Israel – Fire on the Altar, Mercy on the Border – April 6-16, 2010
Overview
The journey to Israel was conducted from April 6-16, 2010, with all prayer actions conducted April 8-15, the remaining time in travel. This was a powerful and precious prayer journey.
- Our first mandate was to pull down priests of Baal assigned to Israel. Israel for the most part has fulfilled the Biblical mandate to occupy the land given it by the Lord. However, Israel has been intimidated by outside parties into trading land for peace. From what we understand, the existing Christians in the land are divided and in retreat, and many are leaving under Muslim threat. We should be aware of the spiritual forces at work in this. Jezebel manipulates and Leviathan confuses and intimidates, but only because Israel continues to worship at the altar of Baal, not yet recognizing the God that has empowered her people to re-enter their land and prosper in spite of continual threat. Our primary mandate was to pull down Baal, Jezebel, and Leviathan throughout the land. This was accomplished by declaring a decree of divorce from Baal at each location, when possible led by a resident of the land. We saw manifestations of Baal throughout the land – the top of Mount Carmel, at the Baha’I Gardens, in the shadow of Lebanon where Baal worship began, at Caesarea Philippi, in Jericho, on the Temple Mount, in the Negev, and at Ashkelon and Caesarea on the Mediterranean.
- Our second mandate was to re-establish the ancient boundaries. We took these to be the borders first established in Numbers 34 and then prophesied for the future kingdom in Ezekiel 47. Thus, most of our prayer locations were selected to be on the boundaries. Much of our prayer at these locations was aimed at protecting these boundaries from enemies and from being modified by the schemes of men. In addition, though, there were a number of specific issues on God’s heart that we prayed:
- Lebanon was included in the original dimensions of the land. When we prayed at Rosh HaNikra and Metula, we felt that God was erasing existing boundaries, and that God at some point will include Lebanon as part of Israel.
- Of course, a separate Palestinian state is not included in the definition of the boundaries. Therefore, we specifically erased West Bank and Gaza Strip boundaries as we prayed.
- Even though the separation fence may have cut down on suicide bomber and other terrorist attacks, we felt sick in our spirits wherever we saw it, and therefore prayed that God would erase all need for it.
- The strongest passion we felt at boundaries was God’s love for Israel’s neighbors. We saw acts of mercy traversing the boundaries. We saw Arab evangelists going forth into Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. We saw watchmen being called forth at the boundaries to pray over the border and the neighboring nations.
- The Lord sent us to bring forth a new sound in the land. This was heard and spoken by one of our team, Carol Jontry, before we left. This new sound broke forth in a variety of ways:
- On our third night, in the land, as a number of us gathered late at night around a borrowed guitar at Kibbutz Ein Gev, God first brought forth a new song and a new sound
- At a team meeting at the YMCA 3 Arches in Jerusalem, in response to a cry uttered by Dwayne Williams that different people in the land were crying for help, James spontaneously brought forth a song, “Israel is Crying ‘Help Me’”
- At the City of David House of Prayer, asked for our help to bring forth a new sound of breakthrough and, indeed, there was a birth and breakthrough in sound at our second visit there
- Several times a new sound came forth from part of our team or the whole team at various locations. And all the people of the team came back home with a new sound of victory in their hearts.
- God gave us a number of opportunities to speak strength and encourage those who are in the land. This included:
- A strengthening of Ronnie, an Arab Christian friend of our guides in Nazareth who is working on bringing unity to the church of Nazareth.
- Our guide, Andre, prayed for an elderly man who was somewhat lame in his legs who stopped with his wife where we praying over Sodom. The man felt that the paid was lessened.
- Our team brought strength to John and Una Gere and their house of prayer through our prayer and worship.
- When we prayed on the Old City walls, especially in the Christian Quarter, we felt the city was strengthened, especially around the New Gate, where we prayed for the shop that Andre and Tony, our guides will open for ministry. Just after our return to the US, Andre told us, the blockages preventing them from getting the shop were removed.
- One of our last stops was in Kadesh Barnea, where we met our new Messianic Jewish friend Avishai Pinchas and his wife Yolanda. This was certainly as strengthening to us as to them.
- Our guide, Andre Moubarak, told us that he believed our circuit of the nation at its borders was historic and strengthening. He invited us to return to the land to meet and strengthen the new bodies of believers that are springing up, especially Messianic and former Muslim believers.
The Call
This journey resulted from two separate callings that we believed would best be served together. Richard Tittle heard from the Lord initially in June 2008 on Mt Carmel in Israel when the Lord told him to return for an assignment. Later words clarified the assignment. The Lord said, “Re-establish the borders of my nation Israel. I want you to be in Jerusalem April 11, 2010.” Richard’s study confirmed to him that the Lord was referring to the nearly duplicate borders described in Numbers 34 and Ezekiel 47.
James was in the process of responding to a call to pray in response to the vision experienced by John Kilpatrick of an earthquake in the heart of the nation along the New Madrid fault. Cindy Jacobs prophesied to James, “The Lord would say to you, ‘Man of God, I am calling you as a watchman on the wall for the nation.’ The Lord would say to you, ‘You must stand to keep Jerusalem from being divided,’ and God says not only will you do it here, but you will do it in Israel. For I will say, ‘From Mt. Carmel to Mt. Carmel,’ God says there will be a team that goes from Mt. Carmel here to Mt. Carmel there.”
And God says, ‘I have given you a direct connection to slay the prophets of Baal.’ God says, ‘I have given you the authority to pull down the Elijah anointing to pull down Jezebel and to pull down the prophets of Baal,’ says the Lord.”
And the Lord says, ‘You will take the sword of the Lord and cut the Leviathan spirit that stretches along the New Madrid fault.’ You have begun, but the Lord says that in the ground is the root of anti-Semitism and the, yeah, that’s it, that’s it! And the root of anti-Semitism is the root of the religious spirit that is stopping the move of God, so the Lord says, ‘I am putting the sword in your hand to cut asunder the anti-Semitic Spirit that let’s that religious spirit live,’ says the Lord!”
The Team
Our team had the following components:
The Away Team traveling to Israel was under the direction of James Nesbit, with Richard Tittle leading the contingent from New Jersey. The team from the Midwest besides James included Myron Filkins, Carol Jontry, Timothy O’Rourke, Dwayne Williams, and Kingsley Walker. The team from New Jersey besides Richard included Brett Conover, Patricia Lorentzen, Kristina Rose, Taffy Spaloss, Karen Speer, Darlene Tittle, and Alice Tornquist.
There were three home teams. Recia Foti led the team in New Jersey at Shore Vineyard. Quay Messner led the team in Missouri at The Life Church. Shane Whetstone led the team in Mt Carmel Illinois at Jacob’s Well church.
Our guide team consisted of Andre and Tony Moubarak of Twins Tours, and Andre’s wife, Marie.
The Journey
Days 1/2 • Tuesday/Wednesday, April 6-7, 2010
The Midwest team traveled from St Louis to New York. One team member traveled alone from Newark direct to Tel Aviv. The rest of the combined team traveled from New York to Istanbul and from Istanbul to Tel Aviv, where we met our guide team. The team boarded the Twins Tours bus and traveled to Stella Maris Carmelite Monastery in Haifa.
Some members of the team worshiped the Lord in front of the monastery and then continued to worship from the roof of the monastery.
Day 3 • Thursday, April 8, 2010
Stella Maris Carmelite Pilgrim Center, Haifa
We stayed the night at the Stella Maris Carmelite Guesthouse. This monastery and the Carmelite order were founded based on the inspiration of the prophet Elijah and hermits who followed him. The location of the convent overlooks all of the city of Haifa and the Mediterranean. It is a sentinel and the prayers and ministry of the sisters and fathers are important. However, the monastery represents the Queen of Heaven. As many Roman Catholic locations, it is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Mary is held in veneration over Jesus, as witnessed by the size of the statues and icons representing each. It is important that our initial worship was invited onto the roof of the convent and therefore was at a higher place than the idolatrous queen of heaven. In this worship, we severed the religious spirit from this mountain top.
At this location, Carol felt beauty, serenity, and safety, but at the same time pain, sadness, and the presence of secrets. She woke hearing the Lord say concerning the journey: 1) bind the spirit of false religion, 2) release the Triumphant Reserve to fulfill potential, 3) wake up the Body of Christ to take its place, 4) awaken the five spiritual senses – see the Lord, hear his heart, feel his presence, sense his calling, let him touch the wounded places and heal them spirit, soul, and body, 5) Call the body to join in unity and harmony with the Kingdom of God, 6) Pray for leadership to wake to their destiny and the body of the church to wake up to the fullness and hear the sound of the Lord calling.
Both Richard and James awoke with strategy in the morning. James felt that we were to visit the Cave of Elijah. Richard had received a word from the Lord that we were to visit caves and release God’s light into the earth, and go to mountains and release a new sound over the earth. Thus we purposed to go to Elijah’s Cave though it had not been built into our itinerary for the day.
Elijah’s Cave, Haifa
After a short time of prayer, worship, and instruction at the top of the mountain, we descended the path towards Elijah’s cave. Our guides, Andre, Tony, and Marie had not taken this hike before, so they received instruction from the sisters. Andre led the way with James, and Marie helped the stragglers. Tony drove the bus to meet us at the bottom. As it turned out, the cave is much closer to the bottom than to the top.
The climb down was particularly difficult for those of our party with knee problems. Other team members were very thoughtful in helping on the way down. In spite of being hampered, no one complained, but all were full of praise and never thought of turning back. As James said, it turned out the passage was not about the cave but about the journey. This difficult climb built us as a team and hardened the resolve of each team member to not shrink back from the task. A price was paid for the pilgrims to take the land. Darlene wept for all those who walk through this life in their own strength, when Jesus can take them to their destination.
We worshipped and prayed at a crossroad above Elijah’s cave. We decided that the journey down the steep path was not about the cave but about being tested to see if we had counted the cost to proceed on the prayer journey.
A shawl was given as a covenant gift to Andre and Marie. The team placed this as a mantle over Andre and Marie’s shoulders and prayed for them. We asked their permission/authority to proceed on the prayer journey since it is their territory. The assignment to be completed is to set the borders and to pull down the altar of Baal, Leviathan and Jezebel. We also broke the control of the queen of heaven, as one aspect of Jezebel. James called on the Elijah anointing and pulled down the Elisha anointing as directed by Cindy Jacobs prophecy. We also declared and executed the Baal divorce decree at this location.
Elijah’s Cave was filled with religious paraphernalia, which obscure any sense of the holiness or legitimacy of the location. We released the following prayers. 1) Lord, teach us how to descend into the dark places in us and in our surroundings and then ascend up to “your” high places in worship. 2) Let us learn to rejoice in all things. James 1:2-8. 3) We ask for patience that everything prayed and rejoiced over would come to pass in God’s perfect time. 4) We ask that God would continue to enforce the Baal Divorce Degree and call the children home to their true Father. 5) We ask that the Lord strengthen those praying for the area with peace, joy, and grace in the Holy Spirit, 6) We release the fire of the Holy Spirit to cleanse, sanctify, and purify.
Baha’i Shrine and World Headquarters, Haifa
As we approached this location, our guide, Andre, pointed out that Haifa is a stronghold for cultic worship. He pointed out that this is a major location for Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roman Catholics, Islam, Druze religion, and eastern religions, all vying for ascendancy around Mt Carmel. We realized that the spirit of Baal which was defeated 3500 years ago, was making a comeback in our day, only manifesting in many different ways.
Baha’i is a monotheistic religion birthed in Iran in the 1800s, and like other new age cults, emphasizes the unity of God, of all religions, and a progressive revelation through divine messengers. The world headquarters is in Haifa and Acco. In Israel, Baha’I is accepted primarily by the rich and famous.
Our guide, Andre, took us into the Shrine at a central location. The shrine and gardens are strategically placed on the mountainside overlooking the harbor including one of the primary ports of Israel. The entire layout of the place felt like it was in the center of a ley line, a line of spiritual power in the earth.
