 "A Summer of Miracles" by Kathi Pelton, Eugene, ORFrom the Desk of Steve Shultz: Well...I am DEFINITELY looking forward to this Summer of Miracles that Kathi Pelton from Eugene writes about. She mentions:I continually see the months of May through August as a swell in the spirit that births a time in history where great miracles are seen throughout the Earth. This "swell" will be like the miracle of birthing new life and will be marked by unprecedented miracles that occur in impossible circumstance. Birthing NEW life? Miracles? Sign me up! I believe there is GREAT JOY ahead of us this Summer. Get excited for your Summer of Miracles! (To Subscribe to the Elijah List go here.) Please forward this word to your friends! Encourage them to subscribe to the Elijah List right here: http://elijahlist.com/subscribe. Enjoy! Steve Shultz, Founder and Publisher The Elijah List & Breaking Christian News http://www.elijahlist.com ************************************* "A Summer of Miracles"by Kathi Pelton, Eugene, OR For a few weeks now I keep hearing the words, "This summer will be remembered as a 'Summer of Miracles.'" I continually see the months of May through August as a swell in the spirit that births a time in history where great miracles are seen throughout the Earth. This "swell" will be like the miracle of birthing new life and will be marked by unprecedented miracles that occur in impossible circumstance. This summer's miracles will establish a "new norm" (normal) in the Church where miracles are no longer rare but frequent and widespread. Miracles will flow through children's prayers, the prayers of unknown Saints and through those that God has raised up to stand before the masses. Nations Will Shift and Be Brought Forth These miracles will come upon nations that have been thought of as a "lost cause". Get ready to see a move of God come upon the darkest places. We will see that the Saints in those nations who have been hidden and held captive will suddenly be like when Joseph was set free. Their prayers, their faithfulness in dark captivity and their worship will suddenly break through the darkness and light will come causing the darkness to be broken. Isaiah 66:8 will be seen. "Who has ever heard of such things? Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children."The faithful remnant in nations that have been known to persecute Christians will emerge suddenly from captivity into freedom. They will worship freely and with great joy. They will be anointed to set the captives free. This is not only for nations that have been under an oppressive government but it is for nations that have been considered "free" and yet darkness has gained a foothold. Canada will experience a "tsunami" that will be like the water breaking before a birthing. It will shift the spiritual landscape and break down dividing walls. As they have stood to see other nations birthed, now they will see the birthing of God's purposes on their own soil. The spiritual ice will melt in the Great North. The light of the Son will come upon the Inuits, the French, the English and the First People of the land and unity will emerge – one family formed to establish God's purposes. God's chosen remnant in Canada will also reach across the border, into the womb of the United States, and be a midwife for the birthing of what the Lord has planted in North America as a continent. The walls of division between the two nations will crumble. Watch the nations that the enemy has attacked with acts of terrorism because the enemy has marked them for a great move of God. Nations such as France, England, Germany, the US, Sweden, Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and Syria will experience a great move of God. They have all been chosen by God to strike terror in the enemy's camp. What the enemy meant for harm God will turn for the profit and good of these nations. These will be like the days of Joseph and the mercy of God will triumph over judgement. "But Joseph replied, 'Don't be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. No, don't be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.' So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them." Genesis 50:19-21The Fear of the Lord is Key Many in the Body of Christ have suffered greatly over the past few years. The pressures have been great but these pressures have produced a refiner's fire that has purified hearts, motives, beliefs and character. A shift has taken place that has caused God's people to move from the fear of man into the fear of the Lord. This shift is the key to this move of God that is swelling even now. The water will break to bring forth the birthing of seeing the sovereignty of God displayed throughout the nations. The strength of man has not brought this forth but rather the humbling of man so that in great human weakness (humility) the strength of God will be made manifest. "So He said to me, 'This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty." Zechariah 4:6I hear the words, "Grace, grace..." being shouted over the Church, "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.'" 