Apollyon and the Church

I have been involved in many prayer battles against Apollyon (or Abaddon) since 1986, and I have received a lot of revelation as a result.

I discovered quite early that Apollyon was responsible for “losing” the lost sheep of the house of Israel—that is, the northern 10 tribes of Israel that were taken captive to Assyria in the days of Isaiah the prophet. The name Apollyon is derived from apollymi, “lost.” We see this word used in Matthew 10:6 about “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

The Israelites, led by the tribe of Ephraim, held the Birthright of Joseph (1 Chronicles 5:1, 2). When the nation was destroyed and the people exiled, it appeared to most of them that the promise of God had failed. Hence, the apostle Paul commented on this in Romans 11, showing that the promises were never given to genealogical Israelites but to the remnant of grace. This remnant numbered only 7,000 in the days of Elijah and always remained a minority because it was based on faith, not biology.

It was also based on “grace,” because it was the promise of God, not the promise of men, as Paul tells us in Romans 9:11, 16. Much of the church believes that grace is the result of men’s decisions or promises made by the will of man, but Paul disagreed. John too sided with Paul in John 1:12, 13.

But my point for now is that there is an “angel of the abyss” named Apollyon, mentioned specifically in Revelation 9:11. We have had many encounters with him over the years and have overcome him consistently. Apollyon’s “natural enemy” (my term) is Peniel, the angel of the feast of Tabernacles. I first saw Peniel in October of 1995 and learned then that he was the angel that was called to bind Apollyon.

How Apollyon Affects the Church

Shortly after my first encounter with Apollyon in 1986, I learned that his Hebrew name, Abaddon, was also the name of the city in southern Iran (Abadon) where oil was first discovered more than a century ago. Abadon is the site of the largest oil refinery in the world. I saw the connection between Abaddon and crude oil, and it was revealed to me that crude oil represents a false Holy Spirit. The true is represented by olive oil.

By this, I came to understand that Apollyon works in the church to bring about a false move of the Holy Spirit—or at least a “crude” version of it that is tainted by the flesh. The Holy Spirit has often been poured out over the centuries, but Apollyon eventually replaces it with fleshly activity. Then denominations are created, which are memorials of a past revival.

No move of the Holy Spirit has lasted for more than a few years. The priests of each Holy Spirit revival have all allowed the fire to go out, and men have then created their own fire to try to keep it going. They have followed the pattern of Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10:1,

¹ Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them.

True fire and “strange fire” look the same. The main difference is their origin. In Leviticus 9:24 the fire came from God to consume the offering. The next morning the fire had gone out, and so Nadab and Abihu offered “strange fire,” which was unacceptable to God. They were supposed to keep the true fire lit by adding fuel to it.

This is an enormous lesson to the church today, if people have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.

Apollyon’s Sinister Goal

Just as Apollyon’s goal (or job) was to lose the house of Israel, so also he works against the church today. His success depends on his ability to get the modern priests to act according to the pattern of Nadab and Abihu. In other words, we will either have temporary revivals or a continuous outpouring of the Spirit. Are there any priests other than Nadab and Abihu today? Will the Holy Spirit be denominationalized once again as a tombstone (memorial) of a past revival?

Before we see that great outpouring that is soon to come, we ought to understand these patterns in Scripture so that we no longer repeat the same mistake once again. Keep in mind that the spirit of Saul is also the spirit of denominationalism. It is the fleshly desire to be ruled by men rather than by God (1 Samuel 8:7).

Men desire a man to represent Christ to them—a vicar of Christ—because they do not want a direct relationship with God and are afraid to approach a holy God directly. Hence, their faith is in the church rather than in God Himself. They trust that their church membership is their ticket to heaven.

Last evening, as I was in prayer with another couple, our heavenly Father revealed that the church is again in danger from Apollyon. The danger is very similar to that which was seen in the time of Isaiah when the house of Israel became “lost sheep.” The same spirit that lost the house of Israel is now threatening the church. We will not have any Assyrian invasion this time, but the church’s faith is vulnerable.

Vulnerability

The Lord told us that this vulnerability stems from a number of fleshly factors that most Christians fail to see or understand. First, there is the denominational problem, caused by the church’s failure to understand the problem of King Saul. While they think that their faith is centered upon Christ, in actual practice their faith is in the church denomination itself. God told Samuel, “they have rejected Me from being king over them” (1 Samuel 8:7).

Second, most do not understand that Abrahamic faith is believing that God is able to fulfill His New Covenant promise (Romans 4:21). Most Christians have been taught that faith is believing that God will help us fulfill our own (Old Covenant) promises to God. Such Old Covenant faith always fails in the end, because it originates in the will of man (John 1:13).

Third, many in the Church do not even know the promises of God. Many believe that the Rapture is the promise of God. The Rapture is a man-made understanding of the second coming of Christ that is not built upon the revelation of the feast of Tabernacles. Hence, those who follow the Rapture teaching are not following the leading of Peniel, the angel of Tabernacles. When they find themselves in the coming tribulation, they will be confused and fearful, and many will think that the promises of God have failed.

(See my book, The Laws of the Second Coming, chapter 13.)

Third, many in the Church have made it their mission to support Hagar’s claim for her child of the flesh to be the chosen one. I speak of Paul’s revelation in Galatians 4, where Hagar is identified as the earthly Jerusalem and where her children are spiritual Ishmaelites. Those who think that the earthly Jerusalem is the true “mother” of the church are in danger of losing their faith when the bondwoman and her son is “cast out” (Galatians 4:30).

The children of promise are those connected to Isaac, not Ishmael (Galatians 4:28, 29). The Isaac company are children of Sarah, who represents the New Covenant and the heavenly Jerusalem (Galatians 4:26).

So many in the Church are vulnerable to Apollyon’s attack because they have placed their faith in the supposed promise of God to make the earthly Jerusalem the capital of the Kingdom and the mother of the chosen ones. Again, will their faith stand fast when Jerusalem is destroyed, as the prophets have foretold (Jeremiah 19:10, 11)?

Any time we misunderstand the promises of God, our faith is vulnerable. God does not intend to save Jerusalem just because Christians demand it. He will fulfill His genuine promises whether or not men believe those promises.

Apollyon has deceived the Church into placing their faith in promises that God never made. This has made the church vulnerable, and there is little doubt that many will lose their faith when God actually fulfills His promises.

What Shall We Do?

As prospective overcomers, our calling is first to know what God has truly promised, so that our faith rests on the solid rock of Truth. Second, knowing the condition of the Church and its vulnerability, we ought to prepare ourselves with the belt of truth so that we are able to restore faith wherever it is lost.

Just as men did not understand how the promises of God seemed to fail in regard to the lost sheep of the house of Israel in ancient times, so also well-meaning believers today will not understand how the promises of God will appear to fail once again. But if we know the truth and believe the promises of God, we will be of great value when the Church needs to know the truth.

When the crisis of the age hits, we ought to be prepared to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the need to know the truth. Relatively few people will know the truth, because, as Paul says, “those who were chosen obtained it [the promise], and the rest were hardened,” (or blinded). You who know the promise of God are God’s chosen people—the remnant of grace. Your job will be to show that truth to “the rest” of the people who were blind until then.