We rebuked the sources of revenue, and released mercy for those trapped in this deception to find true salvation through the Lord. We prayed for all affected by cults. We declared Psalm 19:1-6 , that the “heavens declare the glory of God” and reveal who he is. We prayed for full heat of the revelation of Yeshua. We performed the prophetic act of touching the guard rail to attach Psalm 19 to this location and change what was being spiritually transmitted from this place.
We declared the cutting off of the Leviathan spirit and the anti-Semitic spirit through the blood of the Lamb. We cut the ley line by the power of the blood of Jesus, and re-established the worship of the Lord over this mountain and over the port of Haifa.
We declared from Isaiah 2 that the mountain of the Lord would be established as chief among the mountains, and that all cults would bow to the true God.
Andre read the Baal Divorce Decree because he has Phoenician ancestry, and Baal was established by the Phoenicians.
We established a new worship on the land, and turned the land over to the Father. We dedicated the fountains of these beautiful gardens along with all the fountains of Haifa to our God. We whispered, “Yeshua”.
We called for a transfer of the wealth given to this cult into the Kingdom to break the control of Mammon. Haifa is one of the centers of the economy of Israel. Transfer of wealth is a mandatory injunction in the Spirit to bring about a change in realty. We called for a transfer in possession of the land title. We called for new riches flowing to the people of God and we declared a transference of wealth. We declared a massive revival to people who control finances in the Bahai faith. We called treasures of darkness out of the secret place to go to the poor, that Jewish Russians and Arab Christians would be recipients.
We called for the freedom of the six million under bondage of the Haifa faith. We released a spirit of discontent with false religion among those held captive. All people belong to the Lord – Psalm 24:1 - the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.
Baha’i followers are trying to make everything peaceful, serene, and beautiful, yet it is a spirituality of surrender to death rather than surrender to life. It reminded us of the beautiful gardens of Yogananda on the California Coast – peaceful on the surface but a snare unto death. We bound the strong man of Bahai faith and Baal. We called for angels of God to invade Mt. Carmel and Haifa.
The Holy Spirit said look for 3s. A three-pronged tree reminded us of the unholy trio of Baal, Jezebel, Leviathan, but that is to be displaced by the powerful Holy Trinity of Father God, Yeshua, and Holy Spirit.
We called for rain to come seven times, just as Elijah did.
Muhraka (“Place of burning”), Carmelite Monastery, Mt Carmel
Muhraka is the highest peak of the Mt Carmel range. It is the location of the Carmelite Sanctuary and Convent. This is believed to be the location where Elijah in 1 Kings 18 defeated the 450 priests of Baal and 400 priests of Asherah and where God came with fire to prove that he alone is God. At this site, there is a famous statue of Elijah and a prayer garden. This is the location where Richard received the commission to return to the land. This is also the place of fulfillment of the prophecy of Cindy Jacobs over James to again pull down the priests of Baal.
From the roof of the monastery is the farthest reaching view in Israel, in all directions, to the Mediterranean in one direction, to the Galilean hills in the other, but primarily over the Jezreel Valley and the plain of Armageddon, the site of the last battle. From here we could see many Biblical locations. The team could see so much, we got the big picture early.
Some of our prayers were on the roof of the monastery and some were in the prayer garden. As we began praying, we cleansed the hill with “new fire.” We recognized ourselves as a traveling band of worshippers. We declared we were receiving both an Elijah and Elisha anointing. We saw mantels coming down on the people within the team. Our guide, Tony, saw his prayers being answered. He prayed that the next tours would have fire in their seats on the bus. We declared that Andre and Tony and Marie will see into people’s hearts and lives. They will touch hearts, have words of knowledge, operate in the gifts of the Spirit. The closer we get to God, the more He will take care of our needs
At this place of confrontation, of the halting between two opinions, we made sure that we were all of one opinion. We read aloud Cindy Jacobs declaration, that James would lead a team from Mt Carmel Illinois to Mt Carmel Israel, and that there would be the anointing to pull down the priests of Baal, and uproot the anti-Semitic spirit.
A prophetic word was announced: “In answer to your prayers, I will change the earth.” We declared the divorce decree from Baal. We released Psalm 148, that all of heaven and earth would praise the Lord. We released Isaiah 27:1 that Leviathan was slain.
We declared the destruction of strongholds throughout the earth. We bound lying spirits and strongmen that have been keeping people in darkness and delusion. We called for the fire to come down and burn up demonic structures.
We pulled down the Elijah anointing, and saw prophetic mantles are coming down on people. We prayed for the church to rise in holy confidence and boldness, and in demonstration of power. We called for rain 7 times.
In the spirit, we heard people cry, “Where should we go?” We prayed grace upon the land and upon people who follow false gods that they will go to the cross of Jesus. We called forth a great awakening in the land and all over the world.
We declared Psalm 115 which declares the wonders of the true God as distinguished from all the false gods. We prayed that God would put a new heart and spirit in Jews returning to the land. We declared for change to correspond to cultivation of the land. We prayed for revival to come to the Israeli army, especially to Druze, Muslims and nominal Christians.
This was the first of many places where we prayed for and declared the establishment by God of the Isaiah 19:23-25 highway, where God will cause Israel, Egypt, and Syria to worship together/
We prayed for destruction of any counsel in the US State Department that seeks to divide Israel. We called for judgment to be released to spirits behind people seeking to divide the land.
We then celebrated Communion.
Rosh HaNikra, northeast corner of Israel, border with Lebanon
Rosh HaNikra has a national park where you can view the grottoes carved by the waves and look at the underground tunnel which was used to avoid the British during the war of independence. Even though we would have loved to pray from the tunnel or grottoes, “under the earth,” we chose to avoid the commercial tourist site and to go to a more quiet location. So we parked next to the Mediterranean against the limestone cliffs right on the border with Lebanon.
This was the closest location also to the original sites and headquarters for Baal worship in Tyre and Sidon, which are now in Lebanon. One of our purposes here was to declare the erasing of the boundary between present-day Israel and Lebanon, because of all of Lebanon is contained within the boundaries of Israel declared by the Lord in both Numbers 34 and Ezekiel 47.
We prayed for God to establish new boundaries. The boundaries set by God in Numbers 34 have been trespassed. We confessed our impotence that Israel never took the territory to the north even though it was given by God. We declared that the current border between Israel and Lebanon is erased and that God would place the new border. We saw the prophetic picture of a giant eraser.
We asked for the release of angels of revival and evangelism on the borders and in Lebanon. We prayed Psalm 86 that Lebanon will give all that they have to the King and that Jesus will be glorified. We prayed for the people of Lebanon who have been beaten down and ravaged by war.
A coin was placed undercover. Each of the coins is a silver dollar, contributed by Kingsley and his sons. They all come from a series, honoring the first nations people of America, featuring the Indian princess Sacajawea, who helped make Lewis and Clark expedition a success. These are from the first nations of our world, to honor Israel, the first nation of all nations.
1. Some of the coins have an eagle on the back signifying freedom 2. Some have an olive branch signifying peace.
3. Some have a woman planting corn, beans and squash (corn is tall, bean wraps around it and squash on the ground keeps moisture - all dependent on each other).
The Divorce from Baal decree was declared. We called on the angel army to execute what was read. We released the blood judgments of the Lamb over anything that has come into the land of false worship - Freemasons, Baha’i, etc.
We declared Jeremiah 51:44 that Baal would be punished and must regurgitate all he has swallowed. We released judgment on any structure built for the purpose of undermining Israel, and asked for confusion in the US State Department, United Nations, the Obama Administration, and any group in Israel that is for dividing the land.
The northwest area of Israel was occupied originally by the Canaanites. According to the 7 Mountain Prophecy, the Canaanites represent the mountain of business/economy. We spoke over all of the economy of Israel to no longer be under the control of schemers/manipulators but under the control of the righteous. We prayed that the counsel of schemers be brought to a quick end. Oil and natural resources will be found to bless Israel.
We declared Psalm 103 that the Lord is gracious and compassionate. We prayed Job 5:8-15 that the Lord catches the crafty in their schemes. We prayed Psalm 29 concerning the voice of the Lord. We prayed Ezekiel 28 concerning the pride of the enemy. We prayed to cast down anything connected with the children of pride (Leviathan). We read Isaiah 27:1-2 concerning Leviathan the twisted serpent. We declared the breaking of Leviathan and the anti-Semitic spirit.
We declared that this is the season for releasing light and so we released light into the earth. We finished with three blasts from the shofar.
Mount Precipice, Nazareth
We stopped near the Church of the Annunciation, which is the largest church in the Middle East. The Muslims have erected a big sign in front of the church that says, “God has no son. Whoever believes He has a son is a loser.” We made declarations in front of that sign that “God has a son; whoever does not believe in him loses big time!”
Nazareth is famous for construction. If Jesus was indeed a carpenter, he would have worked not only with wood but also stone. All Jewish boys of his time memorized Scripture through recitation. Good students would continue beyond age 13 studying Scripture until age 30. Then they would qualify to be a Rabbi. Jesus began His ministry at age 30.
In current times, there is lots of tension in Nazareth. Christians have been killed, and there are Muslim riots. Nazareth used to be 75% Christian, but now it’s 25%. Of a total population around 70,000, 50,000 are Muslims and 20,000 are Christians. 1.5% are evangelical Arab Christians. Christians are leaving due to spiritual oppression but God has kept some Arab Christians there since Pentecost. They serve as a link between Arabs and Jews.
Marie had called ahead to have a friend of hers and Andre’s named Ronnie, a resident of Nazareth, meet us at the Mt Precipice prayer location. Ronnie told us his story. He was from a Catholic background. He had an encounter with the Lord in 1999, when Jesus appeared to him as a figure of light and said “Son, do not be afraid. I am going to use you.” Jews are shocked to hear Ronnie, an Arab, speak of the Jewish Messiah.
We asked Ronnie to open the gates of the city to us and to give us the authority to release all God has for us to release. We began to pray for Nazareth, asking God to bring light to the city. We prayed for Arab Christians in Nazareth who are facing spiritual oppression. Ronnie told us that the spirit of religion and division are doing damage to the church. We prayed for the Body of Christ to be united.
We bound the strong man over this city, and asked the Lord to send angels to come and bring destruction to dividers here. We declared the blood judgments against the spirit of hopelessness that makes the heart of the people sick and against prideful spirit of Leviathan. We declared the blood judgments of Jesus against the anti-Semitic spirit and the Muslim spirit behind it.
We praised God for the next evangelical outreach, that there would be a breakout of signs and wonders. We praised God for great light on the assignment. We declared Psalm 2, asking for Ronnie and Andre to receive their inheritance, the lost, as they minister here.
We repented for rejection of Jesus on behalf of Nazareth and for ourselves. We released the apostles who walk in the power of signs and wonders into the midst of this territory.
On this 8th day of April 2010, we declared a new day in Nazareth and issued a call to the church to multiply and to become the legislative assembly of the King in accordance with Ephesians 3:10.
At this point, the Victory flag blew off its pole, so we declared that our victorious God would blow away all his enemies.
The decree to divorce Baal was read in Arabic by Ronnie facing Nazareth. Someone had the vision of a nest of vipers and angels were tramping through Nazareth, stomping on the eggs of the vipers that are causing division.
We declared that Nazareth is to be known as Yeshua’s place and that the name of Yeshua is rising over the other names that have tried to replace His name. We spoke to the demonic forces who have ruled in Nazareth and commanded them to leave. We asked God for the kingpins of the enemy camp (i.e. the family heads / those in authority) to come forth.
Ronnie, Andre and Marie struck the rock with the gravel. Shofars were blown. Ronnie saw a vision of Nazareth as a war zone in the Spirit. He could smell the burning of the enemy camps. He saw the picture of a white snake. We prayed for the “pass through anointing” for Ronnie that enabled Jesus to pass through the crowd who were trying to through Him over the cliff in Nazareth. We shared communion.
