WHY ARE THERE TWO PURIMS (Book of Esther) in 2024?

Queen Esther
"For such a time as this."

I know most of you don't like getting in the weeds, but sometimes it is necessary to sort things out.

I just have to say that this 2 Purim's in 2024 has stuck with me as somehow prophetically significant to us. This is me searching for what it might be.

Last week, Feb 22-23 was a holiday on the Hebrew calendar called Purim Katan, or Minor Purim. A friend in Canada pointed it out and explained it as a "leap year" type of adjustment that is made to the lunar calendar that are how the Hebrew calendar is counted by. As Canadian friend Peter Robertson noted, "It is an ancient adaptation, attested in ancient literature and necessity requires it in a lunar calendar that has less than 365 days."

Why? "It is necessary to have an extra month or all the feasts, including Passover would creep earlier and earlier into the year, like Ramadan does in the Islamic, 12 month lunar calendar. Because Passover was a barley harvest festival and Shavuot a wheat harvest festival and Sukkot a fruit festival."

The normal Purim festival will be the one most Jews will celebrate on March 24th. Looking into the Little Purim a little deeper, I discovered that in 1612 a tradition grew up in Frankfurt, Germany to celebrate how Jews had been expelled from that city in an uprising only to be returned two years later. The following is a report I found in a religious Jewish source from a German rabbi.

There were "spasms of antisemitism" that plagued Europe over centuries. But in 1612 a protest grew against "the lead up to the election and coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor Matthias, the citizens of Frankfurt." It's leader "resented both the authorities and the Jews. As his gang’s list of demands grew, one remained relatively constant: expel the Jewish community from the city." They attacked the Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt, looting and expelling the Jews.  He was arrested "and two years later executed, his home destroyed, his allies banished. On the same day, the Jews were permitted to return to Frankfurt, their rights and citizenship restored."

"On the surface, nothing seems too peculiar about this persecution. Antisemitism in Germany in the Middle Ages probably surprises no one. But the sudden reversal and homecoming was. When the uprising was over, the Jews began the process of commemorating the experience....Every year, the Jews observe a day of fasting followed by a day of feasting in memory of the events of 1614. The tradition continued in the Frankfurt Jewish community for 200 years. . . .Declaring a Second Purim (also known as Purim Katan, “Little Purim”) was once a common practice in Jewish communities that had experienced threats of extermination that were suddenly — in true Purim spirit — turned upside-down."

Purim Katan 2024 is not about a historical event, but the current moment in the Jewish calendar. 

I am reminded by "Little Purim" how the Islamists have referred to Israel as the "Little Satan" and the United States as the "Great Satan." In the Spirit that is upside down, the U.S. spiritually is the "Little" enemy and Israel is the "Great" enemy of Satan. 

If I was going to take a prophetic message out of the Little Purim of 2024, I would say the attack against IHOPKC is related to that. And I do believe the attack there is going to be overturned, as the many incidents in Jewish history that were "turned upside-down" - that so will this attack on IHOP, "threatened with extermination" suddenly "in true Purim spirit" to be restored.

The Great Purim is the prophetic foreshadowing of the days Israel has already entered into of being the target of attempts to banish them from the Land of Israel. But as it is written, Zechariah 12:2-3 

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling like-drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples. Judah will be besieged, as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the nations of the earth gather against her, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who would heave it away will be severely injured."

Taking a line from Israeli prophetic minister, Jennifer Guetta of Plant Hope Israel: "Purim is a time of exposing evil, turning tables and revealing the Hidden Messiah."

IHOPKC is God's PLAN, not Prophetic Manipulation!

Kansas City IHOP 
God has been working a long range plan
in raising up IHOP 24/7 Worship & Prayer:
a truly dedicated 

Christian Prayer network 
for the Israeli Body of Messiah
for such a time as this.
The Israeli Remnant are God's plan
for the salvation of "all Israel"

Posted Feb 27th: One of the things I have thought many times over the past months since allegations came out against Mike Bickle - but I have not said it because I knew it would cause a major ruckus, is that while those accusers of Mike Bickle are raising all hell against Bickle and IHOP over their charges of sexual abuse that didn't include intercourse, that it has diverted the prayer focus IHOP was raised up to deliver on behalf of Israel.

The accusations were made public in October at the same time that the Oct 7th Hamas attack visited the most heinous rapes ever seen on Israeli women during and after the attack. So while the snowflakes were playing victim over their sexual interaction with Bickle - light petting it sounds like at most - Israeli women were being brutally raped unto death by brutal terrorist beasts and IHOP was almost completely distracted by the demonic attack on that prayer house. I realize how much of a blow to IHOP it was to receive such an attack against their leader. I am not faulting them from being distracted from the intercessions for what was unfolding in Israel. I'm just saying that is what the accusations and uproar did and from the spiritual standpoint, this is what attack was supposed to do! This was the "Black Horse" spiritual attack. Those who have held on despite all of the pressures to throw IHOP and Mike Bickle under the bus have literally been tried by fire. God bless them for it. The "Prophetic History" of IHOP has been attacked as being a purposeful manipulation ploy. NO it is not. It is the vision given over many years with signs to build the faith of those running with God's vision. Any person who believes in the prophetic, if you don't recognize this as an attack on ALL prophecy, you have become so dull of spirit, wake up!

