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The Elijah Task--Part 2

Revelation 11 speaks of "the two witnesses" whose ministries are described in terms of Moses and Elijah, although no names are given. Verse 6 says,

"These have the power to shut up the sky, in order that rain may not fall during the days of their prophesying [Elijah]; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they desire [Moses]."

Moses and Elijah are linked again on Mount Herman, where Jesus was transfigured (Matt. 17). Together, they represent the law and the prophets. To us they represent a ministry of lawful prophecy, as opposed to the anomia ("lawlessness") of those who say, "Lord, Lord" in Matt. 7:21-23. Even miracle workers, if lawless, will hear Jesus' words telling them (vs. 23): "Depart from Me; you who practice lawlessness."

The task that lies ahead is therefore a combination of Moses and Elijah. This is why I have spent many years learning and teaching the law. I have also written extensively about the proper application of the law, because a prophetic ministry must know how to apply the law by the mind of its Author--Jesus Christ. Without the mind of Christ, the law is sure to be misapplied, and injustice would continue, because in such cases its application would contain too little mercy, love, and impartiality.

Yet in the larger context of the second work of Christ today, we have learned that the Moses-Elijah ministry has progressed into a Joshua-Elisha ministry. Whereas Moses led Israel TO the Promised Land, Joshua led Israel INTO the Promised Land. Joshua (Yeshua) was from the tribe of Ephraim, the birthright-holding son of Joseph. When Jesus came 2000 years ago, He was of the tribe of Judah, not Ephraim. That is because He came the first time to establish His Throne rights, which had to come through Judah (Gen. 49:10). But to lead us into the Promised Land requires a second coming through Joseph-Ephraim, because this time the focus is upon the Birthright (i.e., "Sonship"). Hence, Rev. 19:13 says that His robe was dipped in blood, even as Joseph's coat of many colors was dipped in blood (Gen. 37:31).

We are in the season where it is time to be led INTO the Promise of God. In this case, it is not merely a strip of land in the Middle East. Our inheritance is the glorified body--the dust of the ground that is to house His glory. We already have that glory in the measure of Pentecost, but we seek the greater glory of the Feast of Tabernacles--"all the fulness of God," as Paul says in Eph. 3:19.

The second work of Christ receives the double portion of Elijah, as did Elisha (2 Kings 2:9). Whereas Elijah performed eight miracles, Elisha performed sixteen.

In combining the ministries of Joshua and Elisha, we see another most interesting fact--something that I did not see until the night of April 12, 2009, a few hours after the commissioning of this new work. Joshua's first work of ministry was to overthrow Jericho. Elisha's first work of ministry was to heal the waters of Jericho. We see this in 2 Kings 2:18-22,

" ¹⁸ And they returned to him [Elisha] while he was staying at Jericho . . . ¹⁹ Then the men of the city said to Elisha, 'Behold now, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.' ²⁰ And he said, 'Bring me a new jar, and put SALT in it.' So they brought it to him. ²¹ And he went out to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, 'Thus says the Lord, I have purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or unfruitfulness any longer.' ²² So the waters have been purified to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke."

In other words, the Joshua-Elisha ministry comes in two phases--negative and positive. From 1993-2006 we engaged "Jericho" (i.e., modern Babylon) in the Jubilee Prayer Campaign, which ended in Babylon, New York on October 7, 2006. That ended the siege of modern Babylon, and its effects began to manifest in the world financial system a few months later.

But now we are entering the positive side--the Elisha phase of ministry--by which we are to heal the waters of the land that has been conquered, and to make it fruitful.

Babylon today is Kingdom-occupied territory, if you can see it by the Spirit of God. There is always a time delay between the spiritual event and the earthly event, but that is the way this works. So even while Babylon is falling due to the effectiveness of the previous prayer campaign, we are even now beginning to do the work of restoration, which will be manifested in the years ahead.

The difficulty of this work lies in the fact that we always seem to be out of step with the world. While Babylon was booming from 1993-2006, we were fighting it. Now, while Babylon is collapsing, we are restoring it under new management.

Incidentally, the name Ephraim is plural for "fruitful." Elisha's healing of Jericho was to make the land FRUITFUL. That is an Ephraim ministry, and it perfectly describes the second work of Christ.

The water is healed with SALT. Jesus said in Matt. 5:13, "You are the salt of the earth." Salt was to be placed on all the sacrifices in the law. Lev. 2:13 says,

"Every grain offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with SALT, so that the salt of the Covenant of your God shall not be lacking from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt."

Jesus explained the meaning of this in Mark 9:49, 50,

" ⁴⁹ For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."

Since "everyone will be salted with fire," it is plain that Jesus was talking about the people of God, who are "living sacrifices" (Rom. 12:1). But we must have salt in ourselves, Jesus says. What does that mean? It means "be at peace with one another." Salt, then, is a symbol of PEACE, or RECONCILIATION. Isaiah 54:10 speaks of the "Covenant of Peace," which is the New Covenant. Hence, those who are peacemakers are the Sons of God (Matt. 5:9), because they do the works of their Father.

This is especially true of the Elijah ministry, because Jesus said that "Elijah is coming and will restore all things" (Matt. 17:11). This idea of restoration is more clearly seen in the work of Elisha, when he uses salt to make the waters of Jericho sweet and fruitful.

This is a Kingdom-building ministry. We have already done the work of tearing down the old oppressive system of Jericho-Babylon. We are now beginning the work of building the Kingdom. If we are acceptable "living sacrifices" to God and truly have salt in ourselves, as the law demands, then we are qualified for the work that lies ahead.