THE SOUND OF MARCHING TOPS
As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move out to battle, because that will mean God has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.” 1 Chronicles 14:15
A few weeks ago we spoke about the Rain and how Elijah had to pray the rain in and how we too are called to pray in the rain of Revival. Revival is coming. We believe that the rain is coming and God will pour out His Spirit once again on all flesh as mentioned in Joel Chapter 2. Truly "The knowledge of the glory of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14). With this in mind we need to be persistent and consistent in our prayer closet with great expectancy that God's words will come to pass.
Here's a summary of the Word shared
Have you noticed before the rain – there is a sound? Before Elijah saw the rain on Mount Carmel – he heard it: Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain." When Ezekiel was caught up in the Spirit and shown the valley of dry bones – he first heard the sound of the bones rattling together – before he saw any manifestation: “... And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone”. (Ezekiel 37:7). Before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost there was a sound……….”And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2). At the very beginning in Genesis the world didn’t just happen – as some would have you believe NO – God spoke!! He commanded and He sent forth His voice to speak the world into existence. There was a sound and it came from God! God’s Word has POWER. His voice creates. The same Spirit that created the universe, that raised Jesus from the dead now lives in us.
How powerful do you think our words are?
The Bible tells us that the power of life and death is in the tongue and yet here we all are wearing masks – forced into silence – corporate worship suspended and the church mute. The enemy knows just how powerful our voice, our sound really is – when it lines up with the will of God!! There are numerous examples in the Bible of how God uses sound to great effect. Think of the walls of Jericho. The 7 days of silent marching except for the sound of the trumpets on the 7th day – 7 times round the walls – sounding the trumpets all the while and on the last circuit all the people letting out a loud shout – a wave of sound – that sound by the will of God caused the walls to collapse.
In 1 Chronicles 14:8-17, "the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went out to meet them. Now the Philistines had come and raided the Valley of Rephaim (which means the valley of Giants). David inquired of God and the Lord answered him, “Go, I will deliver them into your hands.” So David and his men went up to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them. He said, “As waters break out, God has broken out against my enemies by my hand.” So that place was called Baal Perazim(Which means God of Breakthrough).
We see from this scripture that the Philistines were only interested in attacking David once he had become King over ALL of Israel – now he was a threat to them. My sisters if you are pursuing Christ, reading the Word, praying, seeking His face, declaring the goodness of God to those around you then you are a threat to the kingdom of darkness – you will have battles to face; the enemy will try to shut you down. He will appear as a Giant BUT we need to remember Whose we are and how mighty our God is. King David certainly did! He inquired and humbly sought God for what to do. He listened to God and God gave him a resounding victory.
BUT the enemy came back a second time – back to the valley of Giants. So David inquired of God again, and God answered him, “Do not go directly after them, but circle around them and attack them in front of the poplar trees. As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move out to battle, because that will God has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.” David didn’t go out again in his own strength. He didn’t presume to know what to do but sought God’s instruction. He was totally dependant on God– this is how we need to live. God gave him a completely different strategy this time round. He had to go behind the enemy army and wait for the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees – this was a very specific instruction signalling God was sending his heavenly army to go ahead of him…..
God is looking for a people who will humble themselves and seek His face 2 Chronicles 7:14. God needs a remnant who will be obedient – humble – faithful – dependent on Him. God is about to release an actual sound from Heaven. He is sounding the alarm already but I believe an actual sound will be released which will be heard by humanity. In this season as his Ekklesia we must partner with Him, we must position ourselves to be able to hear what He is saying in this hour. This means spending time with Him, shutting off distractions, worshipping, praising, reading the Word – speaking in tongues – all these things “fine tune” our spirits so that we can better hear His voice. He wants this for all of us!! So let me encourage you to give Him more of your time, more focus, more obedience………you won’t be disappointed. He rewards those who diligently seek Him. So start practicing hearing His voice. Your prayer times will be transformed.
When we hear His voice – we then partner with the sound of Heaven. As we pray and petition we are building in the spirit. Our sound actually makes something. We know God’s sound creates. He lives in us by the power of Holy Spirit, so why would our sound, when it lines up with heaven also not build? In the spirit we are making things.
In the passage from 1 Chronicles – God used the poplar trees to make a sound. Interestingly, the poplar trees (some versions say balsam – are a species of poplar or aspen) –means populace = people. Some Poplar trees grow in groves and have a linked root system – in some cases they are genetically identical trees. We are called to be living stones to form His holy temple – individual yet connected. Our roots need to grow together – to be connected to one another – living in community and sharing with one another – just as the disciples in the early church when they were together and had everything in common. From the sap of the Poplar tree we get an astringent used for purification – we His chosen people are called to be light and salt in this dark world. The sap of this tree is also used to make up the Balm of Gilead – often quoted in scripture and used for healing. We are Christ’s hands and feet to minister his love and healing to the sick and the bound.
We need to position ourselves as David did – in humility, expectancy and readiness to hear God’s voice and move under his direction. We need to be ready to release our sound – here on earth to partner with Heaven’s sound. That means being ready to tell others the reason you believe: “they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony”. It means praying and declaring and using the Word of God as well as praying in the spirit. Remember we have this mighty weapon – The Sword of the Spirit – let us use it! God is mustering his end time earthly army to partner with Heaven’s army – 2 armies going out – and Heaven’s army leading the way. Will we follow? Will we rise up and take our place in the Lord’s army?
Prayer points
Prayed that Christians be positioned in different countries to be armies that He will manoeuvre to sweep through the world.
UK - Prayed for our ears to be opened so we can hear more accurately what the Lord is saying and be willing to be obedient. Prayed for our nation which was established on Godly principles and has a Christian heritage to be restored. Prayed for Queen Elizabeth to be strengthened in the Lord.
France – Prayed for Pastors Nicole & Madi and the National day of prayer and fasting. Prayed for hard secular ground to be broken off in the Spirit, prayed for churches and communities to come together and work to unite in prayer and love. To be ready to serve one another and witness to a barren nation – breaking off religion and crying out to Heaven for a baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Mauritius. Prayed for Marie who is part of a new church plant “Ecclesia Christian Community” who is the leader of intercessory prayer. For strength, boldness, wisdom and determination to keep going with the planting of the seed in the church but also in Mauritius. Prayed for the veil of deception to be removed from the eyes of the Hindu and Muslim communities. Prayed for an explosion of the power of the gospel to hit Mauritius. Pray for people in senior governmental positions to encounter Jesus.
Words, pictures and prophecies were received
Prophecies for France & Mauritius have been sent to the respective leaders
Generals seen at the war table and they were intercessors. Like the children of Issachar we need to be a prophetic and strategic people who knew what Israel ought to do in times of war. God is sending his angels on assignment.
Aaron's rod budding which speaks of our authority in prayer and fruitfulness
We are living in apathetic godless nations but through our prayers we are drenching and soaking the land preparing it for growth.
Picture of a Tudor rose symbolic of us being royalty. We are a royal priesthood