Fasting Journal, part 2

August 5, 2021: Day 4

“There is a weight of glory coming August 15.”

The Hebrew word for glory is kabod (or kavode). It means “weight, heaviness, gravitas.”

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:17, 18,

¹⁷ For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, ¹⁸ while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

The glory of God is seen in many ways. It is seen on Moses’ face, and it is seen also when the faithless Israelites were ready to stone Caleb and Joshua for their outrageous suggestion that they could defeat the giants in the land (Numbers 14:10).

God’s glory is seen whenever the fire of God falls to consume the sacrifice or to consume the enemies who threaten God’s people. Hence, Joshua said in Numbers 14:9 KJV, “they are bread for us,” meaning, “we will eat them as a hot breakfast.” The weight of glory in such a case crushes the enemy in battle.

Most of the people did not believe that God had this ability, for they could not see the glory of God, nor did the glory of God indwell them. They had no experience with such glory. That was why they were afraid of the glory in Moses’ face. That glory did not resonate with them.

But Paul says that although we experience affliction, that affliction is “light” compared to the “weight” of God’s glory that is being generated within us. Yet the weight does not crush us, even though it includes affliction and persecution. Earlier, in 2 Corinthians 4:6-10 he had written,

⁶ For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. ⁷ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; ⁸ we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; ⁹ persecuted but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰ always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

The afflictions are light, but the reward is well worth it, because we receive the light of Christ within us as a “treasure in earthen vessels.” Note the story of Gideon, where a torch was to be placed in the earthen vessels that were broken at the appointed time to shine forth into the darkness. This was what brought victory that broke Israel’s captivity and set them free.

God’s glory resides in our own earthen vessels even now, and the “light affliction” is God’s way of breaking those vessels so that the light of Christ may shine forth.

In our captivity to Mystery Babylon since 1913-14, we have seen a concerted effort to eliminate Christ from government. Since the 1960’s revolution this has moved into a second phase where Christian morality began to be discredited and removed. 1973 then saw the legalization of the murder of the unborn, essentially redefining murder and violating the God-given rights of the most innocent among us.

In more recent years this has entered into phase three, where Christians are now forbidden to express their biblical beliefs in public, much like what was seen in the old Soviet Union in the 1900’s. It is similar to Paul’s day, where the church had to gather in houses and were not allowed to express their views freely on the streets. (The exception was at Mars Hill, where philosophers and thinkers in Athens were allowed to speak and debate freely. In Acts 17:22 KJV Paul took advantage of this freedom and preached the gospel.)

So the revelation that I received on Day 4, “There is a weight of glory coming on August 15,” does not necessarily mean that we will begin to glow in the dark. That would be nice, of course, but I perceive that such an experience is yet too soon. Fasting has a way of compressing time, but yet this is not something that I would expect at this time. Nonetheless, I will be open to it, if that proves to be the will of God.

I think that this “weight of glory” will probably be seen in the sense of the story of Caleb and Joshua’s experience in Numbers 14:10, rather than in Moses’ experience in Exodus 34:29. At this point in history, we are not coming off the mount on the eighth day of Tabernacles but are rather experiencing the “light affliction” and persecution from those who are faithless.

In the context of the present socio-political situation in America and the world, we find ourselves in the midst of World War 3, which is like a climax of tribulation. In the big picture, we are at the climax of a “seven times” tribulation (7 x 360 years) since the fall of Jerusalem in 604 B.C. The years 2017-2024 really represent a final 7-year period in which we ought to expect a time of trouble that ends the captivity to Mystery Babylon. The great stone has begun to crush the image on its feet. David has slung his stone at Goliath. We are just over halfway through this time.

For this reason, my discernment and expectation is that this weight of glory will be seen in some way that will affect the political scene. If we see outbreaks of violence, I would interpret this according to Numbers 14:10, where the people got violent with Caleb and Joshua for daring to express their faith in public. But at the same time, their violence would induce the glory of God to manifest itself in some way, in order to protect the faithful ones and crush or consume the enemy with the weight of glory.

August 6, 2021: Day 5

Last night was the first time I felt some temporary hunger. Today is the first day where I have begun to feel weak.

