The 3^rd message for the 3^rd day church, as the body receives resurrection power from this 3^rd day event. It is declared and prophesied that the remnant has risen with vision and armed with the knowledge of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit whom works mightily in you. The Spirit of the Lord says, "Come, for the hour has drawn in which great decisions will be made and awesome changes will be born in the valleys of resistance and desperation."

"Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid Him." (John 20:2)

The Bible states that Mary "saw" that the stone had been rolled away and that someone had "taken" the Lord's body. First, was this an accurate statement which Mary had just spoken to the disciples? Did someone actually take the Lord's body as Mary clearly stated?

Most reading this know and understand that Jesus had been resurrected in power. What Mary had "seen" was according to her vision in the natural realm and what she discerned from a natural perspective.

Essentially, Mary was formulating a belief system and a conclusion based on her past experiences in life rather than a prophetic promise which could only be comprehended by faith and spiritual discernment. In other words, Mary's past natural experiences wrongly influenced her spiritual insight. The Greek word in the earliest surviving manuscripts (Codex Sinaiticus & Masoretic Text) for "saw" in the original language is "Blepo", which means to "casually or naturally see."

"Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and "looking" in, "saw" the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. (John 20:4)

The word or context for "saw" that is used in this verse for the vision of John is the same word "Blepo" that Mary had previously based her assumption on.

We see little progress as of yet in discerning the resurrection and the supernatural events Jesus had foretold concerning Himself. We also notice that John did not go into the tomb (A picture and type of dying to oneself). Because of this perspective, John's spiritual understanding would be limited to what he "saw" with his natural senses or at a distance.

"Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. (John 20:6-7)

We now read and recognize that Peter chose to go into the tomb. The original context in which Peter "saw" is the Greek word "Thereo." It should be obvious that the old world text "Thereo" reflects the more recent English translation of the word "theory" in our modern vocabulary. Peter is pondering the facts that he is witnessing and we do have some progress, but we do not base our faith and prophetic discernment on "theory" and assumption.

"Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he SAW and BELIEVED." (John 20:8)

John "saw" and believed! The Greek word for "saw" in this verse is "Eido", which means to "see with understanding" or revelation. It is no accident or mistake that we have three different Greek words for the same modern translation "saw" in this short passage and event. This is the prophetic and spiritual vision that the Lord desires we possess as we continue to experience the kingdom of God on earth moving in power. John saw into the reality, power, and love of the Spirit realm. This anointing would continue to increase and mature in John's life, culminating in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. We must come to terms that revelation is only active when its power is revealed in our lives. We can only give what we have. Anything less is just good information. However, the first step is recognizing and seeing by faith what can be possessed or possible because it has been spiritually proclaimed.

The Lord is calling forth a people with prophetic vision and revelation...A people who understand and see clearly that the same resurrection power that raised Christ from the dead and the same mighty power of the Holy Spirit which created the universe is the same mighty power that resides and works within those who believe and desperately call upon His name. Resistance and desperation are and will drive God's people into great and awesome acts of love, goodness, charity, and the miraculous which will define the eternal legacy of the true bride as she awaits her bridegroom.

John moved from the realm of the natural and into the supernatural in just a brief moment of time. Maybe just a matter of a few seconds. A very similar prophetic insight and parallel played out a long time ago in history in the natural life of Elisha. Elisha would see; make a decision; and speak a prophetic declaration within a matter of seconds which would change the course of history and save the life of thousands, including his own! Our prophetic template going forward as the days unfold are woven within the scriptures and following revelation.

"And it happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria; and indeed they besieged it until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-forth of a kab ( about a half of a cup) of dove droppings for five shekels of silver." (2 Kings 6:24-25)

This event is one of the most desperate situations that I have ever read or heard about. It is vitally important that we are led by the Spirit and move with spiritual vision into these biblical passages as history will certainly repeat itself in a parallel very soon.

Ben-Hadad (A type of Antichrist spirit) was waging war on Israel (A type of the Church) and had finally pushed on to the capital of Samaria. What is interesting is that some time prior to this (2 Kings 6:8-22), Ben Hadad attempted to conquer Samaria -- only to have his band of raiders blinded by the prophet Elisha. The blind men were led into Samaria and instead of being killed, were given grace in the form of a meal and sent home. This is incredible considering these were enemy combatants. Why did Elisha direct the king to let the Syrian raiders go? I personally do not know at this time and I can only speculate that it was a prophetic signpost of the Lord's patience, love, and mercy -- even for the rebellious. However, there is a clear prophetic word for the body of Christ in this hour as we continue in this historical event.

