THE WAVES OF REVIVAL
1. THE JOSHUA WAVE OF WARRIORS
The Life of a Servant
Joshua 1: 1,2 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, "Moses, my servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, the children of Israel.
It is noted here in verse 1 that Joshua is called Moses' assistant. One of the first characteristics of those called into the Joshua wave is that it is a group of people who have been called out into a ministry of a servant. It is a servanthood ministry.
It is unlike the Moses wave that is a pioneer in many areas. The Joshua wave inherits a lot of things from the Moses wave and builds it up into a new work. They also go through a period of preparation. A period where they ar
e moulded where all there rough edges in their life are cut away, most of the time through learning to live as a servant.
That is why the generation of ministers God is raising today is different from the previous generation. The ministers from the previous generation (though not all of them - many of them lead humble Christ-like lives) but many of them tend to be like Hollywood stars. Wherever they go they would have bodyguards and during a public meeting it is very hard to approach them to get through to them. They come in through the door when it is time to minister only to perform their ministry and do not stay back to fellowship with the congregation or to worship with them when it is finished. They leave immediately after ministering. That kind of behaviour belongs to the Moses wave.
The Joshua wave of ministers God is raising up are those who want to mix with the people, be among them and to worship with them. They don't come to the meetings just for their ministry and leave after the meeting ends although there are some of the Joshua wave ministers who behave like that and copy the kind of lifestyle adopted by the Moses wave. These lifestyles have got nothing to do with the Word. It is only a lifestyle. Sadly these lifestyles can prevent them from moving into the peak of the Joshua wave God is bringing forth.
God is doing something new in the hearts of the generation of the five-fold ministers whom He is raising. He is putting them into a service-oriented ministry even before they are launched forth. Joshua learned to serve Moses for many years. He is called Moses' assistant. The Hebrew word for assistant here means servant.
Jesus said that he who desires to be greatest among you must be a servant of all. Certainly the last generation of ministers that will see the return of Jesus Christ and bring forth the last wave of revival in the last days and see the greatness of God will be among those with the most servant-like of ministers than compared to the previous generation. Joshua served Moses during the latter's entire life.
Look at Exodus 24: 1,2,9-13. We see here in verse 13, Joshua going above Moses' other assistants in serving him. When Moses and Joshua reached a certain point, Moses told Joshua to wait for him while Moses continued up the mountain to meet God. So Joshua sat down waiting for Moses, the people were down at the mountain while Moses was up and he (Joshua) was in between them. Moses was having a good time with God as God appeared to him for 40 days and nights, giving him the Ten Commandments and speaking to him about many things, experiencing the glory of God that even his countenance shone. Meanwhile at the foot of the mountain the Israelites began to have a good time themselves in worshipping the golden calf. Ex 32:1. Joshua stood waiting in between in the wilderness in a position of serving.
The Joshua generation will be a generation that learns to serve. God puts them through a period of service and in this period they do not have the spiritual experiences yet. They would probably be serving in obedience under another ministry like Joshua under Moses and Joshua would be promoting Moses instead of himself during his service. During this time Moses was the one who talked to God, who had all the visions, and who heard the voice of God, while Joshua had nothing. He only heard Moses' voice, saw Moses getting all the visions; neither did Joshua get to enjoy the celebration of the Israelite people worshiping the golden calf and the things of the flesh. It would have been easy to give up things in the flesh if you have a spiritual replacement, but Joshua neither had fleshly or spiritual delights.
It would have been easy for people to give up television when they have God's vision. Just pray in tongues and they might see the spirit world. It would be easy to give up something if you have something to replace it with. It is harder to give it up if you have nothing to replace it. That was what Joshua had to face. He did not arrive at the point where he could receive spiritual experiences from God. Yet at the same time he was at the point where he had to give up a lot of his earthly inclinations and pleasures in order to serve Moses. Moses was not an easy person to serve. Joshua was in a halfway point and he had to serve in a position where his heart was tugged in two different directions. The servant heart characteristic is what God wants to give to the Joshua wave minus the pleasure but no benefits yet. It is an in between.
The second characteristic of the life of a servant besides giving up the pleasures of this world before you receive the things of the spirit realm is where you are put to do the most humbling, menial tasks. Like Elisha pouring water on the hands of Elijah as in 2 Kings 3: 11. Like cleaning the toilets and doing things where no one else may want to do. And a lot of those who God is raising up in the Joshua generation are being put to that. But there are many who resist and say, "I don't want that kind of work. I am called to be a world evangelist." No doubt you may be called as an evangelist to 130 countries, but before you can experience that kind of anointing, God may want you to wash 130 toilets.
There is something within us that dislike doing such jobs. If we come from a background that is used to menial tasks we may do it. If we come from a background where we have a silver spoon in our mouths, we may not want to do menial tasks that easily. However the bad news is that the Joshua wave people will have to go through that. The good news is that all the Joshua wave will receive their rewards if they go through it.
In the last days the Joshua wave is going to have good rapport with the grass roots. They will not be like the Moses wave that stands on a pedestal. It has got something to do with God wanting to exalt them and before He can do that, He has to humble them. God often chooses natural ways to bring us into humility by allowing us to do the most menial, humble tasks to see whether we are going to do it or not. And you are not going to receive praise from men, or get noticed. The only time you are going to get noticed is when you are not doing your job! Some of us do not want to do the natural tasks. We only want to do spiritual tasks. Elisha had to go through a period of service under Elijah. He probably came from a middle-class family having an oxen and a field which not many people had in those days. When Elijah threw a mantle on Elisha in 1 Kings 19, the first task Elisha probably had to do was washing Elijah's clothes, cooking his food, and perhaps even catching locusts as food for him. There were a lot of natural tasks that had to be done by Elisha.
The Joshua wave need to realise they will be placed in menial tasks in order that their character can be formed, moulded and broken until they die to self. Then God will raise them up to exalt them.
It takes time to get used to being ordered around. Every time Elijah needed something done he would call out to Elisha and Elisha had to respond. When Elijah finished eating and needed to wash his hands, he would call out to Elisha and Elisha had to pour water on his hands. Can you imagine doing that for ten years without coming to the place where you get the anointing to see visions and revelations? It does something to your inside. It moulds you until you are dead to self and something forms inside you where you have a servant heart attitude like Jesus. This is the reason for the greatness of Jesus - He came to serve and not to be served. Jesus was willing to serve.
Fresh New Vision
Joshua 5: 13-15. The second characteristic is that the Joshua wave will have a fresh new vision. The vision will be similar but different from the Moses wave.
Both Moses and Joshua stood on holy ground. Both of them possibly saw different angels or the same angel in different manifestations. The Joshua wave must experience the same holy ground, the same depth of vision as the Moses wave and the same commission, but it will also be different. Moses' angel was in a bush. Joshua's angel was with a sword. Moses' angel was where Moses had to draw to him. Joshua saw the angel when he looked up.
Many who want to move into the Joshua wave often fail to experience the spiritual depth the previous generation had. We read the story over and over again in the Bible that when the generation that knew the Lord in Joshua's time died, the next generation did not and went astray. It is the story of the Book of Judges again. Sometimes a move of God comes, the next generation that takes over has the talent but do not have the spiritual experience and they could not last the pace and momentum. As a result, they lose some level of the anointing, which the previous generation had.
Let me be more precise. If you want to move in William Branham's anointing you would have to have the same angelic encounter he had. You may not see the same angel in the same manner as he had but you must have an angelic encounter in order to operate in the same anointing he had.
If you want to move into the same kind of ministry Kenneth E. Hagin does, you must have visions of Jesus. Hagin had eight visions of Jesus that changed his ministry. He took fifteen years to see his first vision. You may take a different number of years. There will be differences but there has to be a similarity of the same kind of experiences.
If you want to move into an evangelistic office like TL Osborn, you would have to have the same vision and call that he had when he heard the voice call him, "You can do the same thing" and he launched forth. If you want to move into any of the anointing and mantles that the Moses wave had, you must have a similar type of spiritual experience. The sad thing is that principles and precepts can be taught but experiences have to be bought. Why bought? You have to pay a price for those experiences.
It is easy to get taught and get association with that level of anointing. But to move into the same Moses wave mantle you must have that similar experience. That is why there are very few people who move into Apostle Paul's kind of ministry because Paul had a supernatural encounter with the Lord Jesus. You may have all of Paul's epistles memorised and understand all he wrote, but unless you have that vision experience that Paul had, you will not be able to carry the same mantle that Paul had.
When you have that level of anointing in an office, God will make it possible for you to move into the same area, just as Joshua moved into the office of Moses. Although in your preparation years you may not have them, but when it comes time to move into them you will have the same kind of vision and anointing. I know it is a difficult thing to understand and to grasp. But it is just like this. For example, if the day comes for me to pass the mantle to somebody else, they can listen to all my tapes and understand everything in them that I have taught in my entire life, but unless they have seen the same Jesus I saw they would not be able to move into my anointing. There is something about meeting the Lord Jesus that changes you. Spiritual experiences cannot be imparted. Only teaching precepts and principles can be imparted. Spiritual experiences have to be bought with a price. And there is only one giver, Almighty God. And you buy it from Him. Jesus told the Laodicean Church to come and buy from Him eye salve to remove the scales from their eyes.
The Joshua wave is a complementary move that builds upon the Moses wave. There are many who try to claim the mantles of previous men of God but are unable to, because they never experience that same level or quality of spiritual experience that the Moses wave had.
Benny Hinn who moved into Kathryn Khulman's anointing had the same experience with the Holy Spirit that Kathryn had. Kathryn Khulman met the Holy Spirit as she was walking along a dead end street and said she knew it was Him. Benny Hinn experienced Him in his room. Spiritual experiences must be equal in quality for the Joshua generation to move into them.
The task and commission may be different but the spiritual experiences must be equal in depth and quality and on the same Holy ground. Joshua stood on holy ground just as Moses had although the place was geographically different for Joshua and in different chronological times. You must enter the same holy ground that the Moses generation entered. Oh, Joshua generation, it is so vital!
Different Methods
The third characteristic of the Joshua wave is that the presence of the Lord will be equal in quality as the Moses generation but it will have a different method. Look at Joshua 6: 1-4 and Joshua 3: 5-7, 13.
The Joshua wave will move into a new methodology. Moses parted the Red Sea with a rod. The rod was the symbol of the power that God would demonstrate the signs and wonders in the Moses wave.
The Joshua wave's new methodology will also be equal in power. It is also able to part the waters. But it is more than the rod, but it is now the Ark. What are the differences? God used the rod Moses had after it was endued with power to convict his generation. God will definitely give signs to the Joshua wave to convict the contemporaries of those who move in the Joshua wave.
The Ark was special. The Ark was not in the same perspective as the rod. The pattern of the Ark came from God. God told Moses to build the Ark. Ex 25: 10-22. But the Ark became the methodology of Joshua for his generation. He used it to part the waters of Jordan and bring down the walls of Jericho. The Joshua wave is going to launch forth the Ark in the Feast of the Trumpets. We have just moved into the Feast of Trumpets in the Church's chronological time. It is a powerful time.
Look at Ex 25: 10. The Ark was surrounded by gold while the rod remained a piece of wood. There was still wood in the Ark just as there was wood in the rod. Now the sign and method Joshua used was wood overlaid with gold. The fresh new anointing that is coming to the Joshua wave will be through the divine nature in them because gold symbolises divinity. It won't be just a method God ordained for them.
For example, Oral Roberts always had to use his hands. It was important for him to keep to this method if that was the method God called him to use. It was also the same method used by some others in his generation. In Branham's ministry he always had to use his left hand to hold the hand of another person to discern sicknesses and diseases. There were some limitations in the methodology that they used.
