The Fire conference I have just returned from caused a springing up of the revelatory words you find below.
I believe 2 Kings shows us the process of how to being seated in heavenly places with Jesus. The Holy Word indicates that the prophet Elijah was taken up in the heavenly chariots. Elijah had an anointing which was carried on in John the Baptist who paved the way for our Jesus, our Messiah.
Elijah went through on a journey in order to attain this amazing ascension into heaven and even today Jewish people expect him to come back (during the Seder meal they leave out a seat for him for instance). It seems his body did not ‘die’ nor decay in the usual way. 2 Kings actually begins by stating the fact that Elijah was going to go up into heaven, which is not the usual fashion by which these stories begin and indicates that this process he went on was highly prophetic, and I believe significant for the times we live in today. The narrative begins with the ending, could this be a clue about its relevance to the end of ages? What can we learn from Elijah’s journey?
The process which Elijah experienced was obviously directed by our Father in heaven and goes something like this:
Elijah went to Bethel the ‘House of God’ where Jacob ‘saw’ the ladder going up to heaven where angel ascended and descended. This part of the process was going to a place of ‘seeing’ and of being at a supernatural gateway where the heavenly realm touches earth. We can ask our Father in heaven to be able to go to such a place, to open our eyes to the Kingdom of heaven. Personally not so long ago I had a recurring open vision in which I could see this ladder over my head wherever I walked and that the angels of God were able to ascend and descend up and down into and out of the earthly realm from heaven. I believe this is available to us all and it can impact the earthly realm as we walk in faith. You can ask Father to be a gateway for heaven itself. Jacob had a struggle with the Angel of the Lord who came down the heavenly ladder which incidentally looks like a spiral much like DNA. I believe this struggle maybe to do with (amongst other things) the struggle between our flesh and the things of God. We can all be a gateway of the presence and allow messages from Gods heavenly kingdom to be brought from heaven to earth. We can see what the father is doing as Jesus did and obey the messages that come down through us from the very throne of God to impact others and this world for good. Ever since the realisation of this aspect in my life I have been able to see Gods kingdom coming to earth more readily, for instance people easily coming to faith through me (partnering with the messages God has for people), people knowing Gods presence and receiving a healing touch. Also there is a hunger to please my father in heaven.
The next place the Lord specified for Elijah to go was Jericho which was the place of enemy walls coming down. This time the process was about ‘sounding out’ and worshipping in Spirit and Truth in order for the enemy stronghold to be easily crashed. I believe this is the second place our Father brings us to in order to be able to be aware of being seated IN His heavenly places. This place is a place of sounding out as well as a place of listening and obedience. All the strongholds which are of the enemy within our mind, emotions (soul) and body can be easily obliterated by us worshipping in spirit and truth. This place of being happens when we have the revelation of His word within us and we worship Him with all our heart, mind and body sacrificially. Joshua obeyed the word of the Lord and marched around the walls seven times and the final time the whole nation shouted out a mighty sound. Holy Spirit indicated to me that this is a place of forgiveness of others and for oneself also, Jesus said forgive seventy times seven! Elijah went to ‘Jericho’ which means ‘ fragrant ‘ so the sense is obviously a beautiful smell and this is also part of the journey of going deeper into the kingdom of heavenly life. When the walls come down we enter into the fragrant place of being more like Jesus and even begin to smell as sweet as he! We can be in the place of Jericho, which is a place of victory over the enemy of our soul which enables us to walk further on upon the highway of holiness. We can be free from the attacks of the enemy upon our minds, emotions and body, this is the walk into a higher place into the Kingdom of Jesus, Father and Holy Spirit. This is a level of glory Father wants for us all.
Walking to the river of Jordan and crossing over was the next port of call for Elijah and indeed Elisha (who would not leave his side but fixed his eyes on Elijah whose name means ‘My God is YHVH’). The river is representative of moving into the promises of God and His Kingdom, just as the children of Israel (or those who struggled with God which is the definition of ‘Israel’) crossed over into the promised land through the Jordan. Elijah was told by God to strike the water with his prayer shawl or Talit in order for the waters of the world to part so that he could move into the higher place. Prayer here is the important aspect i.e listening and talking with our Father in Heaven/Jesus/Holy Spirit. You speaking to Father God is one of the main keys to move through! This is what the striking of the water can mean. God’s powerful word with our words (our prayers) are important to our Father God, he has decided to use our words and prayers to strike the waters of the world and cause a separation of the righteous from evil from our lives, and others lives, once and for all. The evil is held back by the righteous prayers of the saints and word of His testimony.
The word of God divides and strikes; our words/prayers can also do this as we are continually cleansed by Him and align ourselves with His teachings (Word). When we realise this and have faith about this revelation we move higher or ‘cross over’ as Elijah did in the river; into the fullness of His ways and will. The word ‘to cross over’ is actually the word ‘Hebrew’. So it means that we become Gods beloved; we know, and it is revealed to us that we are a ‘crossed over’ or ‘separated’ person from the world. We have actually become a ‘Hebrew’ when we cross over the spiritual river of Jordan in our lives (the word Jordan means ‘descending’) which is like a baptism of cleansing from the world. It is significant that John the Baptist baptised Jesus in this actual river also! The dove descended (or Jordaned!) from heaven, the holy spirit came down on the place of descending! We can be and in fact are ‘crossed over’ ones, separated from the world, made holy in the baptism by water and fire of the holy spirit who descends from heaven as well as living within us. Where are you on this journey ? Elijah crossed over and then took the heavenly chariot up and up to be seated in the heavenly places, I believe this is a place we can all attain to and this is part of the glorious gospel of our King Jesus.
In the pattern of the teachings of Father, Elisha took up the mantel of Elijah and had a double anointing. Thereafter Jesus went on to do greater works than John the Baptist, who was anointed with the Spirit of Elijah.
I believe one of the reasons Jesus left us to ascend into heaven, is that we are to take up the ‘mantle’ or in other words partner with Jesus himself to do the ‘greater works’ He spoke of. We can be cloaked in Him as well as be filled with His Spirit of life giving water.
The above is describing the process of how the amazing old testament prophets accessed the heavenly realms, I believe its significant for us here and now. Will you fix your eyes on Jesus wherever he takes you (similarly to Elisha with Elijah). Going from the house of God, to victory over the enemy of the kingdom of heaven; to cross over to live in the fullness of the heavenly kingdom of the promises of our Father? It is an exciting place to be and getting there is just as thrilling!