Kibbutz Ein Gev, Eastern shore of Lake Galilee
We completed our journey for the day as we arrived at Kibbutz Ein Gev as we lodged in their private guest house. We were served a delicious late dinner of whole St Peter fish (tilapia). Most of the team slept soundly.
Day 4 • Friday, April 9, 2010
Traveling through Galilee
Our guide, Andre, taught us about the Galilee area of Israel and about the lake itself. There are three kinds of towns around the Lake (Sea of Galilee):
- Roman
- Jewish
- Hellenized (Greek)
Seventy percent of Jesus’ teaching was given in the lakeside towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. Lake Galilee is the largest body of fresh water in Israel. The Via Maris is the trade route that runs from the Mediterranean Sea past Lake Galilee up to Damascus and to all the lands of the East. This route connected the Roman world. There were twelve harbors around the Lake in Jesus’ time.
Andre explained that the kibbutzim (plural of kibbutz) were first established in the 1930s, originally as self-defending communities, during a period where enemies harassed them on all sides. Prior to 1967 all of the Golan Heights was under Syrian control. Since the 1967 war, Israel has controlled the Golan Heights.
Galilee is the most fruitful of all the land of Israel because of the relative abundance of water. There are lots of cattle. Wild flowers appear in March and April. There are ten climate zones in Israel and, as a result, there is a greater diversity of plant and animal life than anywhere else.
Lake Galilee is in the shape of a harp. It is also called Lake Kinnereth (kinnor in Hebrew means harp) Because the lake is like a bowl, the water level is below sea level but surrounded by high hills, storms can sweep in very quickly.
Lake Galilee and the Jordan River Valley are the lowest places on the earth. They are part of the Syrian- African Rift Valley between Europe, Asia and Africa, where the continents are separating. Mountains on
sides filed with hot magma from center of earth. The volcanic rock cooled and scattered throughout the Golan Heights. This stone is quite different from Jerusalem stone.
Throughout Israel there are Arab, Bedouin, and Druze towns scattered among the Jewish towns. The Jewish ones can be distinguished by their red tile roofs. Towns with flat roofs are Arab – they build stories on top for extended family members.
Metula/Border with Lebanon
Metula is the northernmost incorporated town in Israel. The surrounding area is known as Israel’s little Switzerland. It began as a network of settlements at the end of the 19th Century. It was always a frontier town where Jews held and claimed the ground with their settlement. Almonds, apples and grapes are some of the crops of the region. Druze are the predominant Arab people in this region. They have a d different culture and ideology than the Palestinians. Druze and Maronites were constantly fighting in Lebanon and Northern Israel.
We had chosen Metula as a second location to prophesy over Lebanon (in addition to Rosh HaNikra). The boundary between Israel and Lebanon here had been known before 2000 as “the Good Fence”, because Israel and Lebanon had enjoyed friendly relations. This is when Lebanon’s majority was Maronite Christians. In those days, Israelis worked Lebanese fields, Lebanese used Israeli health care and exported goods through the port in Haifa.
Once Hezbollah chased out many of the Maronites, the relationship changed between Israel and Lebanon and the fence was closed. Lebanon is now dominated by Syria, and Syria in turn is dominated by Iran. During the border war with Lebanon in 2006, Hezbollah sent missiles into Metula and other Israeli towns from the towns of Lebanon, hiding behind civilians. Israeli retaliation necessarily hit civilian population. The Israeli government gave Jews subsidies to settle in Kiryat Shmona, a nearby town. Displaced Jews from Gaza also settled here when Gaza was turned over to the Palestinian Authority.
In spite of all of this, all of Lebanon is within the boundaries specified in both Numbers 34 and Ezekiel 47 as the eternal boundaries of Israel. Nevertheless, Israel never occupied much of the territory of current Lebanon. However, our job was to prophesy the boundaries God specified. Thus, it is our belief that somehow God will cause Lebanon to fall with the future boundaries of Israel.
Andre drover us to the DaDo lookout, a high place overlooking Metula, Lebanon, and Mt Hermon. Israeli soldiers pulled up in humvees shortly after we began to pray. A number of soldiers came to this spot apparently to have lunch. James met them and one was from Boston. Even though they and others kept coming to this spot, we were determined not to be intimidated or distracted. We also determined that troops gathered in the physical are a picture of what is happening in the spiritual. We also prayed for soldiers to see the supernatural hand of God on their lives.
Earlier we had a word from the home team to proclaim Ezekiel 36, so we read the entire chapter and prophesied to the mountains to hear the Word of the Lord. We bound the strong man over this region. We came here to repent of idolatry and to divorce Baal in Jesus’ name.
We blessed the people called to live here. We placed two coins here, as a place where we are asking the Lord to release a double portion of grace.
We took note of Ezek 36:20, “They have profaned My holy name.” We determined to stand in the gap for those who have not seen the Light of the World. We repented on behalf of these people. We realized that all of us have turned away and brought reproach on the name of the Lord. “Would you cleanse us? Would you forgive us?” Richard laid on the ground in repentance and supplication on behalf of the Jewish people, and Taffy and Patricia join him to form an arrow on the ground. All three have Jewish heritage.
We asked that God would once again establish His eternal boundaries far to the north of this border. We asked that US State Department, Damascus, Iran, and Moscow would be devoured by their own counsel, that angels would come and cause confusion and to divide those attempting to divide the land. Carol had a vision of a laser beam establishing new boundaries.
From Ezek 36:36, we prayed that this place would be a great light for nations around Israel. “God has rebuilt this place. . .” From Ezek 37, we prophesied to the bones that represent all the Jews returned to the land, vs 13-14 “You shall know, understand and realize...blood covered knowledge, understanding and realization.
We prayed that the clouds would loose their rain on the land. We prayed specific prayers directed toward Lebanon. We prophesied over this land that there will be a retreat of those seeking to control and manipulate the land. They must retreat and come under the government of God. We spoke to principalities that they are squatters on the land just as Hezbollah are squatters. (Hezbollah took over Christian homes when US told Israel to pull out of Lebanon.)
We thanked God for shifting of the earth because of our gathering. We called forth people here who are supposed to prophecy and intercede in these areas. In fact, we called forth a House of Prayer over the northern border. The church does not know who she is. We prophesied Eph 3:10 over the whole territory and called for the church to arise in Lebanon. We also declared 2 Tim 1:7-10, that there would be not a spirit of fear but of love, power and a sound mind for Christians of Lebanon. Someone had a vision of a wide highway.
Myron was having a spiritual experience represented by Psalm 121. He recounted that when he was in Jerusalem last November the weather was overcast. This time too the weather was overcast, but the Lord painted a powerful picture to us in the sky. There were 2 layers - darker gray and lighter gray. There was a whitish color between the layers. The appearance changed into the form of an eye and changed from whitish to golden. The round shape started to straighten out with a straight line on the bottom and a jagged line on top. It changed from circular to the shape of a crown. Myron asked the Lord what it meant and He gave Psalm 121, ”He who watches over Israel neither slumber nor sleeps.” He said to Myron - “Don’t worry son, I’ve got it.”
At this point, Kingsley had the vision of an angel coming into position in the valley below us with armor. “Nothing will come into the valley except what I allow.” The angel came to release what needed to be released. We celebrated Communion. We remembered, Psalm 2, that the Lord laughed about what the nations had planned and then He got angry. As we received the elements, the Lord once again testified that “It is finished!”
Caesarea-Philippi/Banias
This location, near to the northern boundary and in the shadow of Mt Hermon, is one of the chief high places in Israel. It is where there is a temple to Pan, the Greek God of fear. Both before and after Pan was worshipped hear, there have been altars to Baal. This is also the location where Jesus asked the disciples and Peter declared that Jesus was Messiah, the Son of God. When Jesus said at this spot that he would build his church on the confession of who he was, he said that church would prevail over the gates of hell, located right here at this location.
We walked to the cave which carries the shrine to Pan. Water used to spring out of this cave, and now the Banias River seeps through the rock. We walked to an altar area that was higher than the other altars outside the cave and prayed in this location.
We began by linking our prayer journey with all other previous prayer journeys. We spoke about the water which becomes impure when it flows from an impure source and we become bitter when we get away from our true source. People build their own water source but don’t have the abundance that comes from depending on God’s resources.
The purpose of our prayer journey is to release light and we release light through our sound. This sound silences every echo of the enemy. First we bound the strong man of the region, which is fear. We declared as a group prayer, “Let there be light,” which echoed off the hills.
One of Pan’s poses is playing the flute, hypnotizing large numbers that follow. This seemed to us to indicate that this was an area dedicated to the mountain of arts and entertainment. We prayed for artists / musicians, releasing grace to artists. Remembering how James as an artist was prayed into the kingdom by his name being placed into a teacup to be prayed over, we prayed with hands cupped like tea cups, and called out names of various celebrities and artists and prayed for mercy for them. We remembered Michael Jackson and how he was deceived by Pan to remain immature. We called them into life and out of darkness. We called out grace to the arts and entertainment mountain, for it to multiply in grace in the whole earth – artists, composers, athletes, the Olympics, etc. We released the Ezekiel 47 river flowing over their heads reproducing Jesus as it flows. During this time of prayer concerning the arts, we worshipped as a group and a number of our party danced to demonstrate true worship.
We renounced idolatry, defining it as bypassing God’s ways for our future and doing it our own way. People come to Baal for life change, success, healing, but this is the wrong direction. We released the Mississippi (Father of waters) sound and sang the new Amazing Grace song of the fifty million around God’s throne. We prayed for abortion issue in Israel since it is rampant. A cry went out from group for the release of many women from abortion. During this time, one of our group heard her name spoken by God, which was very precious to her. She confessed her own abortion from years ago for the first time and felt set free.
We read the Divorce Baal decree. Let the hills record the sound of this divorce decree. We prayed Psalm 24 for God to raise up a generation of clean hands and hearts that can take over the 7 mountains.
We also prayed for a transfer of wealth, that the treasures of the darkness to be released to the first nation of nations.
We had heard that an earthquake had caused much of the temples dedicated to Pan and other so-called deities to fall, and so interrupted Satan’s plan and blocked the cave. We prophesied over the mountain of false worship that it would become desolate.
Marie explained to us that Mt Hermon is like a sponge absorbing the water from heaven and causing springs that are the source of all Israel and the source of the Jordan. We blessed the waters. The church is the sponge. Everything in Israel is about the fight for water. We prayed for rain for every dry church wherever the enemy has caused drought.
We released a prayer for Ronnie in Nazareth. We declared Psalm 133, and some of us saw for the first time that it was the dew of Mt Hermon that is falling on Mt Zion, in Jerusalem. This transfer of water is a picture of what God will do with His people – producing unity. Because the team was unified, we commanded the unity of different church denominations, commanded them to work together.
We prayed for a center for worship arts to be established in this territory with the flow of the river of life instead of this shrine that is dedicated to false worship. We made a decree for no more barrenness in families and in the church. Someone had a vision of an angel encased in sponge with a knife in hand bursting out of confinement and stabbing Pan in the back thereby releasing people from Pan.
We prayed for a release from sexual sin for the young. We heard the sound of pain of the young being pulled into sin and declared that the enemy would not be able to destroy worshippers of God.
Someone spoke of a parallel to something that happened in Chicago, which led to a command that the continents line up. We declared this same command goes forth from the first nation of nations (Israel).
A coin was thrown at this location. It was the coin of the 3 sisters wheat, corn and beans, blessing the land and economy
This was a very powerful time of prayer and worship.
Mt Bental/Border with Syria
The Golan Heights was all part of Syria until 1967. In the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel decided to make preemptive strike and within 6 days Israeli army defeated 5 armies and gained the area. Mt Bental overlooks a Syrian town which was captured without a fight. Syria wants to reclaim this territory to take the high places so can shoot into Israel. In the Yom Kippur War of 1973, Syria passed over the purple line of Armistice and initially made inroads into the Golan, but within four days, Israel had defeated 1400 Syrian tanks. Now at the Mt Bental outlook, Israeli families can visit the bunkers from the earlier wars and take pride in their eventual service in the Israeli military.
