Prophetic History of Nov. 21-29: Part 2

It is easy to see how so many people can become discouraged by the Time Factor when following the leading of the Lord. When we begin this journey, we assume that God speaks clearly and in our own language, and we assume that we understand it. We assume that soon means "in the next day or two." We assume that now means "today."

When we discover that God's definition of Time is different from ours, we can easily become discouraged when things do not happen at the time indicated by our understanding of His word. I am convinced that this is why the Old Testament prophets were so often stoned. They were stoned as false prophets when their word was not fulfilled immediately.

Furthermore, many times the word of the Lord is not spoken as an absolute, irrevocable word, but rather as something that would take place unless the people repented. Jonah is a good case in point. "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown" was the word of the prophet in Jonah 3:4. The word itself gave no indication that it was conditional. It appeared to be absolute. But the story clearly indicates that when the people repented, the judgment did not happen. Jonah became angry, because he knew that the fulfillment of the word was the only way he would keep his reputation as a true prophet.

The prophetic office seems glamorous to many people. But those who have actually gone through the Lord's school of prophets understand that it is very often a thankless job. They are called to preach repentance, which, if done, would actually cause their own word of judgment to "fail." And because the average believer has not had the same type of training, there is no way that such people can understand this seeming failure. If the people have learned to have a heart of love, there is little problem; but normally, the people are not trained to judge by love, and so they stone the prophet.

The prophet soon comes to understand this, and finds himself or herself in a dilemma. The prophet has no real motivation to preach repentance, other than his love for the people or nation. If he succeeds, as Jonah did, he is in danger of being stoned by the people as a false prophet.

Another problem is that prophecy is partial in the present age. Paul says in 1 Cor. 13:9, "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part." Both our knowledge and the prophetic word is partial. The average believer hearing the prophet, however, assumes that the word is complete. He forms a mental picture of the word and assumes that he understands it. Then he judges the prophet according to his own understanding.

That is how prophets are killed. But in the end, when their word comes to pass posthumously, the people erect monuments to them (Matt. 23:29). But the next generation continues to judge and stone the prophets of its own day. The lesson is never learned, and all things continue as always.

I do not claim to be a prophet, by the way. I am happy to be a mere teacher. However, a large part of my training has been in all five of the ministries listed in Eph. 4:11, in order that I may understand their functions well enough to teach the Scriptures. At various times in the past, I have apostlized, prophesied, evangelized, pastored, and taught, but in the end, I hold the office of a Teacher. I have taught apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and other teachers, in order that they may be better equipped to do their respective callings. But in the end, I am just a teacher, and I love my job.

When the Lord began to teach me about Time even as far back as the early 1970's, I did not know how difficult this course would be. Linear Time is defined by the parameters of Cause and Effect. Time Depth has no known parameters and is therefore assumed to be infinite in its possibilities. Understanding this simple fact alone explains why the Lord can give a Word about a particular date (such as Nov. 29, 1988) and yet it does not come to pass until a year later.

Meanwhile, our lack of understanding is measured by our degree of discouragement, bitterness, and anger toward God for seeming to lie to us. That is why the story of Jonah means so much to me. I have walked in his shoes. My friend, the good-humor man, Ron still calls me Steve Jonas.

In 1993 my twelve-year training period (since 1981) began to come to an end. This twelve-year period was one of the original revelations that He gave me when I began to hear His voice in June of 1982. The word was confirmed by the fact that the first phase of this 12-year period began to change after just 12 MONTHS.

There were five distinct dates in late 1981 and early 1982 where I was led DOWN. But 12 months later, those same dates re-appeared as the Lord brought me back UP. That was when I first began to understand seriously that God worked through Time. At that crucial moment, I read a story from a prophet who related how God told him that a certain event would occur on a certain date. He said that the date came and nothing happened. He inquired of the Lord about it, and the Lord said, "Let it go around a year." The event occurred the next year on that date.

This spoke volumes to me, because I was already a living example of this revelation. I knew then why my life had begun to turn around precisely one year later. But over the years, I have come to see that often one must let it go around for many years. I have seen the Word of the Lord come to pass two years later, nine years later, ten years later, eleven years later, and twenty years later. I do not think that there is any limitation on the depth of the word of the Lord. It will continue to be applicable on time in a timeless manner.

My primary 12-year training period was completed on Nov. 12, 1993. Earlier that summer the Lord began to reveal the things that were to be done once this time was completed. We were to conduct a prayer campaign on Nov. 21-29, 1993 called "The Jubilee Prayer Campaign." We were to move to Washington State to do this. It was the real fulfillment of the word He had given me so many years earlier, saying that He would move us "WEST."

He had moved us from Memphis ("Egypt") to Leachville, Arkansas after the telephone call offering me a job, which I received on Nov. 29, 1989. In our actual move from Memphis on Jan. 27, 1990, my Cursed Time (discipline mode) had ended (3 x 414 days from 9/2/86). And so He had moved us to Rt. 2, Box 76, Leachville, AR. So as long as we remained in that location, we were still in a time of cleansing (76). God always adds a 76 Factor after coming out of Cursed Time, because 414 76 = 490.

When we moved from Leachville to Lynnwood, WA, that cleansing time ended. We were now fully prepared and trained to lead others into spiritual warfare in the Jubilee Prayer Campaign. And so we moved, arriving in Washington on Nov. 5, 1993. We got settled and began holding meetings in our house. But the prayer campaign did not begin until Nov. 21, which was nine days after the end of the 12-year training cycle.

By the end of the prayer campaign, we had precisely 414 prayer warriors who had contacted me and asked to participate in the prayer campaign. The Lord then revealed the rest of the story. We were instructed to have another prayer campaign, "Part 2," from January 27-30, 1994 called "His Fullness." After all was said and done, we had 490 prayer warriors who were active participants at the time.

We went on the strength of that prayer backing for the next seven years until Nov. 29, 2000. This prayer campaign was a long-term "Jericho march" for seven years. Phase 1 was 8 days from Nov. 21-29, 1993. Phase 2 was 7 years in length to Nov. 29, 2000. Phase 3 ends next week on Nov. 29, 2006 after a total of 13 trips (years) around "Jericho."