothing of their own initiative. Such a life can only be lived by abiding in the Vine. As we abide in the Vine we draw forth His life into our beings. We receive the mind of Christ, being aware of the will of the Father, and we receive the heart of Christ, desiring only to do that which is pleasing to the Father. As the people of God are pruned they will drive themselves deep into the Vine that they might also come forth as a fruitful bough in their season.
You asked me about the phrase "the writing is on the wall." I think the things you have discerned concerning it are good. You wrote:
I am now seeing that the whole MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN is not only referring to the coming judgment upon America, but is really coming to the Church. Numbered, numbered, weighed, divided speaks of the days being numbered or limited before occurring, being weighed in the balance and found wanting and then division/separation/judgment from God....separation of sheep and goats. By the time the 'writing on the wall' occurred Belshazzar's days were already numbered, he had already been weighed and judgment had been passed. He died that same night.
So, I sense that what is coming has already been written in the books...
I believe what you have heard applies to both the church and the nation. In one sense "the writing is on the wall" is a reference to "Wall" Street. Each word in the quotation (mene mene tekel u-pharsin) is a name of a type of currency (mene - mina; tekel - shekel; u-pharsin - half a mina). This too points to Wall Street which is the center of America’s financial markets. The Spirit of Christ is testifying that America’s currency has been weighed and measured and has been found to be deficient. The dollar will collapse and be replaced by another currency even as the Babylonians were replaced by the Medes and the Persians. The world will turn away from the American dollar, and in doing so the economic collapse of America will be assured.
There is also an application to the church. There is a huge portion of the church in America which has been corrupted by the love of money. This has given rise to a prosperity gospel, and it has been exported around the world until even ministers in Africa are driving around in BMW’s while all around them there are starving people. The World Trade Centers stood on the corner of Church Street and Liberty Street in Manhattan, and this relates directly back to the story of Joseph. The shepherds of the body have used their liberty to pursue mammon, even if they had to sell their brothers into slavery to fill their own pockets. These evil ministers have led the people of God into bondage to debt and bondage to the pleasures of the world, selling their brothers to the merchants even as Joseph was sold to a caravan of merchants going down to Egypt (a symbol of the world).
God has made a judgment that "by the judgment you have judged others, you will be judged," and "by the measure she (Babylon) measured to others she will be paid back double." God is about to make a division between the sheep and the goats. The sheep will go into captivity to be pruned, but the goats will be cast into the fire of judgment.
This is what I see as the meaning of the phrase you have asked about.
[End Letter]
It is not coincidental that Paul Newman died this week-end. The one movie in which he received an Oscar was The Color of Money. This was a sequel to The Hustler, and both movies had as a central theme the love and drive to acquire money. God will judge those who have made money the god of their life. Woe to the preachers of prosperity (hustlers) in coming days. A tragic end awaits you.
Revelation 18:7
To the degree that (they) glorified (themselves) and lived sensuously, to the same degree give (them) torment and mourning...
Recently I was sent a link to an Internet radio broadcast where Rick Wiles of www.trunews.com was interviewing Steve Quayle. Steve Quayle has had an Internet and radio ministry of his own for the past 15 years, but closed it down recently at the direction of the Lord. His reasons for doing so were very sobering. Steve Quayle said that the Lord told him that the hour for the watchmen to proclaim the coming judgment was at an end, and it was now time for him to go to the wilderness where God would use him in a new calling as a Joseph to the people of God.
Although I have never followed Steve Quayle’s ministry, and this was the first time I had ever listened to him speak, I was struck by a number of things that were shared on this broadcast. Of course, the most striking thing is that he has suddenly ended a radio ministry that had a considerable following. On his website www.stevequayle.com, it is stated that the site receives 90 million visitors a year. It should grab people’s attention when the watchmen begin to climb down out of their watchtowers to gain a safer place to weather that which is coming.
I want to share part of the transcript of this broadcast with you. You can listen to it in its entirety by going to www.trunews.com and clicking on the link for recent radio broadcasts. The date of the interview was 9-24-08.
Rick: Recently Steve Quayle announced to the surprise and shock of his dedicated audience that he was ending his radio broadcast after fifteen years of radio broadcasting and sounding the alarm. He said the Lord told him this is the time to shut it down and to be quiet. I’ve asked Steve to come on the program and tell us what the Lord said to him, why this is happening, what he expects to happen in the near future...
Steve: As you said to your audience, the Lord has impressed upon me, and has been impressing upon me, that the time of His great indignation against the sin of the United States of America can no longer be held back. And he said literally for me to hide myself until His indignation is past. Within 48 hours of getting that message, three other people unknown to me, who listen to my show, basically had contacted me and had given me the word that they had gotten about the impending judgment on the land...
