On July 5, 1986 I received a word from the Lord, “My people on the move.” In part, the word said,

“Rise up and walk. Be on the move. Do My will . . . I now set you free to do so. Be on the move.”

This became applicable precisely ten years later. On June 30, 1996 my wife and I each heard the Lord say, “It's time to move. Move to Minnesota.” When we compared notes later that evening, we made this discovery and knew that it was time to move from Seattle to Minneapolis. Even so, this really took us by surprise. We decided to pray about it until July 5 and then see if we still felt impressed to move.

On July 5, precisely ten years after the word about “Be on the move,” we came to our final decision, knowing that God had indeed told us to move. But another event occurred during this same week. On July 3, 1996 Britain's Prime Minister John Major announced that the Coronation Stone was going to be given back to Scotland after 700 years.

It had been taken from Scotland in 1296 A.D., along with other items and official records. When the Treaty of Northampton was signed in 1328, King Edward also agreed (separately) to return the stone, but the Nobles stopped the king from returning it in 1330. This history formed the backdrop to the movie, Braveheart, which was set in the 1320's with Robert the Bruce.

Anyway, the Coronation Stone had been in London for 700 years, but it was 666 years since 1330. I found this particularly interesting, because of a parallel situation long ago. The Temple vessels had been taken by the Babylonians in 597 B.C., and again by the Romans in 70 A.D. That, of course, was a 666-year cycle.

It is not merely the number of a beast or of a man (Rev. 13:18). It has to do with the worship of God (temple vessels) being taken over by men with carnal minds.

It is interesting also that between the two 666-year periods stood a cycle of 1260 years (from 70 to 1330 A.D.). 

Ron had discerned some years earlier that the Coronation Stone would be returned in 1996, but few thought this possible until it happened.

The Coronation Stone is (or at least represents) Jacob's pillar, on which the kings of Judah were crowned (2 Kings 11:14; 2 Chron. 23:13). It is said that Jeremiah took it to Ireland, along with the Ark of the Covenant, David's Harp, and King Zedekiah's daughters, after the fall of Jerusalem. In 534 A.D. it was taken to Scone in Scotland, and hence it is called the Stone of Scone, or the Stone of Destiny.

Then, of course, in 1296 it was taken to London by King Edward I of England.

The point is that, for prophetic purposes, the return of the Coronation Stone signifies a transfer of divine authority—that is, the divine right to rule. That is its traditional meaning and is probably the main reason why King Edward took it in the first place.

John Major made his announcement on July 3, 1996, but declined to say precisely where it would be moved. Would it go back to Scone? Would it be sent to Edinburgh Castle? The Irish also wanted it back, and even the Israeli government petitioned to have it returned to them on the grounds that it belonged to Jacob! I have no idea what was going on behind the scenes, but we soon discovered that all of this was very pertinent to our move to Minnesota.

We understood that we were to hold a final prayer campaign on August 3, 1996 called “These Stones II,” precisely 980 days after the Jubilee Prayer Campaign (Nov. 30, 1993). In other words, we moved to Seattle to oversee the first prayer campaign, and our stay there ended with a final prayer campaign. We left town the following Monday, August 5.

I flew to Minnesota the third week in July to find a place to live, but was unable to find anything suitable. I ended up ministering most of the week I was there, instead of searching for a house. Toward the end of that time, as I prayed about the situation, the Lord spoke to me, saying,

“Because you have sought to build My house, I will even build yours.”

I knew then that I was not to be concerned with the house situation. God would work out the details. So we moved to Minnesota purely by faith without first securing a place to live. After trying to rent a house, we found we had insufficient credit, so we were led to purchase one!

We made a list of six houses that were suitable, and the Lord then picked the best of the six and somehow qualified us to buy it. If this had happened after the year 2000, we might suspect that we were part of the current mortgage problem where lenders made a lot of risky loans. But as it turned out, we have never missed a payment, so we are not part of that current problem.

We called it our Jubilee House, because its cost was $120,000. As you know, the number 120 speaks of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and 1000 is glory.

But before we could move into the new house, we had to wait for the previous owners to build another house for themselves. So meanwhile, we found temporary housing at an apartment complex called The Gates of Edinburgh. Once we moved there, I began to see how The Gates of Edinburgh connected to the Coronation Stone.

I remembered a Word given in 1985 that said, “Occupy the Gates until I come.” It was part of the revelation given in regard to “Occupy Till I Come” prayer campaign on June 4, 1995. The revelation had been given ten years earlier in regard to June 4, 1985, but the prayer campaign itself was not held until 1995.

So I began to see that the prayer campaign on June 4, 1995 was setting us up for our move to The Gates of Edinburgh in 1996. And this entire experience was a revelation about the transfer of authority taking place as the result of the Jubilee declaration on Sept. 23, 1996.