We need to understand what a spiritual and a natural "siege" is. A siege is when nothing of value gets IN to an environment and nothing of value gets OUT of that same environment. When the kingdom of heaven is not received "in" to our individual and corporate lives...Nothing of eternal or kingdom value is released "outwardly." In a spiritual siege, the enemy of our individual souls camps outside the walls of our mind and consciousness with the intent to spiritually starve us to death manifesting as a holocaust at the corporate level. In this event, nothing and nobody was allowed to get into this city and nothing or nobody was allowed to leave. The Samarians were led astray by inept leadership (both natural and spiritual) into a defensive posture. Demonic entities, always prefer de'tente rather than open warfare as to mask their weakness and to neutralize our superior strength.

The Bible states that this famine was "great." The situation concerning this great famine within the city walls was so desperate that to buy a donkeys head for food would have cost you about $10,000.00. And a half a cup of bird droppings would have cost you a mere $800.00. A natural and spiritual siege utilizes economic systems that have enslaved people to influence behavior patterns that would otherwise never occur as we shall read and witness. These patterns will certainly unfold in the not so distant future. This was a desperate situation; however, it gets even more desperate.

"Then, as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, "Help my lord, O king!" And he said, "If the Lord does not help you, where can I find help for you - From the threshing floor or from the winepress? Then the king said to her, "What is troubling you?" And she answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.' And I said to her on the next day, "Give your son that we may eat him"; but she has hidden her son."

The situation and time had become so desperate that there was not even a morsel left on the threshing floor. The granaries were empty and the winepresses were dry. Water (A type of the Holy Spirit) at this time was evaporating from the city and the people were moving into areas or acts of literal insane behavior. People were actually eating their own children for self-preservation.

I realize this is hard to digest or even read for some, but it is in God's Word and presented by the Holy Spirit for a reason and time such as this. We need to acurately understand what the Spirit of the Lord is speaking to the churches and why the Lord chose to put this desperate and almost unbelievable event in His Word.

What is amazing is that this woman, even after having an entire day to reflect upon her actions, did not show remorse or repentance. I see a parallel at numerous times in our own societies with the same mindset of "rationalization" which was the original sin of man. Much of humanity and believers alike, are willing to "devour" others for their own perceived survival as many have cornered or enslaved themselves into the world system of debt and economic reliance.

Humanity's greatest weapon in killing or devouring the hope and dreams of the church's mandate are the words that are spoken or proclaimed against another. The root word for "gossip" in its original English translation was derived from "diablo" which means "demonic." The seemingly minor but very demonic activity of gossip will be one of the church's greatest temptations as tribulations and travail come upon the earth. The overcoming of this warped emotional issue will have a direct effect upon the power and impact of latter day church; our personal well-being; and the harvest.

"Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes; and as he passed by on the wall, the people looked, and there underneath he had sackcloth on his body. Then he said, "God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on him today!" (2 Kings 6:30-31)

We can see that the situation is becoming worse and more and more desperate by the hour. We read that the prophet Elisha, the one who may have had the words and answers from God to save the city, was now a marked man! The king most likely was recalling back to when he had the Syrian army within his city walls, blind and at his will to be killed. We recall that Elisha commanded that they be given grace and released. This must have angered the king to the point of rage, especially after witnessing what he just heard from the woman who along with another ate her own child. This is an incredibly desperate situation. But it gets even more desperate.

It is interesting that Elisha prophetically "saw" and understood that the king was on his way with an officer to take his head off! Elisha in the midst of desperation had to come up with something quick or his head was coming off!

"Then Elisha said, "Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: 'Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria." (2Kings 7:1)

Note that Elijah (Elisha's spiritual father and mentor) prophesied both drought and rain. But here we are in the midst of a great famine with no rain, no food, and people eating each other under a siege by a demonic principality. Obviously, Elisha's prophetic gifting was still intact because he knew the king was coming to take his head off. However, where was the "double portion" of Elijah's mantle which should have brought rain and relief?

I believe it is clear and is clarion to the church today - It wasn't until Elisha became personally desperate that he brought forth the "true" or genuine word of the Lord. If you think about it, this was a prophetic word that was both ridiculous and incredible. Not only would provisions miraculously appear, but it would also be in abundance and inexpensive as well. It wasn't until he was desperate that God took ownership of his words and brought forth what was supernatural and would bring glory to his name. This prophetic declaration was so ridiculous and incredible that only the Lord could bring to it to pass.

