Joseph Herrin (10-02-08)
Joseph Dreams
You may note that I have not posted a blog for several days. We live in an hour of such urgency, and things have been happening so quickly, that I had been posting a new blog every day.
This current blog speaks of things so monumental that I needed to really press in and seek the mind of the Lord for several days. This was greatly aided by a correspondence I was having with a sister in Christ that, unknown to her, was being used of the Spirit to help me test these things. What I will share here builds on those things I began to testify to in the recent blog on The Feast of Tabernacles. (http://parablesblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/feast-of-tabernacles.html)
I will quote from that article:
These are extraordinary days, and I have a growing witness that extraordinary things in the spiritual realm are about to occur. On September 29th at sundown the Feast of Trumpets will begin. This is the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles, which will conclude on October 21st. I have had thoughts for some months now that this Feast of Tabernacles would be very significant, and with additional witnesses I have been receiving in recent days these thoughts have been taking on a very remarkable quality. Some things seem almost incomprehensible before we see them fulfilled.
Consider how difficult it would have been to believe that the Son of God would be born to a young Jewish virgin 2,000 years ago. Even though this event had been prophesied in numerous Scriptures, and was established in the testimony of the heavens, until it happened, it would surely have taxed the imagination of the most righteous saints to believe they would see it in their day. Mary’s attitude was rare indeed, when she heard the angel proclaim to her what would shortly occur. Having heard the angel proclaim things that many would view as impossible, she believed.
Luke 1:37-38
"For nothing will be impossible with God." And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.
People of God, the Feast of Tabernacles points to events occurring in the church that are equally astonishing. What if they were to occur in your lifetime? Would you have faith to believe? I want to share with you the thoughts that have been filling my mind concerning this matter...
The Spirit of Christ has been bringing together in my mind the relationship between the Feast of Tabernacles and the birth of the man child portrayed in Revelations chapter 12. Let me include a portion from that passage.
Revelation 12:1-6
And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth... And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. And she gave birth to a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she might be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
The Spirit is testifying that the church must go into the wilderness at this time. As we examine this passage we see that before she does, she must give birth to a man child who is caught up to the throne of God. I believe this points to the overcomers who come out of the church. They must receive authority and access to the throne of God prior to the woman going into the wilderness. They will then fulfill the type of Joseph and Moses by caring for the woman who flees to the wilderness.
[End Excerpt]
I would encourage you to read the entire post, if you have not done so. What I want to share with you here are a number of confirmations of the incredible things that are coming to a prepared group of overcomers.
Note: I will say this again to avoid any misunderstanding. The terms “Joseph Company” and “Joseph Ministry” are not references to this writer. These expressions have been spoken by many of Yahweh’s prophets in this late hour. The Spirit of Christ has been revealing that a ministry prefigured in the life of the son of Jacob who bore this name will be manifested once more at the end of this age.
A few weeks back I went to a Best Buy store to purchase something I needed for my computer. After finding it I looked over and saw that they had a movie section. Immediately the thought came to my mind that I should look and see if they had the movie The Astronaut Farmer. This movie, which came out in 2006, made a deep impression upon me when I first saw it. I saw many things in it of prophetic significance, and many parallels to my own life. I had told myself at the time that I would like to buy it when it came out on DVD, but I had not ever done so.
As I was at Best Buy I just had a sense that it was the Father’s will that I buy this movie at this time. I walked over to the movie section and found a copy of it, and it was also at a very good price, so I purchased it and took it home. I have probably watched it 4-5 times in the past few weeks, and the Father continues to show me deep significance through it.
The movie is about a man who has dreamed of being an astronaut since he was a child. He obtained a degree in aeronautic engineering and was in the astronaut program while flying for the military in his younger days. When his father died he left the program to be with his family who needed him, and this cost him his spot in the astronaut program. Although he was booted out of the space program, he has maintained a desire to go into space and has been building his own rocket in his barn on his farm in Texas.
