20. The Battle

All strategy of war begins with this stand. If God be God, then let Him be God in us, as us, and through us. We are the Church; this planet belongs to us; we are the ones who remain. All other strategies flow out of this stand. It is the spirit and power of Elijah.

© Daniel Yordy - 2013

I will not speak of the Beast except through the eyes of the Lamb. We see all things through Jesus' eyes, especially the Beast. We know the Lamb as He defeats the Beast; we know the Beast as he is defeated by the Lamb.

The more I see the Lamb seated upon the throne of my heart, seeing out through eyes of fire, the more wicked the United States and Israeli governments become in my sight, along with all other governments on earth claiming a place in human life that belongs to Christ alone. Although we must understand human government as it sits upon the earth today, first, we must understand battle.

There is no point in re-inventing the wheel. The wisest military commanders in history engaged in battle identically to how Jesus engaged in battle. We can learn from them. I will refer to three, Sun Tzu, an early Chinese philosopher, in his treatise The Art of War; Subodai, Genghis Khan's most skilled general and probably the most brilliant military mind in history, who conquered Korea, then all of Russia and eastern Europe in his old age; and Arthur Wellesley, Lord Wellington, the commander of most of the British land war against Napoleon's France.

God uses human warfare as a metaphor of the gospel all the way through. God will speak to us through anything, if we are listening for His voice. In this article, I am referring to the things we face and will face in our lives, especially those things that will come against us from human government and human anger against Christ. There is much wisdom to be gained by considering wise strategy, much benefit towards our ultimate victory over all wickedness in the earth. Please bear with me, I find that my examples drive home a point of truth we must know that I did not see clearly until near the end of this letter.

I want to place as first a critical strategy of victory for the church in this hour that came to me through the testimony of two men, father and son, both named Victor Walter, both Spirit-filled pastors, Russians of German descent, who pastored a “secret” church in Soviet Central Asia under communist rule. I met the younger Victor in northern British Columbia in the early 1990's after he had brought his entire church out of Communist Russia through Germany, finally settling as a Christian community near us. You can read their story in Siberian Miracle by Peter de Bruijne, a must read.

In the early seventies father and son together were taken to the local KGB office for questioning. Now, you have heard, no doubt, about all the secret meetings, coded passwords, and furtive hiding in which the Christians carried on their church life as best they could under the vicious hatred of the communists. The Walters had been doing exactly that with their secret meetings of church. However, as they were sitting in the KGB interrogation room, the officer left the room for an extended time. He inadvertently left his files open on his desk. The two Victors took advantage of the moment to see what was recorded about them.

Everything.

Every secret thing they had done so carefully was written right there, fully open for the wrong eyes to see.

As the two men returned home, the power of Christ victorious in His church rose up in them. They said to each other, “What difference does any of that make? Let the church be the church!” And so they did. From that moment on, from the early 70's until the late 80's when the same KGB officer told the remaining younger Victor, “Please, please, take your entire church and go out from Russia, you have won,” they practiced Church in full openness and joy. No more secret meetings, no more furtive hidings. They held their services with the windows flung wide open. They lived together as the body of Christ on shared property, always caring for one another.

And yes, they were hounded; yes, they were thrown into prison, scattered far across Russia, but they did what no church in Russia had done. They remained a church; they stayed connected. Those not in prison traveled thousands of miles just to deliver a note to those in prison: “You are loved; you are not alone.” KGB officers would come into their open meetings. They did as they always did, immediately invited the KGB right down to the front. Then, they all dropped to their knees in prayer. The two still standing felt like fools and were soon down on their knees as well. When the communists sent the whole church out of Russia, they gathered every single one from the prisons; they left as one body of Christ.

Let the church be the church. There is no purpose in hiding. That was in the 70's, today there is no hiding at all. “Protecting our privacy” really is a waste of time. Let the church be the church. Yet the secret for them was that they loved one another, and they held to each other as one body in that bond of love, regardless of any consequence.

I am convinced that the church shepherded by the Walters, father and son, was one of the primary reasons why communism collapsed in Russia.

All strategy of war begins with this stand. If God be God, then let Him be God in us, as us, and through us. We are the Church; this planet belongs to us; we are the ones who remain. All other strategies flow out of this stand. It is the spirit and power of Elijah.

