Chapter 12: 1994: The Tree Cut Down

So far we have chronicled the Jubilee Prayer Campaign of November 1993 and His Fullness Prayer Campaign of January 1994. These were pivotal events that began the seven-year “Jericho march” around the walls of modern Mystery Babylon.

In the months leading up to those prayer campaigns, we wondered what God might do at the times we prayed. We speculated that perhaps the Israeli state might fall at that time, or perhaps the world economic systems might begin to crash. We also speculated that perhaps the prayer campaign would begin a 414-day cycle toward judgment. We did not know for sure, of course, but this formed a main topic of discussion as we pondered the ways and plans of God.

For instance, we discussed what might happen on January 17, 1995, since this was 414 days from Nov. 29, 1993. We took note that on Jan. 17, 1994 Los Angeles was struck with a 6.6 Richter earthquake. I recall making the comment to others that we would have expected an event like that a year later in 1995, rather than in 1994.

In fact, what we came to suspect was that we might see an earthquake hit Seattle, Washington on January 17, 1995 much like Los Angeles had been struck one year earlier.

The Kobe Quake: Jan. 17, 1995

The day finally arrived, marking the 414-day cycle from the prayer campaign. The city of Kobe, Japan was hit with a 6.8 Richter earthquake that destroyed much of the city. We were surprised at the location of the quake, but then we learned from the news accounts that Seattle is Kobe's “sister city.” Somehow, there is a spiritual link between the two cities.

A few weeks later we were informed that the name “Kobe” (in Japanese) has the same meaning as “Babylon” in the Babylonian language. Kobe means “God’s Door.” Babylon (or, Bab-ili), in the Babylonian language means “The Gate (or Door) of God.” Thus, the earthquake that hit Kobe was a major sign of the impending fall of Mystery Babylon.

In ancient times the judges sat at the gate to hear the complaints of the people. This is why Lot sat at the gate of Sodom (Gen. 19:1). He was probably the only honest man in the city, so they made him a judge. 2 Peter 2:7 calls Lot “just” (or righteous). Gates are symbolic of the seat of government. And so we understood that the Kobe quake was a sign of the fall of Babylon’s Gate, or government.

We also are reminded of the night Samson removed the gate of the Philistine city and set it on a hill some distance away from town (Judges 16:3). This is a prophetic story showing how the gates of the world system are totally vulnerable to the strength of the people of God who are moved by the Spirit. The Kobe quake likewise makes this point clear, especially when one understands that Kobe was a sister city to Seattle, Washington, located in King County. We have also observed over the years that Washington State itself has a spiritual and prophetic connection to Washington D.C. Many signs occur in that state to foreshadow coming events in our Federal Government.

The Law of Urban Property

Perhaps the most significant principle we learned at the time of the Jubilee Prayer Campaign was the law of urban property sales in Lev. 25:29 and 30,

{Leviticus 25:29} ²⁹ Likewise, if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then his redemption right remains valid until a full year from its sale; his right of redemption lasts a full year. {Leviticus 25:30} ³⁰ But if it is not bought back for him within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city passes permanently to its purchaser throughout his generations; it does not revert in the jubilee.

Babylon today is a spiritual city. It is urban property. In our Jubilee Prayer Campaign we represented the overcomers past and present in the Divine Court, asking that Babylon be sold into our hands on the grounds that Babylon had not used its authority in the earth (in its divinely allotted time) to bring forth the fruits of the Kingdom. In other words, we were boldly asking God to be granted the authority to bring forth the fruits of the Kingdom in the earth. We were boldly stating that the overcomers were willing to take the responsibility to bring forth the fruits of the Kingdom that God had required from the beginning.

We did this on the basis of our revelation that Babylon’s mandate to rule the earth had begun to end. When we learned the court date of God’s foreclosure upon Babylon, we were there in the Divine Court to put in our “bid” to purchase all the assets (people and goods) which were theirs. We want all of it, that we might have the authority to decree that all things be placed under the feet of Jesus Christ.

We “bought” or redeemed Babylon from its obligation, or debt that was not payable. Yet because Babylon is urban property, the “Babylonians” had a full year in which to redeem their city. In such cases, those who have purchased urban property cannot do much with the property until the year has passed, when the transaction is finalized. This is how we came to understand that we were to watch the events of Nov. 29, 1994—one year after the end of the Jubilee Prayer Campaign.

The Babylonian “Tree” Cut Down: Nov. 29, 1994

The events began to unfold about a month or two prior to Nov. 29, 1994. This was the time leading up to the mid-term congressional elections in Nov. 1994. At that time we saw the so-called “Republican Revolution,” where the Republican Party took control of the House of Representatives. From the state of Washington, George Nethercutt was campaigning against Tom Foley, who was the Speaker of the House.

During the campaigns, the Nethercutt supporters were talking about “de-Foley-ating Washington.” That is, they wanted to rid Washington State and Washington DC of the incumbent, the Democrat, Tom Foley. When I heard this on the radio, it occurred to me that they were unknowingly prophesying according to the pattern of Daniel 4.