The story reveals many of the challenges this man has had in keeping his dream alive. He is faced with the scorn of many in the town who think he is crazy. He is faced with financial pressures, and one person after another tells him it is time to give up his dream. This man has the support of his wife and children, but as things get closer to the time to launch, troubles arise. The FBI refuses to let the man purchase rocket fuel, and the media hear about the story and it is soon all over the news. Some of the news reports depict him as having brainwashed his family, and controlling them like a cult similar to the Moonies.
As I watched this movie again I was reminded of why it made such an impression on me when I first viewed it. Back in 1999 the Lord instructed me to leave my job as a computer professional and to “launch out” into the deep. He indicated I was to begin a ministry of writing and to trust Him for the provision of my family. At that time He spoke to me through a couple of phrases that are not in the Bible, but He spoke them to me as if they were His own words. The first was “Do not let your fears keep you from your dreams.”
The Father had put within my heart a dream ever since I was a youth to be a minister to the body of Christ. I felt very inadequate for such a call, and had many fears. In 1999 the Lord revealed that He was indeed going to use me as a minister to His people, and I would have to follow Him down a path that was lengthy, but would lead to the fulfillment of the dream He had set in my heart in my youth. The second thing He spoke to me was, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.”
It has been a long journey since then. There have been many trials, and great pressure to get me to abandon the course. I have had family and friends and fellow Christians tell me that I should give up the dream and live sensibly. While trusting the Lord for the provision of my family He allowed us to be tested in many ways, and it was not a rare event to hear people compare me to a cult leader, or to suggest that I had brainwashed my wife and kids.
In the movie, as the pressures reach their peak, the man’s wife has a crisis of faith. She accuses him of not taking care of his family, and of pursuing a dream that benefits only himself. She tells him that he is about to lose everything, including his family. If you know my testimony, you will readily understand the parallels. We are shown the couple later that night lying in bed, unable to sleep. The man finally turns to his wife and tells her that he loves his wife and kids with all his heart, but that he would be no good to any of them if he did not follow his dreams. The tag line for the movie is “If we don’t have our dreams, we have nothing.”
Although in the movie, the man’s wife does not leave him, my wife did leave when she had a crisis of faith, and she took our son with her. Our daughter remained strong in faith, and continues to walk strongly with the Lord. A couple years before my wife reached her crisis of faith, we were in the midst of many trials and great pressure was being put upon me to abandon the path God had indicated I was to walk down. One very trying morning I told the Lord I needed to hear from Him, and the thought came into my mind that He would speak a word of prophecy through my family.
I gathered my wife and children together. Our daughter Kristin was 14 at the time, and our son Josiah was 12. I gave them each a piece of paper and told them I wanted each of them to go to their rooms and ask God to speak to them, and to write down whatever He said. As they departed I felt led to give my daughter a second sheet of paper. I know this was of the Lord, for He was indicating that a double portion of His anointing would rest upon her.
Fifteen minutes later we all gathered back together. My wife and son had both written down something, but they were uncertain of the impressions they had gotten, and what they shared did not have a strong anointing of the Spirit upon it. Then my daughter showed me what she had written. She had written on both pages, and I was impacted with a deep witness of the Spirit of God as I heard what she had written. Following is a portion of this word.
The time has not yet come to reveal all things, but behold, it is drawing nigh.
You need have no less than great expectations, for I, the Lord thy God, am in control.
Watch and wait.
You must put behind you all foolish thoughts of doubt and disbelief, for great is My reward for those who trust.
Forget not the things which I have done for you, and expect greater things in the future.
Await with anticipation the things that are to come. They are drawing near.
Those things which I have spoken to you will be fulfilled, for I do not lie.
I am a Father who loves to give good gifts to His children. Trust My timing.
You must listen to My voice, and My voice alone. Take the path which I have set for you. Do not turn to the right or to the left.
It has been over six years since my daughter prophesied these words. There have been many pressures to turn aside from the path the Lord set before me, but He has kept me and sustained me despite many sorrows and losses. Long before I saw the movie I had conversations with my wife where she was accusing me of following a course that benefited only me. I shared with her that if I failed to follow the course God set before me, then I would be hindering my entire family from attaining God’s highest and best for them. I considered what kind of testimony it would provide for my wife and kids if I shrank back from following Christ due to adversity in my life. I could not bear the thought of being responsible for sowing unbelief in their lives.