In 1994, while we were living in Oregon and our first two children were little, I became concerned about the powers of evil that sit upon the west coast states of this country. I became aware of some of the practices of evil upon the high green hills and in the deep woods. Out of that concern, I sought to escape with my family to a community in Alaska. It wasn't long before God said, “No,” to that idea. But after I settled into the peace of God, that my present “plans for escape” were not of Him, He spoke a word to me. What He said was so profound and holds me in good stead to this day. It is an essential strategy of victory in war.

“Do not fight against giants I have not placed before you.”

I was concerned about possibilities, not actualities. Were I to face an actuality, there is no question that God would enable me to know victory (I have always lived in an incredible bubble of protection, as has my wife). Now, the way I'm made, for God to say, “Don't worry about anything, just trust in Me,” that's not enough for me. Rather, God gave me the same word as a strategy of war, and thus it made perfect sense to me.

Here is the same thing coming through Corrie ten Boom, from The Hiding Place, words from her father.

I burst into tears, “I need you!” I sobbed. “You can't die! You can't!” “Corrie,” he began gently. “When you and I go to Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket?” “Why, just before we get on the train.” “Exactly. And our wise Father in heaven knows when we're going to need things, too. Don't run out ahead of him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need – just in time.”

Sun Tzu expanded that truth with this counsel. (My paraphrase) Do not fight every battle, in fact, if possible, fight only one, the last one. Those who feel the need to fight the enemy at every point of contention, though they may win each battle, will, in the end, be so bled out that they lose the war.

There are so many causes, so many battles, all crying for our participation, all calling us losers and cowards if we do not join with them. The fight against abortion, the fight against Monsanto, the fight against the Democrats, the fight against the Republicans, the fight against tyranny, the fight against licentiousness.

Those who give themselves to every fight that comes along are sidetracked from the real battle, the last battle, the battle that changes everything.

Knowing this one strategy of war helps me so very much. I know what is the final battle; upon it alone are my eyes fixed. I gather my strength; until my time comes I prepare myself. I will strike my blow in its time. I will not be tempted to strike before all victory over death can be made known. Then, in one mighty moment of the triumph of Jesus through us, all life is released and there is no more war.

Lord Wellington always strategized in this way. He was born way down the line of sons to a Lord; his oldest brother was appointed the Viceroy of India, so his climb through the ranks came very fast, purchased for him. He was still a boy as a major when he first saw battle, and immediately he began what he always did, look at the mistakes made and determine what not to do. His first assignment as an independent commanding officer, a colonel at the Battle of Seringapatam in southern India, he botched and lost some men. His mind surrounded that whole experience, and he never once made a similar mistake. Though minor, it was his only defeat.

Wellington was the master of defensive strategy; he attacked, yes, but only when it was right. If it was not right, if victory was not clear, he did not attack. The Battle of Salamanca in Spain was the greatest example of his strategy. Wellington was always badly outnumbered by the French in Spain and Portugal. He rarely commanded more than 50,000 men, English, Irish, and Portuguese; the French had 500,000 plus on the peninsula, though they could rarely place more than double Wellington's forces against him at any one time. Wellington could not afford to lose a single battle; if he lost one, it was over with for England in Portugal.

At Salamanca, Wellington held the perfect position, though he was outnumbered two to one. But the French had learned their lesson (momentarily) and would not attack. So Wellington retreated. He spent a month going all around the countryside north of Salamanca, retreating, retreating, retreating. Every time the French thought they had him, he was gone. Gradually he worked his way back to that perfect spot just south of the city. Only this time, the French were sure he would not fight, but simply wanted to escape back to Portugal. He allowed them to think that his entire army was fleeing and that now was the time for the French to strike. They did.

As the French spread out their line, pursuing a dust cloud that was just the baggage train, they passed perpendicular to the hills behind which the British were hidden. Bang, Wellington hit their turned flank, all the way across. Victory was certain; the French didn't stand a chance.

This story gives us a picture of this essential strategy in war.

Do not fight, up until that moment when the time is right, then strike with all your might and win.

