THE OTHER END OF THE WILDERNESS
By Dr. Stephen Jones
Blog Post Date: 8-02-2021
My wilderness journey began in 1981. I am nearing the end of my personal wilderness journey in preparation for crossing the Jordan and entering something new. I now realize that my recent stirring to fast and pray in order to know more about the glory of God is directly related to this. I received instruction last night to begin my fast on Monday, August 2. However, I do not yet know how long to fast. It might be a few days or a few weeks. I cannot say at this point.
I have had 40 years to observe how my life itself ties in with prophetic events at the end of this present age. It is simply how God has led me and prepared me for each step of the way, much like He led people throughout biblical history. All of the men who were types of Christ were led in ways that manifested and prophesied about some aspect of the life and ministry of Christ.
America’s Death and Resurrection
There were many key dates in 1981 that are now coming to an end after 40 years. The first is September 2, 1981. It was when the three prophets of the early Net of Prayer resigned from the ministry. With the end of their intercession for America, the word of the Father said, “Today, America begins to die.”
Was it a 40-year beginning? What will happen when the beginning ends? I suspect that we may see some serious events ahead of us. America is already on life support, politically, socially, and economically. From what the Babylonian world leaders tell us openly (especially Klaus Schwab), covid-19 was a man-made crisis in order to justify their final power grab.
Yet these men are blind to the fact that God too has a plan. God too requires a crisis in order to motivate the church to repent and to pray for mercy. Both sides require a crisis, so I believe a crisis is inevitable. It would not hurt to prepare spiritually, psychologically, and physically.
While some are of the opinion that God is finished with America, that is not true. America has an important calling in the world, and that calling will be fulfilled. America is under a covenant which our forefathers made with God when they first arrived on this continent. The present crisis is necessary only because we have violated that covenant.
The church cannot simply blame the nonbelievers or Babylonians. The church was given the anointing to rule on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. The church started out good, but in the end it proved to be following the pattern of King Saul, the Old Testament Pentecostal. The failure of the church in the early 1900’s—in the midst of the Pentecostal renewal—brought about the Laodicean “Church of the Captivity” in 1913-1914 with the passage of the Federal Reserve Act, putting America into its own Babylonian captivity.
That captivity is now reaching crisis proportions, as God induces the Babylonian leaders to bring about the crisis that will ultimately overthrow their power and set the nation free.
The “death” of America will end in resurrection. The old will give way to a new nation under God. But first the church and the unbelievers as well must learn the results of lawlessness and how it leads the nation down the path of destruction and death.
I believe that the great outpouring of the Spirit will occur at the same time, because it is the Spirit that gives life, having raised Jesus from the dead—and us as well (Romans 8:11, 12, 13).
The Labor of God’s Intercessors
Intercessors do the work of intercession, as I set forth in my booklet, Principles of Intercession. Prophets then tell the people why intercessors are necessary, and (hopefully) they also give hope to the people by telling them the ultimate triumph of their work of intercession.
As intercessors, we too suffer the consequences of national sin, for God has identified each of us with the nation in which we live. This is certainly not limited to America. This is a world-wide problem. Nonetheless, the revelation in 1981 about America’s demise was given in the context of prophets to America specifically. Hence, the wording is specific to America but applies generally to the entire world.
In 1981, one of the three prophets of the Net of Prayer was called back into the ministry in order to deal with the Broken Cross system that had invaded America, piercing its side at San Francisco as it made its way toward the goal of taking Corpus Christi, “the body of Christ.” The first NOP battle began on November 12, 1981, and this is the battle that thrust me into an entirely new way of life. God conscripted me by the power of His own will.
It took me more than a year to discover that I had been called into intercession for America. I have already written about this a few months ago.
This makes November 12, 2021 another important 40-year watch date.
Again, my crucifixion experience at Las Cruces, New Mexico on December 4, 1981 makes December 4, 2021 another important watch date. While being crucified, I remember stating emphatically, “I will rise again.” But I still had to submit to the cross and experience the pain of death. I began to be raised from the dead 414 days later and again in a greater way in 1993 and again in 2001. Resurrection has been incremental. I now anticipate another increment in December of 2021.
For this reason, I feel the need to pray and fast for a season. I believe that great things are in store for us as we conquer death on behalf of America and the world as a whole. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in our mortal bodies, Paul says.
We have learned the biblical principles of walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh. We have learned to crucify the flesh and no longer consider it to be our true identity. We have learned to transfer our identity from the soulish man to the spiritual man within, so that we may crucify the old soulish Adamic man without fear of losing our conscious identity, our “I am.”
This is what makes us children of God (Romans 8:16), begotten by God through the Spirit, and birthed by Mother Sarah, the New Covenant. Paul adds, “and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” (Romans 8:17).