God had spoken to me through a prophetess in the church back in the late 1990's, indicating that like Joseph of old, a day of promotion was coming to me. Yet we have to endure much demotion, many humbling circumstances, before God can promote us. This movie had many allusions to the life of Joseph. Joseph’s brothers called him “The Dreamer.”
Genesis 37:19-20
Then they said to one another, "Look, this dreamer is coming! Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, 'Some wild beast has devoured him.' We shall see what will become of his dreams!"
The dreams of God are not easily killed by others. We can only kill the dreams by our own unbelief. Joseph held to his dreams, and he saw them fulfilled. A key point in the movie comes at the unveiling of the rocket after it has been completed. Much has been made about what they should call it. When the cloth drops away the name on the rocket stands out in all its prophetic glory.
It has been christened “The Dreamer.” The astronaut Farmer, as the main character is named, ends up ascending up into the heavens in his rocket, orbiting the earth nine times, and landing back safely. Whereas he was despised and ridiculed previously, now he is a celebrity sought out by all. He is a national hero, and this too is a parallel to the life of Joseph.
The Spirit has shown me that this is also a parable of the man child that must ascend to the throne of God as the church flees into the wilderness. The Joseph Company must have access to the throne of God even as the son of Jacob who bore this name had access to the throne of Pharaoh. They must receive ruling authority, and be granted access to the resources of God’s throne in order to carry forth their ministry in coming days. They must know the mind of the Father with a greater clarity than they have ever possessed before.
In the writing on the Feast of Tabernacles I shared how desperately aware I was of this need to have an open heaven before those who will minister to the church in the wilderness. They must enter in behind the veil, seeing things more clearly than ever before. They must be as Christ who testified,
John 5:19-20
"Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and greater works than these will He show Him, that you may marvel.”
We see this clearly in the life of Moses. Moses would speak to God face to face. Moses would go out to the tent of meeting and the pillar would descend and God would meet with Moses. On other occasions Moses ascended the mountain of God, and God spoke with him there. When this occurred, Moses' face was illumined with the glory of the Lord.
People of God, a man child must come forth in this last hour to experience that which will be the fulfillment of the types of Moses and Joseph. They must ascend to the throne of God, and then descend back to the earth to minister truth and life to the church in the wilderness. This is the testimony of this remarkable movie as well. This man held fast to his dreams despite many pressures and the opposing opinions of many people. In the end his dream was realized.
The last time I watched the movie the Lord showed me one more thing I had missed. Early in the movie the man loses his wedding ring while working in the rocket command module. He doesn’t find it again until he is in orbit and about to descend back to the earth. When he pounds on a panel the ring comes floating out and he puts it back on his finger.
Back in April, the Lord directed me to spend a month camping to hear from Him concerning the ministry of these forthcoming days. He spoke to me much of a Joseph ministry. While camping I lost my wedding ring. I had been losing weight, and it slipped off my finger somewhere. I looked all around for it, but could not find it, and I wondered what the significance had been. I had been wearing the ring despite the fact that my wife had divorced me after separating during her crisis of faith around four years ago. God had promised me that a day of restoration was coming, and I wore my ring in anticipation of the fulfillment of His promise.
When I watched the movie the Spirit quickened to me the parallel between the astronaut Farmer losing his wedding ring, and my having done the same. He was testifying that the marriage would not be restored until after the man child ascended and descended. This also has an application to Christ and his bride.
Another remarkable thing the Spirit revealed to me is that the movie is exactly 1 hour and 44 minutes long. The overcomers in Christ are pictured by those who ascend and descend and they are marked by the number 144.
Revelation 14:1
And I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.
Notice that the overcomers are in this ascended position, 144,000 of them on Mount Zion, and the Lamb is in their midst. As I have meditated on the birth of the man child, these sons of Zion, the Lord has repeatedly led me to the following passage in Isaiah.
Isaiah 66:8-9
Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons. "Shall I bring to the point of birth, and not give delivery?" says Yahweh. “Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?" says your God.
Can you sense the incredible nature of this event? We are asked, “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things?” Only the dreamers will believe it can happen. Will you believe? Will you hold fast to the promises of God in your life?
