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Iraq rising from the dead

Iraq is preparing fireworks and roses for their new independence day celebrations tomorrow night. They fully expect to be removed from Chapter VII of the UN sanctions that were imposed upon them in August of 1990 after the invasion of Kuwait.

Baghdad is preparing to launch fireworks...

The sanctions were imposed 23 years ago (in August). The number 23 is the number of "death and resurrection life." Iraq has been "dead" for 23 years, and now they are rising from the dead.

For the meaning of the number 23, see my book, The Biblical Meaning of Numbers.

This naturally leads us to be on alert for the 9th miracle-sign of Elisha, recorded in 2 Kings 4:42-44. It has been a few years since the 8th sign showed up (July 9-15, 2010). Recall that the 8th sign was the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, April 20, 2010, in the Gulf Basin. The 8th sign of Elisha is "death in the basin" (2 Kings 4:40), which was healed by casting (barley) meal into the stew.

So on July 9, 2010 we were led to go to the headwaters of the Mississippi River to cast barley meal into the river as it began to flow into the Gulf Basin. Precisely 144 hours later, on July 15, the oil spill was capped.

We then turned our attention to the 9th sign, but it has now been three years that we have waited. The 9th sign specifically mentions the first-fruits of barley in the story, so we know that it occurred at the time of the wave-sheaf offering shortly after Passover. It signifies Christ's resurrection from the dead. So now we are seeing the connection between the 8th and 9th signs, as both are connected to Iraq.

In that Iraq has been "dead" for 23 years and is now due to be raised from the dead Thursday, June 27, it seems to be an appropriate time to see the 9th sign of Elisha fulfilled as well.

Coming "barley" dates are:

July 1, 2013. This is the first day of the seventh month on our calendar, which is a type of the feast of Trumpets on the Hebrew calendar. Trumpets prophesies of the resurrection of the dead, and is therefore a "barley" date.

July 9, 2013. This is the 3-year anniversary of the day we cast barley into the Mississippi River in 2010 as an act of intercession on behalf of the Gulf. The Gulf of Mexico, of course, represented the Persian Gulf as well. This year (2013) July 9 marks the start of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month. If you check pages 34, 35 of The Wars of the Lord in the early part of chapter 6, you will notice the revelation of the angel: "Watch the month of Ramadan." This was a revelation from 1986, but the angel said that Ramadan was in "July." In 1986 it was in May. This year, 2013, however, it is in July, so there is an obvious application of this word to 2013.

July 15, 2013. This is the 3-year anniversary of the day the Gulf oil spill was capped.

We have believed for the past three years that the revaluation of the Iraqi dinar was the 9th sign of Elisha. If we are correct, one of the above dates in July are the strongest watch dates for this revaluation.

In addition to this, July 9 appears to have some ominous implications, because it is connected to the two "bears" in my 1986 vision. This "Ramadan" revelation has remained a mystery until now, but it seems that the mystery is about to be revealed. The first "bear" was the spiritual cause of the Gulf War in 1990-1991. The second "bear" was prophesied to be the cause of a second war that would end only with the destruction of Jerusalem.

Daniel 7:5 identifies Persia as the bear, but it is more than Persia. It is the spirit of that entire region, including Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. But the point is that July 9 may be the date of some significant event or political move or military event that will trigger this war that is coming. The second "bear" was technically released on Sept. 11, 2001, but I believe that on July 9 we could see a second release, a greater release of that "bear," which will speed up events.

This event may or may not be directly related to Iraq. It may simply be a change of US policy that seems unrelated. It is often the case that smaller events lead to bigger ones in a chain reaction.

At any rate, July 9 and 15 are definite watch dates that could reveal what is coming soon on the world stage. One of these dates could be the fulfillment of the 9th sign of Elisha. It will be good to get past this one, as we could then turn our attention to the 10th sign, the story of Naaman, the General from SYRIA who was healed according to the laws of leprosy (2 Kings 5; Leviticus 14).