May 15, '11 7:16 PM

 

By Regner Capener

 

 

 

We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in the body of Christ. All of our reference points are changing, and they are changing drastically!

But it isn’t just within the body of Christ. Changes within the body are essential in order to deal with the changes that are happening in society and in the world around us.The world’s economic system, which is based in the Babylonian mindset (Jesus referred to it as “Mammon”), is literally shaking at its roots. The instability of money and financial markets has reached global proportions.

The earth itself is rocking and reeling under the weight of sin – to the point where (as the apostle Paul prophesied), “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.”(Romans 8:19-22 NASB)

The massive earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions that we’ve seen in the past couple of years really just portend the events to come in the months ahead. There have been a number of prominent prophetic voices telling us that the quake that decimated northern Japan with its subsequent tsunami was a forerunner to a massive quake to hit the northwestern coasts of the US and Canada. Even geologists who have no connection to the prophetic voices who are speaking are telling us that the northwestern coast of the US is way overdue for a quake of spectacular proportions.

There is a critical necessity, therefore, that believers pay close attention to the voice of the Holy Spirit. So long as God’s people are listening and heeding what the Lord is saying they can absolutely trust in and rely on God’s faithfulness in the midst of chaos.
Proverbs 1 is a strong Word of Counsel to all of us, and the 33^rd verse tells us, “But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.”

Tremendous opportunities are being given to many to invest in the Gospel of the Kingdom. Those who hear the Word of the Lord and obey every command to invest with their seed sowing and their abundant giving will see their finances multiply greatly. This great transfer of wealth into the hands of God’s people, however, is not so they can build a collection of mansions, Rolls Royces or Bentleys (and it’s not that God objects to His people having these things!); the purpose for this great wealth transfer is to capitalize on the moment so that the Kingdom of God expands and multiplies in the earth. Our first priority as believers is to extend the boundaries of the rulership of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ.

We are shortly to begin a thousand-year warm-up period of training and preparation for ruling and reigning with Christ throughout eternity. I had an extraordinary experience some time ago in which an Angel of the Lord visited me to amplify the picture drawn in Revelation 20:1-3.That passage reads like this:

“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.”

In this experience, the Angel of the Lord picked me up and literally flew me around the globe. In city after city, town after town, countryside after countryside, in the midst of every conceivable situation and circumstance I watched the Holy Spirit whisper into the ears of those people in active pursuit of His presence a command to be ready to speak two words.

You understand, of course, that this was not a whisper to Christians in the general sense of the word, but rather those who were attuned to the voice of the Holy Spirit. There is a huge difference between what we call “the Church” and “The Bride of Christ.”Not all Christians are members of the Bride of Christ. Witness, for example, Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-12.All were believers. All were Christians. All were dressed in white. All were expecting the Bridegroom’s return. But only five made it into the bridal chamber because they kept their anointing fresh and continually did whatever it took to ensure that they would never be caught off guard when the Bridegroom came.
But, I digress.

As we traveled the globe, I saw the Holy Spirit whispering into the ears of people driving their cars, some at work, some at play, some in bed and awakened by the Holy Spirit’s alert, some sitting at the breakfast or dinner table – in other words He was speaking to those whose spirits were attuned to Him.

We returned back to our starting place. Time zipped past in a flash. I have no idea how much time had elapsed other than having the sense that it was a relatively short period. Again I was picked up in the Spirit and taken above the earth by an Angel of the Lord. This time it was as if I was watching various places and people through a telescope or a huge magnifying glass – the same folks who had been alerted by the Holy Spirit to be ready to speak these two critically important words. The command from the Holy Spirit went forth.

I watched as the command of the Holy Spirit was released into the hearts and spirits of those on alert. The Bride was ready!

With one voice and one sound I heard the two words spoken around the earth, all at the same time, in every nation and tribe, in every city and town, in every conceivable situation and circumstance. It was a prophecy, and the decree of the Lord, “Be Bound!!!”