We arrived at the Mt Bental outlook just at the beginning of the Sabbath, and for the second day in a row, our last stop was on top of a mountain at sunset with a cold wind blowing. To arrive at the outlook, you have to walk up a long, steep hill from the parking. All along the walk is displayed demonic
looking artwork, including a dragon and serpent with other creatures in between on the way to the prayer/military outpost site. Looked like a mother with her children. The artwork appeared to be mocking and was set up to silence any voice of peace. We shouted silently to silence the mocking voices as we walked up the hill. Myron was physically hampered due to his poor breathing condition, but the Lord guided him to walk up backwards. Since his jacket has Christ’s face on the back, Myron “brought Jesus up the highway.”
We gathered around a pole at the top of the overlook with signs pointing in different directions with names of cities such as Damascus and Washington, DC on each. Everyone touched the pole holding the signposts to deposit our DNA on it. Someone sensed massive confusion when they saw the sign and asked for clarify as to where borders should be.
We prayed Isaiah 59, that “our iniquities have separated us from You.” If prayers of the church had gone forth, the nations would look very different. We the church are weak with little power. We and the whole church are guilty of speaking unclean things. Prayer for deliverance. We decided we are now at this place representing all places on earth where there is a called-out, legislative assembly. Isaiah 59:19 says that they will fear the name of the LORD from the west... as a result of Messiah’s intervention they will reverently fear the Lord. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard. “Thank you for Messiah’s intervention. We lift up a standard, we establish the border and ask for warring angels to come.”
We declared Psalm 20. We thanked God for giving victory and making Israeli army brilliant strategists. We thanked God for angels taking their post in battle. We called for the Lord to reveal every strategy of the enemy, to bring it to light. “If President Obama has any plans to divide the land, cause shame to be on his face.”
There is a Jewish expectation that there will always be someone attacking them so they also mock – that’s part of the “inspiration” behind the artwork. Ezek 38-39 declared the future battle to come on the mountains of Israel. We declared our agreement with God’s plans for the future
We prayed for hidden things to be exposed since Syria hid weapons in Iraq that were never discovered. We declared Psalm 144, that God is able to delivery Israel from the hurtful sword. We prayed for the Lord to give Israel a new identity, the identity of David.
Someone had a vision of Muslims coming across the border to get healed in Israel. Marie explained that in fact it is already happening. There is cooperation between Israel and Jordan that allows Israeli doctors to perform surgery for Iraqi children that would die without the surgery.
We cried out for Syria. What is happening in Egypt (coming to terms with Israel) can happen in Syria. Myron walking up backwards with picture of Jesus is a picture of bring Jesus up the highway. We prayed for people in Syria to have an encounter like Paul who mocked the followers of Jesus.
We realized that the whole journey is about what Israel cannot do in the natural. These are the things God releases us to do in the spiritual. We also prayed and sent forth a sound to release angels to destroy and expose nuclear weapons. We asked the Lord to disarm dividers here and abroad.
Kibbutz Ein Gev – Second night
We returned for a second night to Kibbutz Ein Gev. This night we went to a different restaurant in the Kibbutz, this time on a canal that feeds Lake Galilee. This second restaurant provided a variety of grilled meats in what was our best meal on the entire journey. More importantly, we spent some time talking to the owner/proprietor. He prevailed on his son to bring us a guitar so we could spend some time in worship.
We went off to a side area near the restaurant, about 7 of our team, and spent about an hour, with Brett playing guitar, and all of us singing in the Spirit. It was an inspired time, and was the beginning of “making a new sound” that the Lord had revealed to Carol that he would do.
Day 5 • Saturday, April 10, 2010
Kursi/Place of the Demoniac
Kursi is just a short drive north of Kibbutz Ein Gev, and just back up the hill from the shoreline of Lake Galilee. While other sites have been proposed as being the location for Jesus’ encounter with the demoniac(s), this is the traditional site. At this site is the largest Byzantine church in Israel. However, next to the cave believed to be the hang-out location of the demoniac(s), is a very small church that dates back to the first century. The entire Eastern side of Lake Galilee, where Kursi is located, was under Roman rule in Jesus time. This was the region of the Decapolis – ten cities under Roman rule and not under Jewish law.
Andre, our tour guide, felt that the first location we needed to pray was a defiled place near the Byzantine church. He explained that scientists have verified that this location, maked by a stone in front of a bench, is one of the most magnetic locations on the earth. He told us that many different New Age cultists come to this location to meditate and attempt to channel false worship. He believed that this cultic site represented the same territorial spirit that ruled this area and took possession of the demoniacs.
We arrived at this defiled location and started worshipping with “We Exalt Thee”. We declared Psalm 16, that we would not pursue other Gods, because our boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places. We dismantled all false worship in this location, and placed two coins under the stone to represent our true worship.
Andre pointed out that the Byzantine church was the original location of “replacement theology”, because the Christian church at that time hated the Jews, and attempted to use the scriptures as a basis for displacing the Jews by the Church as God’s people. We spent much time worshipping the Lord, and praising him for Israel. We declared that we will bless God’s people Israel and never seek to displace them. We called the judgment of God on the anti-Semitic spirit behind replacement theology.
As part of our group headed towards the cave of the demoniac, we noticed unusual insect life. There were long lines of ants in this area, and there were also giant millipedes all around. We could not help feeling that there was a relationship between the magnetic field, the cultic worship, and the presence of these insects.
We proceeded up the hill to the cave of the demoniac. The cave was somewhat disappointing in that it was hardly a cave at all, but this was because much of it had fallen centuries ago due to an earthquake, which also destroyed any churches remaining at this site. Next to the cave was a first century church no larger than a typical living room. We were aware that this church was founded as a result of Jesus’ encounter with the demoniac which resulted in his deliverance, and therefore that there was much faith and light here as a result. We prayed that the light of the Lord would penetrate all the surrounding region and bring deliverance. As we were leaving, Dwayne spoke a word of inspiration, “Maybe the first pastor of this church was the man who had been delivered from the demons.” That made sense to us.
Eremos Cave
We had told Andre, our guide, that we didn’t want to go to the tourist places but instead to places that had a strong spiritual significance. Also, from the first day word from the Lord, Andre knew that caves would be important locations for us. Andre thought that our next location would be very pleasing to us.
Eremos means “a lonely place”. Thus, this cave and the hill it is in are thought to be the places that Jesus went away to in order to commune with the Father. Eremos Cave is located about 70 feet up the hill. At the top of the hill is the Church of the Beatitudes, and this is thought to be the location where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. At the bottom of the hill in one direction is Tabgha, where Jesus fed the five thousand, and the other direction Capernaum, where he lived and performed many miracles. Tabgha is also located on the lake, where seven springs feed the lake. Many of the Gospel stories on the lake likely took place near hear.
We had to climb up to the cave from the road level. Again, the team worked very well to help one another on this fairly strenuous, though not long, climb. The cave is very impressive, in the shape of an
eye, and large enough to hold most of our team, or Jesus and most of his disciples. There is a tree rooted inside the cave, which slants along the roof of the cave before straightening when it reaches the outside. From the cave, almost all of Lake Galilee is visible. It is easy to imagine Jesus looking out from here after the feeding of the five thousand, seeing the disciples rowing against the wind in the distance, before he walked across the water.
Upon entering the cave, we believed that this was indeed a place inhabited by our Lord, for many of us strongly felt the presence of God hear. This was a place the fostered great intimacy, both with the Lord and one another. As a result, much of our prayer here was silent or very quiet. It felt like a place where a Father ministered to His Son. It was a place of healing and acceptance by God and each other. Some of us felt broken open here – broken and transparent. It felt like God brought us there to sit where he protected his Son. He was giving us strength, rest and grace.
Andre mentioned that the human body has some correspondence to the worship of heaven. The four chambers of the heart have been compared to the four living creatures referred to in Rev 4. And our 24 ribs have been compared to 24 elders sitting on thrones around the throne. So again, the cave was like being in the heart of God. One of the team felt like the Lord was asking, “Why are you sitting alone? – come and feel the intimacy.
Old Gesher/Border with Jordan
The previous day, when we were driving from Caesarea-Philippi to Mt Bental, we had passed a flock of sheep and goats led by a donkey. We took it as a sign that, like the tribe of Issachar, which according to the blessing of Jacob in Gen 49 is represented by a donkey, we were to be aware of the significance of the times we were living in. Seeing this caused James to ask Andre to find us a location the next day within the territory of Issachar on the Jordan River. As it turned out, Andre had already thought that Gesher, within Issachar, would be our prayer location along the Jordan River, across from the nation of Jordan.
Gesher has been a crossing over place for many centuries. There is a Roman bridge here almost 2000 years old, as well as a 1906 Turkish-built railroad bridge and a British bridge built in the 1920s. Just up from the crossing is the first hydroelectric power plant, the Naharayim, which was built at the confluence of the Yarmuk and Jordan rivers. It was also at this location, during the War of Independence in 1948, where 120 settlers holed up during an attack from the Arab Legion and later escaped by night.
We were allowed in to a small park overlooking the Jordan, where there is a commemorative plaque and recording dedicated to a woman who sacrifices her life for the settlers. This area is protected by a gate that is normally kept locked but was opened for us.
At this location, we made many declarations. We saw that there is a struggle between people groups is not for power and control but for the presence of the Lord. People are so hungry for the presence they just don’t realize what they are hungry for. To symbolize this, we poured oil out on the rock.
At this point, Patricia had a vision of a baby going up and down the river. We sang, “Jesus Loves Me This I Know.”
We noticed the several bridges over the Jordan at this location and prayed for there to be bridges in the spirit between Israel and Jordan.
Kingsley dropped a coin dropped through cracks of the dock. We made declarations that prayers for Obama and the US would not be falling through the cracks. We realized there is much anger and resentment towards Obama. Obama was His man for this hour. Our intercession must be passionate for him. We must continue to pray that he would seek the Lord’s heart. We will be vigilant in prayers for our leaders. We must guard our hearts that our prayers are aligned with what God would have us to pray. We believed that God was re-setting the time so that we can get in alignment with Him.
Tel Jericho/West Bank
We chose to go to Jericho for several reasons: 1) It’s near the Jordan River so it’s one of the border towns, 2) It’s the lowest city on the earth, 3) It’s one of the oldest cities on the earth, 4) Most importantly, it’s in the West Bank, and a thoroughly Palestinian city. In fact it was the first city, over which the Palestinian Authority was give jurisdiction.
After the War of Independence, 1.5 million Palestinian refugees went to Syria and Lebanon. They still have keys to their homes. But many others stayed in refugee camps right here in Jericho. There are 20 Christian families in Jericho - one Greek Orthodox church and one Catholic church. No Jews are allowed.
Jericho is known as the City of Palms. There are several strong-flowing springs. Water flows under the desert into the Dead Sea and also flows to the Mediterranean from Jerusalem. Jericho is 400 meters below sea level. Jericho was the “pit stop” for pilgrims traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem. John the Baptist preached to people who were on their way to Jerusalem and encouraged them to turn their hearts to God. The mountain nearby, known as Mt Temptation, was thought to have been where Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted. There is a monastery on the mountain and a cable car up to it.
One of the team felt he had an image of snipers. This is a place where people are watched by the Palestinian Authority and religious authorities. Certainly this area was one of the most hostile in the spirit to what we were doing. Thus, we began by praying for protection. We appropriated the victory of the blood. If anyone made vows in family/past activities related to occult known/unknown, we asked that they now ask for forgiveness and ask for cleansing for whole family tree, so that Satan would find nothing in them. We aligned ourselves with previous intercession, with the cloud of witnesses, and with angels to be released in response to our prayers.
