Battleground Earth 3: Justice and Manifest Authority: Epochs and Times, The Seed of Revival - David Mitts

"So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.""  Act 1:6-8 (NASB)

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We are living in unprecedented times of great peril. Tremendous waves of evil are loose in the earth. John 10:10 foretold of this conflict:

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (Joh 10:10 NASB)

Our chapter verse tells us that we are on a timeline that God alone knows the meaning of.

We tend to think of God’s timeline as a fixed progression based on some undisclosed set of prophetic events that will be obvious in retrospect yet are currently mysterious to us. Therefore, every generation speaks about the last days and the return of Yeshua based on the historical events in their reference set. I want to consider that we may play a bigger part in this unfolding than we realize and that while we think we are waiting for God, maybe it is more like He is waiting for us. What do I mean by that? Well, let’s look at the launching event for the last days, the outpouring or baptism of the Holy Spirit.

As we spoke about in the last chapter, the outpouring at Pentecost-Shavuot followed a time of interaction between Yeshua and the disciples.  They asked the kingdom of Israel question. Yeshua does not rebuke them for thinking the Kingdom is related to the restoration of national Israel. Instead, He makes an interesting statement that it is not for the disciples to know the times or the epochs which the Father has “fixed” by His own authority.

Yeshua, like most teachers of the day, loved to give wisdom keys in the phrases He used to answer questions. The answer was itself an invitation to dig deeper into God’s ways. Times and Epochs or Times and Seasons is a prophetic anchor for a reality released by a relationship.

Let’s turn to the ancient prophetic account of the prophet Daniel. Daniel prophesied in a time of captivity by the Babylonians and later the Persians of the people of God. The kingdom of God was externally subject to the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar but internally, in the heart, God was and always is the King of Kings. 

Nebuchadnezzar has had a dream and it has rocked his world. He turns to his wise men in Daniel chapter 2 and asks them to interpret it under the penalty of death if they misinterpret it. They not only have to interpret it but they have to tell him what the dream was. They, of course, respond that they cannot do that, and he sentences all the wise men of the kingdom to death. 

Daniel hearing of the decree and being one who will be executed gathers with his prophet friends and they pray. God answers in a night vision to Daniel and Daniel declares the following:

Daniel said, "Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. "It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding. "It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him. "To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For You have given me wisdom and power; Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You, For You have made known to us the king's matter."(Dan 2:20-23 NASB)

Yeshua, in responding to the disciple’s question and using the reference of God alone being the one who changes or fixes “the times and epochs”, or seasons, is giving a kingdom reference to Daniel’s encounter in Babylon. It isn’t that the Kingdom of God known as Israel won’t be restored. It is that some process has to occur that is given by God alone.

Let’s look at what the Lord shows Daniel to speak to Nebuchadnezzar,

"However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed. "As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place. "But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind. "You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. "The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. "You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. "This was the dream; now we will tell its interpretation before the king. "You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory; and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold. "After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth. "Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. "In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. "As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. "And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery. "In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. "Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy."(Dan 2:28-45 NASB)

This dream and its interpretation is the history of the world to Israel, the Kingdom of God. Israel knows that there will be a period of rulers that will have various characteristics but that ultimately, there will be a kingdom of heaven that will never be destroyed. They also know that the kingdom will not be left for other people which is the lie of replacement theology, that God is done with Israel and that the church has replaced her. So their question to Yeshua is rooted in this prophecy given in Babylon and to be fulfilled at some future time. What greater sign of a Kingdom that cannot be ever destroyed and that will live eternally, than a resurrected King? 

Yet Yeshua answers them not with a no, but with a statement that it is up to God when, but their job is to receive power and to be witnesses, to see the Kingdom and share what they see. For what purpose? To bring the Kingdom to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. The disciples are to witness. 

As we spoke last chapter, witnessing establishes truth. In the natural world, witnessing is the process of delivering some semblance of an objective experience to some event. In a car accident, for example, the witnesses give their account of what transpired, and then a determination is made of fault or guilt.  