The Joshua wave will be able to use the same methods but will move beyond that. They will know the same things and perform the same quality of signs but they will be operating from the divine nature in them. They will be able to speak like God, think like God and walk like God. It is in that aspect that Joshua looked up to the sun while he was fighting and said, "Sun, stand. Be still where you are. Moon, stay where you are!" The only being who normally does that is Almighty God. But now Joshua began to act like God. Joshua moved into the divine nature. It is a very powerful realm.
Ex 2: 17 says "You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold." The Joshua wave will move into the depth and height of their demonstration of signs and wonders of being seated with Christ in the mercy seat. Number one through the divine nature in them. Two, through their position in Christ in the mercy seat and three, angelic visitation that will even be more that the Moses generation (vs 18). Cherubims represent the highest angelic beings possible and they will be able to see them manifested.
So there will be a new anointing that will be different. In the Old Testament it was wood that was anointed. In the new Covenant, it is our nature that is anointed. Not just our flesh but our very nature is anointed so that it functions like God. We have the mind of Christ.
Entering into the Promised Land
The fourth characteristic is that the Moses wave will only be able to see and prophesy some of the things the Joshua wave will enter into, but will not be able to enter into them. The Joshua wave will be able to step into them. Smith Wigglesworth, when commended for the marvellous things God was doing through him, said, "Young man, there are things out there in the spirit that your generation will do, but I will be gone with the Lord!" He could only see what the Joshua wave will do even though his ministry was so powerful.
Kathryn Khulman never saw in her time where all the sick in her meetings were healed. But she said she saw it in the spirit it was possible one day. The Joshua wave will move into that. Marvin Ford was taken into heaven during one of his visions, and he saw someone without an arm growing a new arm supernaturally while listening to a young preacher talking about the Lord in a meeting. Those who were crippled and paralysed and who saw the new arm growing just got up healed and started running!
Some of the things the Moses saw could only see them in their visions and they never had the chance to taste it. The Joshua wave will spring off from that platform. It is a powerful new realm they are going to move into. Besides they are going to move in new places. A lot of those in the Pentecostal Revival in the early stage only touched the lower rungs of society. They never touched the high places. Only a few hopefuls did touched that upper strata of society. But the Joshua wave is going to touch every strata of society. They are going to touch a new generation that was formerly untouchable.
Just like Paul could only reach certain places but there were some things he said he could not do that he had to send Timothy to do it. Timothy was a symbol of the Joshua wave. There were some places Timothy could go into that if Paul went he would have been stoned. But Timothy would have been accepted.
Dividing the Land
The fifth characteristic is the dividing of the land. The purpose of dividing the land is so that the conquest can continue in the delegated form. Joshua does not have to do all the conquering now, but various tribes were to continue the conquest. What Joshua did not complete, the tribes must finish it. The dividing of the land in the New Testament form is the impartation of the gifts.
1 Cor 12 says the Holy Spirit imparts gifts as He wills. Why does the Holy Spirit give you gifts? Not so that the man of God can perform his ministry and gifts alone. Not so that you alone can enjoy the gifts of God. The gift of God is given so that you can extend the Kingdom of God on earth by imparting the gifts to others as well.
The fifth thing the Joshua generation will see is the Body ministry. They will see the conquest at hand and pass on the delegated authority to conquer. This authority and empowerment is delegated to the various members of the Body. Even from the greatest, the head, the ears, two eyes, the 5 fold ministries to the least, the little toe nails in the Body. Every one will be given some goliaths to conquer, some the 'King of Og' to overcome, and some the 'Amalakites' to be destroyed. Everyone in the Body of Christ will be roused and united through the Joshua wave.
The Joshua wave will see a new realm of Body ministry never seen before by the Moses generation. I saw in my spirit where the man of God sometimes do not even need to minister, where the Church will just gather and they will just worship and the preacher will not be preaching but just leading and coordinating. And there will not be a man of God they come to hear. They come to hear God. Then from one corner will come a prophecy and from another corner a miracle. And the presence of God will be so strong that if there were any sick person there they would be healed. If there were unbelievers there they will be convicted without the voice and works of the 5 fold minister, but because the Body of Christ has gathered together. We see a little of it in the previous Moses wave that something happens when there is a gathering of the 5 fold ministry and believers.
What we are going to see in the Joshua wave when the believers gather together is there will be an extended increase in the corporate anointing. The corporate anointing will be so strong that it will be equal to what is said in the book of Ephesians 1,2 and 3 that the Church becomes filled with the fullness of God. The fullness of God will dwell bodily in the Church just at the gathering of believers for we are at the Feast of Trumpets.
2. THE JOSEPH WAVE OF WEALTH
The Joseph wave is one of the great moves God is going to do in these last days in the realm of the redemption from the curse of poverty. God’s people will experience all the fullness of Christ’s blessing. In this move God’s people will experience an abundance of provision where there will be no lack or poverty when the rest of the world will experience recession and famine. Christians will live brotherly community life as the early church did in the book of Acts 4.
Let us look at Gen. 37:1-5 Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colours. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak pe
aceably to him. Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more.
There are 5 characteristics of the Joseph wave.
Strong Dreams and Visions
One of the characteristics of the Joseph wave is that they will have strong dreams and visions in their life. It is not the ordinary type of dreams. These dreams and visions will steer the entire course of their life. Dreams and visions are the seeds of the future given in the present to human vessels that we may hold fast to them and bring them to pass in the coming years.
Those strong dreams in Joseph’s life were again a dream about being the head and not the tail. Look at his two dreams. The first one says the entire sheaths bow before him. The second one says the sun; moon and the stars bow before him.
So the first of aspect of the characteristic of the dreams and visions is about being the head and not the tail. It is similar to the promise in Deut. 28:13. The dreams and visions will cause them to rise up and excel in life. They will not be satisfied with being mediocre. If they were to open a sundry shop or a shoe business, they will not be satisfied with just a small one with just a normal good income to live by. They will want their business to be the best and the biggest. That is that kind of vision and characteristic they have and the Holy Spirit seeds it.
We realize that success does not come easily in life. Success comes through hard work and discipline. And the only way for a person to be motivated to get into that realm of discipline is for them to get a strong dream or vision. It gives them the motivation to want to give their very best and reach the highest possible in life.
The dreams and vision that the Joseph wave has is so high that they do not know how it is going to be fulfilled. But something within them is burning all the time. The dreams and visions will probably occur in their lives many, many times in different forms and manner. Prophecies may even confirm it.
The second aspect of the characteristic of the dream that Joseph had is the impossibility of it being fulfilled in the natural. In Gen. 43:8, the brothers said to him. “Shall you indeed reign over us, shall you indeed have dominion over us.” Even Joseph’s father was puzzled. In vs. 10 his father said to Joseph, “Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you….”
There will be a lot of question marks in the dreams and visions because of the impossibility of the dream being fulfilled in the natural. You won’t be able to understand the headship position God wants for you. These dreams and vision are not from the natural man. Neither are they from their parents or peers. It is not a natural induced good ambition. It is something that comes from God in the spirit realm and sown into their life.
The third aspect of their dreams is that they will have opposition to their dreams and visions. The opposition will come from some of the most unlikely quarters, sometimes from people you love or even your kinsfolk.
The forth aspect of the dream and vision is that they will keep talking of their dream and vision because it occupies their consciousness. It will be the talk of their life. The dreams and visions so occupy their lives that they will always keep mentioning it whenever they go and it is the main motivation force of their life. There will be people who will mock and ridicule their dreams and visions but they still go on and talk about it. Gen.37: 7, Joseph mentioned his dream to his brothers and in vs.8 he mentions again of another dream to them in spite of their earlier opposition to it.
Favour
The second characteristic of the Joseph wave is that they will have a very high degree of favor and grace upon their life with certain people. They will not find favor with everyone because that would do away with all opposition in their life, which is not true. Joseph did not have favor with his brothers but he had favor with the right people, for example his father, Potiphar and Pharaoh. So will the Joseph wave have favor with the right kind of people?
They will be like a son in finding favor with father figures. Whether it is in the working place, their careers, in their education, they will have that remarkable characteristic, because it is a favor from God. They normally end up as a 'teachers pet’ or the company key figure that the boss depends on partly because of the personality and the grace and favor of God.
What kind of grace and favor will they find? It will be a father and son relationship or for ladies a daughter and father relationship in many instances. Example Gen.34: 4 Potiphar was willing to entrust his whole house to Joseph like a father would do to a son. Later when he was in prison in vs. 21 Joseph was entrusted with the running of the entire prison, which is unprecedented. Obviously the relationship with Joseph and the chief jailer was not an ordinary one. To allow a prisoner to run the entire prison is unheard of even in modern times. Such was the grace and favor Joseph had.
The second aspect to the grace and favor of the Joseph generation is the ability or anointing to bring about material blessing and natural position. Joseph was given a coat of many colors not because he deserved it but it was a gift to him.
The Joseph anointing is different. It is not just getting your worth that you worked for. It is an anointing to receive gifts. To depend just on the wages you work will never get you into the Joseph wave. There has to be an anointing that comes upon your life that enable you to receive gifts and material blessings or position given freely to you. Not because you work for it but because you love God. Although hard work and discipline is necessary to the call of the Joseph wave, it is not the only ingredient. With the grace and favor upon your life, you don’t have to chase people around for business. People will be chasing you for business. It’s a different perspective altogether, although hard work is still involved.
Visible Hand of God
The third characteristic of the grace and favor given to the Joseph wave is that God’s hand of blessing is visible. Sometimes when God blesses you, you will find some people commenting that it is because you are smart, clever or whatever. But it won’t be like that for the Joseph wave. It will be more of people saying that it is because God is with you. The testimony will be that the glory goes to God. The grace and favor will be visible from God. That has been the characteristic of Joseph’s life as can be seen in Gen. 39:2-3. They will recognize that you and God are in partnership. Even Pharaoh recognized it as in Gen. 41:38.
Testings
The fourth characteristic of the Joseph wave is that they will be tested in the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life. They will have to be over comers. When you handle prosperity you must face up with the love of money and covetousness because it can kill you. God is not going to anoint you to the Joseph wave and let you be killed. Remember the warning in the Gospel of Mark 4:18-19. Not everybody can handle prosperity.
Before God brings the Joseph anointing on a person's life God has to deal with his or her internal life.
1 Tim. 6:10 gives a warning to those who desire to be rich. Many people who desire to be rich end up very sorrowful because they spend 24 hours of their day trying to get riches and never succeed. Day and night they are dreaming of it till they have no more spirituality left in them. They don’t love the Lord anymore as they use to. They don’t have time for the Word, because of their other interests. Which is why there will be a testing to those called into the Joseph wave. You will be tested in all these areas before the fullness of prosperity comes. If you fail the test you will have to go around it and resit again, until you pass it and go from the wilderness years in the land of Canaan.
There are many who are called to the Joseph wave who have not entered into the land of Canaan. Canaan for them is a far off place, and they can only see it but not taste it, because they have not passed the tests yet.
Notice in the temptation of Joseph with Potiphar’s wife. All the three areas are covered. When he said `no’ to Potiphar’s wife he was saying `no’ to the lusts of the flesh. When he was accused of rape, he lost the respect people had for him. In this aspect he overcame the pride of life. Lastly he lost all his property. Everything he had worked for under Potiphar’s time he lost it when he was sent into prison. He overcame all these by holding on to his conscience and by being right. He was sent to prison not because he did a wrong thing but because he wanted to please God.
Those called into the Joseph wave will be given opportunities to be tested. You will be given opportunities to compromise your Christian principles for a quick million or ten million dollars. A quick profit here and there. Every time you say `no’ to compromise you seem to walk one step downward instead of one step upward. However hold fast to your Christian principles even though that may mean your business may go bust and you lose a lot of money just because you refuse to compromise.