A month after my daughter had written me the word of prophecy I shared with you above, she came to me one day and told me God had given her another prophecy for me. Following is what she wrote out.
Because you've shown great confidence in Me, you will not be disappointed. My majesty and splendor you cannot fathom. Just as you are looking to Me, I will not turn away from you. I am in control. Who can understand My ways? Certainly not man! But through My eyes you will see. Just as I have opened your eyes to physical things, so shall I open your eyes to spiritual things. Never before have you witnessed My power as you are about to... Greater things are coming than as of now you have dared to dream. Do not dismiss the dreams I have and will place in your heart, for that would be to dismiss the blessing of the dreams in their fulfillment. The time is coming for dreams to be fulfilled. An hour is coming in which My power will be demonstrated in magnificent ways. Watch and be amazed, for all with eyes to see will see these things.
I know that all who will walk as Joseph or Moses in coming days must have their eyes opened to see spiritual things. They must operate with the mind of Christ. They must see the power of God. My daughter prophesied about daring to dream, and God accomplishing things above and beyond what I could ask or think. There will be amazement in coming days, and God says we are to hold onto these dreams and not dismiss them. We are to be expectant. We are to anticipate that which is coming.
People of God, I am not seeking to magnify myself by prophesying promotion. Some have criticized Joseph for telling his brothers of his dreams. Some may criticize me for the same. Yet everything prophesied is for the salvation of the people of God. Joseph did not attain authority and power to exact vengeance on his enemies, or to boast in himself. He received these things to save many people alive, and this is precisely what he accomplished. He not only saved his own family, but all the Egyptians and people from many other nations as well.
The Joseph company will be used in profound ways in the coming days. These sons of Zion will have a remarkable ministry to the nations of the world. The day after I posted the writing on the Feast of Tabernacles, I received a letter in the mail from a brother in Wyoming who has also been prepared by the Lord for coming days. His letter was mailed before I had shared any of these thoughts with anyone, and he is totally off the grid, not having a television or computer. He wrote to tell me of an experience he had the week before.
This brother told me that the Spirit of Christ had spoken to him with the greatest clarity and precision he had ever known in his life. The Spirit told him some specific things that would come to pass the following week in the financial sectors of America, and these things happened just as the Spirit had declared.
What struck him was the incredible clarity of the Lord’s voice. He said the Spirit revealed to him that this would be the experience of the overcomers in the coming days when the church goes into the wilderness. They will hear God’s voice, and have a deep and penetrating insight into events both present and future. He spoke of being greatly humbled by this experience, and this served as yet another confirmation to me that the Spirit is testifying that there must be a man child who ascends to the throne in this season.
We are beginning to observe the first tremors of this coming train wreck in the collapse of the economy. Things are much worse than they appear, and they appear very bad. On top of this America will face war with Russia and China, and other nations, natural disasters of unprecedented scope, terrorist attacks, famine, and a host of other terrors. The hour is truly late, but God will have a place prepared in the wilderness for His people, and He will have a Joseph Company prepared to care for them and teach them His ways.
Call me a dreamer.
Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com
Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063
Joseph,
ReplyDeleteI wept more than once reading this. If anyone has been accused of being a dreamer, it is me, if even it has been myself doing the accusing. I hope to get back later with a little
more "meat" to the comment. The Lord
is doing a work through you, hold on to the lifelines!
Love Always,
Joe Riley Brazzeal
Joseph,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the post. I received elation on two levels when reading your daughter's first prophecy. Three years ago the Lord gave me a dream in which I fell backwards on something very soft (but couldn't see anything under me). I was crying & my husband woke me up. I asked the Lord what the euphoric emotion was on this "cloud" and he said 'great expectation'. This happened at Rosh Hashana and each year at that time I am looking for great things (each year, circumstances get worse around my family). I am still waiting with great expectation. Also, the Lord told me one day to call the pastor and tell him to 'hold on, it's going to be a wild ride'.. And then another day to tell him not to go to the right or to the left. Thank the Lord for dreamers and thank the Lord for your transparency.
Your Sister, Donna