I want to bring in here a piece I began to write awhile back, but never finished. It fits here so very well.

~~~

How the Power Elite Will Win Every Battle for the Triumph of Their Old World Chaos

And Utterly Lose the War

Assumption 1:

The world system is controlled almost entirely by an elite group of people. These people share three characteristics.

          A. They have access directly or indirectly to enormous levels of wealth.

          B. They are psychopathically ruthless.

          C. They maintain strong connections with like powerful people.

This power elite can be referred to as the “top 1%,” however, it must be noted that many “wealthy” people are not in this group, either because they are not connected or are not psychopathically ruthless.

 Probably a majority of the power elite are of “Judaic” descent, but they are in no way limited to that particular group. It is sometimes termed the Anglo-American Establishment, or the International Bankers, etc. The majority of people who call themselves “children of Jacob” are not part of the elite, but are often used by them. Many non-Judaics are as much involved in that power elite as any other. And I put the word “Judaics” in quotations because most of those today who call themselves “children of Jacob” have no connection to the children of Israel in the Bible.

The power elite rules first by control of money, second by the delusion of modern government, and third by the control of media/education (the image of the beast).

Assumption 2:

The power elite is not a “conspiracy” per se. That is, there is no unified, monolithic effort to install a “one-world government.” Certainly many individuals do work together, but they can just as easily work against each other and still be part of the overall problem.

However, the power elite are motivated by a similar dark spirit of hatred, superiority, and control. Thus individuals such as Ahminedejad of Iran and Netanyahu of Israel can appear to be violently opposed and yet are both of “Judaic” descent, both high level Masons, and both ultimately working together for the same dark agenda.

To understand the power elite in this way, we can see that all power centers, whether it be Anglo-American governments or The Vatican or International Finance or the governments of Russia or China, or that little bane of all, Israel, all can be opposing each other at many levels and yet all be instrumental in the effort to produce the Old World Chaos.

Assumption 3:

The primary enemy of the power elite is personal freedom and integrity. It is impossible to control individuals who know who they are, who treat all others with respect, who live honestly, and who value their personal integrity above life itself. Thus the primary weapon of the power elite is any form of enslavement, that is, the compromise of personal integrity. This does not mean a wholesome enjoyment of life’s pleasures; rather, it means that which requires some form of enslavement starting with monetary debt all the way to nationalism and flag-waving on the one hand and sexual bondage on the other. They entice with sin; when the sin has brought down their victim, they enslave.

Freedom never comes from any government or military; it never comes from killing people. Freedom comes only from inside a man, out from his own integrity. A free man may well be killed, he may well have chains put upon his body, but he will never be enslaved, ever. In the end, a free man will simply refuse. A great example is the movie, The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn, with Sidney Poitier. One of the best scenes in all movies is when he is seated in front of three psychiatrists paid to enslave him. Out of his own heart of integrity, he put them to open shame. They held no power over him.

Assumption 4:

The term, “new world order” is a misnomer. It is not order that the power elite desire to produce, but rather unmitigated chaos and death. The ones who really control behind the scenes are not necessarily working for a “world government” with themselves on top. Yes, the majority of the power elite imagine that is the goal. They also are deceived. No, the real goal is death and destruction for all (the accuser's last fit of frenzy and “revenge”).

Thus the present attempt of the U.S. elite to insert further draconian gun control in America is not to “take away people’s guns.” No, it is to strike fear into people’s hearts, pushing them into a violent stance. They succeed because almost everyone on this planet believes the great lie that is assumption #5.

Assumption 5:

The primary weapon of the power elite is the programmed belief held by almost all that freedom comes from killing people. The power elite do not need to impose this belief upon people; most people already hold it, and feed it to themselves through their own unending self-propaganda. Cain was the first one who believed that freedom comes from killing his brother. And it's true, from that moment on, Cain was “free” of Abel.

The power elite are masterful psychological manipulators. All they need to do is shout, “FREEDOM! – Go kill somebody.” Who? “Those 'others' who are determined to 'take your freedom away' from you.”

As stated in the assumptions, the power elite know what their real enemy is. What they don’t know is who it is. Therefore their best and only strategy is a blanket approach, the same used by Herod and Pharoah. It is clear to me that the entire strategy of the power elite to win every battle they face, to defeat every opponent that imagines they are fighting against that very power elite, is to get everyone fighting each other, convinced that the “other” is the real enemy.

When you look across the alternate media, you see on the one hand a desire to oppose the power elite, yes, but on the other hand, you see the overwhelming belief that the time may come to pick up weapons and kill those who are attempting to “take freedom away.” You see over and over appeals to the myth that George Washington and the American Revolution against England is what “won our freedom.”

As the violence ensues, before this thing is over, everyone will be fighting everyone else. When I read those who say, “Let’s fight,” my immediate thought is “who do you intend to fight?” It will not be long before those “fighting for freedom” are fighting against those “fighting for freedom.” Atheists will be fighting Christians, conservatives will be fighting liberals, Republocrats will be fighting Democans. And when the fighting is over and too much blood has been shed, well, then, all the sides move around a bit, shift here and there, and the fighting begins again.

There is no intention for a “new world order.” The intent is the Old World Chaos. And all who “fight for freedom” will give them everything they want. And so will all those who simply blindly submit to whatever the governments and the evening news tell them is true. It matters not to the ruling elite whether you blindly submit to their rape of you or whether you “fight back” against the particular stooges they want you to kill. Either way works great for them.

And the saddest thing of all is allies fighting allies, truly decent people fighting against truly decent people because they imagine “the other” is the enemy. That’s how it always works.

Except it won’t. At the final point of the conflict, in the moment where everything counts, at the engagement of that one and only “fight” where it is only win or lose for all, at that moment a small group of people will turn everything inside out and upside down. They will bring the madness, the death, and the violence to a screeching halt and they will bring true liberty and peace to all.

Deep inside the hearts and minds of those individuals inside the power elite who truly run the show is the full knowledge of their utter defeat at the hands of this small group of people living quietly right now amongst us, scattered all over the planet. Thus ALL of the power elite’s strategy, all of their instigation to violence, all of their hopes and fears will continue to be focused on the utter annihilation of their certain nemesis, this quiet people they truly fear, but cannot identify.

The power elite will not only fail spectacularly, but their every effort will serve only to call forth this scattered people to their overwhelming victory over all the death and darkness and tyranny.

So who are these people that will win?

Some call them “the remnant,” others “the elect.” Most people don’t even know they exist. We would not be inaccurate to call them “the bottom 1%.” In fact, most of those who are of that remnant don’t even know that they are. They are living their lives today just like everyone else; they could be your neighbor next door.