The prosperity that comes to the Joseph wave will come through hard work and diligence. It won’t just come to you in your prayer closet just sitting down and thanking the Lord and confessing continuously you’re the Joseph wave and doing nothing about it.
God prospers the work of your hands. Gen. 39:7 speaks about the diligence of Joseph whether he was recognized or not. Some people will only be diligent when they get attention but are not when they don’t get it. Joseph’s diligence was such that it was unquestioned. He doesn’t need his master to check on him because his master could trust him. Joseph was the type of man who does not need reporting and he would be the same whether the master was there or not. Joseph’s diligence was self-motivating. It was a part of him.
His diligence was in all kinds of work not some type of work only. Some people will be diligent in some kind of work and they avoid all types of menial tasks. For Joseph it was all the same. Whether it was sweeping the floor at Potiphar’s house or ruling in Pharaoh’s palace, it was the same. The type of work but irrespective of the work did not rule his diligence.
The Joseph wave has a liking for hard work whether they are seen doing it or not and for all types of work irrespective of whether they are menial or respectable. Prison or palace demands his full diligence.
Joseph persevered in spite of set backs in his life. It looks like you’re forgotten. But whether you are remembered or not you do it unto the Lord.
Worship
The fifth and final characteristic is the strength in prayer, praise and worship life or the acknowledgement of God being the very source and strength of your life. In other words you’re a worshipper of God in your life. You acknowledge God even in the smallest or biggest thing that God is involved. You invite God not in the huge big projects but even in the smallest thing like finding your keys. Gen.41: 15,16 Joseph acknowledged God was the source of his life. The Joseph wave will prosper because they recognize God. Whenever they have the opportunity they will acknowledge that God is the source of their prosperity whether it is before their friends at the stock market, or before their board of directors of a public listed company, or before the rulers of the government. It won’t be a people ashamed of acknowledging God’s help. They will stand up head and shoulders tall in the Lord and say it is not they but it is God who has helped.
The three points in the fifth characteristic of the Joseph generation is strong in prayer, which is being dependent upon God, strong in praising, which is giving glory to God and strong in communion with God which is worship and hearing from God.
All these five characteristics can also be found in the Book of Daniel. It is the anointing that we can qualify, as the Joseph anointing that will bring you to be the head and not the tail.
In this modern era, even when Joseph is dead and gone the anointing remains. If that same anointing comes upon your life as it came upon Joseph and Daniel you will be the right hand man or ruler of the nation. You would be an influence over an empire or over a kingdom. That’s powerful. May God establish that anointing over your life.
3. THE ELIJAH WAVE OF WONDERS
The 1950s represent the decade of the evangelists; the 1960s the decade of the pastors; the 1970s the teachers, the 1980s the prophets and the 1990s the apostolic ministries. Each wave that God brings about is not supposed to end, but is supposed to continue through the decades. For example in the 1960s you should see the wave of both pastors and evangelists. The 1970s should have had 3 waves with an emphasis on the teaching ministry. In the 1980s we should have seen 4 major waves and in the 1990s we see all the five fold ministries. But we see there was a distinct continuation of the prophetic wave that started in the 1980s that will mature in the 90s and be associated together with the apostolic move to bring forth the return of Jesus.
Call to Celibacy
As we consider the life of Elijah, we consider the peculiarities that characterise the Elijah wave. In 1 Kings 17: 1 Elijah seemed to appear out of the blue. He had a dramatic beginning and a dramatic ending. We know from 2 Kings 2 how he was taken up into glory above. One of the major peculiarities of the prophetic move that does not apply individually is that many who are called to the prophetic move (those called to the office of a full-fledged prophet in the New Testament age) will at the same time receive a call to a single or celibate life. It is different from the call to the pastoral role because the Bible mentions that the pastor being the husband of one wife and the major portion of his work is in the counselling work. A prophet very seldom does counselling. In fact some prophets are not good at counselling at all and may appear to be brash and harsh. The counselling ministry takes patience and tolerance and a prophet is not called to that.
The prophetic office is associated with a call to celibacy. Many of the prophets like Elijah had to be called to celibacy because of the isolation that they were also called to. A prophet is someone who is called and raised up by God to deliver the rhema word to a generation, a group of people or to an individual. In the New Testament the rhema must conform to the logos (written word). In the Old Testament, the same test of prophecy was there, that it had to be in line with the law of the Pentateuch given to Moses.
Elijah was always alone and always functioned alone. Because of the amount of challenges he brought to the society of his time, he had to be alone. The pressures of the prophetic ministry can be too much for the married lifestyle.
In 1 Cor 7: 26-27 Paul wrote I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress - that it is good for a man to remain as he is: Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. Paul is not giving a command, but he says he is giving advice to the Corinthian situation so it does not even apply to the church in general. It was a specific advice given at a specific time to a specific group of people. It was a time of distress, the distress being the hardship, persecution and tribulation that were coming upon the Corinthians and in that context, Paul said it was better not to be married. God knows the purposes and He knows the call He has for different people and celibacy is a peculiarity of the calling for the prophets. In 1 Kings 17, we see the minute Elijah gave the prophecy, he was pursued and chased after for three years. For three years, there was no way he could live a normal life in the ministry.
1 Kings 18: 10, when Elijah came to Obadiah after three years and told him to tell King Ahab that he was there, Obadiah was very frightened because he knew the extent Ahab had been looking for Elijah. Even after 1 Kings 19, in calling down fire and killing the prophets of Baal, straight away he was pursued by Jezebel, and in his pursuit, Elijah experienced all the feelings of one who was called to the single life. You can see that his first situation was loneliness in 1 Kings 19: 14. So God had to provide for him a companion in a different manner, an assistant prophet whom he could train and who would be a companion to him throughout his life.
Another person who apparently had a single life was Daniel the prophet. John the Baptist was another. In fact when you look at the single people in the Bible, they are mostly prophets. That is something in the Word which we cannot ignore. It is a peculiarity in the Elijah wave. More than any other five fold offices, the prophetic office is called to a single life.
What about those who are married? Those who are married need to have special spouses, who are willing to allow a period of isolation. Their relationship with their wives will be different from the normal family life. It will be at a supernatural level. It is possible to be a prophet and to be married but it is more difficult. The choice of the spouse will have to be different, on a higher level than other ministries because other ministries can live a normal life to a certain extent. In ministry, the pastoral ministry is mainly horizontal, that is he deals with people all the time. If he spends time with God, it is mainly that he will be in a position to minister to people. A prophet's relationship is mainly vertical where he is primarily called to receive the word that God has, deliver it and get back in position with God. Therefore he is called to a life of celibacy otherwise he would require a special spouse who understands his office. For example, Enoch was a prophet who gave many prophecies, some of which are recorded in the book of Jude, about the second coming of Jesus. Genesis 5:24, "And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. He was married but he was still able to function as a prophet. It is possible but there could be difficulties as in the case of Samuel.
1 Sam 8: 1-3 "Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes and perverted justice."
There are two possible causes for that; firstly, Samuel himself may not have had a good family life. His mother was the second wife and he was given up to be adopted by Eli, the priest. Eli did not have a good family relationship; his sons were corrupted. Therefore Samuel did not really have a family life and what was not put into him, he could not bring it out. The second possible cause is that he did not have enough time with his family. He was too busy and so his sons grew up almost with a father who was always absent. And when his sons grew up, he put them as judges. They could not walk in the same degree as Samuel walked. So there is a danger in the prophetic office if they marry the wrong spouse in which it may be hindered, which is why we are teach the Elijah wave so that people who understand the wave of God will know how to flow into it. If they are called, whether as a prophetess or a prophet there has to be a very special understanding in the family to the amount of time that a person with the office of a prophet needs to spend with God and away from the family. It is almost like the evangelistic office. There is a certain commitment to that too and you are required to move about and away from the family more often than others.
In the New Testament, Luke 2: 36, "Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity."
Anna the prophetess was called to the office of a prophet and it seemed that she could not move into the fullness of her ministry until after her husband died. Apparently after her husband's death, she was able to spend more time with God. She was able to give herself to fasting and prayer. She could not be the normal housewife hence she was only able to move fully in the office when she became a widow. Please take this with a pinch of salt; don't misinterpret. If you are called into the prophetic office and are already moving in this office, don't you dare start praying for your spouse to be removed. God has His ways and His time. This teaching is for those who are not yet married and are called to the prophetic office to be very careful when choosing your spouses. There has to be a special understanding that must be taken care of before the marriage takes place. But if you are already married, you cannot do much except to do the best you can of your situation. Although it looks easier for a man who is married to function as a prophet, it is still possible if it is the other way round. For example, in 2 Kings 22: 14 we see that Hulda the prophetess was married. Her husband gave her a lot of time to spend with God and he was the keeper of the wardrobe. Apparently she could just spend her time fasting and praying seeking God and people were able to seek a word from her from the Lord that they needed. King Josiah also sent for her for a word from God.
Although the New Testament prophets are different, that is they only confirm and do not just lead like in the Old Covenant yet it is necessary to be able to get a word from the Lord at any time. That is the prophetic office. Because of that requirement a prophet needs to be given a lot of time with God. A good example is Agung Bangau who had a prophetic mantle upon his life. God used him to start a mighty revival in East Malaysia. He had a special unique relationship with his wife where he would go off to the mountains alone many times. It has to be a unique relationship. That is why we have to put the call to celibacy as the number one characteristic of the Elijah wave. If not, it is a special relationship with a spouse that will give them a lot of time with God.
Call to Prayer and Intercession
The second characteristic of the Elijah wave is that these people will also be strong in prayer and intercession. We hear of the prayer wave which is basically a layman's wave? In this decade, the ministry of intercession enters into what I would call 'fulltime'. Those who enter further into intercession and who have a mantle upon their lives, they enter into the realm of the office of a prophet. The office of a prophet can have three levels. In order to get into the function of it, the gift being free, takes obedience. To reach to this level, the first step you have to take is to enter into it as a consecration unto the Lord. The second step is a strong prayer life. The third step is the prophetic function that you move into. That is why sometimes an intercessor who is strong and who may even move full time into that and who may not have a call to the prophetic office functions in the prophetic gift. But this is more the ministry of prophesying or the gift of prophecy operating and not the office of the prophet. For prayer and prophecy are related to praise and worship.
Step one, consecration to the Lord where their relationship has to be special with their spouses. Step two, the area of prayer where they have entered very deeply or they are creatures of prayer. This is the characteristic of someone who is called into the prophetic office. Some prophetic minister may have taught that some people who are called to the prophetic mantle can see visions even while watching television. Those are exceptional demonstration of the gifting of God but they will not be permanently manifested if the person continues to watch television.
As an example, I knew of the healing anointing the moment I was born again. There was a strong urge and an understanding of the healing anointing, and I began to feel the healing anointing. Today I operate in the word of knowledge, but even before I understood these things, the moment I was born again I sort of know what is going on in another person's life supernaturally even when I did not spend much time in prayer. It would just come. It comes more or less like God telling you, "Hey, that is the area you are in." Now if I don't spend much time in prayer, the accuracy of it is not there. To fine-tune it and to make it accurate, we need to spend time with God. It does not mean that if you have the prophetic mantle you can do what you like, like playing baseball and hope to see some visions from God. That teaching is not in line with the Word. Where in the Bible do you find people who had a prophetic mantle who did not spend time with God? Any teaching that is not in line with the written Word of God is completely unacceptable, and any teaching that causes people to be complacent is completely unacceptable because it does not bear fruit. In other words, even though you have an anointing upon you, you don't live off your anointing upon.
