THE MIRACLE IN THE WILDERNESS
By DN Hoets
Many years ago, before I was saved, I heard someone minister on Israel's miraculous transformation from a barren, desolate desert to a fertile productive garden like Eden fulfilling the prophecy 'the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the rose.' (Isaiah 35:1)
Mark Twain's visit to Palestine in 1867 was published in "The Innocents Abroad", where he described Palestine as follows:
"..... A desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds... a silent mournful expanse.... a desolation.... we never saw a human being on the whole route.... hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive tree and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country." (The Innocents Abroad, p. 361-362)
Afterwards, I was enveloped in the presence of the Holy Spirit for a number of days. This experience of the presence of God and the word given had an unusual impact on my life. I have never forgotten this.
Many years later, the same transformation again occured. This time it was not in the natural (Israel) but in the wilderness of God.
When I entered the wilderness of God, initially there was barreness and desolation. Years before when I was born-again, I knew the Lord truly. Intimacy and the presence of the Holy Spirit was there. However, the more I became part of the Charismatic and Word-faith move, the more barren and desolate my relationship to Jesus Christ became.
Then I entered the wilderness. I did not have to wait long. A miracle occured. The desert began to blossom as a rose.
At the time, I did not realise that hundreds of thousands of Christians were simultaneously called into the wilderness. I was completely unaware (at first) that this was the preparation for the final move of God.
The key to the revival in the desert is given by the prophet Isaiah.
ISAIAH 40: 31
And those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like
eagles,
They shall run and not be weary'
They shall walk and not faint.
ISAIAH 35: 1-8
The wilderness and the wasteland shall
be glad for them,
And the desert shall rejoice and
blossom as the rose;
It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice,
Even with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to
it,
The excellence of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
The excellency of our God.
Strengthen the weak hands,
And make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are fearful-hearted,
"Be strong, do not fear!
Behold your God will come with
vengeance,
With the recompense of God;
He will come and save you."
Then the eyes of the blind shall be
opened,
And the ears of the deaf shall be
unstopped.
Then the lame shall leap like a dear,
And the tongue of the dumb sing.
For waters shall burst forth in the
wilderness,
And streams in the desert.
The parched ground shall become a
pool,
And the thirsty land springs of water;
In the habitation of jackals, where
each lay,
There shall be grass with reeds and
rushes.
A highway shall be there, and a road,
And it shall be called the Highway of
Holiness.
The unclean shall not pass over it,
But it shall be for others.
Whoever walks the road, although a
fool,
Shall not go astray.
ISAIAH 41: 17-19
When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none.
And their tongues fail for thirst,
I, the Lord, will hear them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake
them.
I will open rivers in desolate heights,
And fountains in the midst of the
valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of
water,
And the dry land springs of water.
I will plant in the wilderness the cedar
and the acacia tree,
The myrtle and the oil tree;
I will set in the desert the cypress tree
and the pine
And the box tree together.
ISAIAH 43: 19b-21
I will make a road in the
wilderness
And rivers in the desert.
The beast of the field will honor Me,
The jackals and the ostriches,
Because I give waters in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert,
To give drink to My people, My chosen.
This people I have formed for Myself;
They shall declare My praise.
ISAIAH 49: 9b -11
They shall feed along the roads,
And their pastures shall be on all
desolate heights.
They shall neither hunger nor thirst,
Neither heat nor sun shall strike them;
For he who has mercy on them
will lead them,
Even by the springs of water He will
guide them.
I will make each of My mountains a
road,
And My highways shall be elevated.
Shortly, after entering the wilderness, the Lord revealed to me His plans and purposes in these last days. 'Living Laodicea - a revelation of the last move' was written at this time.
Jeanne Guyon's work ' Experiencing the depths of Jesus Christ' has played an important role in the restoration and revival of many in the wilderness. The cross and death to self and the flesh are central here.
The Song of Solomon was the next progression. It is the Holy of Holies of the Word of God and those of the wilderness have had this unveiled to them just as Watchman Nee, Hudson Taylor and others had this unveiled in the past centuries.
Remember, 'the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the rose.' This speaks of the Rose of Sharon - Jesus Christ - who is unveiled in the Song of Solomon.
Also REVELATION 3:20 is a reference to the Song of Solomon. The Laodicean call will bring one to the Song of Solomon.
So the miracle occured in the wilderness for many of the saints of God. Indeed 'the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the rose.'
THE BRIDE COMING FORTH OUT OF THE WILDERNESS
Song of Solomon 3: 6-11
Who is this coming out of the wilderness
Like pillars of smoke,
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
With all the merchant's fragant powders?(v6)
The wedding procession comes forth from the wilderness - a glorious Bride with her Beloved. This is the mystery of the end-time church and of the restoration of the true apostlic movement that He has raised up for the final hour.
Selah!
NOTE: Israel is the central key to the unfolding of end-time events. The Isaac / Ishmael change is also seen in the natural and in the the church. The end-time move is likened to the birth of Isaac. The old way - charismatic era - is likened to Ishmael. These parallels between Israel and the church keep surfacing in this final season.
[We can view the desert a solitary, lonely, dry, desolate or barren place where we are wandering in the wilderness and being held captive
OR
we can see the desert from a different perspective! ]
NEWS: Alarming Number of 'Stayaway Saints' Affecting Today's Church
An alarming number of Christians are staying home on Sunday mornings and the trend is affecting today's church. Believers who have become "stayaway saints" are alternately worrying and exciting church leaders, pointing to what is being seen as either a serious threat to the spread of the gospel or the actual cusp of a revolution that could usher in the sort of revival many have prayed for and dreamed of for years. A recent study found that about 13 million Americans whom the researchers identified as being born again were "unchurched ... not having attended a Christian church service, other than for a holiday ... at any time in the past six months." [prophecynewswatch]
The Barna Research Group reports that in the United States about 10 million self-proclaimed, born-again Christians have not been to church in the last six months, apart from Christmas or Easter. (Barna defines "born-again" as those who say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important today, and believe they will "go to heaven because I have confessed my sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.")
Nearly all born-agains say their spiritual life is very important, but for 10 million of them, spiritual life has nothing to do with church.
About a third of Americans are unchurched, according to Barna's national data. Approximately 23 million of those—35 percent of the unchurched—claim they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their lives today.
In the United States, the famous George Barna is well known for his research and publications dealing with statistics on church related matters, and in his current book "Revolution" (Copyright 2005), Barna has this to say on the back cover: "MILLIONS OF BELIEVERS HAVE MOVED BEYOND THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH...AND CHOSEN TO BE THE CHURCH INSTEAD. Research by renowned pollster George Barna points to a hidden revolution--one that will impact every Christian believer in America. Millions of committed Christ followers, looking for more of God, have stopped attending church on Sunday mornings. Why are they leaving? Where are they going? And what does this mean for the future of the Church?". Barna predicts that in the next twenty years, only 30% of American Christians will be attending an institutional church, while 70% will be expressing their faith in Jesus Christ outside of the walls of the institutional church system.
In his blockbuster book "Megashift" (Copyright 2005), James Rutz graphically details the vast difference between the programmed and controlled institutional churches, and the complete freedom of expression, as experienced in the pastorless "House Church Movement", where multitudes of "unchurched" Christians are meeting in private homes. All across the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and elsewhere around the world, multitudes of "unchurched" Christians have walked away from churchianity to follow Jesus Christ as the real Shepherd, rather than following men inside the walls of institutional churches.