~~~

Another strategy of war is simply: Know your enemy; know yourself. Sun Tzu said it this way.

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

The problem with using Sun Tzu is that one is tempted to bring in every point of counsel; his advice is so sound, and it applies fully to us. We will use a bit more from him later.

Look through all my writing, see how focused I am on two points. 1. Know Christ as our only life in all that He is in you, in all the Speaking of God. And 2. Know the lie, know the curse, know the point by which all darkness came. See how every point of the gospel addresses every point of the original defeat. It's why I always go back to Adam.

When released from Genghis Khan (who was prone to plunging into bloody affairs), Subodai never once thought any other way. He knew himself; he knew his enemy. Never once did he enter anything blindly. Yet he made certain beforehand that his enemy always walked blindly into Subodai's traps. He did that by knowing his enemy.

Of all soldiers who ever marched into battle in human history, the ones most likely to come back home to their family were those who marched under Subodai. He guarded their lives as fiercely as he expected their prowess. The Mongol army was different from any in history. In my letter “A Body Prepared for Me,” I likened the movements of that body as the movements of a swarm, a flock of birds, with no command and control, with each member simply moving out from their own hearts filled with Christ in observation of those right next to them. The Mongol army was just like that. They moved completely independently of each other, tens, hundreds, thousands, and ten thousands. Each group was fully independent, yet at each level they moved in harmony with each other group at that level. It was like a flock of birds. The enemy could never comprehend how there was never any “head” to eliminate, no command structure to knock out. Even Subodai's death would not have affected any particular battle once it was set in motion.

Each Mongol horseman had several horses. All horses would ride together with him into battle. He would shoot from behind the horse in full gallop, only his arm over the saddle. If his horse went down, he simply bounced back up onto the next horse just behind. All the enemy saw were a great mass of horses going around and around them with biting arrows flowing from them, but no men in sight. 10,000 miles from home, the Mongols lived on three things: rice balls, sauerkraut (living sauerkraut, not the dead stuff sold in stores) and horse blood, also fresh and alive. Mongol armies never got sick. All rode into battle; almost all rode back home.

Subodai knew his enemy because he maintained a constant flow of riders fanning out in all directions, mingling with the people, ferreting out secrets, and riding back to him in all haste. Solid information was continually flowing into his ears. He knew every move his enemy made, even 500 miles away. But Subodai always focused on the commander, on his ego. Once he knew the vanity of the enemy, he planned his strategy around that vanity. The first time Subodai went into Russia, Genghis Khan gave him 10,000 men. He faced a Russian army of 40,000 marching to destroy him. He studied the vanity of that army, and made his plans on that vanity. 10,000 men returned with Subodai, a few of the Russians were allowed to return home to tell their tale.

