THE RISE OF THE HOUSE OF DAVID, PART 16
By Dr. Stephen Jones
Blog Post Date: 4-24-2021
The Dragon War was primarily a war between Michael and the red dragon, as we see in Revelation 12:7. The two are what I call “natural enemies.” In other words, Michael is the angel who is called to overcome the red dragon, even as Peniel is called to overcome the Prince of Persia.
Michael is also the angel assigned to protect and fight for the tribe of Judah and the house of David—if they avail themselves of his strength. In the past, Judah fell into sin and corruption and so Michael turned against them and became their enemy (Isaiah 63:10). But in the end, the tabernacle of David was rebuilt, and the house of David overthrew the red dragon with the help of Michael.
The rise of the house of David from 1993-2000 was necessary to lay foundations for the rise of the house of Joseph/Ephraim. In long-term prophecy, we see this manifested with the two comings of Christ, who came the first time of Judah to claim the Scepter, and who is coming the second time of Joseph to claim the Birthright. Christ’s victory through death and resurrection—which is Michael’s venue—laid the necessary foundations for the second work of Christ through Peniel.
We see this pattern emerge once again in the shorter term at the end of the age. The house of David arose first to engage in spiritual warfare against the red dragon in the Dragon War of the late 1990’s. Michael’s ultimate victory allowed Peniel to begin the second phase of this Kingdom work after the turn of the century.
Looking ahead, we expect to see this sequence repeated in the short-term fulfillment of the feast days. When Michael stands up, the overcomers will stand up as they are raised from the dead (Daniel 12:1, 2). This will occur on the feast of Trumpets of some year, because the dead will be raised “at the last trumpet” (1 Corinthians 15:52), that is, the seventh trumpet, which is the first day of the seventh month.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 says that “the dead in Christ will rise first.” Hence, the feast of Trumpets is the first of the autumn feasts. Two weeks later, Peniel, the angel of Tabernacles, will “change” the living overcomers into the likeness of Christ, so that the two groups can be united fully as a single body.
Michael and Peniel make a great team! When their work is completed, the autumn feasts will be fulfilled, and the sons of God will be revealed (unveiled) to creation (Romans 8:19) in the ages to come.
We also see that Michael was assigned primarily to Judah and the house of David, while Peniel was assigned to Ephraim and the house of Joseph.
3000th Year of David’s Rule (1996)
The Israeli government passed a bill in 1993 calling for a celebration in 1996 marking the 3000th anniversary of the crowning of King David in 1004 B.C.
https://mfa.gov.il/mfa/mfa-archive/1993/pages/jerusalem%203000-%20city%20of%20david%201996.aspx
The timing of this agrees with the chronology that I set forth in Secrets of Time. We celebrated this by declaring the Jubilee, as I said earlier. The Israelis did not do so, for they were not called to do so, nor did they receive any revelation about this. Hence, their “Statement of Purpose” at the end of the article above says nothing about declaring a Jubilee.
The Israeli Jubilee (1998)
The Israelis did attempt to celebrate a partial Jubilee two years later in 1998, which was the 50th anniversary of statehood (1948-1998). They kept their Jubilee by cutting the sentences of some jailed Palestinians by ten percent, as long as they had already completed 60 percent of their sentences. This affected about 800 prisoners.
By way of contrast, a biblical Jubilee was supposed to cancel all debt so that every man could return to his family and property. This is true grace, whereas the “Jubilee Amnesty” of the Israelis was very limited in scope and only reduced their debt by ten percent.
Even so, Scripture shows that God gives men credit for any good that they may do. I discerned that their ten percent extension of grace would be credited to them as well when Jeremiah’s prophecy of the final destruction of Jerusalem takes place. It appears that God will spare a “tithe” of ten percent.
The revelation of 1998 centered around the idea of doing things God’s way. Though most people continued to do things their own way, the house of David focused on doing things God’s way.
The 32nd Super Bowl (January 25, 1998)
The Super Bowls have been known to contain prophetic signs of the times. Some have followed these signs closely each year. The 32nd Super Bowl was played while I was in Australia on a teaching tour, but I heard about it later.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/broncos-win-super-bowl-xxxii/
John Elway led the Denver Broncos to a 31-24 victory over the Green Bay Packers. El is Hebrew for God, so Elway means “God’s way.”
A few months later, on the Israeli Jubilee (May 14, 1998), Frank Sinatra died. He was best known for his 1968 song, My Way. Sinatra was Italian but also Jewish, which links his death to the Israeli Jubilee.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/frank-sinatra-dies
Round Two of the Dragon War (1998)
The second round of the Dragon War showed the conflict between God’s Way and My Way. This built upon the previous theme in 1997, where we established New Covenant marriage. In other words, the Old Covenant does things by the power of man’s will, while the New Covenant does things by the power of God’s will (John 1:13).
Round two of the Dragon War can be understood only by those who study and believe Paul’s exposition in Galatians 4. There we learn that Abraham had two wives. Hagar was a bondwoman corresponding to Mount Sinai and the earthly Jerusalem. Sarah was a freewoman corresponding to the heavenly Jerusalem and, by extension, Mount Sion, where Jesus was transfigured.
The disagreement between Hagar and Sarah and the resulting conflict between their sons has continued for thousands of year from the time of Abraham to the present day. It is not merely a conflict between Arabs and Jews, as so many think. It is a conflict between the two covenants and biblical salvation. Which covenant has the calling to save us? Is it by man’s will or by God’s will? Is it flesh or spirit? Who are the seed of Abraham, those with fleshly genealogy or those who have the faith of Abraham that is defined in Romans 4:20, 21, 22?
20 Yet, with respect to the promise of God, he [Abraham] did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. 22 Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness.
Man’s way is to be saved by deciding by the power of his own will to follow God. This can succeed only if the person is able to fulfill his vow. The problem is that “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23), and this includes those who decide to follow Jesus.
God has another plan for salvation—one that actually works. It is based on the New Covenant, which is God’s promise to mankind. Those who believe that God is “able also to perform” or fulfill His promise confess that they have placed no confidence in the flesh. This is Abrahamic faith, and it is one of the keys to being the true seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:7) and an overcomer as well.
The conflict between the son of Sarah and the son of Hagar is an “allegory,” Paul says, which manifests an age-old dispute as to who is truly called to bring the blessing of Abraham to all families of the earth.
The sons of Hagar are those who base their salvation on the Old Covenant, that is, their own decisions/vows to follow Christ. The sons of Sarah are those who base their salvation on the New Covenant, having faith that God is able to fulfill His promise.
Hagar’s children include those who claim that the earthly Jerusalem is their mother and the mother of the church as a whole. Such people promote Jerusalem as the capital of the Kingdom and that a physical temple with Levitical priests and animal sacrifices will be reinstated in the age to come.
Sarah’s children claim the heavenly Jerusalem as their mother (Galatians 4:26, 28), believing that Hagar-Jerusalem must be “cast out” (Galatians 4:30) and that Jeremiah’s prophecy will be fulfilled (Jeremiah 19:10, 11).
All of this came to center stage in 1998, as I will soon show.
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