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Lessons from the Battlefront

The Burning Man prayer campaign has been rather intense so far. The first day of the festival itself in Nevada saw dust and smoke with 60 mph winds. Signs of battle are everywhere.

https://www.sfgate.com/burningman/article/Burning-Man-Art-mutant-vehicles-build-week-dust-13184007.php#photo-16071581

We have also been told about signs of battle where others are engaged in the prayer campaign. The picture is clearly emerging now that this is a battle for God’s inheritance—and ours as well, since we are co-heirs with Christ. We are His children, “and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).

Battlefield Issues

There are two main issues presented here. The first is our identity as children of God, and the second is our inheritance as His children. Psalm 127:3 KJV says,

³ Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is His reward.

In Scripture and in virtually all cultures, having an heir is very important. In this case, we are heirs of Christ, because His death allowed us to inheritor all that He had (Hebrews 9:16, 17). But false gods are trying to steal the inheritance—and they even try to get the inheritors to remain ignorant of their identity as sons of God. The whole idea is to rob us of our inheritance.

Molech demands that the people must give their children to Him as a sacrifice. It is an attempt to steal their inheritance. So the prayer campaign is centered around Jeremiah 19:3-6, which records God’s indictment on Jerusalem for offering up their children to false gods. Of all the sins that the prophet could have brought up, this was the issue that caused God to decree His righteous verdict. Jerusalem was to be destroyed so completely that it could never again be repaired (Jeremiah 19:11, 12).

The prophet then smashed the old earthen jar in the valley of the son of Hinnom (Gehenna), where children were being offered as child sacrifices (Jeremiah 19:1, 10). Child sacrifice today is on the rise, as the Satanist movement gains in popularity. Satanism gets its power through the abundance of sin in the land, because sin calls for divine judgment. Hence, Satanists push for the right to commit child murder (abortion). A side effect is pedophilia, which abuses children according to the will of the adults. After all, if adults give themselves the right to kill unborn babies, some also assume the right to abuse children after they are born.

The Implications for Jerusalem

Not many understand the full implications of this judgment. God has been merciful for many centuries, and men tend to interpret God’s mercy to mean that He did not really mean what He said. They see from history that Jerusalem has been repaired and rebuilt many times, and they conclude that this will continue.

Yet, given enough time, God always fulfills His word to the letter. Theoretically, if the people had repented during their tribulation period (“seven times,” or 2,520 years), judgment would have been averted. But once God’s verdict was rendered, the people’s hearts were hardened so that they will not repent prior to the Great White Throne judgment. The city will be destroyed in a final cataclysm—and never again rebuilt.

Of course, keep in mind that the Hebrew name Ierushalayim literally means “two Jerusalems.” While the Old Jerusalem will certainly be destroyed, the New Jerusalem is the mother of all inheritors (Galatians 4:30). The prophecies of Jerusalem’s destruction are fulfilled in the fleshly city; the prophecies of Jerusalem’s glory are fulfilled in the heavenly city.

The Identity Issue

Jeremiah 18:1-10 contains a prophecy of hope for the northern house of Israel, that is, the ten tribes who were cast off, divorced (Jeremiah 3:8), and sent out of the house to the land of Assyria. Samaria, its capital, was destroyed, and the people never returned. Even so, the prophet gave hope for the future, because the house of Israel was pictured as a jar of wet clay. It was not hardened clay, as seen in the next chapter, where the old earthen jar represented Jerusalem and Judah (Jeremiah 19:3).

The two jars are inherently different. Israel’s jar was beaten down but it was remade into a new vessel (Jeremiah 18:4, 6). But Judah’s jar was already hardened, and when it was smashed in Gehenna, it could not be repaired or rebuilt. The two nations had different callings and very different destinies, and without understanding the difference between Israel and Judah, people will remain blind to much Bible prophecy.

The remnant of the house of Judah (Jews) have attempted to usurp the calling and destiny of Israel by setting up a state which they call Israel. That attempt will fail because it represents an attempt to repair the old earthen jar. The hearts of the people as a whole are represented by the hardened hearts of their leaders.

Further, they have engaged in identity theft by calling their nation Israel, even though they know very well that they are not the Israel that was taken to Assyria. Neither are they Israel as God originally defined the term (and calling) when He gave the name to Jacob.

The Fruitfulness Issue

Jesus cursed the fig tree representing Judah in Matthew 21:19 on account of its lack of fruit. He later explained that this “tree” (Judah) would come back to life and bring forth more leaves near the end of the age (Matthew 24:32, 33). But leaves are not fruit. The tree that Jesus cursed had plenty of leaves. The problem was that it was fruitless, even while it pretended to be a beautiful tree. So also in the end of the age, the same tree was to bring forth leaves.

Because of the nature of Jesus’ curse (i.e., the divine verdict), Judah cannot bring forth the fruit of the Kingdom that God requires. Jesus said in Matthew 21:19, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” Hence, individuals may bear fruit, but not the Judah tree itself. The calling to bear fruit is part of the fruitfulness mandate that was given to Joseph along with the name Israel (Genesis 48:16; 49:22). So also Isaiah 27:6 says,

⁶ In the days to come Jacob will take root. Israel will blossom and sprout; and they will fill the whole world with fruit.

For a complete study of this, see my book, Who is an Israelite?

Our prayer campaign is partly about identity theft. For this reason, we need to know who we are as children of God. To really comprehend this, we need to know the history of the Fruitfulness Mandate going back to the original mandate in Genesis 1:28, “be fruitful and multiply.” This portion of the birthright was given to Joseph (Genesis 49:22; 1 Chronicles 5:1, 2).

Those who do not know their identity as sons of God (Israelites) will always be vulnerable to the enemy. It is easy to steal the inheritance from those who do not know that they are heirs. There are two levels of identity being played out at the same time, and we need to know how to distinguish them. There is a fleshly identity of Israel that comes from being begotten by fleshly ancestors, and there is a spiritual (i.e., lawful) identity of Israel that comes from being begotten by God. Each has its place in the world, but only the latter will make you an heir.

So also Jacob, just before he returned to his inheritance, was given the name Israel. He was not born an Israelite, for this title was not a racial term but the mark of his new revelation given to him by the angel of God. That name is given to all who share the same revelation, for it is the name of all overcomers.