I believe that like most of us, Elisha became spiritually complacent until he truly realized how desperate the situation really was around him. Is it today?

It is interesting that we read of Elisha just casually sitting around with the elders of the "church" while people were desperately eating themselves (both in word and deed). Is the prophetic voice today striving for approval by speaking elementary and irrelevant words? Or, are we on the opposite spectrum proclaiming declarations of self righteous judgment? Much of the prophetic voice is weak or ineffective because many fear man  for acceptance rather than being fearless in proclaiming and speaking to both the spiritual and natural needs of mankind. Our abstract spiritual lingo and self-righteous declarations of judgment find no place in the hearts of the lost and unsaved. It time that we cease proclaiming from Blepo (our past experiences), Thereo (our hyper spiritual theories), and declare with "Eido" (proclaiming revelation and resurrection to that which is dead).

Many in the Body of Christ fear others because they are too much in love with themselves. Many times, we fail to see or realize this and we are all guilty to some degree. When the Lord deals with the love of one's self -- He simultaneously addresses the fear of man. Simply put, the fear of man is but a symptom of self(ish) love. Overcoming our love and protection of "self" is an important key to our prophetic understanding and destination.

The story continues with the governmental officer's rebuttal to Elisha's prophetic word: "So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, "Look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?" And he said (Elisha), "In fact, you shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it."

This man obviously did not believe the words of the now desperate prophet and his fate would be sealed by his arrogance and disbelief of what the Lord declared. I have stated many times that our chances of experiencing a genuine prophetic word coming to fulfillment in our lives can be as much as 100% or as little as 2 in a million. Only 2 out of at least a million coming out of Egypt (Joshua and Caleb) would witness the prophetic word of a promised land fulfilled in their lives.

Two men, regardless of the situation or what they "saw in the natural" based on past experiences believed God and had faith that He would fulfill His promises through the prophetic voice. God has promised an abundant life to every individual who enters into the Kingdom Life of Jesus Christ. It is our position to prophetically declare it and believe it by faith. The story does not end here, it gets even more desperate as if that were possible.

"Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, "Why are we sitting here until we die? If we say, 'We will enter the city,' the famine is in the city and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die." (2 Kings 7:3-4)

The event and history unfolds with four pitifully and desperate leprous men. They cannot go into the city for there is nothing or nobody there to help sustain them. Beside that, they were considered unclean and would have to beg in their desperate condition which was no different from those inside the city.

So, here we have these pitiful men standing with their backs against the city walls and the Syrian army facing them as if they were "sitting ducks." These men were at a point of such desperation in their lives that they felt they had nothing to lose and everything to gain! We read that these desperate men went right into the heart of the enemy's camp.

It would be this willingness and mind-set that the Lord would use to bring fulfillment of the words spoken by the prophet! God would use the most desperate and reliant to fulfill His purposes -- ­Even that which may seem incredible and even ridiculous to our natural senses. God would use four desperate leprous men who were completely reliant and broken to extend His grace and kindness to a disobedient and rebellious people.

The bible states that these four leprous men arose at "twilight" to go to the Syrian camp. As they came to the outskirts of the camp, they were surprised that no one was there. Amazingly, the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and horses of a great army. The sound was so tremendous that the Syrian army thought that it was not only one, but two of the greatest armies of the world in that time - the Hittite and Egyptian. (Ref. 2 Kings 7:5-8)

The Bible continues saying that the Syrians fled in haste and fear; leaving food, clothing, and provisions at "TWILIGHT!" For every step that those desperate men took at twilight, their steps were as the sounds of a GREAT ARMY to the hordes of the enemy. It would be through these desperate and reliant men that the words of a desperate prophet and the purposes of God would be fulfilled. Sure enough, just as the prophet spoke -- the officer saw the abundance of food at the city gate, but was trampled to death by the people and would not partake of it because of his lack of faith in the Lord's provision. (2 Kings 7:17-18)

The situation in Samaria as described in 2 Kings was a terrible time in history such as it is today. Many prophetic lessons are to be gleaned from this story. Israel, like the church was and has been warned prophetically that national and corporate disobedience would reduce the people to these terrible acts (see Leviticus 26:29 and Deuteronomy 28:53, 57). We witnessed tragedy unfolding and continuing to worsen as the prophet sat in a comfortable or spiritually complacent position. We also "see" that it is through desperate and reliant men and women that the Lord delights and fulfills His purposes on the earth as the power of the resurrection is realized and becomes a reality.