From the second characteristic, we know that they have a deep prayer life. It is quite natural for them to go deep into prayer. Instead of being natural to see visions, the other way around is true. It is natural for them to draw unto God. They are naturally at times introverted and are withdrawn through spending a lot of time with God. They would also naturally withdraw from worldly entertainment. I doubt that in our modern era if someone is called to be a prophet that person can function in it if they spend all their time in the wrong things. They will probably live and die without moving into their ministry. They may have their occasional visions three times a year while they are watching baseball. And after some time the gift will become dormant if they continue to live that kind of lifestyle. The truth of it is it is easier for them to move into visions than others because of their mantle and their calling. However, it does not excuse them from spending time with God. Easier is a better word to use rather than to say that they will surely have visions because when you change the word easier to surely then it moves into a wrong teaching completely. But when you use easier it is a balanced way of putting it, which is understandable.
In James 5, it is written on the life of Elijah who was a great prophet, a great person, a great man of prayer. James 5: 17 is before 1 Kings 17: 1. Elijah spent lots of time praying. Later on through his life, you can see his statement that he is Elijah who stands in the presence of God. This statement is usually said of angels. The amount of time he spent in prayer is the second characteristic of a prophetic wave, the Elijah wave. For these people one hour of prayer is nothing, two hours is peanuts, three hours maybe common. So when someone has this kind of calling, don't judge them according to the norm. For them being normal can mean three to four hours with God daily. Sometimes parents panicked when their children get turned on to God, especially when their children have a prophetic mantle on their lives. The parents think their children are no longer normal when the children do not go out and play football like the other children but they just go and pray. The normal life in the world is a sinful life. What God has is that everyone has a special life. We have a special call and a special destiny that we must govern our lives according to the book that is written about us and fulfil it. In fulfilling your destiny, you may be peculiar to people. People may misunderstand you but this should not matter, for the real judgement is up there. Therefore just make sure your life is in line with the book written up there about your life. The tremendous peculiarity is the amount of time you need to spend with God in your prayer if you have a prophetic mantle.
Prophet Daniel had the same emphasis in Daniel 6: 10 as was his custom since early days. Apparently Daniel had a very religious and devout habit. It is from such that draws from God a prophetic mantle. People like William Branham was always out in the woods somewhere with no other form of entertainment except for going out into the woods to spend time with God. It is peculiar to all those called to the Elijah wave.
Let us look at John the Baptist in Luke 1: 80, "So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation for Israel…" And where was he? He was in the deserts. He was an unusual child, unlike other children who liked to be in the streets, but he liked to be in the deserts. Can you imagine John the Baptist growing up with the kind of peer pressure that he had? He loved to be alone. Imagine your playmate suddenly disappearing into the deserts and growing up, and later coming back clothed in camel skin and crying out, "Repent"? This man who was once your neighbour, was strange to other people because he was a Nazarite. As a teenager, John the Baptist would say, "Well, I have a call in my life and this is the covenant my parents have made with God and which I have made with God too." He is special, unique. A Nazarite is looked on as someone very peculiar. How would you like if someone who is dressed in sheepskin or camel skin and all he does is to be alone and pray and when you and your friends visit him in his house, he just sits there praying?
It is sad when the body of Christ does not understand prophets. We should be giving them room to develop. Just as country folks are different from city folks where city folks are used to smaller space area, so prophets need lots of space and we need to give them lots of room to function in, for them to come up. That is why people who are called to the prophetic office have most problems with pastors and with organised ministries. They are unique in themselves and we need to understand the Elijah wave.
Intensity of Emotions
The third characteristic of the prophetic ministry is the intensity of emotion. A prophet tends to be emotionally intense. And he needs the help of music. Music is the international language that reaches beyond normal languages. It reaches into the depths of the soul. The prophetic wave will be stronger in the Feast of Trumpets when the wave of worship comes forth. In 2 Kings 3: 14, 15 we see the prophetic mantle relying a lot on music and the element of worship, and this is not necessarily a music piece that was sung or just that atmosphere of music they can thrive in. in the book of 1 Samuel we see many occurrences of prophets gathering together to worship the Lord, for example 1 Samuel 10: 5. Music and prophecy go together. In 1 Chronicles 25: 1-6 you would notice that they would prophesy with the harp and timbrel. Music moves in the right brain function. When you are listening to music your right brain is activated in the dianoia (Greek word for imagination), which is the visual part. The prophet is in a sense more right brained. In the natural a person who is skillfull in words is more left brained but musicians and artists are more right brained. In the spiritual sense prophets lean more towards the dianoia than others because they need to reach into the spirit realm and the only way to keep that realm active is through music and worship. They need to rely on constant music of the right choice. That is the third characteristic - they are very inclined to music. In fact for some of them they need it all the time. That would mean that there are other sub areas because is an area that can evoke deep feelings, and deep emotional intensity.
This can also be a person's weakness as the person can be highly sensitive and finds it hard to relate to people. If you are experienced in life you know that in order to have good relationships with people you must be compassionate but not too sensitive. If you are too sensitive you may have a problem of reacting to every little word uttered by people when they do not really mean any harm. You need a high level of tolerance. The more tolerant you are, the more able you are to accept others as they are. Prophets tend to be highly sensitive which explains why many prophets cannot relate well to people and they end up not being accepted and for some of them their ministries are not promoted because of bad relationships with people. We need to understand the emotional aspect of a prophet's life, which can be highly explosive, but yet when they bring the word of the Lord it is a good word.
However, outside of their ministry they may not be the average jolly good fellows whom you like. In fact you may never like them but you like their prophecies. That is a prophet's life. Now that does not have to be their lot in life. That is why it is necessary for 5 fold ministries to fellowship with one another so that the prophet can learn a little bit of the diplomacy of a pastor and a pastor can learn a little bit from the prophetic isolation that is necessary for their ministry. Some people are so horizontal that they need to be with people all the time. They do not know how to be alone anymore while others are so alone that they do not know how to be comfortable with others. We need a balance.
Openness to the Spirit World
The fourth perspective of the Elijah wave is the constant relation to the spirit world. Prophets will constantly be seeing angels and spiritual visions until it is commonplace. To an average person seeing an angel means an experience of a life time but to the prophet it is normal to see angels walking around, to see into the spiritual realm and to walk into that realm as if that realm is the only realm they live in. they are very visual and are always relating to the spirit world. Elijah in his entire life seemed to relate to one or two main angels. In 2 Kings 1: 13-15, the angel was apparently there with him all the time. When the angel told him to go down with the captain then only did Elijah go. This prophet related so closely with the spiritual world that talking to angels is like talking to human beings. He listened to his angel. He heard from his angels. In his time of despair and discouragement this angel fed him and took care of him, 1 Kings 19: 6,7. The angel fed him twice and even cooked for him. If an ordinary Christian were to wake up and see an angel who says to him, "Arise and eat" he will be staring at the angel in awe. But when the angel said to Elijah, "Eat", he ate and with the angel still standing there, he fell asleep. A normal Christian after eating would be talking with the angel asking 101 questions about the spirit world. As for Elijah it was as if he was used to seeing the angels. He related to the angel quite naturally. In the same way other prophets would do the same. It may be angels, our Lord Jesus or any area of the spirit world, these would become natural to them. Seeing the spirit world does not necessarily need special prayers. It becomes easier for them when they are at their full function. It was said that for William Branham to function in the office of a prophet he always needed to wait till the angel came. He always needed to see the angel. Can you imagine the need to see an angel every time you minister? That is the prophetic office. He needed to wait until the angel appeared to him before he could minister the gift of God that he was supposed to minister in. The close resemblance in experience is amazing.
We can then understand point one and point two better, because in order to live in that level you need that kind of isolation and we can understand why prophets are the way they are. When the spirit world becomes natural with you, you become peculiar to the natural world. You begin to see things that are not there, you talk about things that are not there. You could be in the midst of a conversation and you could see or sense something in the spirit that the normal person does not sense and therefore your countenance change according to what you sense or what you picked up.
Working in Groups
The fifth point is an area which will take place and is already taking place. The Elijah wave of the decade of the 90s will gather together as a group. The school of prophets have always been in existence among prophets. Because of their isolation prophets need more than other ministries to relate to those of the same office. An evangelist can function alone but very few prophets can survive permanently alone. If you are seeing the spirit world all the time there will be many times you are wondering whether you yourself are queer and to meet another one who experiences the same is an encouragement and it strengthens your call. There are many schools of prophets that have started but they are not exactly what God wants. The school of prophets are only for 5 fold office prophets, not for the ministry of prophecy, or for the normal gift of prophecy. Many people start the school pf prophets just to teach about prophecy. This is not what the school of prophets originally was. The school of prophets is for the fellowship of prophets. A school of prophets today is just a seminar or bible school that teaches on prophecy. This is just what it is. It is open to all Christians who have the gift of prophecy or leaning towards it and there may be many prophets drawn to it. But the school of prophets in the Bible was a fellowship and an association of full-fledged prophets. In 1 Samuel 10: 5, there was a group of full-fledged prophets and not just a group of people. It was not, in a sense a Bible school for all. It was an association and fellowship of fellow prophets. A prophet's field of vision tends to be narrow and if he does not have other prophets seeing other narrow pieces, he cannot have the whole jewel. A prophet needs other prophets otherwise he would think that is the only word there is by virtue of his office. There were priests in those days but they were possibly excluded. It had to be a school for prophets that God had appointed and anointed. For example if you call a meeting of pastors who have churches, they would discuss things different from those whom you call from a pastoral training seminar, people who are called but have not yet entered into the pastoral office.
The real school of prophets in the Bible was a permanent association that came about because of the need of the prophetic office to function in groups. You will notice in the New Testament, in the book of acts that prophets never functioned alone. The full-fledged prophets needed to team up with other prophets to give the right perspective and slant. Acts 11: 27prophets (in plural) came to Antioch. They always travel in groups and always draw encouragement from one another. New Testament prophets deliver the word in the same power as the Old Testament prophets as seen in Acts 21: 10, except that in the New Testament, they can say, "thus says the Holy Spirit." In the Old Testament they say, "thus says the Lord but it is a different thing now. They can say, "thus says the Holy Spirit" and have the same impact and same power. Here Agabus was alone and when he was alone he was also a little confused about his prophecy (Acts 21:2). Possibly Agabus may have been among those who told Paul not to go. Sometimes a prophet can deliver a prophecy that he does not fully understand. For Paul knew he needed to go. Now supposing you are a prophet and have received a prophecy for somebody that there is danger for him. Your mental impression would be that the person should not go. For example I am on my way to South America and you have received a prophecy for me that there is going to be hardship, difficulties and danger. Maybe you saw a vision of a plane crashing down. You come and tell me that. What would be your interpretation of your own prophecy? Do not go. That is how many prophets will end up when they function alone. They end up not just giving but interpreting and applying prophecies. Paul, who was in the perfect will of God heard from God. Paul knew what he was supposed to do, what he was going to do and he told all these guys and said, "Keep it aside, I have to go where God wants me to go." Some preachers even said Paul went against God's will. This is not true because when he was in that place Jesus appeared to him and told Paul to be there until he was brought to Rome. Paul was in the perfect will of God, but when a prophet functions alone he tends to interpret his prophecies his own way.
There is a danger in functioning alone. I have met many different prophets and some of them have different words about this nation and about revival. I have found many prophets, true prophets, who have what I call a narrow vision. They sonly see a part of something. I know of a prophet who talks about hardship to come and he concluded by telling the people to leave the country. Now there may be some justification there but you need other ministries to come in to give a clearer perspective of the picture. If prophets were to function together they would be able to check each other. Prophets by nature need acceptance. Therefore if they have an association or fellowship of prophets, which may not be an organised one but an unofficial one where the prophets could call up one another and get together from time to time to check with each other. Otherwise they will receive 'funny' words and interpretations that go way off the picture.