The words reverberated throughout the earth and the atmosphere. The angel who held the key to the bottomless pit had been awaiting the release of the command to do so, and in a split second Satan was bound and cast into the pit, chained and restrained for the next thousand years to come. It was absolutely dazzling! It was also very humbling, and yet there was a clear sense of ecstasy over the fact that the Lord had used His Bride – the very people whom Satan had tormented, tempted and tried throughout the years, the very people who had overcome him – to put Satan under their feet. He was taken out of commission and locked away, prevented from tempting another soul for the next thousand years to come.

Get ready, people of God! Get ready, Bride! Get the cobwebs out of your soul and your spirit! Be ready to respond in an instant to prophesy, to decree, to declare the Word of the Lord as He directs. That day is upon us!

WOW! Kind of got long-winded there in my introduction today. Anyway, GOOD MORNING! Ready for a break? Then pour yourself a good cup of this really dark brew, grab a “vitamin” or two and let’s get back to our narrative on Heaven.

Though not as young perhaps as was Jeremiah and Ezekiel when the Word of the Lord first came to them, Daniel was still a teenager when He first began to receive dreams and visions and prophetic instruction from the Lord. Daniel’s life, and the challenges he faced intrigued me from the moment I first began to read His narrative in the Word.

My conversations with him centered on the following topics: (1) His relationship to Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego), and what he saw and experienced when they were thrown into the fiery furnace; (2) the prayer life he led which resulted in him being cast into the den of lions, and what he experienced there; (3) his life as Prime Minister during the reigns of numerous kings and monarchs; (4) his fasting; and (5) his 70-week prophecy of the Messiah.

Maybe the Lord intended it that way in order to make an impression in my spirit, and maybe that’s just the way he normally appeared but when I was introduced to Daniel, he was dressed in the exquisitely-made robes of someone you would expect to see in a royal court. Had he worn a crown one would easily take him for being the King instead of the Prime Minister, so regal was his bearing.

Daniel was primed for our conversation, obviously readied by the Lord for this moment because of the power and impact his sharing would have on me, and the degree to which his counsel would affect me in the years to come.

After being introduced to him, I asked, “Would you tell me about your relationship to Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, and what unfolded when they rejected the king’s orders to bow down and worship him? I know that they were cast into the fiery furnace, but it is hard to really get that picture in my mind because of all the events the Bible records surrounding it.”

If there was anyone I met in Heaven who was really good at weaving stories in such a way as to implant strong visual images, it was Daniel. He first drew a picture of his three companions in such a way that I was able to see them visually – holographically, if you will – as they appeared in the courts of Nebuchadnezzar. They – like Daniel – exuded the presence of the Lord. Their mannerisms, their bearing, their bold stance (at first when they, along with Daniel, declined to eat the king’s meat, choosing instead a vegetable diet; and later when they refused to bow before the king’s golden image) and the spirit they radiated displayed an unwavering confidence and trust in the Lord.

“My companions and I,” Daniel began, “were each one of the house of David. We were all considered and treated as part of Judah’s royal family and given that accord once we were in Babylon. We had all applied ourselves to the learning of the Law and living it with strict observance. It was not a legalistic observance, however. Each of us had developed a love for the Lord God that knew no bounds. Furthermore, we each had personal experiences – experiments, if you will – in which we saw God demonstrate His Word to and through us.

“It is my personal conviction that it was the presence of the Lord upon us which resulted in the favor we were given in Nebuchadnezzar’s courts, as well as that which we received with later rulers. Even though Nebuchadnezzar didn’t at first realize what he was seeing with us (and didn’t until later) the presence of the love of God created a kind of magnetic attraction that drew out his favor.

“That favor rapidly dissipated like a mist heated with the morning sun for Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah when the command was given to bow down to the king’s image, and they refused.”

I interrupted Daniel to ask, “What happened to you? Why weren’t you there to respond to the king’s command? If it applied to your companions, wouldn’t it have applied to you?”

“That’s a good and logical question,” he answered.“Had I been with them at the time, I certainly would have been counted with them because I could not and would not have bowed down to the king’s image. You must understand, however, that the king revered me as much as he did the Lord God. Though he didn’t understand and serve God – and in fact worshiped many false gods – because I’d been able to not only interpret his dream of the great image but also bring that dream in its entirety back to his memory, it was a supernatural event.