Daniel 4 tells of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, in which he saw a great tree defoliated and then cut down. In this dream there were “watchers” from heaven who stripped the branches off the great tree and then cut it down, leaving a stump. “Nethercutt” literally means a lower cut, and he intended to de-Foley-ate Washington.

In short-term prophecy it was fulfilled when King Nebuchad-nezzar himself was cast out and ate grass with the beasts for some years. But as King of Babylon, he represented the city, the empire, and ultimately the entire world system that is with us today. And so, in the dream the stump of the cut-down tree came back to life to produce another tree—a Babylonian “empire” in another form, which the book of Revelation called “Mystery Babylon.”.

To America, this new Babylonian Empire was formed in 1913-14 in the form of the Federal Reserve Banking System. This financial “empire” was established precisely 2,520 years after the rise of the original Babylonian Empire in 607 B.C. In other words, although that first empire was cut down 70 years later by the Medes and Persians, it came back to life and re-manifested in the world 2,520 years later (“seven times,” or 360 x 7 years). In 1993-94 the time came for the tree to be cut down once again, to make room for the Kingdom of God. This time, the “watchers” made a lower cut that left no stump for the tree to grow again.

We did not know how precise the sign would be until it was fulfilled one year to the day after the Jubilee Prayer Campaign. This was foreshadowed in Daniel 4:29-33, where Nebuchad-nezzar's dream was fulfilled precisely twelve months later.

{Daniel 4:28} ²⁸ All this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king. {Daniel 4:29} ²⁹ Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. {Daniel 4:30} ³⁰ The king reflected and said, “Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?” {Daniel 4:31} ³¹ While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, {Daniel 4:32} ³² and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time [“seven times”] will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes.” {Daniel 4:33} ³³ Immedi-ately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws.

In the elections in early November 1994, Tom Foley lost to George Nethercutt. Foley was scheduled to leave office in January 1995. On November 29, 1994, the GATT treaty was passed by the House of Representatives. Speaker of the House, Tom Foley, then gave a speech extolling the greatness of the House for passing this treaty, and then he resigned his office and went home.

This marks the day the federal government in Washington D.C. was actually “de-Foley-ated.” Twelve months to the day from Nov. 29, 1993 when the Word of the Lord went forth to defoliate the “tree” of Babylon, Tom Foley left Washington, resigning his office before his term had expired. He had no clue that he was doing this as a prophetic sign.

The same twelve months happened to be the time that Babylon had in which to redeem its property by coming up with the fruits of the Kingdom. They failed to do so, even though they could brag about their earthly accomplishments (i.e., the GATT treaty).

This told us that as of Nov. 29, 1994 the entire estate of “Babylon” had come into the hands of the overcomers, and the Babylonian rulers no longer had the right of redemption. This was a major step in the transfer of authority from the world system to the overcomers.

The “seven times” (seven years) from 1993 came to an end on Nov. 29, 2000 with the full transfer of authority to the overcomers (the Davidic company). There was also another significant decree made seven years after Tom Foley’s resignation in 1994. God directed us to decree that the Israeli state be cut down, for they had been given 50 years in which to bring forth the fruits of the Kingdom—that is, to declare the Jubilee in the earth. They refused to do so, of course.

But Nov. 29, 1997 (the 50^th anniversary) also marked the beginning of God’s three-year search for Kingdom fruits, as we read in Luke 13:7. Once again, God would find no fruit by the end of the year 2000. So, even as the original “tree” was given a fourth year with much dung for fertilizer, so also the modern “tree” was given a fourth year from 2000 to 2001 to see if it would bear fruit.

Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount on September 29. 2000 at Rosh Hoshana, the beginning of the Hebrew year, marked the start of this dunging process. The Palestinians declared an intifada, an uprising in protest of Sharon’s visit, that gave the Israelis one final opportunity to declare a Jubilee and bear Kingdom fruit. Again, they refused. So on Nov. 29, 2001, seven years after the “lower cut” on the Babylonian tree, the Lord directed us to decree the cutting down of the Israeli state for its lack of the fruits of the Kingdom.

But to return to our narrative of the events in 1993, our purpose in taking Babylon to court was to receive the divine mandate and authority to lay claim to Babylon’s assets—that is, the people who have been captivated by the system, whether they have been put into bondage physically, mentally, or spiritually. At the end of this seven years, Nov. 29-30, 2000, the overcomers declared the God of Daniel to be King, even as King Nebuchadnezzar prophesied in Daniel 4:33-37,

{Daniel 4:34} ³⁴ But at the end of that period I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. {Daniel 4:35} ³⁵ And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, “What hast Thou done?” {Daniel 4:36} ³⁶ At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. {Daniel 4:37} ³⁷ Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

In other words, the King recognized the sovereignty of the only true God in heaven. This is the pattern declaration that the overcomers decreed on November 29, 2000 as soon as they were given the full authority to do so. The prayer army that God raised up in 1993 labored seven years in spiritual warfare to obtain the right to make this decree in the Divine Court on behalf of all the overcomers.