Can you imagine, if Paul had listened to them he would have been out of God's will. So I would gather that Agabus was among those who tried to persuade Paul not to go. It is dangerous when a prophet functions alone, which is why even a great man like William Branham went astray. He went astray in the 1960s when he began to think that he was the only prophet and would not listen to any other ministers. He died in a car accident after teaching some weird doctrines that were not of God. It took another prophet who happened to be Kenneth Hagin who came to Gordon Lindsay and said that God was going to remove William Branham. It was a case of a prophet against another prophet. Gordon Lindsay wrote that down in his diary, and it came to pass. Shortly within a year William Branham died.
Prophets do check on each other - 1 Cor 14: 29. prophets judge prophets. Prophets must come together so that when two or three prophets speak they can judge one another, because prophets deal in the area of the spoken word, the rhema which many times the Word is silent. For example you receive a word about a country and you do not have a specific scripture about that country. You are dealing with areas that are outside the Bible. Where is the check? When it is totally against the written Word we know it is off, but yet there are many things that are not off and yet they are unwritten. This is the reason why Paul said let two or three prophets speak and let the others judge. Now if a prophet is not willing to be judges by another prophet you will know that the person is not fully functioning in the area that God wants. If is quite understandable when you deal with the realm of the spirit and the high emotional intensity you need checks all the time. You need to be kept on the ground by others so that you would not be lost in the area of wrong perspective.
These are the five major characteristics of the Elijah wave that we need to take note of, for those who are called into that area and for those who are not called we need to understand these five so that we can give room for the Elijah wave to flow with the prophet's office. Many times I find people tend to be judgemental on a prophet's character and personality which many times are undeveloped although they have a solid ministry. We do not want to miss what God has brought to the Body of Christ just because of a person's queer personality. Despite their personality quirks God sometimes uses them to bring an important word to the Body of Christ.
4. THE DAVIDIC WAVE OF WORSHIP
The Davidic wave is the wave of worship that God is bringing forth in this time of the Feast of Trumpets that we, the church, have entered. Whenever we worship God, worship angels assist us in the worship of God. These angels are the composers of “new songs”. From time to time, they give these songs to the children of God. Those in the Davidic wave, therefore, have to work closely with these angels. We need to hear the songs that the angels sing to the Father; the songs that the Holy Spirit inspires. Those who are walking closely with God experience this all the time.
The Davidic Anointing is also to bring forth worship leaders as well as the Five-fold Ministries. I share this not only from the perspective of a five-fold minister, but also from the viewpoint of one who is called by God into the Davidic anointing to draw the presence of the Feast of Trumpets into the lives of the People of God. The reason I say this is because, I understand the temperament of a musician. Musicians often do not want to listen to instructions because we think that we know our instruments better. This makes the Davidic Wave one of the hardest to bring forth. There is so much room for individuality and it is a completely different realm from that of the world of secular music. Many kinds of music that are operating in the secular world never came from heaven. These come from the souls of men and men enjoy hearing them. You would never hear an angel sing rap, for instance. Rap is a kind of modern poetry, but it comes from the souls of men.
The Feast of Trumpets is special to God. It encompasses the Davidic Anointing that consists of 3 main areas:
1. Skill
2. Sweetness
3. Anointing.
All three are related and you will find all three present in David’s life. In 1 Sam. 16:13-16 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah. But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him. And Saul's servants said to him. "Surely, a distressing spirit from God is troubling you. "Let our master now command your servants, who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skilful player on the harp. And it shall be that he will play it with his hand when the distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well,"
We note the words skill and anointing used in the description of David. 2 Sam.23: 1 says, “Thus says David the son of Jesse; thus says the man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel.” Note the word sweet there. In Acts 15:16, we see the prophetic significance of the Davidic wave in the scripture, and “After this I will return and we will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen down I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up”. There is a dual prophecy here. The first is in regard to the nation of Israel, that is that God will restore the Kingdom of Israel because David was involved in establishing it. Samuel initiated it, Saul the first king was unsuccessful and David was the one who brought the kingdom to greatness. So, a restoration of the Tabernacle of David symbolizes the Kingdom of Israel.
The second prophecy is in regard to the church. The Tabernacle of David, when restored, will represent the Worship Ministry or the Feast of Trumpets. This restoration is taking place in the last days. It is one of the last and final moves of God in the church.
Skillfulness
Knowing this we can proceed to the first area of skill. There are three Hebrew words to describe the word skill. The first word is bin which is needed for one to move into the heights of the ministry. It is unusual because it means “having wisdoms and understanding.” 1 Chronicles 15:22, “Chenaniah, leader of the Levites, was instructor in charge of the music, because he was skillful.” Here the work skill does not refer to talent alone but rather to wisdom and understanding. It is not natural talent that makes one a worship leader of a team. To be a worship leader you need bin - the understanding of people’s hearts, the understanding of their minds, the understanding of other instruments and how they harmonize together.
The same applies to the word skillful in 2 Chronicles 34:12 And the men did the work faithfully. Their overseers were Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshuliam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to supervise. Others of the Levites, all of whom were skillful with instruments of music. The word skillful in this verse means that they were wise and had understanding. The beauty of harmonizing instruments arises when we understand when the instrument’s part is to be expressed the way it should be. That is more than just skill or talent. That is what we call bin. Perhaps you could use the word expression to describe it. It is therefore subject to the person’s personality and walk with the Lord. Bin comes forth from the Spirit of Wisdom. The Spirit of Wisdom has many rays like a rainbow, and one of those rays is music and worship. Only the spirit of bin in music can establish a person to the leadership of a Worship Leader. So, God may call you to the Davidic wave as one of the musicians, but when God calls you as a worship leader, you need the anointing of bin to come upon your life and establish you. Not everybody will carry that kind of an anointing.
The second Hebrew word is yatab. Psalm 33:3 says, Sing to Him a new song, play skillfully with a shout of joy. Here the Hebrew word skill means “to make something better.” A song is a song but every singer and every instrument player makes the songs different. The spirit of yatab has an excellence involved. Most of the time yatab has been translated as “to make well”. Several times it is taken as “to make better.” And sometimes “to make sweet”. Any worshipper will want to bring an excellence or enhancement to whatever he does in worship. Therefore, we require excellence and a constant desire to better ourselves in the worship ministry.
The third word is nagan. In Psalms 33:3 it is the word play. It talks about the “skill in the instrument”. Thus, the three Hebrew words bring together a combination of understanding, excellence and skill in the ability to play an instrument. Nagan is always associated with an instrument and usually talks about stringed instruments. It has also been translated into the word “minstrel” and “medley” or “melody”. Nagan is an important area of bringing talent into the church. Music actually began in the church worship before the secular world started dominating and commercializing it. Therefore, in the last days the move of God in music has to return back to the church, instead of being influenced by the forms and culture of the world. So, the move of the Feast of Trumpets in the church is a supernatural wave upon the Body of Christ to associate with heavenly things, especially worship angels and the Spirit of Worship. We need to draw that anointed musical skill and understanding from the presence of God and sweep that heavenly worship and Davidic wave onto the world.
Sweetness
The second area is that of sweetness. In 2 Sam. 23:1, we see that David was called the “sweet psalmist of Israel”. Here, it is the word naim which is not ordinary sweetness but a kind of sweetness that has power and strength in it. The Bible defines sweetness in three areas.
First, naim speaks about pleasantness and beauty. It is the kind of beauty you would experience in a scenic place like the seaside, which has the power to evoke emotions to rise up within you. Beauty has always been linked to perfection. Thus, the naim that is found in worship makes it of a high standard or degree. It is something that is not easily achieved but has a sense of symmetry and proportion to it. When it is applied to music, it represents the perfection of that music.
The second property of naim is its finality and completeness. It is final, even as the Bible is final and becomes the final authority for our theology. This makes it complete in itself and gives it conclusion. It is said that Beethoven’s music has a certain finality about it. The finality here means that, it is concluded and there is not much you can add to it. It stands perfected, not half finished or half completed; and when it is finished, there is a beauty about it. When God looked on this earth and saw its completion, He looked at it and said, “It is good!” You could go to a garden and look and say, “Oh, well; it’s a nice garden “ but sometimes you go to a person’s house, look and say, “Wow! This is a well maintained garden. It is well proportioned.” This is above ordinary; it is naim because it is beauty.
In 2 Sam. 1: 23, “Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.” It looked like they were a complete pair, Saul and his son. It is just like in our modern era nowadays; we have a husband and wife, a son and one daughter, which are seen as having a completion. In Songs 1:16, “Behold you are handsome, my beloved! Yes pleasant! Also our bed is green.” We come across the word pleasant. When we say someone is pleasant, we are usually referring to his or her facial appearance or body. Perhaps in this case, the face is well proportioned. It applies to the physical aspects of a person. So naim is both beauty along with perfection and completeness.
Prov. 24:4 says, “By knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”
The third attribute of naim is that it brings pleasure or enjoyment. It makes you exclaim, “This is life!” It can be a very small pleasure, for example, you have been working very hard and you just take a walk and enjoy an ice cream along the way. This is a small pleasure. This is also what the sweetness of naim is. When you say David is a sweet psalmist, we understand that there are three things involved in his psalms. These are:
1. A beauty in his songs.
2. Perfection and completion are also their traits
3. A pleasure is always derived from his psalms.
The calmness, perfection and pleasure you get from them is what that sweetness or naim is.
In Psalm 133:1, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity”, the word pleasant is the word naim. When your family gathers together and there is no strife and no backbiting, there is no cause for division: and you can enjoy the pleasantness of being together. That togetherness is what the bible calls “sweet”. Thus, the word naim in the Word is not just adorable or cute, but it means a sweetness that has an essence of beauty, perfection and pleasure.
Anointing
The third area is that of the anointing. There is an anointing to worship God. 2 Sam. 23: 1 says, “Thus says David son of Jesse; thus says the man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel.” The Spirit of Praise and Worship anointed David. To put on the garment of praise and worship is to always be surrounded and encompassed by the songs of God. When you are anointed in the Davidic wave, you will move into three realms.
The first is the realm of power. When David played his instrument, he could cast out demons. In 1 Sam. 16: 23 And so it was, whatever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him. We see the evil spirits ran away from Saul when David played. Evil spirits are always in discord but the Spirit is a spirit of perfection and truth. When David played under the anointing, there was power being released. It was a sweet, awesome power that cast out demons. Noisiness is not required for power because when there is an anointing there is always power. When you sit in a car, you are not thinking if it is noisy or not. You are thinking about whether it is powerful enough to carry you where you want to go. So, the anointing will bring power!
The second realm is that of the prophetic. When there is an anointing your songs will have a prophetic significance about it. When David sang the psalms, he moved into the realm of the spiritual world. He was prophetic and was known as David the Prophet although that was not his primary ministry. 2 Sam. 23:2, “The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue.” That is what the anointing will bring, so that the words from you will be life and spirit. Ps.22 says, “My God, my God why have You forsaken me?” When David sang that psalm it was prophetic of Jesus.
Ps. 22 is a prophecy about Jesus on the cross. Ps. 23 is another prophecy about Jesus today, as He is seated in the heavenly places and working in the church. Ps. 24 is also another prophecy about the second coming of Jesus.
The third realm that the anointing brings is holiness. The Holy Spirit is called a Spirit of holiness in Romans 1. This holiness is the awesome presence of God that is manifested during worship. You can only move into those kinds of psalms and songs of worship under the anointing. It is holy because not everyone can reach that level. Rev. 14:3, “ … and no one could learn that song except the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth.” Only those 144,000 could do it, because they were consecrated, dedicated and holy!