I take this quite personally, of course, for I remember my own crucifixion at Las Cruces. Having suffered with Him, as Paul says, I have an expectation of being glorified with Him as well. That is a bold statement, of course, but it is an issue that I will present to God in my time of prayer and fasting. If God has any objection or any reason to deny my evidence, I want to know what it is so that I may correct the situation.
The Glory of God
I also want to know the nature of His glory.
When Moses asked to see His glory, God showed him His goodness. Exodus 33:18, 19 says,
18 Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” 19 And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you…”
His glory is veiled; His goodness is revealed.
The Creator is good; therefore, all that He created is “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Matter is inherently good—not evil, as the Greeks thought. If we understand the origins, we will also understand the end of all things. Sin is an invasion of a good creation. That problem was not inherent in creation, and for this reason, when God is finished resolving the problem, all things will be restored to its original state of goodness.
That is what Scripture calls “the restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21). In the end, death itself will be abolished (1 Corinthians 15:26), and God will be “all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28).
The work of Elijah and Elisha is to “restore all things” (Matthew 17:11). Hence, John’s work, which was an Elijah work, was incomplete. It requires the double portion given to Elisha to complete the work that Elijah began. When the Elisha work is complete in our generation, the goodness of God will be seen and understood, and all will give God the glory that He deserves.
It was the grumbling of the Israelites at their apparent lack of food that caused God to give them manna (Exodus 16:7). They thought God was not very good to them. So He gave them manna, "the glory of the Lord," which was a revelation of God's goodness. Unfortunately, not many received this revelation, for they had not yet been given an understanding heart (Deuteronomy 29:4). The situation is not much different today.
That is why we teach the restoration of all things. This is the only revelation that fully expresses the goodness of God. I believe that when the goodness of God passed before Moses, He received the revelation of the ultimate restoration of all things at the end of time. Most people have some complaint about the plan of God—especially when it involves suffering or hardship on their part. Such people should ask God to show them His glory. He will then show them the goodness of His plan in the big picture, which Paul Himself mentioned in Romans 8:28,
28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
In my own experience, God caused me to move to Las Cruces to be crucified, so that He could work all things out for good. His goodness was manifested to me progressively over a period of time. At first, He did not seem like a good God at all. In October of 1982 I complained to Him that “I wouldn’t treat my dog in this way!”
How far I have come since then! I needed the revelation of death before I could understand and appreciate the revelation of resurrection life.
Progressive Glory
The Israelites left Egypt at Passover, and the glory of God led them in a pillar of fire from the first day (Exodus 13:20-22; 14:19). So when Jesus fulfilled the feast of Passover by going to the cross, He prayed, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You.” The cross was a glorification experience, so that the Son might glorify the Father.
So also is it with us. We too must be glorified in order to glorify the Father fully. But that means going to the cross. Not many people like that definition of glory. Yet this is the essence of Passover, and it is the point where the Spirit of God in the pillar of fire begins to lead us toward the Promised Land.
The Baptists are correct when they insist that the Spirit of God indwells us when we are justified by faith in the blood of the Passover Lamb).
The Church of Christ is correct when they insist that the Spirit of God is seen at the Red Sea (baptism), for that is when the Pillar of Fire stood between Israel and Pharaoh (Exodus 14:19).
The Pentecostals are also correct when they present the need for the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Mount Sinai. The Holy Spirit’s work is progressive and “is revealed from faith to faith” (Romans 1:17). Each manifestation of the Spirit brings us to a new level of faith: (1) justifying faith, (2) sanctifying faith, and (3) glorifying faith. The third level of faith comes also in two phases: Pentecost and Tabernacles.
A Change of Diet
I know that we were to partake of His manna-glory (Exodus 16:7) by measure six days a week in order to test our ability to “walk in My instruction” (Exodus 16:4). That is why I try to teach in these weblogs six days a week. The Hebrew word which the NASB renders “instruction” is Torah. Hence, I teach the law—through New Covenant eyes, of course.
So the present question is this: what happens at the end of the wilderness? After we have consumed a steady diet of the manna-word, the Logos which is Jesus Christ Himself, how does our diet change when we cross the Jordan into the plains of Jericho?
The Israelites “ate some of the produce of the land” on the day after Passover (Joshua 5:11). This was a transitional day before the next day when the manna ceased (Joshua 5:12), marking also the day that Christ would be raised from the dead on the third day. What does this mean? How does this apply to the present situation and to prophecy in general? In that we appear to be coming to the point where the types and shadows are to be fulfilled in our time, these questions are now more relevant than ever, and I cannot assume that I know the answers.
This may also change how we say The Lord’s Prayer. Matthew 6:11 says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” That was a reference to the manna which was sent daily to the Israelites during their wilderness experience. But the day came when the manna ceased, and then everything changed. As long as we pray to be given “our daily bread,” we show that we are yet in the wilderness. How might this change when we eat the fruits of the Kingdom?
These questions and more are on the table. I expect to learn the answers to these questions in the months ahead as my diet changes.
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