The thing that I think that people need to know in this hour, and these are my closing comments, as I believe it is time to give it to people with no holds barred, is that the people need to get right with Jesus. Preparing is good..., but it was Noah’s faith that preserved him. It was Joseph’s faith that preserved him. Obviously they had actions with their faith. It was the faith of the three magi, the wise men, that sent them on their quest to behold the Son of God and to bring gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, that Joseph and Mary and Jesus would live on in Egypt...
The point is that we are now in that time period that the people who would scoff, would mock, would snicker, are basically now going to have a giant lump in their throat as they see that their country, the very foundation’s of this country, dissolve before their eyes...
I believe Rick, that between now and December that we are going to go down the tubes so fast; I believe that it is determined, the plan is there, and because America won’t repent, and I don’t know, correct me if I am wrong, but are you hearing anyone in the mainstream churches telling people what is coming to this country?
Rick: Not a word. They are absolutely stone deaf, silent, dumb. They’re not saying a word.
Steve: And see, this is so tragic... A number of years ago on my radio show, and this is critical, I read a prophecy. I get them about once a year. Late at night the Lord says, “Get up and write this down.” And I shared with people that a day would come when no trains would run, no planes would fly, no cars would even run, because there would be no gas. And the Lord said, “tell My people they are too busy for me. I am going to bring their entire country to a standstill, and give them time to reflect where they stand with me in eternity.”
Rick: Steve, I want to go back to your surprise decision to go off the air. Last month, my wife Susan and I were driving..., and you called me on my cell and you told me that you had made the decision to end your radio broadcast... I want to take a few minutes, and I want to probe your mind and your heart... For you to just hang it up, and to announce “no more radio broadcasting, no more warnings, no more sounding the alarm,” tell us what happened. What did the Lord say to you?
Steve: The Lord literally spoke these words to my spirit. “The time of warning has ended.” And He told me that my next place was into the wilderness to help the people of God he will be sending in the wilderness. And He gave me the book of Genesis and the book of Exodus, and especially the first chapters... and the bottom line is that obviously in Joseph’s time the money failed. And He told me that everything we have known in America is going to come to an end. And He said, “Steve, you are going into the wilderness.” I don’t know where that means. He hasn’t told me to leave the country. I don’t know if that means Montana. He hasn’t told me. But He said, “The next phase of your ministry is soon to begin.” And my ministry has been about getting people ready for the end times, but also feeding the people in the end times.
(Steve goes on to share some about his salvation experience, and he says Christ appeared to him in his bedroom and in speaking to Steve, Christ said He had called him to a Joseph ministry.)
Steve: So what I believe the next phase of my life by the grace of God, and thank you for all the intercessors, is to help those who will be running and fleeing for their lives.
Rick: Steve, I’ve told the people that the scariest thing you will ever see are the watchmen packing their tents and moving out. Because when watchmen start packing their tents and leaving, that is the clear warning that the warning is over.
Steve: Thank you for sharing that... The Lord said to me, “For all your words, your silence will speak louder than all your words.”
[End Transcript]
People of God, the Spirit is testifying that there is no time left. Whatever you must do, do quickly. It is an hour to hide one self in the Lord. I was struck by the specific words that Steve Quayle spoke. He said:
The Lord has impressed upon me, and has been impressing upon me, that the time of His great indignation against the sin of the United States of America can no longer be held back. And he said literally for me to hide myself until His indignation is past.
Recently, when the Lord had me speak to a group in Fort Wayne, this was the very word the Spirit gave me to declare. I told those gathered that they needed to be discerning of the Father’s mood, and right now His mood was one of “indignation with the nations.”
Psalms 7:11-13
God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day. If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts.
People of God, read carefully the following Psalm, for the Spirit bears witness that it describes PERFECTLY what is coming suddenly to America.
Psalms 78:43-52
When He performed His signs in Egypt, and His marvels in the field of Zoan, and turned their rivers to blood, and their streams, they could not drink. He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them, and frogs which destroyed them. He gave also their crops to the grasshopper, and the product of their labor to the locust. He destroyed their vines with hailstones, and their sycamore trees with frost. He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones, and their herds to bolts of lightning. He sent upon them His burning anger, fury, and indignation, and trouble, a band of destroying angels. He leveled a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, but gave over their life to the plague, and smote all the first-born in Egypt, the first issue of their virility in the tents of Ham. But He led forth His own people like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock...
Let me tell you the Hebrew word that is translated “indignation.” It is zaam (zah-am), and it means “to foam at the mouth.” Can you imagine God being so provoked at the sin of a people that He would foam at the mouth in fury? This is a terrifying thought, but it reveals the intensity of what is coming. This is why the Spirit is testifying to the children of God who grieve over the sin of the church and nation to “hide themselves until His indignation passes by.” It will be a sight to provoke great trembling among the righteous.
Let us continue to pray for mercy, and to listen closely to His voice that we might be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.
May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.
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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