In closing, there is a realm in the spirit, when you move in the Davidic wave, where you hear certain things that no other human ear is worthy to hear; where you sing certain things that no other human being is worthy to sing. Although the Blood of the Lamb has made all worthy to approach God, not all are worthy or dedicated enough to allow Him to apply that worthiness in them. In other words, we have all been made in the righteousness of God but not all of us have lived up to that righteousness of God.
2Cor. 5: 21 says, “For He made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” Only those who allow that righteousness to be worked out in their lives, will be considered worthy to hear certain things that God has allowed them to hear. That is why, some of the songs the Lord has given me are only meant for the Father’s ears. There is that realm of holiness that only comes by that anointing. So if you are called to the Davidic wave, open yourself to these three realms so that God can do a work in you and your life.
5. THE DANIEL WAVE OF WISDOM
Let us look at the life of Daniel as we identify this wave. Daniel 1: 20, "And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm."
That is the Daniel Wave. God will cause all the various intellectual pursuits of men to be directed and turned back unto God towards the last days. Science has its origin in the fear of God and in the belief of God. But throughout the twentieth century it has gone away from God in a humanistic development that does not believe in God. But towards the last days it will be brought back to God when science will begin to acknowledge the existence of God.
By the Daniel wave we are not just talking about the area of science, but about the other areas like economics, engineering, technology, invention etc. And if you are in the secular world long enough you will understand that to discover something and to invent something is different. To be an engineer and to be a theoretical scientist is a different thing. The theory is one thing but innovation, technological ability and wizardry is a different area altogether. The Daniel wave will bring about a special anointing of God in those areas, where those people who function in those roles will gain a wisdom high above what the world is able to achieve. When God says that you will be the head and not the tail, He is referring not just to a spiritual headship, he is also talking about a secular headship, which sadly because of a lack of teaching, the people of God are not tapping into. It also includes areas of business achievement, entrepreneurship and ability that God will give in the last days. It is special wisdom given by God ten times above what the world is capable of achieving.
We want to see some characteristics of the Daniel wave. Basically the Daniel wave will be an inflow, a release of the Spirit of Wisdom, not only in spiritual matters, but wisdom to conduct and perform in the secular business, intellectual and technological pursuits of the world. It is basically a flow of the Spirit of Wisdom. Just as the Elijah wave is the flow of the Spirit of prophecy, so the Daniel wave is a flow of the Spirit of Wisdom. It is slightly different from the Joseph wave which is mainly in the business area. But the Daniel wave is what you call in the business circles an economist. We know that an economist may not be a businessman although we know that a businessman may make a good economist but it is not necessarily true always. One who studies business cycles and try to find some principles and discuss it is different from a businessman altogether. One is in an area of discovering principles while the businessman is out there with an anointing to spoil the goods of the enemy and bringing it into the Kingdom of God.
Speaking about the Spirit of Wisdom we will look first at some of the working of the Spirit of Wisdom in the book of Exodus 31: 1-6. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, (and he got the description of the Spirit here) in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship."
There are four aspects: in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship. And the results: To design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship. And I, indeed I, have appointed with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all who are gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you."
The four aspects are important here. The words wisdom, understanding, knowledge and workmanship give us the four colours of the Daniel wave.
Wisdom implies an ability given by God to comprehend all aspects of the source, the principles, the precepts etc. But it is what I call the general area which is similar to the concept found in the Greek word logos. The relationship between logos and rhema is that logos is the general immortal permanent word of God. Rhema is a specific application of logos to a specific situation given to a specific person for a specific task. That is the relationship between the rhema and logos. In the natural world it would be like the sun representing the logos and the rays of the sun representing the rhema. The rays of the sun reach different parts of the earth at different times because of the rotation of the earth. The rays of the sun reach throughout the whole universe and other planets and so what we have on earth is a limited reception of the rays of the sun.
When wisdom is applied specifically, it becomes knowledge. You may know that what is God's general will for mankind, but when you know what is His specific will for your life, it is different. You know that it is God's will to save the world, but when you discover that God has called you be either an evangelist or a pastor, you discover your specific role in the Great Commission of God. So knowledge will be more specific.
Understanding would be an intellectual grasp of things that are operating and that are working. If you want to be a scientist, you discover that there are many branches of science: physics, biology, chemistry etc. Even in each branch, there are further specialisations. An expert in one field may be an ignoramus in another field. We cannot know all things. But in the field that we have chosen, we can develop our understanding of the workings and processes in a deeper way. For example, you may have knowledge in operating a personal computer, but you may not have an understanding in its workings. That is the difference between knowledge and understanding. All you need to use something is knowledge but to thoroughly create something you need understanding.
Now we come to the fourth area - skills. Skills have to do with ability with the hands. Here in verse 4 it says to design artistic works to work in gold, in silver and in bronze. Verse 4 speaks about the area of wisdom, understanding and knowledge, the three operations together. Verse 5 says in cutting jewels, in carving wood and work in all manner of workmanship. Notice verse 5 is a different area. Verse 5 is a skill with the hands. You could be given a raw piece of jewel, and if you know the art of cutting a jewel and its structure, you could cut it in such a way that it brings out the brilliance and shine out of the jewel. You may have knowledge of these principles but if you lack the ability and the skill, you would still not know how to properly cut the jewel. That requires special training and skill in itself. Skill with the hands is part of the four flows of wisdom that we need to recognise. Designing the shape of the jewel or anything else for that matter requires the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding and the spirit of knowledge. But to bring these three spirits to completion in the shape of the jewel or anything else requires the fourth spirit, the spirit of skills with the hands.
The Spirit of Wisdom or the Daniel wave is not just a talent you were born with, but may come upon any person who may be mediocre or intellectually slow in blooming, like for example Albert Einstein who was a late bloomer. People like Thomas Edison were not great achievers in school, yet through creativity and perseverance became a great inventor. They have experienced what we call the secular Daniel wave.
On the spiritual side of the Daniel wave, there will be a specific anointing upon a person's life. 1 Kings 3: 9 speaks of Solomon having a dream and in the dream God spoke to him and asked him what he wanted. And Solomon said, "Give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours? The request pleased the Lord. In 1 Kings 4: 29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. Solomon received that anointing, the Daniel wave as I called it, into his life when he was an adult not when he was a young little boy. He may not have demonstrated exceptional wisdom but the real wisdom came upon his life through a gift of God that was imparted into his life.
When Kenneth Hagin started his ministry, he only preached the Word but he did not flow so well in the teaching ministry. One day when he was in his house, as he was walking from the kitchen to the living room, just getting a cup of drink, he said something dropped into his spirit. What was it? It was the teaching anointing. As a result of that, more and more people joined his teaching classes and from that time onwards his teaching ministry took a greater prominence.
In a similar manner the anointing of wisdom can be imparted. You may receive it at any place or time but there must be a desire in your heart. When God drops a gift in your life, straightaway the wisdom begins to operate and you know that something has happened in your life.
1 Kings 4: 29 says that God gave Solomon…largeness of heart. The word heart comes from a Hebrew word leb which is similar to the Greek word cardia. It is not the word mind. There are different Hebrew words for the words mind, understanding and mental capacity. There are also many different Greek words for the word mind: phoneo, dianoaia and dialogismos. We are not speaking of the mind, but of the heart. So what is this heart? The heart is referring to the connection between the natural world and the spiritual world. The heart has to do with the area where you relate to the spiritual life. Jesus said a man believes with the heart, "If you believe and do not doubt it in your heart." It is something in us that causes us to believe in God. Animals do not have the ability to believe in God. They do not even conceive such an idea. The word heart only applies to Man. It is given in its capacity within Man to relate with the spiritual world.
The gift of wisdom that God imparts to us is just a widening of the channel between the spiritual world and your natural soul. When the channel is widened a greater capacity of your soul and mind become utilised. Scientists tell us that we use between three to five percent of our brain and grey matter capacity. But when the gift of wisdom is dropped into our hearts, our hearts are able to utilise a greater capacity of the grey matter to understand and perceive things. God did not give to Solomon a largeness of mind but a largeness of heart. When Solomon's heart was expanded, he was given a larger capacity to understand things. This explains why when you grow spiritually, you become more capable intellectually, not less.
When we were born again, we have just been given a new heart. Now the new heart can develop in God and it is the connection between God and us. Our being spiritually alive has to do with that of the leb or the heart in Hebrew. When that capacity is increased and widened we are able to carry more of the Spirit of Wisdom. If that capacity is less you cannot carry much of the Spirit of Wisdom. Perhaps to understand something it may take you an hour for the Spirit of Wisdom to charge your brain. But then as you grew in God, your heart grew and enlarged, and you had more 'wiring connections'. Now where it took you an hour to understand spiritual matters, now it takes you just fifteen minutes. You understand because you carry a greater portion of the Spirit of Wisdom. That enlargement of the heart can come through one touch from the finger of God. All God has to do is to come by His Spirit and touch your inner parts and something inside you expands.
This is the gift of wisdom from God. Daniel's wisdom came from a touch of God. Daniel 1: 17, "As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams." God gave wisdom to Daniel and Solomon. How much more would God give to the New Testament people who ask. The book of James 1: 5 says, "Let him who lacks wisdom ask from God who gives to all liberally" but it also tells you that to him who ask from God he must not be double minded. He must know what he wants from God, he must seek after God and then he can receive from God and God will do an enlargement in the heart. When the heart is enlarged your mind can understand more things. A greater capacity of your mind is used.
Developing and Flowing in the Daniel Wave
Daniel 1: 8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank, therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Daniel 6: 10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.
The first characteristic of those who move into the Daniel wave is that they need a very disciplined devotional life. They are creatures of good habits, not bad habits. Those who tap into that wave have a routine in life. When you ask them about their devotional life and the regular times, they will tell you that they have been keeping that routine for the past 30 years or more. Many people who have no discipline in their lives seldom become top achievers even in the intellectual realm. Many Christian scientists like Isaac Newton seem to have something in common in their personal lives - they had a particular time of getting up and studying the Word and seeking God in prayer. Because their minds are set on pursuing discoveries in the scientific world, their daily life must be fixed with routine. Otherwise they may be distracted in the daily life. They developed a very methodical, clockwork life so that their time can be freely devoted to their interests. If we develop a methodical devotional life, it would put us in a better position to move into the Daniel wave.
Daniel was about 18 or 19 when he was captured. In Daniel 6, for nearly all of his life, say about 70 to 80 years he had been praying three times a day without fail, in season and out of season. He had developed that religious and devout habit. That is the first characteristic of the Daniel wave.
The second characteristic is putting down the lower nature of man to receive the higher nature of man. Inside our soul is the ability to relate both to the spiritual realm and to the natural world. It has the capacity to relate to the different natures within us. We, of course, have our new nature but we recognise that there are passions in our bodies. Those who give in to their lower passions continually without controlling themselves, will never develop intellectually. I am talking about the passion for food, the lust for sex, the desire for the physical things of this life in sensual pleasures. When you keep yielding to them they will hinder your intellectual development. That is why those who tap into the higher level of the Spirit of Wisdom understand fasting. Many philosophers in the world are people who eat very little. They are not fascinated with food. But those who eat, drink and be merry all the time have a very stunted mental development. We need to put aside our lower animal nature. Now I am not saying that they are wrong. Please do not misunderstand me. There is nothing wrong with eating and enjoying good food. There is nothing wrong with sensual pleasures in the right context. We need to however understand that if we give 90 percent of our capacity and time to sensual pleasure, we will only have 10 percent left to develop the other capacities. But if you give 10 percent of your nature to fulfil the natural pleasures of life, then you have 90 percent of your capacity to develop into a different realm.