“The king knew that I had a special relationship with God, and that put me – at least in his thinking – on a level above him. Were the people to regard him as a god and worship him, he felt that it would elevate his stature as something that, while not attaining to the relationship I had, would at least put him on the same level as the other gods of the kingdom. In any case, because of his fear and reverence for me and my relationship with the Lord, I was exempt from his command.

“Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were my fellow-companions within Nebuchadnezzar’s court, and while they held special status as magi within the ranks of his counselors and advisors, he still considered them inferior to his god-status and therefore subject to the same command as the rest of the people.”

Again I interrupted Daniel.“What is that term, magi?” I asked. That same term appears in the New Testament referring to the wise men who brought gifts to Jesus after they had seen His star in the heavens.”

He grinned and nodded his head.“The term “magi” has come to refer to a special class of representatives and counselors to the king (or kings) of the east – in part because of the wisdom of God imparted to them, and also because they became a part of what developed as a prophetic school among the Jews in captivity.

 

Throughout the years and in the generations to follow they became a special, elite class of royal representatives. In modern language, you would call them ambassadors. Magi, however, were more than just ambassadors. In many cases they became the alter ego of the king to represent him and his interests. They had prophetic insight given to them by the Lord and were able to act with a level of insight and authority that ordinary counselors and advisors lacked.”
That answer prompted another question on my part.

“My father says that you were responsible for this school of the prophets, and that the magi of your era grew up under your training. He says he believes that the magi who visited Jesus knew the prophetic words you had delivered as well as those of Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and others, and that you established the foundation for their training and preparation; that they were looking for the coming of the Messiah-King because of their schooling in those prophecies.”

Daniel’s answer was a bit of a revelation to me.

“Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were really the first of that school, and their miraculous deliverance in the midst of the fiery furnace laid the foundations for all who desired to know the Lord God whom we served. When they stood up to the king and boldly declared that they would not bow to his image and he threatened them with the furnace, they made a statement of faith that would ring as truth throughout the centuries that followed.

“O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”(See Daniel 3:16-18)

“Their bold declaration of faith in the Lord God, and confidence that He would deliver them from the fiery furnace, and even if He didn’t, they wouldn’t bow was something no one of that generation had ever heard. The deliverance of the Lord marked my companions as having access to something supernatural. It stirred the minds and hearts of those who saw – and in successive generations, those who heard about – their walking about in the furnace of fire with the Lord, untouched and unharmed. A fair number of people decided they wanted to follow in their footsteps and learn what they knew of the Lord.

“That really is how the school of the prophets got its start. My primary objective is sharing with them and training them was to get them to focus on the prophecies of the coming Messiah. Our nation was in captivity. There was going to come a day when many of our people would be living in our homeland, and they needed to be alert to see and recognize Messiah when He came. We focused on the prophecies of David, of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Those prophecies became second nature to many within that school and there grew up a small group within that school who watched for the signs of His coming.

“As God continued to unfold for me more prophetic understanding of Messiah’s coming, I was able to impart that understanding to those within the school of prophets. They began to understand that the heavens would declare the glory of the Lord, the heavens would clearly show the coming of Messiah. The magi who came to see Jesus after His birth were watching carefully for those signs, and they saw them. They knew that indeed, the Messiah, the King of Kings had been born into the world, and they came to give honor – not only because of what they knew, but because the kings whom they served as counselors wanted to pay honor and recognize Him as being THE King over all the earth.”

I’ve run of out of time today. In our next Coffee Break, we’ll go into the discussions in which Daniel describes his life of prayer and intercession, and why – even with the threat of the lion’s den – he wasn’t about to compromise his prayer life.
Next: HEAVEN XVI: Daniel, The Intercessor.

A paradigm shift is taking place in the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit has been preparing the Bride to show forth the greater works that Jesus promised.We are in the midst of a huge transition. That which God is about to reveal will shake and shatter the religious foundations of the calcified church!

Blessings on you!