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Just as there was a transition from Saul to David, so also was there a broader transition from the house of David to the house of Joseph. The main work that was given to house of David was to overcome and replace the house of Saul. Sufficient authority was given to David from 1993-2000 to finish that particular work.
David and Joseph
The house of David also began the work of overthrowing Mystery Babylon, but completing that work required the calling of the house of Joseph. David ruled the house of Israel, but Joseph ruled the world (represented by Egypt). We may think of David and Joseph as being united in the task of subduing all things under the feet of Christ. David was called to bring the people of Saul (i.e. the church) into alignment with the rule of Christ and His laws. Joseph, however, was called to bring the world under the feet of Christ.
David, being of Judah, carried the Dominion Mandate, while Joseph carried the Fruitfulness Mandate. Both are vital parts of the Birthright. However, the Dominion Mandate was given to Judah only as a temporary measure, as we read in Genesis 49:10,
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
Conversely, the verse tells us that when Shiloh comes, the scepter will then depart from Judah, because it will be given to Shiloh—that is, Christ in His second coming as the Head of the house of Joseph (or Ephraim). The people will then be obedient to Him, because David himself called Him “Lord” (Matthew 22:45), prophesying of a greater King yet to come.
This is reflected in the transition from David to Joseph after November 30, 2000, when the authority of David reached its fulness 7½ years after the death of “Saul.” The unification of David and Joseph ensured the fall of Babylon, because the fragmented Birthright was again reunited in one hand. This was prophesied in Ezekiel 37:16, 17 where we see the two sticks (Judah and Ephraim) joined together.
Hosea 1:11 also prophesied of this unification, saying,
11 And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one Leader…
Judah was represented by the house of David, while Israel was represented by the house of Joseph. The great breach between the Scepter and the Birthright occurred after the death of Solomon, but in the end days this breach was to be repaired by the great “repairer of the breach” (Isaiah 58:12). This was primarily a reference to Christ in His second manifestation, but the prophet actually states that the body of Christ would repair the breach. He says, “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins… and you will be called the repairer of the breach.”
The prophets, however, were unclear as to the manner in which the prophecy would be fulfilled. I believe it is clarified by actual events in our time, beginning in 1993, which was the 40th Jubilee of the “Saul” church. The rise of the house of David in 1993 was the start of this repair. The Scepter had to be established, in view of its main competition from the house of Saul. Only then could the house of Joseph be re-established, so that the Fruitfulness Mandate could bring forth the Sons of God. Joseph’s Birthright could not be fulfilled until the two sticks of authority had been reunited.
The rise of the house of Joseph could not begin until David had been fully established after 7½ years of transition from Saul to David, according to 2 Samuel 5:4, 5. In our time, “David” was given his full calling to rule over “all Israel” on November 30, 2000. We then entered into another phase of prophetic fulfillment, as the house of Joseph began to arise.
Together, the two houses were to make war on Mystery Babylon and overcome the great enslaver of mankind. This was accomplished in the divine court in 2017 when Babylon’s “seven times” of authority expired. But because Babylon, like Pharaoh, “refused to let them go” (Jeremiah 50:33, 34), it would take time (probably seven years) to enforce the divine decree.
With the big picture in mind, we can better understand the smaller battles along the path to ultimate victory.
Overcoming from 1993-2000
As I wrote in Part 3 of this series, we held a total of eight named prayer campaigns in the next six years (1993-1999). These were:
As we entered the eighth prayer campaign, God impressed upon us that the seventh year was our Sabbath year, and we would not engage in spiritual warfare from November 1999 to November 2000.
I have already written about the first two prayer campaigns, which were two halves of the same campaign.
It is, perhaps, of interest that George Hawtin died on June 21, 1994, which was shortly after His Fullness prayer campaign. George was the main instrument through which the Holy Spirit was poured out in the Latter Rain movement (1948-1952). That movement brought the feast of Tabernacles to the church, as well as the restoration of all things. The movement was powerful while it lasted, but most of the denominations saw it as a potential rival and thus rejected it along with its revelations.
