God has promised to send another release of the Spirit of Elijah before the Lord’s return. What does the Father long to reveal through the spirit of Elijah that is so desperately needed today? A glimpse back to the times when God has previously released this Spirit will help us understand His purpose and recognize our need to earnestly seek that which will awaken us to rend our hearts and prepare for the coming King.
In Mathew 11:14, Jesus declares to the people that John the Baptist is Elijah, “And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.” He came to prepare the hearts of the people so they could receive the message of the Kingdom. John the Baptist lived an austere, fasted life. He was completely sold out to the heart of God and the message he carried from God. He was born to prepare the way for the One who would fully reveal the Father’s will. In John, the spirit of Elijah turned the hearts of the people to repentance. This is how they were made ready to embrace the Lord. Only the Spirit could draw people that were steeped in religious tradition to embrace the uncompromised truth that John the Baptist lived through his radical lifestyle. John who remained in the desert, dressed in camel’s hair and eating locust and honey, drew crowds ranging from kings and priests to common people. Just as God separated John unto Himself, God drew and separated people from their spiritual traditions in order to hear the truth.
John’s radical lifestyle and message brought people to repentance. Elijah’s message and demonstration of the Spirit caused people to repent. Both men revealed the heart of the Father.
To understand what God is going to do today, we need to look at the circumstances surrounding how God released the spirit of Elijah in previous generations. The same circumstances in culture surrounded the times of Elijah and John the Baptist. Both cultures were in a feeble, backslidden spiritual condition as a result of what they worshiped. Both cultures were steeped in religious traditions introduced by men through demonic agents.
In the days of Elijah, Jezebel introduced Baal worship (1 Kings 13-19). The “spirit of Jezebel” worked through sensuality, witchcraft, immorality and idolatry. Jezebel introduced and expanded Baal worship in Israel. Baal is the god of power and sex. Wild orgies which included unbridled sexuality and child sacrifice fueled Baal’s power in the days of Elijah. In the days of John the Baptist, the greed, jealousy, control and religious traditions of the Pharisees and Sadducees blinded the eyes and the heart of the people to who Father God actually was. This is still Baal worship only it is fueled by a lust for power.
When the people are blind and filled with spiritual and moral delusion, God sends a prophet to bring people to repentance. This is His mercy! Repentance opens the way to the heart of the Father. God sends the Spirit of Elijah to restore the Fatherhood of God, and fatherhood in general. The primary motivation in God’s heart is to restore relationship: both vertically and horizontally. For this to happen, there must be a destruction of mindsets (strongholds) through embracing the truth, and self must go to the cross. This is the message of Jesus: “…the Son is able to do nothing of Himself.” (John 5:19). We must repent (change our minds), and take self to the cross.
The ministry of the prophet is to turn the hearts of the people back to the Father and the hearts of one generation to another (Mal. 4:5-6). The ministry of every father should be to capture the hearts of the children and have them join him in pursuing Father God, and transfer this heart attitude and alignment to succeeding generations. In 1 Kings 18 we see Elijah call out to a generational God; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again." Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!" (1 Kings 18:36-39)
Elijah restored a true picture of the Father and demolished what had blinded the people and prevented them from seeing God. The revival, pictured in the descending rains, followed quickly after Elijah’s travailing intercession.
Throughout scripture, we witness this pattern of spiritual fathers demonstrating the heart of the Father which leads their spiritual children to repentance. Jeremiah faithfully and consistently delivered a message of repentance to the people, although none would turn.
Jesus declares the dangerous power behind the false religious traditions of His day in Mark 7. Their traditions had made the Word of God of no effect. People could not hear or perceive God because they were so deceived by the lack of truth. God had to send someone radically different to “wake” people up! In God’s final call of mercy to the nation of Israel and Jerusalem, He sent the Spirit of Elijah once more. Some did hear like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea.
God told the prophet Jeremiah to stop praying for Israel (Jer. 14) because they had gone so far that He could no longer reach them, and He would wipe them off the earth like one wiping a dirty dish (2 Kings 21:13). When there is no difference between the world and the church, God sends a father to turn the hearts of the people back to the Father. This is mercy in action, because it is never God’s heart to judge or punish…He longs to be merciful and bring redemption!
I believe the church, and our nation, is at such a juncture once more. In my opinion, the vast majority of churches have been seduced by the wiles of “Jezebel”. The lust for power rules and whether it is “signs and wonders” or “programs”, the motive is the same. Ministry becomes self-centered and self-serving.
Isaiah 4:1 says:
And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying,
"We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel;
Only let us be called by your name,
To take away our reproach."
This speaks of the spiritual condition of the church in the last days. The seven women represent the seven churches of Revelation 2-3. What they wear represents their lifestyle and behavior while what they eat represents what they believe (doctrine). It is their intention to remain in their apostate spiritual condition, but seek a covering to safeguard appearances.
More importantly, we are faced with the crucial common denominator of previous generations: our Father is rarely experienced within the church, and the body of Christ rarely expresses His holy character and nature. This is what led Jesus to righteous indignation to clear out the temple (Matt. 21:12-14). His displeasure always peaked when relationship with the Father could not be experienced! Is this not the state of the church today? We are in desperate need of the Spirit of Elijah to come once more to bring a repentant heart and a clear and distinct picture of our Father.
When the Spirit of Elijah comes once again, at least a remnant of God’s people will be broken once more and return fully to Him. This time there will be the powerful demonstration of signs and wonders, which characterized Elijah’s ministry, along with the brokenness and repentance that was experienced through the ministry of John the Baptist.
This joining to the heart of the Father, and the joining of the generations is one of our most critical needs. The last word of the Old Covenant scriptures is “curse” (Mal. 4:6). The curse will remain in effect until the restoration of this relationship, vertically with our heavenly Father, and horizontally between the generations is healed. Will standing in the gap to see this restored be a priority, or will we continue on in our tradition and comfort?
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To find out more about Lionheart Restoration Ministries and The Prayer Furnace of East TN, visit us at:
To find out more about Lionheart Restoration Ministries and The Prayer Furnace of East TN, visit us at:
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