Daniel had to say no to the pleasure of food, and other defilements, and in doing so, he said yes to the higher development of his soul capacity that God had given him. We have both a higher and a lower nature in us. We have physical bodies with its needs. We have a spiritual man within us which also has its spiritual needs. In between the physical and spiritual body, we have our souls. Our souls function in the natural because we live in the natural, and at the same time our soul also has to function in the spiritual world. So our soul is in a state between two decisions. If the soul keeps choosing the lower nature, the soul will definitely not develop in the higher nature. In order to get a balance, we need to give time in order to be able to fulfil our natural obligations. At the same time we also have to consecrate our souls to the higher level of development in other things. There is a difference between someone who, in his spare time reads only romantic novels and love stories and another person who loves to read only spiritual and theological books. After 10 years you will see the difference, because one gives in to a lower nature and the other to the higher nature. Every believer has a capacity of tapping into the Spirit of Wisdom but some will have a greater anointing of the Spirit of Wisdom. Every believer has a capacity of tapping on the Spirit of healing but some will have a greater measure. We are saying that this principle applies to all, so whatever capacity we tap into, we can tap on it in a greater area. But some will be specially called to that area and they would be able to put down their lower nature and tap greater onto the Spirit of Wisdom.
We can add more illustrations. In the Book of Genesis, Joseph had to say no to Potiphar's wife. Then later in his life in Genesis 41: 39 it states, "Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'Inasmuch as God as shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.' " Joseph also had that wisdom. Now the question is where did he get it? We can only say between the time when he was in Potiphar's house and when he was in Pharaoh's palace. Somewhere in between he received it. And if you want to pinpoint the exact place he received it we know from genesis 40 that when he was in prison he already got it. For when he was in prison he demonstrated a supernatural ability through the Spirit of Wisdom to interpret dreams. The interpretation of dreams is a gift of the Spirit of Wisdom. Solomon received it when he was praying at Gibeon and Daniel received it when he was in Nebuchadnezzar's training school. Joseph received it when he was in prison, but he had to say no to the lower nature to receive it.
Thirdly. Luke 2: 45-47, "So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were astonished at His understanding and answers. Jesus here demonstrated wisdom beyond His years. He was only 12 years old, and He had enormous ability and capacity for understanding. And yet He was not drawing it from the prophets but from secular leaders of those times - the teachers of the Law, the same ones who later persecuted Him. He drew wisdom from them.
The third point is what we call association. Jesus sought to be with those people. As a young boy He still had to learn a lot of things. He was not born with it. He had to learn to study like each one of us. In those days it was fun to go to Jerusalem for the kids. While all the other boys could be going around looking at the new stalls that had opened, Jesus went to the teachers of the law, sat with them and listened to them. He listened to their "dull lectures" asking questions. Association can be with people or with books. And if we want to develop the spirit of the Daniel wave, we need to be able to associate with the right people. Just like if you want a healing anointing you associate with those healing evangelists. So if you want a Spirit of Wisdom you have to associate with those who have it.
Those who are called to the Daniel wave will have to move to a degree like John Wesley. John Wesley's teachings has influenced the development of the modern forms of government in the First Great Awakening. We do not realise how much impact his teaching has brought us not only in the spiritual area but also in the secular area. He had brought about much reformation by his writings, even in the secular world in England. Who was John Wesley? He was a great intellectual. He had the Spirit of Daniel on him. It is said that he used to travel thousands of miles on horseback and when he travelled on a horse he read a book. It is said that he read a new book every week, besides reading the Bible every day and getting up at four every morning. He mixed with the religious group and they called themselves the 'Holy Club' during his university days. They were very methodical and very religious in their discipline. He was able to write about the evil of slavery and other things and brought great reformation in the secular society of his days because he had a thirst for knowledge. There was a person who came to him and said that God does not need our intellect, and he replied that God does not need our ignorance either. It was his special call that God had on his life, the Daniel wave. And for him, he associated with books and with different scholars of his days in his time.
Fourthly. Luke 2: 46 which includes a soul character and development, says in the last phrase, "He was sitting in the midst of the teachers both listening to them and asking them questions." The fourth point is the ability to ask the right questions. Do you know that you could tell a person's intelligence level by the questions they ask? He had an ability to ask the right questions. You think that getting the right answers is a great ability. But asking the right question is a different ability. Now we are talking about the characteristic and development of the Spirit of Daniel. In order to move into that some of us may not be able to get the right answers. But if you cannot get the right answers you must be able to ask the right questions first. We get the wrong answers because we ask the wrong questions. The ability to ask the right questions is easier to achieve than the ability to get the right answers.
The ability to ask the right question is also an element of the Spirit of Wisdom given by God. Jesus had an ability to ask questions and when He asked the right questions, He could analyse the answers because He was looking for something. They were amazed at Him and if you will notice the amazement, it was in two areas. It says here that they were astonished at His understanding and answers (verse 47). Now, answers demonstrate wisdom but you need an understanding to ask the right questions.
Whatever you need in this life, when you ask the right questions, you will find the right path. Whatever problem you have it is always possible to solve it even when you do not have the answer, by asking the right questions. Framing the right questions takes the Spirit of Wisdom. Of course those who always jump to conclusions will never grow intellectually. People who jump into conclusions are always stunted intellectually because they are drawing from the same old bag of conclusions all the time. There is no fresh creativity. They do not develop intellectually because they do not ask the right questions.
In developing the things of the Spirit we have to ask the right questions. Sometimes you may have to ask God Himself the right questions and God provides the answers based on your questions and when He does,, He answers your deepest desires and puzzlements. So that is the fourth point on the development of the Daniel wave.
Fifthly. James 1: 5-8 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
Now from verses 5 to 6, what was the prayer request for? Wisdom. Of course you could apply this to other prayer requests but contextually it applies to asking for wisdom. If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask from God. Then he talks about asking and not doubting and being double minded. So we can safely conclude that in verse 8 being double minded has a way of preventing wisdom from flowing. The opposite of double mindedness is single mindedness and that brings us to the fifth point.
To draw on the Spirit of Wisdom, you must focus on one thing at a time, not two things. Now you can focus on one thing at a time and several things in one day because you are doing one at a time. There are some people who have no ability to focus on one thing at a time because all the time two or three things keep cropping up.
For example, someone from a neighbouring country flew in to see me for counselling. He sat there and the first thing he did was weep because two weeks ago he tried to commit suicide. He had been to my meetings in his country, heard the teaching and felt that I could give him the right answers to solve his problems. Facing him was a multitude of insurmountable problems and when he poured them out, I knew that only God could solve them. He cried for several minutes and while he cried, I prayed and I said "God we need Your Spirit of Wisdom. I felt like what Daniel felt when the King asked him to interpret the dream. I said, " Lord I can't. Only You can, and if You choose to give, fine but if You do not choose to give I can't." After praying I said, "Lord, how can I help this person who has come all the way from his country and going back the same day? I must get an answer for him as he has made such an effort." When people make such efforts they draw on the anointing - which is why the anointing is easier to flow when there is a greater expectancy. For the first few minutes I just prayed and then as I listened to all of the problems that were being shared, the Lord began to point to a common factor that this person was trying to solve three problems at a time. In the end I divided the problems into three areas and said. "Let us just divide them chronologically. Put aside these other two, don't touch them, don't think about them, and don't worry about them. Let's take this one that is nearer here which is easier to focus." I said, "For the next few months you focus on this one. Keep in contact and we will keep praying for you and when you get over the first one then we will solve the second one and when we have solved the second one we will solve the third one." Slowly after counselling, there was a smile and a relief on his face. And he began to realise that it could be solved.
His first problem was solved in three months; his second problem may take six months to solve and his third problem may take three years to solve. What happened was when he had it backwards; he wanted to solve the three-year problem first before solving the six-month problem and the three-month problem. Not only did he want to solve all at the same time, it reached a point where he almost took his life. That is why the fifth point is important. You can do many things throughout your life and throughout your day, but every time you do it, you focus on that one thing. And when you are doing that one thing you do it with all your heart. That is tapping into the Spirit of Wisdom.
When you have a problem, and lack wisdom to solve it, begin by looking at your problem carefully. Perhaps your big problem is consisting of three smaller problems. The most complex problems are usually made up of other things. And if you will just focus on one thing at a time you will be able to solve it.
Let's bring it closer home to those in the ministry. Many of those in the ministry are struggling in many areas of their lives. They are struggling to exercise faith for finances. They are struggling to find open doors to minister, struggling to keep up with their school work, struggling to get an anointing for their own life. Four giant things are coming in at the same time so they find it hard to solve. They find it hard to focus during their prayer. What happens is that too many Christians have too many unanswered prayers because they are trying to focus on too many things at the same time. If you have 20 unanswered prayer to focus on and you do not know how to focus your prayer, take one first, then pray till you get the answer. If you cannot get an answer for one, I do not think you can get an answer for the others, and your praying will just be a religious exercise which cannot get a hearing with God. It is better to take one at a time and pray successfully. Then when you have tasted the success of answered prayer you will have gained confidence and you will be sharpened in your ability to hear from God. Then deal with another area of your life and you pray through till you hear from God in that area. Solve it one at a time. Commit it one at a time to the Lord, then you will not be in despair.
6. THE BARNABAS AND PHILIP WAVE OF WORKERS
The Barnabas and Philip Wave is the last of the waves of Revival. In these last days, we will see God raising up a fresh new lay ministry just as He has done in the case of the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship in the past few decades. This time, they will move further than the previous group. In Acts 4:32- 37, we see the first mention of a person named Barnabas. Barnabas was among those people who were touched by God and he functioned in quite a prominent role in the Body of Christ. God is raising up a group of people who will stand in between what is called the five-fold and the laity. Some of them may move into the five-fold in the latter days and some may not. There is a group of people that God is raising up like Barnabas and Philip who perhaps will function as lay-leaders, but at the time of the completion of their work in the secular world, they may begin to move into full-time ministry just as we see in Barnabas’ life and ministry.
Reputable, Spirit-filled Laypeople
We will consider some of the characteristics of this move. First of all, these people may be in the background for some time. They will function in the background unseen, yet as leaders and highly responsible people. They may not be in the fulltime ministry at all. Some may move into that not because they are called but because of the pressing needs. These people will be faithful, successful in their own right in their secular life. Notice this in Acts 6:3 in the life of Philip. Here they have a different situation whereby they have a certain need in the church. It was a physical need. There were Hebrew-speaking widows and Greek speaking widows who had to be taken care of. They needed a group of leaders to function in that role.
You do not need a call to the five-fold office to be in that role. They did not say, “Let’s look for a person who is an apostle, prophet, pastor or teacher”. They said, “Let’s look for people who have capability, who are full of wisdom and full of the Holy Spirit who can meet this natural yet spiritual need.” So this group of people may not have a call to the five-fold office, though some of them may move into that later on. They need not be called into the five-fold ministry.
Everyone in the Body of Christ has a certain ministry to fulfill. We need not be called to the five-fold to do a work of ministry. In Eph.4: 11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. This verse was referring to the five-fold. But Eph.4: 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ - is referring to a group of Christians who are not called to the five-fold ministry. They are a particular group of people who are equipped, trained and prepared for the ministry. In the society that we have today, we realize that everyone has their own work or profession. Yet inside, each one of us has a desire to serve God in some way. Perhaps some get to do that when they retire. Others get to do even before they retire. Out there in the secular world, we do not get to do much except to maintain our spiritual life, to grow spiritually and help a little here and there, but not do a whole lot of ministry work.
Due to the responsibility in the secular world, you probably do not have much time for what the Bible says “the work of the ministry”. However, God is going to make it possible in this decade for some people who may not have a call to the ministry, to move into that work. It also includes people who are in the ministry of helps; for example if someone is called to be an evangelist, they may have a whole lot of staff to help them. Who are the staffs? The staff would be those who have a certain leading of the Spirit to serve under a ministry.