I met George at a convention in September of 1993, where he and I were both speakers. This was two months before the Jubilee Prayer Campaign in November. His passion was to see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that would manifest the Kingdom of God in the earth. He lived to see His Fullness prayer campaign (January 27-30, 1994). His passing a few months later (June) marked the full end of the Latter Rain movement and prepared the way for a new move of God.
Occupy Till I Come Prayer Campaign (June 4, 1995)
June 4, 1995 was Pentecost in that year. It was two years after the death of “Saul” on Pentecost of 1993. This prayer campaign was timed to coincide prophetically with the death of Saul’s son, Ish-bosheth, who reigned over Israel for two years after his father’s death.
2 Samuel 4:5-8 says,
5 So the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, departed and came to the house of Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day while he was taking his midday rest. 6 They came to the middle of the house as if to get wheat, and they struck him in the belly, and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. 7 Now when they came into the house, as he was lying on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and killed him and beheaded him. And they took his head and traveled by way of the Arabah all night. 8 Then they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron…
These men thought that David would reward them for doing what David seemed unable to do. They thought they were being patriotic to David, when, in fact, they were acting lawlessly. David had no plan to kill Ish-bosheth, even as he had refrained from killing Saul earlier. So he executed them for murdering “a righteous man” (2 Samuel 4:11).
We learn from this how overcomers are to act toward the church as a whole. Though many church denominations consider the overcomers to be their enemies, the overcomers do not think of the church as their enemy. Neither is it the duty of the overcomers to destroy the church. Saul’s anointing was genuine, even if he misused its authority. Hence, the church is God’s responsibility.
As for Saul, God raised up the Philistines to bring about his demise. Saul killed himself by falling on his own sword (1 Samuel 31:4) and David gave him an honorable burial. The sons of Rimmon ought to have known that David would not approve of their idea that war justifies murder. David relied fully upon God to bring him into his calling, and he left Ish-bosheth in God’s hands.
Ish-bosheth’s name means “man of shame.” It is not likely that this was the name given to him at birth. It is more likely the name given to him later. Prophetically speaking, Ish-bosheth represents those believers who are ashamed when raised for judgment. Psalm 109:28, 29 says,
28 Let them curse, but You bless; when they arise, they shall be ashamed [boosh], but Your servant shall be glad. 29 Let my accusers be clothed with dishonor, and let them cover themselves with their own shame [bosheth] as with a robe.
David suffered shame from the accusations of his enemies, but he knew that in the end, his enemies would be the ones to suffer shame “when they arise.” In this he prophesied of the resurrection of the dead. So also we read in 1 Peter 4:15, 16, 17,
15 Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; 16 but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of Christ?
The potential exists for believers to rise from the dead in shame. The general resurrection will include both believers and unbelievers, Jesus said in John 5:28, 29. Paul says that some believers, who have laid Christ as the Foundation of their “temple,” will build upon that Foundation with “wood, hay straw” (1 Corinthians 3:12). Such carnal works and motivations will be burned, “but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:15).
When men see their works burned by the divine fire, they will suffer shame, for then they will be exposed as part of the body of Ish-bosheth, the “man of shame” who opposed the rule of David.
Our prayer campaign called “Occupy Till I Come” on Pentecost of 1995 was to decree a (truly) Christian nation. Later, I began to distinguish between a Christian nation and a Kingdom nation. In my word definitions, I now use “Christian nation” to mean Saul’s Kingdom, whereas I use “Kingdom nation” to mean David’s kingdom.
It is important to understand the long conflict between the house of Saul and the house of David. It is important to know that Saul was crowned on the day of Pentecost, i.e., “wheat harvest” (1 Samuel 12:17) in order to see that Saul’s life and works prophesied of the church. Finally, it is necessary to understand how Ish-bosheth was an extension of Saul’s reign and that he reigned just two years over Israel. He then died at the hands of the wheat gatherers, i.e., Pentecostals, not at the hands of the house of David.