The Coming Move of God: Part 1

The last great move of God (in a big way) was the Latter Rain movement (1948-1952). Out of this came the Full Gospel Businessmen's Association in the mid-1950's and then the Charismatic Movement in the mid-1960's. But these were after-effects of the Latter Rain movement.

The Charismatic movement probably reached its peak in 1978 with the big conference at Notre Dame. Yes, it really began in the Catholic Church after Vatican II (1961-63) demolished many forms and structures within that Church. Charismania itself was largely an unstructured movement that sprung up spontaneously in many Christian circles from all brands. But in the 1980's as its newness and freshness wore off, people already began to look for the next wave.

Many did not really know what it was about the Charismatic movement that they were looking for. What was the missing ingredient? In fact, why do even great movements die down? Man tries to keep them intact and extend their lives by denominationalizing them and institutionalizing them, but they only succeed in gathering the people into groups to rehearse the things that God USED TO DO back in the good old days. A denomination is a monument to a past move of the Spirit, attempting to provide continuity to each revival. Yet each structure is unsuited to the next movement and invariably rejects the new, lest the new move destroy the walls of the old.

But such is the nature of Pentecost. Because of the leaven inherent in Pentecost (Lev. 23:17), it is always corruptible. Because Pentecost is depicted by King Saul, who was crowned on that day ("wheat harvest," 1 Sam. 12:17) each move can only reject the direct rule of God at some point and in turn be rejected by God in favor of David. This is the inherent weakness of Pentecost itself. It is the reason we have never had a perpetual move of the Holy Spirit.

In studying the Scripture, we find that what is needed is the movement of the Holy Spirit established upon the Feast of Tabernacles. This is what I have been looking for since the 1980's. Working toward that end is the core of my ministry. In 1991 I discovered that the Church would be in the wilderness for 40 Jubilees, even as Israel had been in the wilderness for 40 years. I related it to the 40-year reign of Saul as well. I watched for the signs to manifest at Pentecost of 1993, and the death of "Saul" was confirmed at that time. I cannot tell you the story in such a public way, because it involves too many real people.

Then on October 8, 1995 came the next major revelation-sign. I was in the mountains of North Carolina, speaking at a conference that week end. Sunday morning, Oct. 8, as we sat around the table eating breakfast, I happened to notice a rather tall angel standing quietly in the far corner. No one else seemed to notice him as they continued to fellowship among themselves.

I was about to ask the angel who he was, but he anticipated my question or read my mind. He answered with a single word: "Peniel." Of course, I immediately recognized this name as the place where Jacob wrestled with the angel in Genesis 32:30. Yet I did not recall that the angel had given Jacob this name. So I finished breakfast and then excused myself to study it further. In Gen. 32:29 and 30 we read,

"And Jacob asked him and said, 'Please tell me your name.' But he said, 'Why is it that you ask my name?' And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, 'I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved'."

It's like the angel expected Jacob to know his name intuitively. I had never thought of it this way until then, but Jacob named the place Peniel, because that was the name of the angel he had wrestled.

The name Peniel comes from the Hebrew word panah (or its plural, paniym), which means "face or presence." The EL at the end of the name means "God." So Peniel means "God's Face" or "God's Presence."

Peniel is referenced in Isaiah 63:9, as the prophet rehearsed how God had brought Israel out of Egypt. In regard to their wilderness experience under Moses, we read,

"In all their affliction He was afflicted, and THE ANGEL OF HIS PRESENCE saved them; in His love and in His mercy He redeemed them; and He lifted them and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; therefore, He turned Himself to become their enemy; He fought against them."

I realized from this passage that Peniel had been the angel that led Israel out of Egypt. Exodus 14:19 tells us how this angel saved Israel from Pharaoh's army at the Red Sea:

"And the angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them."

But Isaiah also tells us (above) that when they rebelled against God, He became their enemy. This story of Israel's rebellion is told in Exodus 32, when Israel worshipped the golden calf. As a result, God told Moses in 32:34, "But go now, lead the people where I told you. Behold, my angel shall go before you." Which angel? A few verses later in 33:2 and 3, God says, "And I will send an angel before you ... for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, lest I destroy you on the way."

In other words, God's personal PRESENCE (or Face) would not lead them into the Promised Land. Peniel was about to be unemployed. Yet God said He would send "an angel" to lead them. It was obviously a different angel, one that did not represent the personal presence of God. The people mourned when they heard the news of the change of angels (Ex. 33:4), because it was bad news.

From Daniel 12:1 we know that Israel's angel from that point on was "Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people." When Michael "stands up," then "many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake" (Dan. 12:2). In other words, Michael is the angel of resurrection.

There are two ways to enter into the inheritance of the Kingdom. One is through death and resurrection; the other is through transfiguration or a change in the body. Paul tells us that there will be a people at the end of this age who will not "sleep" (die) but who will be changed (1 Cor. 15:51). Michael will do his work of raising the dead from past ages at the Feast of Trumpets some year. Then Peniel will do His work to transform the bodies of the living overcomers at the Feast of Tabernacles.

Thus, Peniel is the angel of the Feast of Tabernacles. The fact that he showed up after the death of "Saul" in 1993 indicates to me that this angel is now working to lay the groundwork for the next great move of the Spirit. It will no longer be based upon the feast of Pentecost with its leaven. It will instead establish a permanent work of the Spirit that will grow until the Kingdom fills the whole earth.

Oh, and did I mention that the day Peniel showed up (Oct. 8, 1995) was also the 414 days after the day that a white buffalo was born in Wisconsin (Aug. 20, 1994)? It marked the end of Cursed Time, as I showed in "Secrets of Time." They named the white buffalo "Miracle." This caused a great stir in the Native American community, because of a centuries-old prophecy that they had passed down for many generations. A great renewal is coming among Native Americans, and I believe it will be the direct result of Peniel's work of ministry in the world. All creation is awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God.