In the internal world of the Spirit, witnessing delivers a character evaluation. In ancient times, if a person was accused of a character issue, those who had witnessed the accused and their character would stand up for them before the assembly or not. 

Today, we have a remnant of this practice, where we can write a character witness statement for the accused of a crime.  We do a similar thing for jobs etc, which we call a reference.

Yeshua tells His disciples that they will be His witnesses after they are immersed in the Holy Spirit, which is His Spirit.  We focus mostly on the power side of this equation. But power has never changed anyone’s true heart except short term.  What transforms the heart is love.  The immersion of the Spirit was to awaken the cold heart of man, the heart of stone, into a heart of flesh that can share with passion God’s love.  Israel is in covenant with God. This is not just a legal position but one of love.

This was always the mandate for Israel, to bring His Light to the nations. 

He said to Me, "You are My Servant, Israel, In Whom I will show My glory." But I said, "I have toiled in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity; Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the LORD, And My reward with My God." And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the LORD, And My God is My strength), He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth." Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, To the despised One, To the One abhorred by the nation, To the Servant of rulers, "Kings will see and arise, Princes will also bow down, Because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You."(Isa 49:3-7 NASB)

This is an eternal prophetic declaration. Notice that he says,; Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the LORD. This is a perilous time and God is looking for agents of justice who are with Him!

How are we then to live in these perilous times? As agents of His light, His truth, His justice. Let’s read on in Isaiah 49 for the vision:

Thus says the LORD, "In a favorable time I have answered You, And in a day of salvation I have helped You; And I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people, To restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages; Saying to those who are bound, 'Go forth,' To those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves.' Along the roads they will feed, and their pasture will be on all bare heights. "They will not hunger or thirst, nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down; For He who has compassion on them will lead them and will guide them to springs of water. "I will make all My mountains a road, And My highways will be raised up. "Behold, these will come from afar; And lo, these will come from the north and from the west, And these from the land of Sinim." Shout for joy, O heavens! And rejoice, O earth! Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people and will have compassion on His afflicted. (Isa 49:8-13 NASB)

This is a worldwide picture of revival and of the true kingdom of God. It is a picture of the Shepherd drawing His people to Him. This is the Kingdom of God being surfaced out of the darkness in the world.

In the midst of all of what is happening it is easy to neglect little Israel, the seed of this revival. Even Israel herself will feel the isolation of quarantine. This Covid-19 quarantine and lockdown is a spiritual strategy to control NOT a disease but people, especially people who will connect with Israel. So like Yeshua who was rejected by men, Israel will face this final isolation. In this place, it will seem like God has forgotten her like men have wanted to forget her and replace her. Yet the Lord declares through Isaiah:

But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, And the Lord has forgotten me." "Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. "Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me. "Your builders hurry; Your destroyers and devastators Will depart from you. "Lift up your eyes and look around; All of them gather together, they come to you. As I live," declares the LORD, "You will surely put on all of them as jewels and bind them on as a bride. (Isa 49:14-18 NASB)

Those who stand with Israel and with God’s Kingdom in this hour will be like jewels in the crown of the Lord’s Kingdom.  They will be the covenant bride of the heart of the Lord, bound to Him. 

What I want to say is that God determines the times and seasons, but he releases them to a prophetic people, the Daniel’s of this hour. His spirit is looking for prophetic people who will listen and act.

If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble? If a calamity occurs in a city has not the LORD done it? Surely the Lord GOD does nothing Unless He reveals His secret counsel To His servants the prophets. A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy? (Amo 3:6-8 NASB)

It’s time to prophesy! As a prophetic people, we are called to listen to the secret counsel and to declare it to the nations.

""The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law."  Deu 29:29 (NASB)

Activation: The Torah of God, His Law has been written in our hearts by His Spirit. It is the song of the Lord. He is waiting for us to sing it back to Him and release the symphony of heaven. Sing in your heart what the Lord reveals to you for this hour!