They also need a certain leading to work in a Christian organization. Who are these people? How are they trained? These are the people whom we would include in the Barnabas and Philip Wave. God is going to raise up a whole group of them to be skilled and anointed to do the work.
Acts 6:3 Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. Note that there are 3 things mentioned there. Good reputation says that they have a good name both outside and within Christian circles. They are well known as good people outside in the secular world. This means that they have shown their Christina testimony, their example and their love.
Secondly, these groups of people have to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Filled with the Spirit not just to bring healing. It is interesting to note that some people see that as only necessary to heal the sick and to cast out devils. It is also essential that we be filled with the Spirit to be a secretary to type a letter, to be filled with the Spirit to serve food to the widows, to do social work, administrative work and others. These things must also be prayed over before it is done.
The Bible requires them to be filled with the Holy Spirit to serve widows. It did not say that they have to lay hands on the widows, as some may not want them to lay hands. All they did was just to bring the food to the widows. We need to be anointed to be hospitable and to transport people. The anointing is not to be separated from our secular life. There is a spiritual satisfaction that comes when the anointing comes to do secular work. Many people feel that something is missing in their lives when they do secular work. That is because they did not tap into God’s anointing to do their secular work. The Bible says that there is an anointing to do all these work. In Acts 6, it shows that there is an anointing to serve; there is an anointing to build the Tabernacle of Moses, an anointing to administrate like Joseph did. We need this kind of anointing that the Holy Spirit is capable of giving.
The 3rd area described here is that they must be filled with wisdom. It says here in verse 3, “…who we may appoint over this business”. They called the serving of widows a business. This is a church business, a church activity. There will be tremendous activity in the church in these last days. God will raise up these group of people with this gift. Why don’t God use the five-fold ministers?
The Bible shows us that apparently the five-fold ministers is not equipped in this area nor are they called into this area. The apostles found it difficult. Acts 6:2 Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables." There is a line of division that is drawn. It is not desirable that they get entangled in these things and neglect the Word of God. They must spend their time in the Word and in prayer to feed and train the people. These groups of people are what we call “successful” in the secular sense. By success, we do not mean that you earn a high salary, but it means that you are capable of doing whatever you are doing out there and you have built a good reputation. You are a good man or a good woman and well known for your good testimony. This group may look similar to the other waves but it is different.
Why is this group different from the Daniel Wave and the Joseph Wave? The Daniel Wave and Joseph Wave never got directly involved in any church work. The Daniel Wave is always called to be in the secular realm. Some of them may be great scientists, engineers, inventors and they will always be there. They are not involved at all in the actual church work. This is the same with the Joseph Wave. They are so busy in the secular sense. God placed them there to spoil the goods of the enemy, to bring the wealth of the sinners into the hands of the righteous and to channel them into the kingdom of God.
These groups of people in the Barnabas and Philip Wave are different. They may have a certain sense of success in the secular world, but their real place is not in the secular. The secular is only a temporary phase in their lives. Perhaps, it may just be a short while until they are established and then they move into the Christian scene or Christian organization where they become full-fledge in the Christian organization doing the “business” in a Christian ministry or Christian organization. That is the wave we are talking about.
One-to-one Work
The 2nd characteristics of the Barnabas and Philip Wave are that this group of people is very adept and very good at one-to-one work. The five-fold ministers are usually called to the ministry to the masses. It takes a different principle and training to minister to thousands of people. It is another special gift and training to minister one-to-one. Many times those who could minister to the masses could not minister one-to-one, or those who could minister one-to-one could not minister to the masses. However, some others can do both. Philip, of course, could do both, but Barnabas did not succeed in doing both. Those that God is raising up in the Barnabas and Philip Wave will have the ability to minister one-to-one, which is important. When you attend to the business of the church, it is not just getting the work done but also the ability at the same time to minister to the people who are closest to you.
There could be thousands of widows in Acts 6: 1 who were neglected and there were murmurings and strife. When there are murmurings and strife, you need a man of peace to be there. If you put someone who is highly disciplined and lacks the ability to relate to people in this situation, you will only multiply the murmurings. It is not just a capability of doing the business but it is the capability to deal one-to-one with people. If anyone of you has been what Jesus called, “peacemakers (who are called the sons of God)”, you will notice that the main gift is to be able to get a person aside and deal one-to-one. If about 50 people are quarrelling and striving, you will have the special gift to be able to pick up the right people who are the source of strife and to get them aside to minister to the hurts in their lives. All murmurings and strife are caused by internal hurts.
Let’s say that the church in Acts 6 had multiplied to 30, 40,000 with one or two thousand widows to feed and you have been selected to take care of this problem where there is striving among the widows. To deal with strife is one thing but to deal with an elderly widow who is in strife is another thing, because elderly people listen usually only to another elderly person, which makes it twice as difficult. Taking over the job to feed them is not enough because there is that hurt that needs to be healed, or else strife will erupt again. So, God raised up the Barnabas and Philip Wave with the special anointing to minister one-to-one. Barnabas had the special gift and anointing (Acts 9:26,27) to reach to Saul whom no one wanted to befriend and brought Saul into the fold. In Acts 15:36,37, Barnabas stood by his relative Mark in his misunderstanding with Paul. Barnabas will not give up on a person. He was gifted in the one-to-one ministry. Paul was involved in the mass ministry while Barnabas was in the background of a one-to-one ministry (Acts 14:12) patiently encouraging the people. One-to-one ministry is rewarding although the world tends to look at big things. Sometimes those who are called to the one-to-one ministry are neglected and unappreciated by people. Thus sometimes they may feel inferior to those who are called to minister to the masses and they try to be in the mass ministry and fail. God has given to each his/her special gifting whether it is a one-to-one ministry or a mass ministry. God rewards you for your faithfulness to what you are called to do and not for the number of people you have ministered to.
In the end, Paul appreciated Barnabas’ ministry because in 2 Timothy 4:11, he wrote of how Mark had grown “useful to me for ministry”. The relationship between Paul and Barnabas was re-established. Mark was the one who wrote the Gospel of Mark.
Philip also had the same gifting (Acts 8:26). He was called to minister to one person who had been a dignitary of a country. It takes a gifting to approach a dignitary and speak at his level and to minister. It is the Barnabas and Philip gifting. God is going to raise up this group of Barnabas and Philip ministry so that they will be in position to minister to people in high place. People in high places have their own peculiar quirks because they are used to attention, authority, power and wealth. It has to be a different kind of gifting to be able to reach out to this kind of people. One-to-one ministry takes a lot of patience and skill to build up a rapport. It requires a gift of diplomacy. This group called to the Barnabas and Philip ministry will have such a gift of diplomacy to be able to reach the hearts of these people even to the most difficult one. In this decade, God is going to use these people and place them with opportunities to reach out to dignitaries. They will be the only people there and they will learn how to reach out. They will have the gift like Queen Esther’s. She had the gift of diplomacy. She fasted three days, which tells us that she depended on the Lord; the gift was from the Lord and not of her own.
King Ahasuerus was no fool in his position as king. He knew she was there in his court for something. Queen Esther was very diplomatic by not asking immediately for the king to spare her people – that would be wrong timing. She prepared the atmosphere for her request to be presented. On the 2nd day when the king was well dined and pleased that she made her request known. If everybody were to have the Barnabas and Philip gift of diplomacy, there will be no strife because everyone will know how to respect people and how to approach them.
Philip was sent to minister to the eunuch, a dignitary. There are many ways of approaching the eunuch but Philip asked him a question after the Holy Spirit asked him to run after the chariot. However before he spoke, he listened. One-to-one ministry is to listen first. You must be slow to speak and quick to listen and start from the other person's platform first. Know the mind of the person you are listening to. As he ran alongside the chariot, he was listening to what the eunuch was reading (Acts 8:31) before he asked if he understood what he was reading from the scroll of Isaiah. He then got an invitation to get onto the chariot with the eunuch.
According to Christian traditions and the writing of the early church that eunuch got born again, baptized and when he went back to Ethiopia, he continued the revival where the church is in existence today. This happened because of Philip who ministered on a one-to-one basis to him. We realize that Philip also had a mass ministry gifting, but since we are emphasizing on his personality and ability, we realize that he was someone who understood this. He started of as one of the seven. They were chosen because of their ability to relate to people.
Gradual Ministerial Development
Thirdly, the Barnabas and Philip Wave will move into their respective ministry gradually, step by step – a gradual development of their gifting that God has for them in their lives. Eventually, some of them may end up in the full-time ministry in some way or they may not. Barnabas was just one of those faithful ones and was known by the people because of his hospitability (Acts 4: 36). Slowly as he grew in his reputation, the apostles took note of him. By Acts 9:27; he had access to the 12 apostles. He grew into a powerful apostolic office (Acts13: 2), but along the way he became the main front man of the apostles (Acts 11:22). We see the development of his ministry.
This was the same with Philip the evangelist (Acts 6:5) who started out as one of the seven serving the widows and he grew into the fullness of the ministry that God wanted. He was preaching the Word of God successfully as an evangelist by Acts chapter 8. These people would be there right now in existence, but they are there in the background. However, when the need is there, they will appear. It is this group of people although they are unnamed who became the group in Acts 15:6 Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. This second group of apostles and lay-leaders came together in the church in Jerusalem, and these were the Barnabas and Philip Wave that God raised up.
I believe that in the last days, the church needs to have a place and a room where a person who is out there functioning in the world can to come in and grow in God and later to function and flow in the ministry. In our church, we call it the home fellowship pastors or the home ministry pastors where they can function in some ministries. Some of them may grow out to be in the 5-fold ministry and some may never. What is important is that every church whatever they may call it, needs to have an organizational place or structure where a lay ministry can come up and minister the Word of God or minister in some leadership roles and fulfill them. It is important for every church to have a structure of elders and deacons. A church cannot exist with just the five-fold ministry. We need leaders, men and women of God in capable positions to minister to the flock.
In Acts 21:8, we see that Philip has a ministry of hospitality. The evidence of a ministry of hospitality is when you take care of a person at your own cost and serve them. After you have taken cared of them, there will be no complaints whether that person was an easy person to care of or not. Every ministry costs something. Philip in spite of the extent in which his ministry went forth, he still got involved in those sideline ministries in which he was good at from the time he started in Acts 6. In his latter ministry, he was still capable and everyone who passed by Caesarea stopped by his house. It was a real ministry.
The Barnabas and Philip wave rise up in the time of need (Acts 8:4,5). There is a balance here. There is a difference between a need and a call. When you see a need, you have a burden. When you are called, you must definitely have a burden and see the needs. But both are different. When you have a burden, it may not necessarily mean that you have a call to the ministry. Some are called into the five-fold ministry and they see a need and have a burden for the body of Christ. Yet some who are similarly burdened may not be called to the five-fold ministry.
The Barnabas and Philip Wave have a peculiar ability to rise up when the need comes. It would be wrong to call them the jack of all trades but in a sense, when there is a need even though they have not done that before will be the people to rise up to the occasion to fulfill it. There will be many more peculiar needs as the body of Christ grows towards the last days. It will be the Barnabas and Philip ministries that will rise up to meet the need.
It looks like Philip did not go into the ministry because God called him but it was because he was running away from persecution. As he was getting away, he preached the Word and suddenly his ministry took off (Acts 8). Similarly in Acts 6, if there was no need among the widows, Philip, Stephen and the others may not have risen in their ministries. They might have remained in the background. All because of a need, they suddenly rose up. In the last days when there is an outpouring of the Spirit, suddenly there will be a lack of pastors and it will be the Barnabas and Philip that will come to the rescue.
This series is found at http://www.eaglevision.com.my/zwaves.htm
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