Dutch Sheets had identified a list of names for other gods. We repent for worship towards any of those names because we are trusting God for a total change for the land. We read the Baal Divorce Decree here. We uprooted all false worship in this land. It is about a turnover in the land and the kingdom rising here. We released the blood judgment of God. “We declare, so shall it be.” Jeremiah 50:44 We struck the ground 24 times with the 2 gravels - both heads came off. “I am breaking the hammer of the enemy who has oppressed and enslaved my people” “I am empowering my people to break down walls.” “Let heads roll.”
We counted to 12 though stopping at 5 (grace). At 12, we let loose a silent shout. We poured oil on the ground, and declared, “It is finished”, and to the snipers, “It is finished for you.” We released the blood judgments of Jesus. We declared, “Let the whole of the West Bank be changed. Snipers only good as
their hiding places. They are being exposed today.” We released the blood of the cross to bring true liberty.
We declared Jeremiah 51:52-56, that the Lord is going to destroy Babylon. Someone sensed their inner person being shaken and blood being released from them spiritually. The Lion of Judah bloodline is being released. This will have a big effect. The ground was crying out for that anointing.
We loosed blood judgments over the educational system’s foundation. We cursed the Nimrod system from the root like the fig tree was cursed. This will cause bad fruit to fall off and cause new fruit to spring forth.
We celebrated communion and ministered it to the land. In the spirit, we saw rocks split and being pulverized, walls coming down.
We formed a circle and danced around clockwise. We declared that the body of Christ is put back in right times - i.e. Pesach, Shavuot, Succoth. In times and seasons we will move now. We called for hundreds and thousands of Christians to arise.
We threw one of our coins in the hole where altar for idol worship had been unearthed.
Three Arches YMCA Hotel Jerusalem
We arrived late at our hotel in Jerusalem just outside the Old City.
Day 6 • Sunday, April 11, 2010
Entrance to Old City Outside Dung Gate
We were entering the Old City for the first time on our way to the Temple Mount. As we were walking along the South Wall of the Old City, we passed a large configuration of ritual baths. Marie explained to us that this quite likely is where the pilgrims were after the Holy Spirit filled the disciples on the Day of Pentecost and then they preached in different tongues to enough people that 3,000 were baptized that day. Andre explained that there were seven gates - Jaffa, Zion, Dung, Golden, Herod, Damascus, New, and 34 towers.
Prior to entering through the Dung Gate, we declared and prayed Psalm 122:1, “Let us go up to the house of the Lord.” We spoke before the Lord, “We are entering where thrones are set up. We’re here to do legislative assembly business. Lord, we say peace to you. We want to know what is in Your heart for this city, to dream Your dreams for this city, the capital of the world.”
Temple Mount
We met John and Una Gere, who lead the City of David House of Prayer. Met John with Korean group. Darlene felt the spirit of Russia and the bear and told the Koreans that they should pray against it before entering Turkey. Una urged them to “run with it”, “now is the time”, “don’t look around, just go”. Taffy gave each of the women a heart necklace saying that they have hearts of fire and that we want to pray for them.
The Western Wall is part of the retaining wall of Herod’s Temple (first Century). The Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was originally build in 325 AD but then rebuilt in the 600s. When the Muslims took over the Holy Land in 638 AD, they wanted a building as grand, so they built the Dome of the Rock based on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They collected all stones of churches to build it. The Crusaders (1099 - 1244 AD) killed 40,000 people, and took the crescent off the Dome and replaced it with a cross. The Mamluks (1260 - 1517 AD) put the crescent back.
The Dome of the Rock is the site of the Holy of Holies in the Temple. The Holy of Holies was twice the height of the dome. The Dome is in the shape of an octagon, with four entrances - N, S, E and W. Inside there is another octagon with three pillars and arches, and inside that another 3 pillars and arches, and inside this is the rock, the bedrock of Mount Moriah where Abraham offered his son Isaac (thought Muslims say he offered Ishmael. The outside of the dome is thinly covered with gold which was a gift from Jordan. Inside on the dome, in calligraphy, in written five times, “God has no son”. The Dome of the Rock is considered by Muslims to be the third holiest site in Islam.
We recognized the anti-Messiah spirit standing against the purposes of God. There are always spirits in conflict behind the physical conflict. It is the plan of Satan is always to grab the worship from God. We began our prayers by calling on the Elijah anointing to tear down the prophets of Baal. We thanked the Lord for binding the strong man so we can plunder souls. It is the purpose of the Ishmaels to bring Isaacs to faith.
John and Andre held hands as the rest of us prayed for them to have a stronger connection in the spirit. We prayed that we would release light into the world. We prayed for excavations in the Temple Mount to be brought to light. We released the light of God into the Mount with a silent shout.
John mentioned that prayer leaders from Indonesia say that 25% have converted from Islam to Christianity. Many of these feel led to come to Jerusalem. They are still identified as Muslims on their official documents so they have access to Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia.
We looked on the Eastern gate from the Temple Mount. This is the same gate referred to as the Beautiful Gate in the Book of Acts. It’s been closed from Crusader time. Jesus upon his return will enter the city through this gate.
We pulled down every intercession that has been offered here as we approached the high court of heaven. We renounced Baal and thanked God for the divorce decree being enforced by the blood. With our feet we released the full divorce decree of Baal. After divorcing these powers/rulers here, we struck the gavel twelve times, each time repeating, “Our God has a Son.” We released judgments on spirits and mercy on the church.
We walked around the dome clockwise as a group, severing every cord Baal has used to keep people in dead religion. We loosed the church so that the called out ecclesia can come forth to fulfill its end-time destiny.
We declared Isaiah 27:1, destroying the Leviathan-empowered spirit of religion and the anti-Semitic spirit. We called for fire from heaven to fall and cut the connection between Leviathan and anti-Semitic spirit. We asked the Lord for knowledge of how to pray for Muslims and for each other. We prayed for the release of miracles among Muslims. We asked that there would be a ruckus because of God’s power being released, just as there was when the lame man was healed at the Beautiful Gate as in Acts.
City of David House of Prayer
We followed our host, John Gere, from the Old City several blocks into the City of David, where the House of Prayer is located. It is in the bottom floor of a building owned by a Muslim man. We spent an hour here, worshipping and praying, with Kingsley on keyboard and Brett on guitar. We were joined by Una, as well as the Korean group, and several other friends of the house of prayer. There was spiritual interference, perhaps because of some intimidation due to being both in a Muslim neighborhood and a house owned by a Muslim. In spite of this, we felt there was some degree of breakthrough during our time here. This was validated later that evening when Una Gere called and asked the team to come back because she believed that we would help to birth a new song in the house of prayer.
Ramparts walk from Jaffa Gate to Herod’s Gate
The team split up since the Ramparts Walk is strenuous. Marie took Darlene, Carol, Patricia, Krissy, and Myron from Jaffa Gate to Christ Church (Anglican) which is nearby. Andre led James, Richard, Kingsley, Brett, Dwayne, Timothy, Taffy, Alice, and Karen on the Ramparts Walk.
The walls of the Old City were built in layers, the most recent and highest being the Ottoman Empire period, when the city was ruled by the Turks. We ascended from Jaffa Gate and walked north on the western wall along the Christian Quarter. At the northwest corner of the city, we turned east as we walked along the northern wall of the city, passing New Gate and Damascus Gate before we reached Herod’s Gate. Between New Gate and Damascus Gate we entered the Muslim Quarter of the city.
As we walked, we prayed for both the Old City and for the surrounding areas of Jerusalem. We focused on releasing light into the city as we walked. As we walked through the Christian Quarter, we were walking through the neighborhood where Andre and Tony grew up. Our walk overlooked his high school and we prayed for a life of faith to come for everyone who would attend that school.
The highlight of this walk came when we stopped overlooking the New Gate section. Just below is the shop that Andre and Tony were expecting to open both for tourists to purchase items but also as a ministry location. Though the owners were willing to sell it and provide financing, there were officials that were keeping the sale from proceeding. Andre also told us that the Christian Quarter, like many areas, was increasingly harassed and that there was little faith among the people. We prayed extensively here for Andre and Tony’s shop to be opened and for there to be a revival in the city of Jerusalem that would spring forth from that shop. We were gratified to learn that several days after our team’s return to the U.S., the shop was approved for the sale to be completed.
Zedekiah’s Cave
The entrance to Zedekiah’s Cave, also known as Solomon’s Quarries, is just outside of the Old City, between Damascus Gate and Herod’s Gate. The cave actually goes under the Old City Muslim Quarter. This apparently was the major quarry site for the Second Temple, build by King Herod. It became known as Zedekiah’s cave, because the story is that King Zedekiah hid in the cavern when fleeing from Nebuchadnezzar, and was discovered exiting a cave when soldiers were chasing a buck that came past the cave entrance the same moment the king was emerging.
We had selected this site for prayer because the Freemasons of Israel hold ceremonies here at least annually. They believe the cave is the quarry used by Solomon and, since by legend, Freemasonry began under Solomon, this is considered an important ceremonial site. We wanted to pray here to undo the curse brought by these cultic prayers.
We walked through the major extent of the cave, praying as we walked. We set up in the main hall of the cavern where the ceremonies take place. Here we divorced Baal and took communion. We declared judgment on every spirit associated with Freemasonry, and we saw demons flee as we prayed. Also, the light went out near the Freemasonry sign, as we prayed, though later it came on again.
Christ Church (Anglican)
Part of our team walked through the passages of the Muslim Quarter toward Jaffa Gate to get to the Christ Church compound. The second part of our team had spent their time here and was waiting for us. They were able to spend time hearing the story of how the first protestant church came to be in the Old City. Part of the story is that the Anglicans who founded the church loved the Jewish people and helped to facilitate the return of the Jews to their homeland. Since that time, the ministry of Christ Church has been on the one hand to bring the Gospel to the people of Israel, but also to teach about the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. Today, both an evangelical Anglican congregation and a Messianic Hebrew congregation meet here. There is also a guest house that provides one of the most economical and practical locations for lodging in or around the Old City.
Team meeting at YMCA Three Arches Hotel
The team met after dinner at the hotel to worship, pray, and talk. Every prayer journey has a point where the spiritual, physical, and emotional pressures of the journey come to bear and must be addressed. These times can make or break a journey. In this case, the team discussed the tensions that had resulted from some of the team walking fast because of the pace set by the guide and others who were hampered physically feeling left behind and feeling isolated. The team reached out to one another, expressed feelings, repented, and reconciled. Also, since we separated into two groups, the part of the team left behind also felt somewhat left out of what the other part of the team was doing. We determined to have more coordinated efforts if we needed to separate again.
There was also much discussion and prayer about what we were seeing around the city of Jerusalem. Dwayne expressed the feeling of many, when he said that it seemed like all of Israel is crying, “Help us!!” James began to turn that into a song, in which all of the team began to participate. This became a powerful theme song for the journey.
*Editor's note: After the journey was completed, a team of musicians called Father and Sons (led by James and Kingsley) recorded the song "All of Israel is Crying." Here is the video for the song:
The song can be purchased by clicking here.
We could only hear and make a new sound and a new song when we were truly reconciled to one another. It was at this point that Una Gere called to ask us to return to the City of David House of Prayer to help them break through to their new song!
Day 7 • Monday, April 12, 2010
Garden of Gethsemane
We began the day at the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus frequently met with the disciples among the olive trees, and where Jesus agonized before the crucifixion, and where he was betrayed with a kiss by Judas before he was taken into custody. We spent a few minutes in the Church of All Nations, also known as the Basilica of the Agony. Both inside and outside the church is the rock of the agony, where
Jesus wept and sweat blood. Then we walked around the olive grove looking at trees that may be over a thousand years old. There are a wide variety of opinions of the actual age of these trees.
Andre was able to obtain entry for us to the separate garden across the street so that we had a private place to pray. This was the twelfth day of the month, a governmental day. We prayed for Andre and Tony and blessed them with the double portion from the Apostolic State of Illinois and the Watchman State of NJ. Kingsley also added prayer from the “Show Me Your Glory” State of Missouri. We prayed for the blessing of Andre and Tony’s new shop near the New Gate, for the keys to come. Transfer of wealth because of their decision to be there. Take a shoot of an olive tree and plant it at the new place at the New Gate. Honor expressed for Andre and Tony’s parents and prayer for special blessings on their mother (widow).