2 Corinthians 12:9Conclusion The birthing of God's purposes and promises begin with a breaking of the water. I see the dates May 24 - August 24 as a time for this Summer of Miracles and the swell of this water washing over people and nations. It is like a great bowl or basin of water is about to tip and pour down. Deep has called out to deep and it has filled this heavenly basin (bowl). "Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me." Psalm 42:7This pouring out of water will not only cause a great move of God but it will also serve as a washing of His current-day disciples' feet. "So He got up from the table, took off His robe, wrapped a towel around His waist, and poured water into a basin. Then He began to wash the disciples' feet, drying them with the towel He had around Him." John 13:4-5Watch for and expect a Summer of Miracles to come upon the Church! (To Subscribe to the Elijah List go here.) Kathi Pelton Inscribe Ministries Email: jkpelton@sbcglobal.net Website: www.inscribeministries.com Jeffrey and Kathi Pelton understand our culture's need for encouragement and hope. Through writing and speaking, they escort individuals into awareness of God's profound compassion and mercy that heals brokenness, and they have a unique ability to help anyone seeking pathways into His kind embrace. For several years, Jeffrey and Kathi led a house of prayer located in Kelowna, British Columbia. Currently, they travel extensively, working with prayer and prophetic movements. Recently, Jeffrey and Kathi, their grown children, and their one grandson relocated from Northern California to Eugene, Oregon. They continue to travel and have begun networking with prayer ministries in the Pacific Northwest. They are also part of a development team for Kairos Ministries, a local church plant. ************************************* To receive daily, encouraging prophetic emails from The Elijah List to your in box CLICK HERE or go to: http://elijahlist.com/subscribe Visit our webstore and check out Alveda King's brand new book by Elijah List Publications: America Return to God: http://www.elijahshopper.com/america-return-to-god-by-alveda-c-king/ Also check out Steve Shultz's Revised and 2nd Edition book Can't You Talk Louder, God?: http://www.elijahshopper.com/cant-you-talk-louder-god-secrets-to-hearing-the-voice-of-god-revised-and-updated-edition-by-steve-shultz/ Permission is granted (and you are also encouraged) to reprint these articles in hard copy form, as well as sending them to your own email lists and posting them on your own websites. We ask only that you keep Elijah List website, email contact info, and author contact information intact. Elijah List Publications 528 Ellsworth St. SW Albany, OR 97321 www.elijahlist.com email: info@elijahlist.net Phone 1-541-926-3250   |
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Archaeologists in Iraq have made an unexpected discovery under a site destroyed by Islamic State (ISIS). The site that was destroyed was thought to hold the tomb of the biblical prophet Jonah.
Under a mound covering the ancient city of Nineveh, beneath a shrine destroyed by ISIS, they found a previously undiscovered palace built in the seventh century BCE for the Biblical Assyrian King Sennacherib and renovated by his son Esarhaddon.
The Nabi Younus shrine in Mosul — which was built on the reputed burial site of a prophet known in the Bible as Jonah — was a popular pilgrimage site.
In July 2014, weeks after overrunning Mosul and much of Iraq’s Sunni Arab heartland, ISIS militants rigged the shrine and blew it up, sparking global outrage.
In mid-January this year, Iraqi troops in Nineveh liberated the site.
“(It is) far more damaged than we expected,” Culture Minister Salim Khalaf said.
But ISIS also dug tunnels beneath the shrine searching for artifacts to plunder.
Iraqi archaeologist Layla Salih told Britain’s Daily Telegraph that in the tunnels she discovered a “marble cuneiform inscription of King Esarhaddon thought to date back to the Assyrian empire in 672 BCE.”
Although Esarhaddon’s name does not appear, the king is described in terms that were only used to refer to him, referencing his rebuilding of Babylon after his father’s death.
Chapters 18 and 19 of the biblical book of II Kings describe Sennacherib’s unsuccessful attempt to conquer Jerusalem. Upon his return to his palace he was murdered by two of his sons, who then fled, leaving Esarhaddon to take over the kingdom.
“And it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sarezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead,” reads verse 19:37 in Kings II.
Eleanor Robson, head of the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, said the terror group’s destruction had opened the way to a “fantastic find.”
“The objects don’t match descriptions of what we thought was down there,” she said, according to a Telegraph report. “There’s a huge amount of history down there, not just ornamental stones. It is an opportunity to finally map the treasure-house of the world’s first great empire, from the period of its greatest success.”
