The Battle for the Crown

June 12 is Pentecost this year. As a feast day, it is an automatic watch date to see what God is doing in the earth today.

Along with it is the 10-day "tarrying" period leading up to Pentecost. In addition to that, we can break down this 10-day period into 3 + 7 or 7 + 3, depending on the biblical pattern that it seems to be following in any given year.

Under Moses, Israel spent 3 days at the base of Sinai consecrating themselves and purifying themselves before the Spirit came down on the Mount (Ex. 19:10, 11, 15). A week earlier they had defeated Amalek at Rephidim. This was a 7 + 3 pattern.

Under Samuel, the reverse tarrying period led to the coronation of King Saul at Pentecost. This period was 3 + 7. Saul searched for his father's donkeys for 3 days (1 Sam. 9:20), and then Samuel told him he had to tarry another 7 days (10:8) before the coronation.

I believe that in Acts 2 the pattern was 3 + 7, following that of Saul's coronation. The Pentecostal "donkeys" were being gathered for the first 3 days, followed by the time of coming into "one accord" (peace, reconciliation, unity) for the final 7 days.

Today, June 3-12, 2011, the pattern has reverted back to the Sinai pattern of 7 + 3. The final 3-day period is June 10-12, which is Friday through Sunday. We will have to watch Friday (tomorrow) more closely in light of this.

Amalek and Ammon

The 10-day tarrying period in Moses' day began with the battle against Amalek.

In the days of Saul's coronation, it began with the battle of Ammon (2 Samuel 11). Note the parallel, because it had everything to do with coming into one accord. 2 Samuel 11:1 says,

¹ Now Nahash the Ammonite came up and besieged Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, "Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you."

The name of the enemy here is Nahash, or Nachash. This is the Hebrew word for SERPENT, and it is used first in Genesis 3:1, where we see the "serpent" tempting Eve. That alone should alert us to the importance of this story and the nature of the conflict. The nature of the temptation is shown to be of a COVENANT NATURE, which gives the dominion (crown) to the serpent and makes men his servants.

The serpent is pictured in a number of ways in the heavens, where God established the constellations as the first revelation of the divine plan. The constellation portraying this particular aspect of the conflict is called Serpens. It is one of the decans of Scorpio, which portrays "The Redeemer's Conflict." In this picture, Serpens assaults the man's heel (as prophesied in Gen. 3:15).

They are contending for the Crown, which is seen directly over the head of Serpens in the heavens. The man (Ophiuchus) is pictured grasping the Serpent so that he cannot take the Crown. The name "Ophiuchus" is an Arabic word which means "the serpent held." The brightest star in Ophiuchus isRas al hagus, "the head of him who holds."

According to The Stars Declare God's Handiwork, by Howard Rand, page 6,

"In Scorpio we saw merely the effort to wound Ophiuchus in the heel, but here [in Serpens] we see the serpent endeavoring to seize The Crown which is situated immediately over the serpent's head and which he is endeavoring to reach. The contest is two-fold: 1) to prevent the man from receiving the crown and 2) to secure world dominion. This struggle not only involves Jesus Christ and the Crown, but all the seed of Abraham, for they were organized into His Kingdom at Mount Sinai. Here we have depicted the conflict of the ages which will end in final victory for Him and for His Kingdom."

Hence, it is clear that the battle against Nahash, the Ammonite, is a prophetic picture of the serpent attempting to take the Crown before it could be given to Saul. But as it turned out, Saul rose to the occasion and organized an Israelite army of 300,000 (plus 30,000 from Judah), and they defeated Nahash (1 Sam. 11:8). These numbers remind me of Gideon's army of 300, signifying deliverance.

This battle became the unifying factor between all the tribes and between Israel and Judah. Verse 11 tells us that the Ammonites were so scattered that "no two of them were left together." So whereas Ammon became splintered, the Israelites came into one accord. Then verse 14 says,

¹⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, "Come and let us go to Gilgal and renew the Kingdom there."

It was at Gilgal that Saul was given the Crown on the day of Pentecost (or "wheat harvest," 12:17).

This story tells us the prophetic reason why Amalek attacked Israel on the way to Sinai. The story is to be overlaid upon the Ammonite battle in Samuel's day. Both were attempts by Nahash, the Serpent, to take the Crown or the right of Dominion in the Kingdom of God. Both were thus attempts to prevent the promise of the Father from being given to the anointed ones at Pentecost.

In both cases, the Serpent was defeated. It was the same in the book of Acts. There is no particular conflict recorded in that 10-day tarrying period, but we do see the Church given the Crown on the day of Pentecost.

So in 2011 we are now receiving revelation about this whole conflict in our own 10-day tarrying period. Frankly, I had never seen the story of Nahash in 1 Samuel 11 before today. That is very strange, since it is such an important story. Yet it is if I had never read it before now. How blind we can be until the Lord opens our eyes!

This tells me, however, that we are currently engaged in a great spiritual battle for the Crown. This battle ought to end today, June 9, because tomorrow we enter the final 3-day period of consecration leading to Pentecost.

Likewise, the Bilderbergers are meeting from June 9-12 in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/jun/03/bilderberg-2011-switzerland-st-moritz

These are the equivalent of Nahash today, who are in contention for the Crown. They are the serpents that the Overcomers (Ophiuchus) are holding back from taking the Crown. They are the ones who desire to poke out our right eyes (1 Sam. 11:2), in order to disqualify us as Melchizedek Priests.

The right eye was necessary for doing battle in the old days when a warrior peeked over his shield. The right side is also symbolic of mercy, even as the left side depicts judgment. Thus, we are qualified for spiritual warfare because we have the right balance between judgment and mercy. The enemy seeks to destroy, so he wants us to focus only upon divine judgment with no regard for the mercy factor that comes with intercession.

These are the things to contemplate in the next three days as we come to Pentecost once again. As we consecrate ourselves to Him, let us see what God does.