From the desk of Steve Shultz:
I have one word for this latest article by Tom Hamon: PROFOUND!
We get those words once in awhile, that you can ponder and sit on and read over and over...this one of those words!
This truly is a much needed "NOW" word for the Church and for our nation in this hour...even for this week we are in!
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"A New Prophetic Season For America: The Cyrus Decree and Breaking Resistance!"
Tom Hamon, Santa Rosa Beach, FL
At a time when it seems like everyone wants to focus on personalities and personal feelings, the truth is that we are fighting principalities and powers and evil spirits that are set in high places over our nation that have an agenda to steal, kill and destroy all that is good and godly(Ephesians 6:12).
If you have been aware at all of all the prophetic indications about our recent election, then you have an understanding that we are living in a time of distinct "divine reversal" and a Cyrus decree. If you remember it is in the books of Isaiah, Ezra and Nehemiah that we find the story of Israel's demise into captivity because of their sin and the abandonment of God and His laws.
The children of God ended up in a dark and desperate place in bondage to foreign powers that had invaded their land and taken them captive.
It was in those times that God began to remind Israel of their true calling and covenant and called them back to possess their land and inheritance.
They found themselves in bondage and slavery in Babylon; but in Isaiah 45, God prophesied through His prophets the very name of the man that would conquer the land in a surprising attack through the double gates, and then release the decrees that would authorize them to return to their land, rebuild the temple, and rebuild the city.
In history, we know that Cyrus dammed up the river Euphrates that flowed into Babylon and marched through the double gates of the river into Babylon and conquered it. We know that the prophet Daniel was stationed there in Babylon by God and probably opened the scrolls of Isaiah to Cyrus, so he could discover that this feat was no accident but a fulfillment of the prophetic word that foretold his very name and the mission he was called to accomplish for God.
I believe we are living in a parallel to those very times today.
"Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held—to subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings, to open before him the double doors, so that the gates will not be shut." (Isaiah 45:1 NKJV)
The Cyrus Decree
"Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of Heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah.
"Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem." (Ezra 1:1-4 NKJV)
"Be ready to fight and God will fight with us, and we will rebuild the temple."
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This is what we call the "Cyrus Decree". It is interesting that Cyrus was not a Jew or necessarily a God-fearing man, but a shrewd conqueror that God calls, "My anointed"; not because he was so godly but because he was anointed by God to be powerfully used to bless the people of God during his reign. I'm sure all that he did and instituted was not pleasing to all of Israel, but the significant divine reversals he brought to their plight made the difference for generations to come.
So what did Cyrus do? His main mission from God was to free God's people from captivity and pass legislation that would authorize them and empower them to repossess their land, rebuild the temple and rebuild the city. He unlocked the money, manpower and legislative authority to go and rebuild the temple and the city.
I believe rebuilding the temple has everything to do with the restoration and reformation of the Church in the earth in our generation—restoring the Church to its original call to operate in the power and character of Jesus Himself, so it can rightly represent His heart and purposes in the earth. Restoring the "walls of the city" has everything to do with rebuilding the culture and addressing the ills of society in our generation.
This is emblematic of the prophetic and apostolic anointing, operating in concert in the Church and in the earth, to tear down the idolatrous and false and build the blessing of God's Kingdom call and covenant back into our land today (Jeremiah 1). God used Cyrus as the key conqueror and government official to unlock the land, and if you will, Nehemiah and Zerubbabel were the apostles of the work, and Jeremiah, Ezra, Haggai, Isaiah and Zechariah were the key prophetic voices that released the words which caused the work to advance.
"So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia." (Ezra 6:14 NKJV)
What Did Cyrus Do?
What did Cyrus do to help in this strategic plan from God? Specifically, it says that Cyrus restored three things. He issued commands that helped Israel
restore the judges, the teachers and the fathers of the land. It was this strategy that eventually turned the tide of the nation.
(Photo via Wikipedia)
The Judges: were key to releasing righteous judgment back into the systems and culture of the land. The judges were to help relay the foundational principles so that justice and order, according to God's word and law, could prevail in the land.
What happens through our Supreme Court justices, federal judges and local judges will determine the course of our culture for a generation.
The Teachers: were key to turn the tide of iniquity, idolatry and depravity and reversed the effect of the mindset of captivity in the land. A generation had grown accustomed to the ways of Babylon and grown comfortable and fatalistic to the reality of captivity. Hopelessness, compromise and comfortability with captivity, had captured their hearts. God was releasing a decree through Cyrus for the opportunity to take back the systems of education of a generation that had led them into bondage.
What happens in our academic and educational systems, both public and private, will set the tone of the values and morals of a generation.
The Fathers: had to be restored in order for true healing to happen in the land. The true father's heart had to be released so that a generation could be healed from abandonment, rejection and dysfunction. Cyrus authorized and enabled Israel to restore the judges, the fathers and the teachers back into the land, so that the curse could be broken and the blessings of God would flow again (Malachi 4:5).
The fathers in our government, in family, in business and in the Church can lead our land into healing or Hell. Restoring back and setting in those with the true father's heart in our generation will bring sorely needed security, stability, true identity, courage and healing to our land.
Conflict, Controversy, Confusion and Counter Attacks Arise
This is all exciting and wonderful stuff, however, where I believe we are living today is described in chapter 4 of Nehemiah. If we look at this chapter, we see that the Cyrus reversal had begun for the people of God and Nehemiah, and the prophets began to work with this fresh authorization from the government to restore and build. However, I want you to notice that it was not without great conflict.