1 Corinthians 1:27, 29 says, “God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong… so that no man may boast before God.”

Fasting is a way of voluntarily weaking one’s flesh in order to be strong spiritually.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”

2 Corinthians 13:4 says,

⁴ For indeed, He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.

So phase 1 of my fast is complete, and I have now entered phase 2. I still do not know how long I will be fasting. However, I have been given August 15 as a watch date, so perhaps this may prove to be the end of the fast. If so, I would suspect that we might see some sort of breakthrough or perhaps some event in the world that would coincide with it.

August 15 is the 50^th anniversary of the day that President Nixon took America off the gold standard in 1971. So we might see an economic event or an indicator marking this jubilee.

The revelation of Day 6 is: “A new song is coming.”

I also heard a (mainstream) prophet say, “Do not mourn for Saul. He has made his choice.”

He also said, “Revival is coming sooner than you think.”

He said many things, but these are the specific things that God confirmed as a word to me.

The “new song,” of course, is primarily from Revelation 5:9 and 14:3, although the phrase appears many times in the psalms as well. The overcomers, pictured as the 144,000, sing this new song and are pictured as women (spiritual “virgins”) in Revelation 14:4, which, when translated properly, reads, “These are the ones who have not been defiled among (meta) women, for they are virgins.” They are not defiled “by” women but are those among women who have not been defiled.

The other group of 144,000, of course, are pictured as men in battle in Revelation 7:3, 4. These are the ones who are “sealed” in their foreheads, a common practice in those days of putting a mark (a tav, originally shaped like a cross) on the foreheads of those who had emerged unscathed in battle. They were considered to be divinely protected, as we see also in Ezekiel 9:4.

Between the two groups, there are actually 288,000. So we see in David’s kingdom (the prophetic type) that he had 288 singers in his temple choir singing the new song (1 Chronicles 25:7) and 288,000 soldiers in his national guard (1 Chronicles 27:1). Each tribe supplied 24,000 troops in its assigned month. 12 x 24,000 is 288,000.

This appears to be a marriage picture of 144,000 couples, male and female, who are combined to express the full glory of the image of God as in the beginning of creation before they were separated.

As for the “new song” itself, it is plain that it is a message that is “new” in some sense. The gospel, of course, has been preached since the beginning of time, but men have not necessarily understood it. “The heavens are declaring the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1), but not everyone has ears to hear what He is saying openly and plainly. So Paul says in Romans 1:19, 20, 21 that judgment comes upon men,

¹⁹ because that which is known about God is evident to them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. ²¹ … but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

I believe that the “new song” will eventually be sung by all the nations, for that is God’s promise to the nations and His purpose for the earth. It is the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb, whose basic message is revealed in Revelation 15:3, 4,

³ … “Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! ⁴ Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; for all the nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.”

This is the message that we preach as well. We have a story to tell to the nations, and it is not a tragedy. It is the story of the victory of a sovereign God in turning the hearts of all nations back to Him (Malachi 4:6) in order to “restore all things” (Matthew 17:11). Acts 3:20, 21 gives us the timing of this:

²⁰ and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, ²¹ whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.

Christ’s ascension essentially delayed this “restoration of all things” until the time of the Elisha ministry, which was launched on April 12, 2009. That is the essence of the “Elijah” message that is completed through the double portion given to “Elisha.” Few now sing this “new song,” because most Christians at the present time lack the faith to believe it. But this is the good news (“gospel”) that we sing to the nations, prophesying the day when they will turn from their wicked ways and “come and worship” before Christ.

The song asks a rhetorical question: “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?” The answer is too obvious to bother telling us. When they see the glory of God manifested in the earth, and when they see Christ for who He really is, and when they hear the good news of the gospel that He is not sending most of humanity to a torture pit of “hell,” then they will be awestruck at His love for the nations and at His wisdom in devising a plan whereby all the nations will be saved. Hence, even in the midst of divine judgment upon the nations, we retain in our minds the bigger picture, for we know that the purpose of judgment is to turn the hearts of the nations back to God and not to destroy them forever.

The “Saul” church does not know this New Covenant gospel. But we are not to mourn for Saul, partly because he has made his choice, but mostly because God is sovereign enough to save him, too, and to turn his heart in the end.