We had signed the papers for the house and then moved into The Gates of Edinburgh to await the day we could move into our Jubilee House. It occurred to me that we would have to “occupy the gates” (of Edinburgh) until the Coronation Stone (representing Christ and His authority) had moved to its final resting place.

We were told that we would be able to move on November 27, so we settled in for a 3-month wait while the other people’s house was being built. This also told me the approximate date that the Coronation Stone would be moved, though at the time its final destination had not yet been announced.

By this time I knew, however, by the name of our apartment, that it would be moved to Edinburgh, Scotland. We were to “occupy” The Gates of Edinburgh until the Coronation Stone arrived in Edinburgh Castle.

The Stone itself represented Christ as well as the authority of Christ, because as Paul tells us, “that Rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4). That is, it was the “anointed” (christos, Christ) rock, which Jacob had anointed with oil in Gen. 28:18, making it a type of Christ.

On November 15, the Coronation Stone left Westminster Abbey in London and was taken on a tour to various places before finally coming to rest in Edinburgh Castle on November 30, 1996. This was St. Andrews Day, and Prince Andrew presided over the ceremony. Andrew means “manly.”

We took this to mean that the princes of MEN were officially turning over the divine right to rule to the SAINTS of the Most High. This was in accordance with Daniel 7:27,

²⁷ Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions will serve and obey Him.

As it turned out, we signed the final papers Nov. 27, but because they still wanted to clean the house on the 28th, we could not begin moving until Nov. 29. We finished moving the final items on Nov. 30 just two hours after the Coronation Stone was placed at Edinburgh.

So we had indeed occupied the Gates of Edinburgh until Christ (the Rock) came to Edinburgh Castle.

The historical events themselves were important to those involved in them, but to us the real importance was the revelation of what God was doing. The return of the Coronation Stone signified to us that the Jubilee declaration had been effective in the Divine Court on Sept. 23, and that the transfer of authority to the saints of the Most High had become official on November 30, 1996.

The inter-relationship between world events and spiritual events is well illustrated by this example. Most people see only from a worldly perspective and miss the more important spiritual event and its revelation. But when we have eyes to see and ears to hear His voice, all of life around us begins to be one big revelation of the Kingdom.

Four years later, on November 30, 2000, we reached the end of the 7½ year transition from Saul to David. Thus, the legal transfer of authority was seen on Nov. 30, 1996, but this was simply a spiritual event establishing the actual date four years later on the same date.

The Dragon Wars: 1996-1999

During the time that we were moving to Minnesota and moving into our Jubilee House, another event was occurring that would plunge us into spiritual warfare for the next 3½ years.

In September of 1996 an unusual astronomical event occurred for the first time in history. The moon passed through the womb of Virgo, the Virgin, and moved down to her feet, while the sun was positioned behind her. The moon was like a child being born and laid at her feet.

In other words the heavens actually portrayed what is written in Revelation 12:1-5,

¹ And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; ² and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth . . . ⁵ And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.

This occurred for four years in a row each September when the sun was in Virgo. There was some excitement in various Christian circles, of course, and many thought the “rapture” was about to happen. When it did not happen, they went on as if nothing had happened. It is unfortunate that so many Christians think that every sign can point only to the so-called “rapture,” as if God does nothing else, or as if nothing else is important in the progression of the Kingdom. So when the “rapture” does not happen, they move on to the next sign in hopes that it will bring the “rapture,” forgetting all previous signs.

Greg Killian described this sign in 1996:

“Draco is poised above the woman, waiting to snatch the manchild. The moon is poised in the 'birth canal' of the virgin who is lying down with her feet in the air . . . The constellation of Coma Bernice is the crown of twelve stars above the virgin's head.”

Again, he wrote:

“Those who celebrate Rosh Chodesh (the new moon) have learned that Messiah is represented by Lavanah (“moon). The celebration of Rosh Chodesh, the new moon, includes the announcement of the new moon with the words: 'David, King of Israel, lives and endures!' Lavanah, the moon, represents Messiah in this unique astronomical event. This particular positioning of the mazzaroth (constellation) Bethulah, the virgin, about to give 'birth' to the moon (the Messiah) has never occurred before, and will never again, due to the precession of the equinoxes.”

As I said, this sign occurred four years in a row, and the greatest precision of all came in the final year—September of 1999. This was Jesus’ 2000^th birthday, which we celebrated on Sept. 11, 1999 as Rosh Hoshana. However, the first such occurrence was in September of 1996, the month that we declared the Jubilee.

This was a major astronomical sign of the birth of the Manchild which, in some way, was being birthed in our day. It began with the Jubilee declaration and ended with Jesus' 2000^th birthday, the end of the “two days” prophesied in Hosea 6:2,

² He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him.

These three years (1996-1999) saw what we called “The Dragon Wars,” in which we participated in spiritual battles in the heavens to overthrow the Red Dragon and prevent him from devouring the Manchild. Looking back at this time from the present perspective, it seems that it was important to deal with the Red Dragon before the birth of the Manchild in order to prevent the spiritual forces from aborting the transfer of authority to the overcomers.

