THE MICHAEL AND MARY SIGNS –P1
Oct
17, 2018 by Dr. Stephen Jones
Now
that Hurricane Michael has come and gone, leaving quite a bit of devastation in
its wake, we can look back and see how this played into the big prophetic
picture. Of course, keep in mind that the actual devastation on the ground,
which has affected the lives of so many, is really a separate issue.
Many
must deal with the loss of life and property, and we certainly should pray for
them and assist them in any way possible. But reporting such events are the
responsibility of the news media. My responsibility is to report things from a
different perspective, giving meaning to earthly events from a prophetic
understanding.
Hurricane
Michael should not be understood to mean that the Archangel Michael devastated
the people affected by the hurricane. We should view it as evidence of a great
battle in the heavens between Michael and “the
great dragon… who is called the devil and Satan” (Revelation
12:9). In this case, it appears that Pan was specifically being targeted.
For this reason, Panama City was affected.
Revelation
12:9 NET So
that huge dragon -- the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan,
who deceives the whole world -- was thrown down to the earth, and his angels
along with him.
Pan
is Azazel in Leviticus 16:8,10,
often translated “scapegoat.”
Leviticus
16:8,10 NET (8 )and Aaron is to cast lots over the two goats, one
lot for the LORD and one lot for Azazel.
(10) but the goat which has been designated by lot for Azazel is to be
stood alive before the LORD to make atonement on it by sending it away to
Azazel into the wilderness.
The
Book of Enoch shows Azazel to be the leader of the so-called “sons of God” in Genesis
6:4,
Genesis
6:4 NET The Nephilim were on the earth in those days (and
also after this) when the sons of God were having sexual relations with the
daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. They were the mighty
heroes of old, the famous men.
who
are referenced in Jude 6 as “the
angels who did not keep their own domain.”
Jude
1:6 NET You also know that the angels who did not keep within
their proper domain but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept in
eternal chains in utter darkness, locked up for the judgment of the great Day.
Azazel
was pictured as half man, half goat, a hybrid faun that was meant to depict two
natures (physical and spiritual). The Greeks called him Pan, and his home was
at the Grotto of Pan in Caesarea Philippi (the ancient city of Dan).
On
the Day of Atonement each year, one goat was given to Yahweh, and the other to
Azazel (Leviticus
16:8, 10). The first was killed, and its blood
sprinkled on the mercy seat. The second was sent into the wilderness “for
Azazel,” a ritual whose meaning was probably unknown until Jesus fulfilled the
Day of Atonement.
I
believe that Jesus was baptized at the moment the high priest in the temple in
Jerusalem was killing the first goat. Then as the priest sent the second goat “into the wilderness by the hand of a man who
stands in readiness” (Leviticus
16:21),
Leviticus
16:21 NET Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live
goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their
transgressions in regard to all their sins, and thus he is to put them on the
head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man
standing ready.
Jesus
was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit (Matthew
4:1; Luke
4:1, 2).
He was thus sent to be “tempted
by the devil.” We see, then, that Jesus was sent to the wilderness
“for Azazel.”
Matthew
4:1 NET Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted by the devil.
The
purpose was for “temptation,” not that He would be owned by the devil. If Jesus had failed the test, and
if He had sinned, then the devil would have been given authority over Him. But
the devil found nothing in Him by which He could be accused. The devil’s
calling is to accuse the brethren (Revelation
12:10), for the word devil
means “accuser.” The term Satan means “adversary,” which reveals his calling as
the Prosecutor or Adversary in the divine court.
Revelation
12:10 NET Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "The
salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the ruling authority of
his Christ, have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, the
one who accuses them day and night before our God, has been thrown down.
But
without sin, the Adversary has no lawful case against a man and can therefore
gain no authority over him.
In
the prophecy of Revelation 12, Michael overthrows the devil and casts him to
the earth, where the overcomers defeat him as well (Revelation
12:11). So in the past year we have noticed an unusual pattern in
deliverance ministry. Spiritual princes and archprinces, which we have sent to
the feet of Jesus for judgment have been cast out of heaven and sent back to
the earth in order to allow us to overcome them and then bring judgment upon
them!
Revelation
12:11 NET But they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by
the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much that
they were afraid to die.
After many months, we finally connected this phenomenon to Revelation
12:10, 11 and realized what was happening. This
understanding put Revelation 12 on our radar, so when Hurricane Michael raced
ashore from the Gulf of Mexico last week, were saw it as a continuation of the
theme from Revelation 12.
In
fact, this entire theme really originated in the birth of Jupiter in Virgo that
occurred on September 23, 2017 in the wake of Hurricane Maria (Mary) that
struck Puerto Rico three days earlier.
One
cannot blame the real Virgin Mary for this hurricane any more than one can
blame the Archangel Michael for Hurricane Michael last week. Neither can one
blame Mary or Michael for misusing them. Mary herself deferred to Jesus (John
2:5), whereas many today pray to Mary, hoping that Jesus will defer to His
mother.
John
2:5 NET His mother told the servants, "Whatever he tells
you, do it."
Many
occultists lay claim to Michael as well, as if Michael will do their bidding as
a genie from a bottle. Gnostics also claim John as their patron saint, when in
reality, John wrote against Gnosticism. By claiming John, they hope to control
his message and blind people to John’s actual message.
Such
misuse of the biblical saints (and their messages) ultimately leads to
spiritual conflict. In the present case, Michael has declared war on those who
falsely claim authority over him. Pan, for instance, is the biblical Azazel
that presents a counterfeit message of the feast of Tabernacles. Essentially,
he competes with the overcomers for the title “son(s) of God.” But he was unable
to usurp authority over the Son of God, and during the time of the church in
the wilderness, he is again unsuccessful gaining authority over the overcomers
who are the “sons of God.”
On
the other hand, the pattern under Moses shows that the church in the wilderness
as a whole fails virtually every test. Jesus succeeded where Israel failed, but
Caleb and Joshua (overcomers) are part of the success story. So also since the
day of Pentecost, the Pentecostal church in the wilderness has failed, but the
overcomers among them have followed in the footsteps of Caleb and Joshua.
In
the past year we have come to the point where we are seeing Revelation 12
fulfilled. The heavenly event on September 23, 2017 seems to have started this
prophetic pattern, and it has continued to this day. It is difficult to know
how long this prophetic phase will continue, but Hurricane Michael was a
significant prophetic sign.
