In the night ...

Once I got a hold of the book, "The Harbinger", I knew it was going to be life changing.  With the babies in bed, I snuck into my room.  I gathered up all of the necessities for a couple hours of reading - pen, notebook, highlighter & a Dr. Pepper.  I crawled into bed, donned my reading glasses & began to devour.  The book is written in a narrative form & reads like a storybook.  The author warns that although it is a story, it is factual.  The main character in the book is Nouriel & he is speaking throughout the book to a newswoman named Mrs. Goren.  Seemingly, out of nowhere, he encounters an unnamed man who begins to give him various seals he calls "Harbingers".  The prophet introduces him to Isaiah 9:10 & how the judgment of Israel was a foreshadow to what we are enduring in the United States.  The book contains 9 Harbingers.  A harbinger is a word that means an omen or a sign.  Throughout the book we find that each Harbinger is a reflection of what has occurred on 9/11. 

With each chapter that passes, I am being more pulled into the story.  As each Harbinger was given, I was beginning to understand how it correlates before the book explains it.  I had no previous knowledge of this book nor its contents but somehow I just knew this book would be centered around 9/11 & the events that unfolded.  The Harbinger is profoundly prophetic.  It is immaculately written & a must have for everyone in the Church or who profess faith in Christ.  With each turn of the page, I found myself enthralled & consumed by everything that I was reading.  Deep within me I could feel a strong stirring & a knowing that God brought this book to do more than entertain me.  This was a divine shift for my life.  It wasn't until the last few pages of the book that I encountered my shift.

The last few pages of the book went back to an ancient setting in the Bible.  In those days cities were encircled by walls of stone.  On top of these massive, towering walls were watchtowers.  These towers were manned by Watchmen.  Their job was to protect the city day & night.  As the residents slept in safely, the Watchmen vigilantly scanned the outskirts of the city for impending danger.  Each Watchmen had a ram's horn called a Shofar.  At the first sign of danger, he would pull out his shofar & with all his might, he would sound the alarm.  The sound that came out of the shofar was jarring, alarming & ominous - because it HAD to be to wake the residents.  Despite the ominous sound do you think the residents would prefer that he not blow it?  Of course not!  They would risk staying asleep & being killed.  Only a sound as jarring as the shofar could save them! 

A friend named Matt gave me a great analogy of the shofar sound.  As parents, we go into our children's rooms in the morning & wake them up for school.  At times they lay around & are placated to sleep.  When time runs short, we go back in with a loud voice, throw all the lights on & demand they rise.  They get up & they are annoyed at first but after a bit, they are happy & ready to embrace a new day. 

God had me read this book to awaken me to the fact that I am that Watchman who carries that shofar.  From a young age God gifted me in the prophetic.  And although I often minister things that are pleasant to the taste as honeycomb, there are many seasons I carry a strong, jarring, ominous sounding Word.  That is the mantle upon my life.  It is my job to be an end-time, prophetic reformationist that jars the Body of Christ & the unbelievers alike to attention.  And that is the purpose of the Elisha Movement.  It is a vehicle that God has enabled me, & many others like me, to use to blow that shofar & awaken a sleeping people.  

And now we have come to the end of the journey with the Harbinger.  All that remains is this - Will you take your place on the wall & stand with me as Watchmen & sound the alarm?  Will you help me to awaken a sleeping & dying world?  Will you link up with me as part of the offensive line of spiritual warriors & help me to stand in the gap on behalf of the people?  Many lives hang in the balance & we must rise to this assignment & fulfill destiny.