It was early morning, Sunday 19 January 2020, and I had to get up to prepare for a family devotional service. It had been been a restless night and I had only managed to catch 2-3 hours of proper sleep. As I was lying on my bed, a vision opened up to me.

I saw a man to the left of the field in my field of vision, with his right profile toward me. He was carrying what looked like a large sledge hammer which he was holding slightly above his head. To the right of him was a stone statue of a man, facing the man with the hammer, only the head of the statue had been smashed off and it was lying on the ground. The hammer was raised again for a second blow, presumably to demolish what remained of the body. Then I heard a voice saying, clearly and distinctly:

"Destroy idols as Gideon did and I will bless you!"

Remove the head (the mind and authority) and the rest of the body, though larger, is now helpless. Paul said:

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of Elohim (God), and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Cor.10:3-6, NIV).

Gideon was, in so many ways, one of the most remarkable - if not fearful - judges in the Tanakh (Old Testament) (Judg.6-8). His career began during the Midianite oppression when a malak (angel) appeared to him while he was sitting under the oak where he lived at Ophrah (Judg.6:11ff.). The malak (angel) delivered Yahweh's message, saying that he, Gideon, would become Israel's deliverer.

He is best remembered for a number of incidents that began when he put meat on an altar and physical fire from heaven came and burned it up.

Elohim (God) revealed Himself as 'Yahweh-Shalom', taking away his fear and giving him peace (Judg.6:23-24). Those nevi'im (prophets) who are about to be called today (not the pretend ones in the charismatic movement and elsewhere) will have much fear to overcome and will be in need of this shalom (peace).

Like Gibeon, who was the first we know of, David (1 Chr.21:26) and Solomon (1 Chr.7:1) experienced the consuming heavenly fire on sacrificial offerings too. Elijah was the fourth and last navi (prophet) ever blessed with such manifestations of Yahweh's power of this kind (1 Ki.18; 2 Ki.1:12). We have not seen a navi (prophet) of his callibre since, excepting John the Baptist who is described in Scripture as the greatest of the nevi'im/prophets (Mt.11:1; Lk.7:28) after the Messiah Himself, yet he never called down fire from heaven. The apostles only once asked for fire from heaven but were never granted their request because their motive was impure (Lk.9:54).

The second incident, which connects with today's vision, is recorded in the Book of Judges:

"That night Yahweh said to [Gideon], 'Take your father's bull, the second bull seven years old, and pull down the [male] altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the [female] sacred Asherah pole that is beside it; and build an altar to Yahweh your Elohim (God) on the top of the stronghold there, in proper order; then take the second bull, and offer it as a burnt-offering with the wood of the sacred Asherah pole that you shall cut down. So Gideon took ten of his servants, and did as Yahweh had told him; but because he was too afraid of his family and the townspeople to do it by day, he did it by night.

"When the townspeople rose early in the morning, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the sacred Asherah pole beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. So they said to one another, 'Who has done this?' After searching and inquiring, they were told, 'Gideon son of Joash did it.' Then the townspeople said to Joash, 'Bring out your son, so that he may die, for he has pulled down the alter of Baal and cut down the sacred Asherah pole beside it.' But Joash said to all who were arrayed against him, 'Will you contend for Baal? Or will you defend his cause? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because he altar has been pulled down.' Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, 'Let Baal contend against him,' because he pulled down his altar" (Judg.6:25-32, NRSV).

From this point onwards, Gideon becomes the military leader of the apostate nation of Israel as the Midianites and Amalekites pour across the border like an infestation of cokroaches. No doubt greatly fearful of this massive invasion force, Gideon asked for a sign from heaven for assurance, for some reason not satisfied by the evidence of a supernatural manifestation of fire that he had already been shown. Yahweh provided the requested sign through a fleece that was dry one day and wet the next. Finally, he had to learn that it is by Elohim's (God's) strength and strategy that divinely appointed or sanctioned contests and battles are won, not man's. Yahweh reduced his army from 300,000 men to 300 so that he would learn not to put his trust in human resources. The rest is history [1].

Though one or two of you, like me, have already indirectly experienced 'fire from heaven', being witnesses of Yahweh reducing His enemies to ashes, most have not. You know, in part, what Gideon, David, Solomon and Elijah knew, but you have yet to be literally' 'baptised' in that fire as end-time 'Elijah prophets'. Yes, you have interceded for people in your own little corners of the Kingdom, and vindicated the Name of Yahweh before the heathen by your emunah (faith), but you have not yet done the deeds of the nevi'im (prophets) in the open. You have not torn down pagan altars in public and challenged the ruling principalities and powers in the political realm. Mostly you have done what you have done in your own defense, or the defense of your families. You have trained with 'live ammunition', as it were, and have participated in some 'minor skirmishes', but you have not yet been sent out to the 'front lines'. That's coming.

You've been told that Judgment is imminent but had you forgotten that Yahweh first sends out His nevi'im (prophets), often in broad daylight, to throw down the gauntlet as Elijah did on Carmel or as Gideon did at Ophrah? Are you willing to let Baal contend against you in public? Are you willing to become Jerubbaal's? Who with the courage of David is willing to stand before the Philistine giant with complete trust in Yahweh, outraged at Goliath's arrogance and blasphemy against El Elyon (the Most High), and rebuking him severely with the authority of Heaven?

Now I know that there are many who say they engage in what they call 'spiritual warfare' and I am not saying for one moment that what they are doing is ineffectual or unimportant. Their work, when done in the true Ruach (Spirit), is vital. However, let us not forget that not everything is just innvisible or spiritual, even though that is where the principalities and powers originate from. They are also here in this physical world and must be unseated here too because the humans they oppress and possess have to be delivered and have to make their own choices based on evidence supplied by Heaven to prime their emunah (faith).

I said it was time for the Elijah Prophets but in reality is is also time for the Elisha Prophets with the double portion, and more. The blood of the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) cries up from under the altar of our Elohim (God), and the suffering of Yahweh's servants has not been forgotten (Rev.6:9-11). But there are times and seasons we must be subject to, in line with El Elyon's decrees that requires great discipline and patience on our part. There are divine purposes to be enacted or played out on many levels of existence, levels that are inter-connected that affect each other, of which we are a part, however reluctant we may be to accept the often painful consequences of that at times. It should not be forgotten, as a former prophetic voice to Evangelicals, Leonard Ravenhill, once reminded those who claim to serious about their faith:

"If you want to be like Yah'shua (Jesus), remember, He had a wilderness, a Gethsemane and a Judas."

My friends, there are a lot of battles to be fought and Yahweh is calling His nevi'im (prophets) - the true nevi'im (prophets) who have the Ruach Eliyah - the Spirit of Elijah - after the Melchizedek Order of the New Covenant. And He will swat all those false nevi'im (prophets) like so many flies, brushing them aside for they have no part in authentic end-time prophetic ministry. So if you are walking around boasting of the title 'Prophet', you'd better be sure you're the genuine article or you're as good as dung.

Endnotes

[1] See, For Yahweh and for Gideon!

Comments from Readers

[1] Thank you very much and [I] thank God for this so incredibly encouraging [message] not just for people with [the] prophetic gifting and to remind is 'No Idols'. It's very easy to idolise someone or something and get caught up in the crowd, and even upon reflection a memory of a particular person or place could be idolisation. But I thank you most of all for the message about overcoming fear and anxiety, and if a prophet who feels, sees, and hears more than most can overcome fear, then surely us small ungifted ones without the senses that prophets have, and know a lot less than them, can overcome fear. Even if I wrote this wrong, it's very encouraging" (LL, USA, 20 January 2020)