Various Prophecies for 2007

Every year we hear various prophecies about the coming year. I thought it might be of interest for me to comment upon some of them. Keep in mind that in the reports, it is not always clear what is supposed to be prophecy (the direct word of the Lord) and what is just prediction (educated guess), or simply one's understanding of the word (interpretation). I try to make this clear in my own writings by putting the word of the Lord in bold type, while everything else is my understanding and/or commentary on it.

First of all, Pat Robertson is "predicting" a mass terrorist attack on the U.S. some time late in 2007 after September. It may involve nuclear material or not, he says.

Along this same line of thought, Matt Sorger is saying, "There is a 'Greater Sifting' still to come." He continues,

"Recently, I was caught into a vision, where I saw a dove lighting upon a woman dressed as a bride--it was the Body of Christ. The Dove came and drove her into the wilderness. The Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, 'The sifting is not over. Tell my people not to be shaken by the shaking that is coming.' Everything that can be shaken will be shaken. God is bringing a wave of sifting and purification into the Body, so that we are prepared for the Greater Anointing that is coming."

In the past few years, I have also been getting this word about shaking, so I have no doubt about this. Obviously, this vision of the woman refers to Jesus' baptism, when the dove appeared over His head as the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was the "fit man" (Lev. 16:21) that led Jesus as the second goat into the wilderness to be tested.

To understand this, we need to know about the two works of Christ prophesied in the law. Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness, while Israel spent 40 years, and the Church spent 40 Jubilees in the wilderness. The purpose of this time has been for sifting and testing. Both Israel and the Church essentially failed the tests, but God brought Israel into the Promised Land anyway. So also the Church will be brought in as well.

However, keep in mind that Israel was not allowed to enter the Promised Land at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles (to fulfill that feast), but at Passover instead. Their level of faith was stuck on Passover, so that is the level on which they entered the Kingdom.

So also the Church has been stuck in Pentecost, and so they will enter the Kingdom on that level as well. Only the overcomers will be able to inherit the Kingdom through the feast of Tabernacles and receive that greatest of anointings.

Matt Sorger continues, saying, "The season of mixture is over." He speaks of God sifting the Church in order to remove the mixture. Pentecost itself is the realm of mixture. That is why Israel was supposed to mix leaven in the Pentecostal offering (Lev. 23:17). It signified this very mixture. The only way to stop the leavening action is to bake the bread in the fire. This is the purpose of the sifting and shaking. It is another way of saying, God is about to put us into the fire to deal with that mixed realm.

The real question is how many Pentecostals will actually be cleansed? Those who are cleansed from this mixture are the ones who will qualify for the Tabernacles anointing that is to come. But most of them prefer prosperity messages to the fire of God. They think the devil is behind all hardship. They do not want to be led by the Spirit into the wilderness. They want to be led to the Temple instead. The wilderness is "of the devil," in their view.

Another one, Jeremy Lopez, writes this,

"We will see a shift from 'charismatic chaos' to 'the order of things eternal'."

I find this rather interesting. The Charismatic movement has long attempted to "restore order" by putting people into submission to men--for example, the "Shepherding Movement" in the 1970's. Because they generally have not understood the story of King Saul, the Pentecostal type, they were unable to avoid the basic problem of wanting a man (king) to rule over the people in place of God Himself. In the guise of submitting to Christ, they demanded that the people submit to men. This led to a host of abuses.

Jeremy Lopez continues,

"We are seeing the heavens open up in 2007 and all the blessings of God that are 'yes' and 'amen' are being released to us, His sons!"

May it be so! I think that many blessings will be released in 2007, though I'm sure that God has reserved some for the years following 2007. Certainly, 2007 is going to be an interesting year, but the form that God's blessings take may not be what people are expecting. The sifting and shaking itself is a blessing in God's eyes, but when we go through it, will we recognize it as a blessing or as a curse? Will we see it as God's hand or from the hand of the devil?

I have long believed that when the great shaking occurs, God will also pour out His Spirit upon us. There will be both good news and bad news at the same time, but even what is perceived as the "bad news" is actually good news in the long run. Our perception, however, will be based upon our relationship to God and our understanding of the word.

This situation in Iraq will probably reach a climax in 2007 and 2008. It is certainly part of the shaking process, especially for America. But it is doubtful if President Bush would see this shaking as good news until God gives him some understanding of the word.

Getting back to Pat Robertson's predictions, he reports that the United States only feigns friendship with Israel and that U.S. policies are pushing Israel toward "national suicide."

That, I think, is largely true, but not in the way he presents it. Every politician knows the power of the AIPAC (the "Israel lobby"). America's leaders FEAR Israel. Fear is not a true friendship. Fear brings compliance, not love. It is a forced friendship, and sooner or later, the leaders will find a way to break out of that relationship.

America's policies and Church teaching on Zionism have been working together to force "Israel" toward "national suicide" almost since the beginning. The standard hard-line policies that the Church has been supporting has created the powder keg that is ready to explode. Yet Pat Robertson and others continue to believe the lie that the Israelis are fulfilling the prophecies of the regathered House of Israel. This has caused a blindness in part to occur in them, where they can memorize the Bible but can entirely misunderstand it at the same time.

I have long suspected that the Church will not really rid itself of its blindness and mixture until the Israeli state is nuked. At that point, Hagar (physical city of Jerusalem) will be cast out as Paul said in Galatians 4:30. The Church will then repent for financing Jews to immigrate to their death and for supporting the hard-liners who led them to destruction.

Finally, Wesley and Stacey Campbell focus their revelations upon the coming outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Under the heading of "Greatest Revival Still Ahead," they say, "What was once far off has become a reality in our generation."

"When God's Spirit is poured out on all flesh, there will be a whole lot more flesh to receive Him in China, India, and Africa, than in what is coined as the 'Developed Nations'."

I like their final statement: "The peacemakers and merciful will bring in the Kingdom of God!"

Amen! It will not happen by declaring war on the terrorists or by fear and force of any kind. I believe that this is one of the great revelations that President Bush must yet receive. America will continue to shake until we learn this part of the mind of God.