When we have such a clear picture, it helps us to understand the Story God is telling through us.

Finally, Sun Tzu says this: “All warfare is based on deception. – Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder [weakness], and crush him.” (My words in brackets.)

This is exactly how Jesus defeated death; it is the same strategy He is using today. When He wins, His enemies will hardly even know what hit them. His immediate and absolute victory is utterly unanticipated by them and by all.

Jesus wins all victory over sin and death, over the lie and the curse, over the dragon and the beast, through WEAKNESS. That the life of Jesus also may be revealed in your mortal flesh.

In a recent letter, I said that the false lamb is sent into the earth (nominal Christianity) by the true Lamb as judgment against the false self, giving the false self a far-away Christ. Here's how it works. The vindication and judgment of God is found in those who walk as the true Lamb in weakness. When He is revealed as He IS, the falseness of separation will be demonstrated to all.

In other words, either God is following Sun Tzu's strategy and the example of Subodai, or those two men, in spite of the shadow of darkness upon them, were created in the image of God and somehow grasped a measure of the true nature of that image, though they turned it in the wrong directions.

God defeats His enemies by fooling them. He promises strength, yet disguises that strength by weakness. My strength is made perfect IN your weakness. Ha! This is pretty cool.

You see, if Satan were really smart, he would have spent the years of Jesus' ministry camped out on the Rupert Coast of Antarctica, with all his henchmen, as far away from Jerusalem as one can find land. Had he done so, God could never have won the victory.

But a man? Come on! What can a man do to me?

You see, God knew the vanity of the accuser, his hatred of God's calling for his life, that he had been created to serve this worm called man, the conceit that he, in his strength, wisdom, and beauty, was the one who ought to be the image of God. And God used that vanity to place the accuser right there at the only place he would be defeated, the cross of Christ.

But how does that work, now for us? I'm glad you asked: enter The Lord of the Rings.

Aragorn and Gandalf had spent much time together through the eighty years of Aragorn's life. They had walked together through many dark and difficult places. They trusted one another implicitly. Their thoughts and heart tended in the same directions. Gandalf was the strongest good being in Middle Earth, Aragorn the strongest man. It was the two of them with Elrond who had sent the ring out towards Mordor by the weakness of the hobbits. With Elrond and Galadriel, there was not one moment of time that Gandalf's or Aragorn's thoughts and hearts were not hovering over Frodo and Sam.

Peter Jackson just did not get this most essential element of Tolkien's vision. Thus my grief over the movies.

There was no question in Aragorn's or Gandalf's mind that their strength could ever defeat Sauron's might and evil. Their hope lay entirely in weakness, and in the sturdy legs and heart of one Samwise Gamgee.

Immediately after the defeat of Saruman, the very day that the Palantir, one of the seeing stones of the kings of Gondor and thus rightfully his, came into Aragorn's hands, he knew what he must do. He took the stone into a room by himself and showed himself to Sauron, eye to eye. Aragorn told Sauron his name, that he was the heir of the one who had cut the ring off Sauron's finger, that he was the returning king. He showed Sauron the sword that had done so much damage to Sauron, flinging him underground in impotence for 3000 years. Then he allowed Sauron to believe that he, Aragorn, possessed the ring and would now use Sauron's own power to overthrow him. Finally, by great strength of will and purpose, Aragorn tore the Palantir away from Sauron and used it to see as king. Thus Aragorn saw the black ships approaching the coasts of Gondor and knew that he alone could stop them by only one means, riding the paths of the dead.

In response to that terrible threat, the overwhelming pain thrown at Sauron by Aragorn, Sauron unleashed the entire first part of his forces, before he had originally planned.

From that moment on, the entire focus of both Aragorn and Gandalf was to keep the eyes of Sauron upon them, as if they had the ring and were now overly confident in their new-found power. By his own vanity, Sauron paid no attention to the rumors coming to him of two hobbits, halflings, weaklings, wimps, penetrating into the very heart of his domain. Let me quote from Tolkien, first inThe Fellowship of the Ring and then The Return of the King. Story alone allows us to see into the very heart of God, the story of a Man laying down His life for His friends.

The first quote is from the Council of Elrond as the final decision is made of what to do with the ring of power, self living for self, dominating all others for self-gain, the lie and the curse.