However, ISIS plundered many of the items that were in the palace. Khalaf estimated that more than 700 items have been looted from the site to be sale on the black market.
Searching for lost treasures
Iraq is turning to Interpol and other world agencies to track down the lost treasures. Under UN Security Council resolution 2199, all trade in cultural artifacts from Iraq and Syria is illegal.
“We believe they took many of the artifacts, such as pottery and smaller pieces, away to sell. But what they left will be studied and will add a lot to our knowledge of the period,” she said.
However, she also warned that the tunnels were not built professionally and were at risk of collapse within weeks.
The city of Mosul is intertwined with human history, tracing its roots to 4,400 years ago when civilization rose in fabled, fertile Mesopotamia.
Today, as Iraqi forces backed by an international coalition inch forward in their fight to recover Mosul from the Islamic State (ISIS) group, historians are looking at how to save, repair or retrieve precious heritage after the jihadists’ three-year reign.
At a meeting in Paris last week, Iraqi officials and dozens of experts from around the world agreed to coordinate efforts to restore Iraq’s cultural treasure.
But, they admitted, the road ahead will be hard and long.
“The main challenge is for Iraqis to deal with this task by themselves. It is important to empower the people,” said Stefan Simon, director of global cultural heritage initiatives at Yale university.
“It is a heartbreaking situation,” he added. “Rehabilitation will take a very long time. They need patience. ”
In 2014, at the zenith of ISIS’ self-declared “caliphate” in Syria and Iraq, more than 4,000 Iraqi archaeological sites were under the heel of the Sunni fanatics.
In the Mosul region alone in northern Iraq, “at least 66 sites were destroyed, some were turned into parking lots, Muslim and Christian places of worship suffered massive destruction, and thousands of manuscripts disappeared,” Iraq’s deputy minister for culture, Qais Rashid, said at the conference, hosted by UNESCO.
The most grievous blow has been suffered by the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, believed to be named after the biblical hunter Nimrod.
Eighty percent of the site has been destroyed, by jihadists driving bulldozers and detonating explosives.
Nineveh, once the largest city in the world, has been 70% destroyed.
Idolatry
As for Mosul itself, historians are quailing at the likely fate of the city’s museum, the second largest in Iraq and a treasure house of ancient artifacts.
After suffering looting during the 2003 Iraq War, the museum was on the point of reopening in 2014 when ISIS took over.
The jihadists immediately set about destroying objects from the Assyrian and Greek period, which they claimed promoted idolatry.
Grim discoveries by the Iraqi army in its advance towards the jihadists’ bastion of west Mosul have prompted some specialists to fear the worst.
“Daesh (ISIS) tried but will never erase our culture, identity, diversity, history and the pillars of civilization,” Iraqi Education Minister Mohammad Iqbal Omar said.
France Desmarais, of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), a professional museum group, said there was a long and tragic history of trafficking in cultural objects from northern Iraq.
However, “successive wars in Iraq since 2003 have created additional opportunities” for the trade, Desmarais said.
Cultural roots, good and bad
The long-term needs of preserving Iraq’s ancient history are many. They start with securing and monitoring sites, drawing up an inventory of items that are safe or missing, restoring and digitizing manuscripts — a task that is dozens of years in the making, and with a bill to match.
But culture, good and bad, is part-and-parcel of human history. Accordingly, there is a deep well of goodwill for this venture.
“Culture implies more than just monuments and stones -– culture defines who we are,” says UNESCO chief Irina Bokova.
That’s a point of view shared by Najeeb Michaeel, an Iraqi Dominican monk who saved hundreds of manuscripts from the 13th to 18th century, spiriting them to safety in Kurdistan just before ISIS began its destructive grip on the plain of Nineveh.
“We have to save both man and culture,” Michaeel said. “You cannot save the tree without saving its roots.”
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This is a lightly edited version of the original article published by the Times of Israel at http://www.timesofisrael.com/islamic-state-looting-uncovers-ancient-palace-beneath-jonahs-tomb/