We declared that our team is grateful for being the grafted-in olive branch. We are here for healing of the nations. We declared Isaiah 25:6-9, that on this mountain, the Mount of Olives, the Lord removed “the shroud that enfolds all peoples,” and “the disgrace from his people.”
As we celebrated communion, Kingsley broke off a piece of matzoh that appeared to be shaped like a warship. We released a powerful warring in the spirit into the “warship” (worship) of “warship” of the church throughout this city. We prayed Proverbs 24:11, deliverance of those who are drawn toward death, and to hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
Ascension Chapel
We then proceeded to the Ascension Chapel near the top of the Mount of Olives. We had selected this site because it is the location of Jesus’ return. The chapel has a shrine with a rock protected that is claimed to have an impression of the footprint of Jesus as he ascended. Our purpose was declare at the place of Jesus’ return that he will come to an undivided Jerusalem. For this reason, we read and declared all of Zechariah 14, that the Lord will return to this location, that the Mount of Olives will split in a great earthquake, and that a river will be released that will flow both the east and the west.
Mount of Olives Overlook
We selected an overlook so we could see the city of Jerusalem spread out before us as Jesus did. We were overlooking the Jewish cemetery, as the Holocaust Remembrance Day siren sounded at 10:00 AM. We read Zech 12, and asked the Lord to pour out a spirit of grace and supplication over the city. We prayed for the peace of Jerusalem. We also prayed for the world wide church to rise up and pray for Jerusalem.
Separation Wall in East Jerusalem
Andre drove us to a location in East Jerusalem where we could pray at the Separation Barrier. This is a delicate issue since the purpose of the barrier is security. However, since we are praying for Jerusalem to be undivided, we cannot allow there to be a wall that divides it. Therefore, we began to pray once for a peace that can come only from God. We laid hands on the wall and prayed “grace” on it. We prayed also for good will between Muslims and Jews so that there would be no wall in the heart. We released the blood judgment of Jesus against Leviathan who seeks to divide. We bound spirits of bitterness, hatred, and envy. One of the team reported feeling nausea until after we bound bitterness – then it lifted. We also prayed Proverbs 12:18, for bitter tongues to be silenced, for instead tongues to bring healing, peace.
As we were praying, a film crew approached us. It turned out to be a Norwegian documentary crew that was happy to catch us in the act praying. Most of Scandinavia is against Israel’s self-defense actions and so this was likely to be a liberal group, but we were not ashamed to be praying and hope that God will be glorified by this being on video.
City of David House of Prayer
Una Gere had called us, asking us to come back to the House of Prayer, believing that we would help them achieve a breakthrough and achieve a new sound that God was looking for in the City of David. We were also excited because God had told us through our team member, Carol Jontry, that we would bring forth a new sound, and we had experienced that several times already on the journey. And, the night before, at the point where we were making our own attitude adjustments and repenting to one another, we clearly heard the sound of Israel, as the song, “Israel Is Crying” was birthed.
Once again Kingsley took to the keyboard. Brett and others added percussion. We began to sing and, occasionally utter prayers. Once again, James brought forth the Israel Is Crying song, and all joined in. Soon, though, we were groaning forth sounds too deep for words that were the intercessions for this time. In the midst of it, we could see that something was ready to be birthed in and through Una. A number of the women surrounded her, and our prayers and our sound were aimed at helping her travail. There was victory – a new sound did come forth – and it seemed as though there was a new a different atmosphere created. Indeed, from this point, our team was also carrying our own new sound.
Bethlehem/West Bank
We were going to Bethlehem not so much because it was the birthplace of Jesus, but because it is a West Bank city and a place where there is hope for revival among the growing number of believers in this high pressure environment. Andre and Marie explained that Bethlehem is around 25% Christian. There are some good spirit-filled churches. The Christians there are only allowed to go to Jerusalem only once each year. In Bethlehem, Palestinian militants have sometimes invaded Christian homes and used them as forts to fire on Jews. As a result, many Christians have moved out. During the years 2000- 2005, there were riots every day. This was one of the focal points of the intifada, and as a result there were always Israeli troops present.
Bethlehem Bible College, the only Arabic theology school in whole area, is an evangelical training center. Christians are stuck here with not much to do (no theaters, etc.), so they attend Bible college. God’s people here are getting equipped and turning into missionaries. This causes young Christians to take their faith seriously, and it is changing the way Arabs think of themselves. Many young Christians are doing undercover work with Muslims. This is also the location of Palestinian refugee camps, which are government subsidized buildings.
Initially, after going through the checkpoint into West Bank, we stopped at a large jewelry and trinket store, owned by Christian friends of Andre. The store is in the shadow of one segment of the Separation Fence. The atmosphere around the store, once a relatively peaceful area, now seems more lonely and vulnerable. The Separation Fence looks as foreboding as the wall of a penitentiary.
Later we stopped to pray in front of a store owned by a Christian. Just across the street was a large home with a cross on top, signifying a Christian lived here in an increasingly Muslim neighborhood, but now the home is empty. Caddy corner across the street are the walls of one of the refugee camps, and Rachel’s Tomb behind an enclosure. On the wall of the store itself was the painting of a dove with olive leaf, but surrounded by the scenes of war.
As we began to pray, we linked to all other intercessions in the earth, especially those in Bethlehem. We reminded ourselves that God had through us birthed a new sound in Jerusalem of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit and a kingdom of love, glory and light, and now we brought that sound to Bethlehem.
James sand his song, “and the angels cried glory, good will on earth and peace to all mankind” We linked our song and prayer to the sound of the angels, and declared we were opening a portal so the angels can come down.
We addressed the government of men and of principalities that have set themselves here, saying, “We come here to bind you through the blood of the Lamb. We call for angels to come and cut off the head of Leviathan, the anti-Semitic spirit and the religious spirit.” All of us placed our hands on the wall with the picture of the dove as we prayed.
An 8-year-old Palestinian refugee named Fadi came to sell something to us. Andre asked him to act as a security guard for us and gave him 20 shekels for the job. We included him in our circle as we sang the new song, and then we prayed over him. We told him he was going to be a prophet and deliverer for his people. He was all smiles.
We prayed for revival in the refugee camps. We prayed that the seeds of Bethlehem Bible College would produce a harvest of glory, love and life. “. . . and the angels cried fire, good will on earth and peace to all mankind.” We called for Holy Ghost fire to change Bethlehem.
Kingsley gave Fadi a coin and Andre told Fadi that it was connected to his destiny and that he should not sell it or give it away. We prayed for angels to be released forth spread of the gospel.
Andre said Randy Clark should come here to work with the churches and to go out to the refugee camps to perform signs and wonders.
Someone had a vision again of the Isaiah 19 highway from Egypt to Syria with Israel in the middle, and then a vision of the Succat Hillel House of Prayer.
We saw several cars come past our little meeting several times, and we became aware that we were attracting attention. So we packed into the bus and left. We ate dinner on the outskirts of Bethlehem at the Tent Restaurant in Beit Sahour.
Day 8 • Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Bethany/al-Azariya – Tomb of Lazarus
Our guides Andre and Tony decided to take us to the tomb of Lazarus since the Lord had told us that places under the earth were good places for us to release prayer. Bethany is only a mile and a half as the crow flies from Jerusalem, but because of the separation barrier and the terrain we had to drive considerably farther. Tony explained to us that, in addition to the wall, also both the Jews and the Palestinians build roads to connect their communities to one another, which adds to the separation of the two people groups. As this was described, Carol saw a bleeding heart. We spent a considerable time praying for peace and reconciliation between the two groups.
Andre and Tony also explained to us that Tony owned a house not far from here, but that once the separation barrier was constructed, the house was basically in Palestinian territory and he could not maintain it, so basically it was lost to him. Some of the team encouraged him to send prayer teams to the house regularly and so turn it into a house of prayer. But this is an indication of how much the separation has hurt many on both sides of the barrier.
As we entered the town, our guides explained that Bethany means either “house of figs” or “house of the poor”. However, after the resurrection of Lazarus, the Arabs renamed the town al-Azariyya, which is equivalent to naming the town Lazarus – they recognized the miracle!
As we began walking towards the site of the tomb, we began to pray that, in this city of the poor, that the whole city would rise from the dead! James spoke that mammon had been resting on this mountain, and we were here to release the eternal purpose of God. There is contention in the spirit over glory, love, and life. We broke the false union of Leviathan (king of the spirits of pride), the anti- Semitic spirit, and the religious spirit, as glory replaces religion, love replaces anti-Semitism, and life replaces pride.
We walked past the Roman Catholic Church of St Lazarus, built adjacent to the tomb. Some of the team remained above, interceding, because of the many stairs required to descend into the tomb. Interestingly, the tomb originally was at street level, but because of earthquakes, it was now below street level. Once we had descended into the tomb, we called forth righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. We shouted three times, “Lazarus, come forth!”
As we said “Lazarus, come forth!,” some saw a blue light of electricity – we had gone down into a dark place and light came up out of the tomb. We saw that it was the energy of the Holy Spirit from heaven that brought Lazarus back. Others saw that the city was black with flash of bluish lights coming up and bright light.
The team prayed for Tony. We declared that his house on the wrong side of the separation barrier is not to be considered not a loss but a gain. We asked God for 7 houses to replace the one house. We shouted “Lazarus come forth!” three times over Tony. We declared that, in the Spirit, there are no walls. “We are connecting to the new gate. The city may be in tomb condition, but now we speak life to it.” We began singing a song, “The walls are coming down today, the tomb is opened up today, our God has made a way today, our God has made a way today, He opens up the gates today.” We thought, it takes a long time to build the wall, but only a moment to tear it down.
We declared Psalm 119:115, that all evildoers would flee from this place. We declared that there would be a quick manifestation of glory, love and life in this city. We shared communion in an area outside the tomb before a fountain. We blessed Lazarus (Bethany). We asked for the fountain to always release the sound of “divide the divider”. We asked for evangelists to come forth from this city to divide the divider.
En Gedi/Wadi David
From Bethany, we were to head south to the Dead Sea, but this required us to return towards Jerusalem, then northeast towards Jericho and then along the Jordan River as we headed south. The Dead Sea was a beautiful azure color as we approached it and then drove along it. We decided to bypass Qumran, the location where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered and head on down to En-Gedi. This is the location where David hid from Saul, but when Saul finally came there, David cut off the corner of his garment but spared his life. It is seen as a place of refuge. It also is a national park. Wadi David is a stream that goes through the mountains here bordering the Dead Sea. There is a wide variety of wild life and beautiful waterfalls.
Once again, a number of the team opted out from a long, strenuous hike, and remained behind, fellowshipping and praying. Two-thirds of the team hiked up along the wadi on a hot day, with cliffs on both sides, until we reached an amazing waterfall, with a cave on one side. Many tourists and pilgrims were gathered together at the same location. It was significant that Patricia, whose foot had been hobbled by pain on the streets of Jerusalem, decided to go on the hike, and though her body wanted to turn back, her spirit brought her through with flying colors!
We found a location next to the cliff to pray. Water drops that condensed on the cliff rained down on us, soaking us as we prayed. We prayed many prayers relating to hiding in the Lord, but being strengthened by him as David was. We began to sing, and we saw that some in a larger group near-by were responding with approval. Then that group sang a song in another language. They were fellow believers from Poland.
Dwayne began to speak words of condolence to them. He had watched the news the day before, but most of us were unaware, that Poland’s president and entire cabinet had died as their plane crashed in Russia. This was a crushing blow to the nation, and so Dwayne’s condolence was well accepted by our new friends. After they left, we continued to pray for Poland, remembering that they had persecuted the Jews, and in fact the Holocaust, which we had commemorated only the day before in Jerusalem, had begun in Poland on a night called Cristalnacht (or Crystal Night), where marauding gangs smashed the
windows of Jewish shops and began to round up the Jews for deportation to concentration camps. We prayed forgiveness for the nations for their anti-Semitism.