First of all, let me note that reformation is often messy, complicated and full of conflict. That was true of reformation in Jesus' day in the first reformation. It was definitely true during the 2nd Reformation in Martin Luther's day. (I do find it significant that we are celebrating the 500th-year anniversary of that reformation this month of October 2017.) This was definitely also true in Nehemiah's day and in our day as well: what happened when the people began to operate to rebuild under the new Cyrus decree in their generation?
A Mocking Spirit
It says when the enemies in the land heard of it that they were furious, very indignant and mocked the Jews (Nehemiah 4:1). This is where we are today.
The resistant, antichrist spirits in our land are furious and indignant at the results of this last election and the reversals of agendas in the land, and one of their main tools they are using is a "mocking spirit" sent to humiliate all those called to carry out this agenda.
They mocked them with words like, "What are these feeble Jews (Christians) doing? Really, will they be able to protect and fortify themselves? Will they restore service and sacrifice to God? Will they be able to build this in a day?" Or, "How long will this take, they can't get anything done or make progress. If they do restore or rebuild the foundation and the walls, then even if a fox goes up on it then it will fall." In other words, "It will not work, or be lasting or stand."
These are the words we are hearing today. Please try and be discerning today as we navigate through so many voices vying for our attention. Scripture does not say that we will live by every tweet from leaders and certainly not by every word that proceeds out of the talking mouths of CNN or our national news media, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God!
False Accusations
"We are living in a time of distinct "divine reversal" and a Cyrus decree"
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We know in Ezra 4, that they tried to dishearten and discourage the people of God by falsely accusing them about their motives and making them out to be the problem in the land. They hired lawyers to try and stop the work and frustrate their purpose in rebuilding.
"Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose." (Ezra 4:4-5a NKJV)
• Their Prayer to God
In response to all these attacks, this is what the people of God prayed:
"Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity! Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You; for they have provoked You to anger before the builders. So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work." (Nehemiah 4:4-6 NKJV)
• Our Prayer to God Today
I believe this must be the type of prayer the Church is praying in this hour:
"God, we are despised in the sight of our enemies but turn the reproach back upon their own heads and turn our captivity as you bring them into captivity! Uncover the schemes and sins of our enemies and fight for us out of your righteous indignation! Lord, we have a mind to work to rebuild and restore the righteous foundations in our nation so that it and we might be blessed by Your hand!"
Even after this prayer, it says that the enemy gets even more angry when they see the restoration in the land taking place.
"Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.
"Then Judah said, 'The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.' And our adversaries said, 'They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.' So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, 'From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us.'" (Nehemiah 4:7-12 NKJV)
The Enemy Wants the Work to Stop at All Costs!
They are intent on causing the work to cease! It says that they became extremely angry and began to conspire together to attack and create confusion. The confusing voices were not just from the outside, but from the inside as well. Judah says that the work was too hard, too much, and there was just too much junk to deal with. The adversaries said that they are too cunning, powerful and sneaky in their attacks to be defeated; and some of the Jews (Christians) in the land were saying about themselves that no matter what they tried to do, they couldn't protect themselves or stop what was happening.
(Photo via Wikipedia)
But Nehemiah had a strategy:
"Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, 'Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.' And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work." (Nehemiah 4:13-15 NKJV)
Be prepared to fight! He told every tribe or family to be prepared to fight. Don't try to take on the whole cause but wherever you are stationed, you can fight and make a difference!
In other words:
• Don't be afraid!
• Don't let fear or fatalism rule your hearts or win the day.
• Remember the greatness of your God!
• Remember God's covenant with America, God's call on this land and your life, and never forget that God will fight for you, and fight for your family and your generations!
• If you love your family and this land, then fight for it!
• God knows how to bring the enemy's plots to nothing so we can return to the work of rebuilding.
A Sword and a Trowel
Later in this chapter, it relays the ongoing strategies that Nehemiah employs. He says let everyone fill in the gaps. These are the intercessors taking their positions along with prophetic watchmen on the walls. He fills in the gaps and calls everyone to be both a fighter and builder. Be prophetic and apostolic! Carry both a sword and a trowel! Then he says because we are separated on the wall at times, we must have a strategy when the attack comes. His strategy is simple. When you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally together for the cause and fight as one!
The trumpet is always symbolic of the prophetic voice of the Lord that releases strategies from Heaven. At the sound of the trumpet, rally, unify, listen for the strategy and commands from Heaven and then fight! He says let us be diligent to watch and pray. Let everyone take their shift to stand guard. Let's be diligent to guard our progress in the work. Watch day and night! Don't take off your clothes he says, or don't ever let your guard down or be caught ill-prepared but stay awake and alert. Be ready to fight and God will fight with us, and we will rebuild the temple (the Church) and we will rebuild the walls (the foundations of our nation for God)!
Our God Will Fight for Us!
"Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, 'The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.'" (
Nehemiah 4:19-20 NKJV) (To Subscribe to the Elijah List
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Tom and Jane Hamon are the senior pastors of Vision Church @ Christian International in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. Their ministry together is an example to the Body of Christ of a husband and wife team working in tandem and unity to accomplish God's purposes. Their ministry is characterized by a rich deposit of God's wisdom to provide apostolic covering for the Church, prophetic teaching and ministry, and demonstration of Kingdom anointing and power. They travel as an apostolic/prophetic team to the nations, imparting both the Spirit of Wisdom and revelation to establish the Church and break open territories through spiritual warfare for the Kingdom of God to be experienced in a powerful and practical way.
Adapted from 40 Days Through the Prayers of Jesus by Tim Cameron, copyright 2017, published by charisma house; Charisma Media/Charisma House Book Group. This book will help you discover many of the secrets, mysteries and provoking lessons that Jesus's prayer life teaches. You will also discover how prayer opens your eyes to see the miraculous in the mundane, as well as receive more revelation of God's character. To order your copy, click on this link.
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