Preliminary Skirmishes with the Red Dragon

The Dragon Wars really began as early as July of 1996, immediately following our decision to move from Seattle to Minneapolis. Our final decision was made on July 5, 1996, and we physically left Seattle on August 5. But before we left, we made a special trip to Sidney, on Vancouver Island (British Columbia), to visit Margaret Price, whose name means “Pearl of Great Price.” She called on July 11, and we made arrangements to visit her and have a short vacation before leaving the area.

We arrived in Sidney on July 15 and returned the 17^th. After she had called to invite us, and before we arrived, she was attacked spiritually in her feet by the spirit of Python (Acts 16:16, puthon, “divination”). We only learned of this after arriving there. We immediately went on high alert, because we recognized that we were up against a major spiritual power, which is pictured in constellation Draco, the dragon, who seeks to devour the Manchild. Gen. 3:15 spoke of the dragon (serpent) being bruised on the head, while in turn inflicting a bruise on the heel. Thus, Margaret's feet were attacked.

We prayed for her protection and entered the time of warfare against this dragon. Then we returned to Seattle to prepare for a second trip a few days later to the other end of the State of Washington to attend a conference. It was at Clarkston on the Snake River, which separates Washington from Idaho. I had never been there and did not really even know precisely how to get there until we were on our way. But as we proceeded, I began to see highway signs advertising “Hells Gate Canyon.”

I discovered only then that Clarkston was situated at the “head” of the deepest gorge in North America known as Hells Gate Canyon, located on the Snake River. So we went from Vancouver Island to Hells Gate Canyon within the same week to deal with the serpent-dragon.

At Clarkston, a group of women from Wasilla, Alaska joined with us to decree judgment upon the dragon July 21, 1996. Wasilla is the home town of Alaska governor, Sarah Palin, who was later to become the vice presidential candidate with John McCain.

I also found it interesting to see so many people at the conference in Clarkston having problems with their feet! One was even on crutches. It looked like a war zone. There were indications everywhere that the dragon had bruised the heel (and feet) of the believers.

These early skirmishes plunged us into spiritual warfare for the next 3½ years. The purpose of our warfare was to ensure that the “woman” would be protected, and that the Manchild would not be devoured as soon as He was born. After all, “David” was just then emerging after the death of “Saul” in 1993. The company of overcomers (the Manchild) was in its 7½ year transition from May 30, 1993 to Nov. 30, 2000, and this company was being threatened by the dragon.

Over the next few years we would engage the enemy as he attacked us in different ways.

The Dragon War Continues in 1997

On June 19, 1997 Michele made a “tourist” trip to China with a group of 18 Christian women. It was actually a time of spiritual warfare. China is known as the land of the dragon. They arrived in Hong Kong June 21, and after touring cities in China, they returned to Hong Kong on the 28th. During their tour, 5 out of 6 of their tour guides were led to Christ.

They stayed long enough to watch the ceremonies where Hong Kong was officially being returned to China on July 1, 1997. Prince Charles presided over this ceremony. His flag is the only flag in the world with a red dragon on it. Hong Kong has long been called “The Pearl of the Orient.”

Mythology says that the dragon came from the sea, and that in order to maintain itself on land, it must eat pearls. Thus, in the fireworks celebration over the harbor, the fireworks depicted a dragon coming up out of the water and swallowing up the old Hong Kong flag—i.e., the Pearl of the Orient.

I discerned that the Chinese were inadvertently prophesying of the Dragon Wars that had begun a year earlier. In July of 1996 the attack had been against Margaret Price (the “Pearl” of Great “Price”). In July 1997 this theme was continuing with the dragon swallowing Hong Kong, the Pearl of the Orient.

While all this was going on in Hong Kong, another prophetic event (showdown) was developing in America. It was the June 28 boxing match between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield. Tyson was a convert to Islam and had a tattoo of Mao Zedung on his right shoulder (connecting him to China). Holyfield was a devout Christian.

David Demian and Marc Bisebois, reported:

“Holyfield prepared himself not only physically, but spiritually. In his dressing room before the fight he prayed and praised. Surrounded by Christian praise music, he made it his aim to enter the ring with the presence of God.”

Holyfield won the first two rounds, and then in the third round, Tyson spit out his mouthpiece and bit a half inch of flesh from Holyfield's ear. The referee gave him a warning, but Tyson did it again, and he was disqualified.

So Holyfield won in the third round, and this told us that we would see “three rounds” in the Dragon Wars. Since “the field is the world” (Matt. 13:38), we understood that the “Holy Field” was about the Kingdom of God being established in the world. By the next month (August 1997) we found ourselves in the first round of spiritual warfare against the Red Dragon. It was to have a profound effect upon millions of people in the world.