At this location where one king persecuted the righteous king God had chosen to replace him, we began to pray over the mountain of government. We asked God to give the nations righteous leaders to replace unrighteous ones. We called all leaders out of their hiding places. We thanked God for the release of mighty men and women into the earth.
We also prayed about the media mountain, which is used by the government mountain. We called for severing of false ties between the two mountains. “Baal will not survive any longer on this mountain.”
We also prayed once again for the borders of Israel, that God would release the full intent of his heart for the borders of Israel and the nations of the earth. We prayed for Russian Jews to be released to strengthen Israel. We also prayed from Ezek 48 that God would protect Israel from Russia and the gathered nations against the Lord’s chosen.
We declared this is a safe place, a place of nurturing, a place of gathering new strength. We declared the sound that we are making is echoing back to the nations. David released a sound here. Ever since the kingdom of David, there has been a release of glory, love, life, righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. That’s what we want to release here. While the kingdom of pride and the anti-Semitic spirit keep trying to keep the kingdom from going forth, we call for the glory, love and light to bring forth the kingdom. James sang, “All Israel is crying. All En Gedi is crying, ‘Help us!’”
A second group of tourists came to the area – these were teens or college age kids. One had a tee shirt with “Fear” written on it. They kept stepping beyond the rope set up to keep people out of areas dangerous because of water on the rocks. We prayed to bind spirits of fear and lawlessness and bless the kids.
We released Isaiah 2, which is about men hiding in caves, but also about the mountain of the Lord from which will spring forth righteousness. We declared that the people who walk in darkness have seen a great light. David was given unveiled worship, so we prayed that the praisers are coming!
As we walked back towards the rest of our team, we enjoyed the beauty of the Dead Sea in the distance.
Sodom
At the beginning of the day, we had felt we only needed one stop along the Dead Sea to mark the boundaries of Israel. However, we had asked the Lord if there was also another location he wanted us to go to on this day. It had come to us that the Lord wanted us to visit Sodom and Gomorrah, if there was a known location actually open for visitors. Andre assured us this would not be a problem – it was right on our way!
As we proceeded to the southern end of the Dead Sea, there is an area called the Salt Flats, where salt is mined, and other minerals for cosmetics and health industries. Rounding this area, we began to ascend out of this lowest place on the face of the earth. As we came over the ring of mountains, we stopped at a roadside overlook, and the sign told us that Arad was further along the road, and that we were overlooking the site of the ancient city of Sodom.
There are actually several sites, in multiple locations around the Dead Sea, that various “experts” claim are the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, including one in the nation of Jordan. However, as you stare down at the outline of the salt and ash mounds below, your eyes begin to tell you that this is a city covered in ash!
There is some evidence for this area. A professor retrieved pieces of sulfur from the layers - indicating that there was a burning. These were found in five different areas in the same vicinity, which may correspond to the five cities mentioned in the Bible concerning the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
We began our prayers here by repenting on behalf of those who have given in to the spirit of pride. We prayed for the church because of its confusion about what is right and wrong as well as its confusion about showing compassion. We need hearts to love and to develop relationships with people. However, we do not allow confusion about sexuality to stand. We pray forgiveness for societies that encourage it, and we ask for forgiveness for our judgments against those who engage in homosexuality.
We saw that there is a spirit of perversion and mocking behind it. We called forth those who have been trapped by this spirit, we called them forth from Sodomite oppression, from darkness to the light. We declared their freedom. “They are God’s, and our, sons and daughters – we call them home.”
This mountain is in opposition to the family mountain; what a real father/mother looks like. We prayed for the family mountain to arise. We thanked the Lord for infusing the family mountain with strength. Immediately after this was spoken, an F-16 thundered directly overhead, emphasizing the point. We repented for fathers everywhere that were not led by the Lord. We prayed deliverance for ourselves, for our children and our children’s children.
We declared Psalm 103:12, “as far as the East is from the West, God has removed our transgressions from us.” We also declared Zech 4:7, that a mighty mountain of pride, could be made into something completely different, a plain of humility. We shouted grace to the mountain.
We inscribed a stake with the following verses written on it - John 1:1, Isa 62:6-7, Prov 12:18, Nahum 2, Zech 12 & 14, Isaiah 2:6-4. Proverbs 24:11, passed it around and then threw it into the valley below.
We shared communion. During prayer a blackbird sat on the edge nearby squawking, which sounded like mocking. After communion the black bird had gone and a dove came and circled around the group.
Arad/Hotel Inbar
We then drove to Arad for the night. We had hoped to visit Tel Arad, an ancient Canaanite city, but it was closing time for the park by the time we reached it, so we proceeded to the Inbar Hotel, where we stayed for the night. On our way, our guides explained how the Messianic Jewish community in Arad had received much discrimination and persecution by other Jews in the city. We prayed for that to change.
Day 9 • Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Kadesh Barnea/Border with Egypt
As we left Arad heading south, we knew we would miss one of the Biblically-specified border locations, Akrabbim, which means ‘Scorpion Pass”. Our guides told us, “there is nothing there”, but since it was described as part of the southern boundary of Israel in Numbers 34, we had wanted to go there. Unfortunately, it would take too long within the timeframe we had available.
So now we were headed to the southernmost location on our journey, Kadesh Barnea. Here, the children of Israel camped in the desert, on the outskirts of the promised land, for most of the period of the 40 years in the wilderness, but it was not given to them to enter in, due to their lack of trust and obedience.
As we headed south, through the Negev desert, we realized that it was greener than we expected due to the rainfall which occurs in the Spring. Our guides explained that 60% of Israel is desert, while 80% of Jordan is desert. Only 10% of Israel lives in the Negev. Beersheba is capital of the Negev, and 85% of the Negev is used for military training.
After our long trek, we looked along the border with Egypt for a place to pray but found none. So within sight of the Nitzana border crossing into Egypt/Sinai, we entered the Kadesh Barnea moshav compound. A moshav is a collective agricultural community where each resident family leases approximately the same sized plot, and where the community shares security, schooling, and other services.
We saw nothing but residences, so the van stopped in front of some homes. Tony stepped out to ask a homeowner if we could use their bathroom facilities and to see if they could direct us to some public land where we could pray. The door he knocked on was the home of Avishai and Jolanda Pinchas, possibly the only family of believers in the community. Andre and Tony had actually heard of them (believers are few enough in Israel that they know of one another throughout the land), but did not know how to get in touch with them. Only the Holy Spirit could make that happen!
Avishai and Yolanda immediately invited us into their compound, led us to the bathrooms, and served us cool drinks. As we sat on some picnic tables, Avishai told us their story. Avishai is a Jewish believer, and looks like he could have grown up in the desert, though he didn’t. His wife, Jolanda, is a Christian from Holland
Avishai told us that he wanted to be as close as could to border. He felt called to be a guardian for the border, but also believed that one day Sinai will be once again part of Israel and he will live in the center of the country. He believes the Negev desert will bloom, as Isaiah tells us. Therefore he is planting all kinds of fruit trees, because the time is getting short.
His family takes time to worship and pray as a family and with others in this area. His eyes are open to see what is going on – he believes it’s not going to be a good time in the future. If our heart is in the right place we will be happy to see it coming although it will be hard. He believes God will bring more people to Kadesh Barnea, including Americans.
18 years earlier, Avishai had a plan to build a place for orphans and street children. He built huts on his compound, and then used them to house pilgrims who wanted to spend time in the desert. One day at 7AM during Shabbat, he heard God say, “Don’t forget that you were a stranger in Egypt.” His response was, “God, what do you want me to do?” To his surprise, the Lord responded, “Take care of the Sudanese.” He didn’t know any Sudanese. Soon after, he received a phone call from a lady in Beersheba. She told him, there are so many Sudanese refugees in the streets who have been displaced from a camp in Egypt. She thought of Avisahi, that maybe he could do something for them.
He brought 8 families to his property - big families. The number grew to 32 and then 50 families. He didn’t even think about what he would do with these people. It is amazing how God provided for them – they never missed one meal. His family has been so busy, they are frequently and continually exhausted. The municipalities give them a hard time and put pressure on them to kick the people out. He told us it is overwhelming to do this. But since there is the one world government coming, it is blessed to know God is in control.
Avishai told us that there is lots of pressure for Israel to divide the land. His son was a commander in the military and had the task to take the Jewish people out of Gaza. He felt he could not do it. God led him to a place where people had left voluntarily so he didn’t have to kick them out of their homes. Then he decided he didn’t want to be in the army anymore.
An unbeliever had asked Avishai how he provides for all these people. He responded that it is God’s doing. He does his best and God takes care of everything. This person was so impressed that he gave his life to the Lord, quit his job, and opened his home for a home group.
After Avishai told us his story, James explained to him that we came to the land to release a worship sound, that we had been praying around the borders. We told him that we had intended to plant trees on the land, and requested that he plant trees there for us. We also asked him to drive a stake into the ground with the following verses printed on it - Is 60:1, Jn 1:1, Ps 24, Ge 15:18, Is 19.
We were led into a tent where they have daily worship and began to worship with Avishai and Jolanda. Avaisai explained that his family has learned to take what God did for them the day or hour before and give thanks for the things they need but don’t yet see. Jolanda came to him one day and said, “I need milk for my children”. Their children are ages 10, 8, 6, 5 and 3. They had no money at the time. They
decided to sing, “Give thanks with a grateful heart,” and sang it almost twenty times. Yolanda has learned to give thanks for what she has and for what she deosn’t have. They have seen many types of provision. Once, a doctor came all the way from Jerusalem to provide medical services for the immigrants. Authorities previously came and made a fuss about the Sudanese possible being disease carriers. It seemed an impossible problem, but five doctors came with all their equipment.
With us, Jolanda sang her favorite worship song,“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. Highest praise, honor and glory, be unto Your name.”
James recounted that the Lord had brought us a long way to bless these people today. Being together in united feels like Mt Hermon – we praised God for the living water.
We gave Avishai and Jolanda a number of gifts – including from Mt Carmel Illinois and from Shore Vineyard. We declared that we had found Abraham and Sarah - people of great faith. We asked God to make them a company of people, that there would continue to be an attraction of the abiding presence of God among them. We prayed that their many children be loved and blessed as they come to Gpd. We declared that they had given up everything to follow the Lord, and therefore in this life, they will have brothers, sisters, etc.
Yolanda prayed blessings for our group in Israel and for our churches and families in the states. She told us they knew that hard tomes would be coming to the United States, and that we need to be ready for things that will come to the states. She prayed that each one would be ready, that God would provide a way of escape and that we would be ready for the Lord’s coming.
Avishai prayed for victory, for over of us to be covered, that God would send angels to surround and to bless us and protect us from evil. He prayed for the peace of heaven to fall upon us. He prayed that our neighbors would have open hearts, and others would see the light of Yeshua.
Dwayne repented on behalf of what our president has done and on behalf of the American people. He told them that our hearts are with them. Avishai replied that it does not matter what enemy can do - God is greater. Jolanda said, “God is bigger than Obama.”
We prayed Isaiah 35 about the desert rejoicing. As we drove away, Kingsley spoke forth Gen 2:7, about when man became another speaking spirit. We declared that Shore Vineyard will start seeing what we are speaking, that we would “call things that are not as though they were.”
As we went past the border with Egypt, we prayed once again for the Isaiah 19:23-25 spiritual road that joins Egypt, Israel, and Syria.
As we traveled through the wilderness, Andre told us that there are about twelve inches of rain each year in the Negev. In the southern part of the Negev,t he valleys are deeper and often there is no rain at all.
85% of the Negev is used for military operations. Mandatory service in the Army begins at age 18. Men serve 3 years, women 2 years. After that, people serve 1 month each year until the age of 45. Bedouins also serve in the army and make excellent trackers.