“Thus we return once more to the destroying of the Ring,” said Erestor [an elf lord], “and yet we come no nearer. What strength have we for the finding of the Fire in which it was made? That is the path of despair. Of folly I would say, if the long wisdom of Elrond did not forbid me.”

“Despair, or folly?” said Gandalf. “…Well, let folly be our cloak, a veil before the eyes of the Enemy! For he is very wise, and weighs all things to a nicety in the scales of his malice. But the only measure that he knows is desire, desire for power; and so he judges all hearts. Into his heart the thought will not enter that any will refuse it, that having the ring, we may seek to destroy it. If we seek this, we will put him out of his reckoning.”

“At least for a little while,” said Elrond. “The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the world; small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.” …

“I will take the ring,” [Frodo] said, “though I do not know the way.”

Then, after Sauron's forces are defeated at the Battle of Minas Tirith, Gandalf says this to the assembled lords.

“We must at all costs keep [Sauron's] eye from his true peril. We cannot achieve victory by arms, but by arms we can give the Ring-bearer his only chance, frail though it be.

“As Aragorn has begun, so we must go on. We must push Sauron to his last throw. We must call out his hidden strength, so that he shall empty his land. We must march out to meet him at once. We must make ourselves the bait, though his jaws should close on us. He will take the bait, in hope and in greed, for he will think that in such rashness he sees the pride of the new Ringlord; and he will say: 'So! He pushes out his neck too soon and too far. Let him come on, and behold I will have him in a trap from which he cannot escape. There I will crush him, and what he has taken in his insolence shall be mine forever.'

“We must  walk open-eyed into that trap, with courage, but with small hope for ourselves…”

Then, several days later, as the trap is sprung fully and all with Aragorn and Gandalf are about to be slaughtered.

And far away, as Frodo put on the Ring and claimed it for his own [it was never about Frodo's ability, he was weak], even in Sammath Naur, the very heart of his realm, the Power in Barad-Dur [Sauron's citadel] was shaken, and the Tower trembled from its foundations to its proud and bitter crown. The Dark Lord was suddenly aware of him [Frodo – weakness], and his eye piercing all shadows looked across the plain to the door that he had made; and the magnitude of his own folly was revealed to him in a blinding flash, and all the devices of his enemies were at last laid bare. Then his wrath blazed in consuming flame, but his fear rose like a vast black smoke to choke him. For he knew his deadly peril and the thread upon which his doom now hung.

~~~

I have laid all this out, all these battle descriptions, with great purpose. Our seeing must utterly change. By the old way of seeing, Jesus died to take the punishment God intended to inflict on us. Now we understand that, by becoming the bait Himself, by laying down His life for us, Jesus gave us the one chance we need to defeat the accuser, to possess our place in God.

Jesus did not take on Himself a “punishment that we deserved” as if God is unjust. Rather, as God beheld His Son laying down His life for His friends, He was so blown away by what He saw that He isn't able to see anything else. God sees this Man, and He sees us carried utterly inside of Him. Nothing else exists.

And now we get to the crux of the matter, to the essence of the Battle of the Great Day of God Almighty.

The true Lamb was the original bait, the other lamb is the decoy. The accuser does not believe that Jesus walks this earth; he does not see Him. The dragon, by the Beast, will seek to crush the wrong lamb.

So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth (nominal Christianity, their eyes focused on a far-away Christ) helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. Revelation 12:15-16 – And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose… Revelation 17:16-17

This is the judgment. The whole earth and most of Christianity is convinced that Jesus IS NOT here.

Look back at Ezekiel 9. What was it they said that perturbed God so much?  ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’

There are right now, across the entire face of the earth, a weak people, a people of no account. They have tried to please God all their lives but they have failed, utterly. Yet they will not let go of the God who has seized them in His grip. They do not see; they are blind. But in their blindness, they believe all that God speaks, Christ Jesus Himself made personal and real in their weakness, in their dying bodies. And thus they see all things through eyes of fire.

That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. 1 Peter 1:7-8

They do not see Him outwardly, but they know He walks this earth. He is here as them.

And when that people honor the Word God speaks against all other voices, such that they walk as the fullness of all that Christ is, though they see nothing outwardly, that Word IS the judgment against all, just as Jesus said.

The words that I speak will judge them in the last day. John 12

That word is in our mouth; we live by it.

Christ is the only story we know.