Guardian of the Desert/ Ramat Hovav
As we traveled toward Beersheba we saw a large statue about 30 feet tall in the desert not far from the road. It was similar to the stone statues on Easter Island. We found out later that the statue is called Guardian (or Keeper) of the Desert, and that it was erected by a team of Israelis and Palestinians as a protest against Ramat Hovav, an industrial and nuclear waste disposal plant that is considered the worst environmental disaster in the Middle East.
We felt that, regardless of the purpose for which people thought they were erecting the statue, it was channeling the Baal spirit. Once more, in the heart of the wilderness, we spoke the Baal divorce decrees. We declared the statue would fall over like Dagon. We prayed that Israel’s heart would turn from Baal worship to worship of the Father. We also prayed for artists to be released in the land to magnify the eternal. We asked for Lightning to strike the statute with nothing remaining but a cross.
We shared communion shared, then declared and decreed in the mighty name of Jesus, “It is finished”. We blew the shofars to confirm the decree.
Beersheba
Ideally, we would have traveled all the way to Gaza to cover the southwestern boundary of Israel. Because of the dangerous conditions, with the possibility even of missile strikes from Gaza, we could not go there. Therefore, Ashkelon was our next border location, but the natural way to get to anywhere through the Negev takes you through Beersheba, the capital of the Negev. Furthermore, this was where Richard, in his previous trip to Israel, had the most powerful experience of God, at Abraham’s well. So Abraham’s well was our destination this time as well.
Our guides explained that Beersheba is now a city of 200,000 people. At the point of Israel’s independence in 1948, the city was totally Arab, but now it is a mixture. The name means “well of the oath” because of Abraham and Abimelech making a covenant of peace here. It is a fast growing city, with lots of new immigrants, including many Russian Jews and also Turkish immigrants
We parked at Tel Beersheba, the ancient city, and headed straight for the well. We waited in silence, listening to the Lord. As we began to pray, we asked that the oath mean something different, that it would be an oath between men to welcome God in this nation. We sensed that there were angels waiting here to be released. Therefore we sent out the angels of evangelism to reveal the truth to God’s people Israel.
James sang his song, “Sweet song from heaven, sweet water fall, life giving water . . . wash away anything whether large or small. I don’t want it at all . . . dance with me, lover of my soul, when joy abounds and love surrounds . . . we’ve come to dance and make romance with the lover of our souls, the Holy Spirit.”
Someone saw two angels stationed at the bottom of the well. People have attempted to open this well. Today, we decreed angels with chains wrapped around their arms, uncapping this well of the covenant of the oath. Another person saw thousands of angels all around.
We praised the Lord the Elijahs, Deborahs, etc. coming forth. We thanked him thousands of Avishais, Andres, Maries, Tonys, John and Unas, Ronnies, etc. We felt a sound coming up from the ground through our bodies and being released.
When the Philistines came and stopped up the well it was because the well was unguarded. We repented for not keeping promises/oaths. The word was given that it is tIme to clear out the rubble of the well of productivity, salvation . . to touch the thousands. “Any well of Mine must be kept open . . . though I open it, you must keep it open . . . You must work hard to keep wells open and free because night cometh when no man can work.”
We spoke forth Psalm 103:3 - righteousness to our children’s children such that keep His covenant and commandments to do them. We must check our steps/words/actions that we may be covenant keepers and command doers. The heart of the covenant is that God said that He would do something. We need to keep ourselves as water stations that keep delivering water. The work we must do is to believe (John 6:38). “I believe, I receive.” God does the greater part. When Abraham cut the animals for sacrifice, God made a covenant with Himself.
We prayed a prayer for grace to become something lean and mean and to possess tenacity in the Spirit like David and his mighty men.
“There is a highway. It’s a holy way. Its destination is deeper in the heart of God. Coming up out of Egypt. All the way to Assyria. There’s a highway, a holy way.” It’s Isaiah19. It is time for the highway to open . . . 24 hour houses of prayer. Ask for a cup, I will give you a gallon. Ask for a gallon, I will give you an ocean.”
“Give us the keys to the armory . . . expose the weapons of warfare. Lord, You have given me the amour I need. Expand all our ammo. . . the Father says you have tapped into a well so deep so you never have to be empty again . . . you will never be someplace where we don’t have a word, we will always have what we need . . . “
Mt Carmel where was word was first heard - at the other end there will be a gusher to all the houses of prayer. Job 38:22-23 tells us that God has the storehouses.
We shouted into the well, “Blood covered gusher!” “Hallellujah!” “Yeshua is Lord!” “God has a Son. Yes, He has a Son!” “King of Kings and Lord of Lords!” “Thank you that there are gushers all over the earth.”
This week marks the week of the hundred year anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival. Will be another revival – we prayed for it here at this well. We prayed that these wells will be gushers as what our forefathers walked in that became gushers; John Knox, Wesley brothers. Abraham went from well to well; from glory to glory.
Samson’s Garden Hotel in Ashkelon
This time, when we stopped for the night, the Lord had a surprise for us. Even when we stopped the bus at the hotel, some young boys started throwing rocks at the bus. Andre spoke to them, but they ignored him. The hotel proprietor said, “That’s just the way boys are in this place”. We knew that we were
seeing the manifestation of the spirits of this place. It is a Philistine spirit, and even manifested in the final time of Samson, ending his life in a violent display. Therefore we prayed against this spirit.
After stowing our gear in our rooms, we came into the hotel lobby, where there was a celebration taking place. It turned out to be a bris – a circumcision ceremony and party. To our surprise, we were seeing the second of two circumcisions. It was twins that were born eight days earlier, our first day in Israel! And this was the first point in the journey, these two days, where we had both twins together, guiding us.
What was it about twins in this whole journey? We knew that the Lord was saying that twins were important from the beginning:
We had twin teams – from the Midwest and from New Jersey
New Jersey and Israel are twins, the same size and population
Our guides, Andre and Tony, are twins
And now, God was blessing us with a celebration of a twin birth associated with our time in Israel.
We knew that this was important but have not yet seen the entirety of what God was doing in this.
Day 10 • Thursday, April 15, 2010
Ashkelon
Ashkelon is an ancient city of the Philistines and now the southernmost city in Israel, just north of the Gaza strip. Gaza is under the administration of the Palestinian Authority. A short time before our trip, there were rockets fired from Gaza that landed in Ashkelon, though no one was hurt.
We traveled to the national park in Ashkelon where much of the Philistine worship was conducted. Though we prayed there for a short time, we felt we were to be in the part of the park that was along the coast. We hiked up to a section of the park that actually was within sight of Gaza. We positioned ourselves around a rectangular well. From this location, we could see large ships heading either towards or out from the port of Ashkelon.
An enemy would fill a well with rocks. Thus, we threw rocks into this well to signify judgment against Hamas and those seeking the destruction of Israel. We cursed the so-called “road map of peace”. All of us engaged in a silent roar, speaking forth wave after wave of righteousness, peace and joy. We prayed that ammunition would be turned into play dough, that nuclear weapons would be disarmed. We asked God to divide the dividers, confuse communication between Iran and Syria regarding use of weapons.
We spoke to the territorial spirits, that they would be scattered and the land be restored to the original boundaries. We declared the promise that when Israel’s borders are restored, no enemy will have victory over Israel. We thanked God for men and women rising up in Ashkelon who will protect their land.
We prayed for righteousness in the education system of the Palestinians to desire peace and reconciliation with Israel. We asked that Palestinian women would be strengthened to say “NO!” to giving up sons/daughters to be blown up. “Lord, give them hope, sing over them.”
We began to pray for Gaza. We asked the Lord to raise up worshippers in Ashkelon to declare true freedom toward Gaza. Lord, send blood-covered light for Gaza. Let there be mercy for Muslims in Gaza, deliverance for leaders. Let the leaders, king pins in Gaza, be the first to walk in grace.
We prayed for Jewish soldiers taken captive in Gaza. We asked that Netanyahu would have the backbone to know what to do and how to do it. We asked there would be holy alliances.
A coin representing peace was dropped into the well. We shared communion. We blew a shofar into the well, asking for love bombs to blow the hell out of Islam.
Our guide, Andre, told us that in 2007 a Christian bookseller and evangelist named Rami Ayyad, whom Andre knew, was killed in Gaza. He was killed for not being a Muslim. This man’s family now lives in Bethlehem. He had brought many Muslims to Christ. His widow refuses offers of money but only asks that we pray for Christians.
Andre told us, “Your tour has made history (spiritual history). It was done at a strategic time. Much was accomplished around the borders. It is so divine that you pray for believers here. Persecution is coming to the west. Wake up, the enemy is coming to your land. Christian believers should go out and not stay in their churches.
James responded, “Thank you for Richard that he heard Your call and for us to be a part of this. I believe, Lord, that you are forming a team here. This may be a yearly thing. We have thoughts of lobbing missiles of light into Gaza from around the borders, and worshiping around the borders.
Andre said that we need to connect with churches. James promised that the next time we come, we will come to the churches and to the pockets of faith, on God’s command.
We realized that it is important for us not to forget martyrdom. We asked God to reveal spirits behind the lie that it is right to kill based on hate. “Cause doubts to arise in them that kill or give themselves to be killed out of hate. On the other hand, cause believers to not love their life, and be willing out of love to give themselves even to death.” “Our hands are open - we commit our way to You to do with us what You want.”
Again speaking of the future, we declared that we want to make business connections with Andre’s store. Kingsley mentioned that connection with people in US would bring revenue to Israel and cause people to become connected to the land, which would then lead them to the next step, going on a trip. The twins’ store could also be an outlet for James’ artwork in Israel. As we were praying and seeing the future, one of us saw the next van coming, so there would be one for each of the twins.
Caesarea
Rather than stop at Joppa, we went all the way north to Caesarea. We knew we would be coming back to near Joppa when we stopped for the night. Caesarea was the center of Roman government in the time of Jesus and for a long time after. Therefore, it was the center in Israel for worship of the Roman gods. Thus, we were looking for a location that represented that worship.
James knew there was an obelisk in Caesarea and thought that was where we were to assemble. As we approached the city, Brett found on his iphone that there was a second obelisk that had fallen and broken in an earlier period, that had recently been re-assembled and re-erected in a field east of most of the ruins. That was where we headed.
Probably, few people are aware of the existence of this second obelisk – certainly our guides were not. For those who re-erected the obelisk, they may have felt they were honoring the historic past. For us, it was a representation of the re-emergence of the spirit of Baal in Israel during our time. The Romans didn’t see themselves as worshipping other Gods than Baal, but these are all stand ins for the same principality. That is why it was so important for us to pray at this place.
We began by worshipping the Lord. We prayed at multiple locations around the obelisk, and once again, for our last time in this trip, divorced Baal. We marched around the obelisk, breaking all lei lines to other Baal worship locations.
Finally, we shared communion, with Myron leading us. Myron was not doing well physically, basically an activation of allergies and asthma, that later became pneumonia. But he rose to the occasion. Following the Lord’s instruction, he took the cup of grape juice and flung it against the monument to Baal, effectively killing its influence with the most powerful substance on the planet.
Hotel Gilgal/Tel Aviv
We completed our trip by staying for a few hours at the Hotel Gilgal. This hotel is a lovely hotel a block away from the beach. It was developed by evangelist Jacob Damkani as a gathering place in the nation for people of all faiths, though it is clearly dedicated to both Judaism and to Christ. It has a great café, a reading library, a 200 person meeting room, and a roof-top lookout. It also has wonderful works of religious art by Baruch Maayan – a sculpture of the Prodigal Son, a large mural of Ruth and Boaz, and a number of other inspiring works.
This was for us simply a resting place, prior to our 1 am departure time. Our team member Taffy Spaloss had a direct flight and was able to leave quite a while earlier than the rest of us.
Day 11 • Friday, April 16, 2010
As we traveled home, we had the opportunity to be tested a number of times, in Tel Aviv, at Ben Gurion Airport, and again at the airport in Istanbul. This shows only that the trip is not over when you think it’s over, and that we always have ample opportunity to serve the Lord through testing and tribulation. We are to count these opportunities as joy!