That is what I really think about it. Thank you for those who continued faithfully to pray for Israel, the body of the LORD in Israel, and for Mike. I agree with Rick Joyner's assessment back in November 2023 (I just discovered it for the first time 2/27/24) that it will not be the last of Mike or of IHOP. He quoted Proverbs 24:16 and I believe this word is the word that applies to Mike:

Proverbs 24:15 Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, near the dwelling of the righteous; do not destroy his resting place. 16 For though a righteous man may fall seven times, he still gets up; but the wicked stumble in bad times. 17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles, 8 or the LORD will see and disapprove, and turn His wrath away from him. 19 Do not fret over evildoers, and do not be envious of the wicked. 20 For the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished. On Feb 23 I posted: GIDEON's 300. That is the word I keep getting since yesterday for IHOP.

There has been a separation these past months at IHOPKC, like in Gideon's story when he was about to go into a major battle against "the Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other people of the east who had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts."

The Amalikites, to this day are seen as the spirit of the archetypal enemy of the Jews.

The Medianites were the who God specifically referred to that He was leading Gideon in to defeat. The meaning of Medianites is "strife" and they were a nomadic group.

Gideon has 22,000 fighters with him, but at the En-Charod, "the fountain of trembling," where Gideon was encamped 10,000 turned back because they were "fearful and trembling."

Afterwards God told Gideon there were too many people still, but to take the men down to the water, where God said, "I will sift them for you there."

I have never understood why the sifting process was to choose the ones who lapped up the water with their tongues like a dog and to dismiss the ones who just knelt and cupped the water in their hands. But now I see it speaks to the abandon to their thirst for the water.

Because the word of the LORD for our day is sifting out the enemies of Israel, and choosing those who are thirsty enough to receive God's "water of the word" about our spiritual battle related to Israel, there has to be a Divine sifting process.

Out of 22,000 fighting men to start, Gideon ended up with only 300 to fight that great camp in the valley. But God assured Gideon it was enough. Better to go into spiritual battle without the fearful, without the nomads of strife, but only with those who thirst for God's direction and assurance that, verse 9, “Get up and go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand."

On Feb 22 I posted on Facebook: Even with the losses at IHOP (see my Gideon's 300 post) I do not believe it is too late to impanel a group of impeccable charismatic leaders in the body of the LORD - known for integrity, having the understanding of the Israel Mandate (including Israeli ministry leaders) - who are capable of making judgments on the facts, evidence, examination of ALL witnesses. Perhaps the Advocate Group will continue to balk at anything but their insistence on secular-oriented rather than God's spiritual leaders to judge the matter, in which case, proceed anyway and let them bear the spiritual consequences of that.

Perhaps the Advocate Group will participate and accusers will come forward also, but if they balk at the findings and judgment of the godly international leaders panel, and decide to press on for secular judgments, then let them go, and God will decide the spiritual consequences for them. I believe God wants this settled in the way He has set up: "If any of you has a grievance against another, how dare he go to law before the unrighteous instead of before the saints!" 1 COR 6:1 IHOP needs a spiritual miracle financially to keep going. So many have dropped funding WITHOUT and evidence of the accusations being true. I don't know about you, but keeping the operation of IHOP is important to me. I listen every day as I work on my Israel Prayer elists. If you can make a donation at this time, please let them know you value it too.

Ministries Call to Fasting & Prayer Call to Fasting & Prayer

Important Call to Fasting & Prayer Feb 25-27 from the Leaders in the Faith of Yeshua in Israel. It is being endorsed by so many, see the prayer points and their names at the end.

A CALL TO THE BODY OF MESSIAH IN ISRAEL
FOR THREE DAYS OF  REPENTANCE, FASTING AND PRAYER FOR OUR NATION, 25-27 FEBRUARY

Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I may weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people.

For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and have hewn themselves, cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:1, 2:13, 17:5,7)

Our nation is passing through, what could be, the most critical hour that we have faced in our history since our establishment as a modern State in 1948.

We are confronted with war on multiple fronts, within and without the present borders of Israel. We have been fighting a war in Gaza for months and have suffered great losses and casualties, whether it be the deaths and severe wounding of many of our civilians and soldiers or the deaths and inhuman humiliations of many of our hostages.

The unexpected invasion of Hamas on Shemini Atzeret and the invasion of our unprotected security barrier by thousands of terrorists resulted in the first nightmarish holocaust on the soil of Israel. This happened, not by coincidence, one day after the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, which also took Israel by surprise.

The unprotected southern border of Israel was a reflection of an ominous spiritual reality that our spiritual gates were open and unprotected so that Satan could bitterly attack us because of sin in our Land.

We are facing a desperate situation that challenges us as never before in our modern history. All human solutions are feeble in the face of the multiple dilemmas and quandaries that face us concerning internal and external battles that threaten our existence as a nation.

The sinister pressures and demands of the US and other nations that are weighing upon Israel, if conceded to, are sure guarantees of future disaster. If we do not submit to this outside pressure, we could well find ourselves fully isolated from the world community of nations.

Before us, remain the unresolved questions of war with Hezbollah in Lebanon and an ever-increasing possible future atomic war with Iran and her proxies in the nations that surround us.

If ever there was a time when we, the indigenous Body of Messiah in Israel, needed to take our place as a priesthood before the throne of God on behalf of our nation, it is now! There have been several calls to prayer in Israel by the religious establishment, but we as a Body have not yet gathered together to humble ourselves before heaven on behalf of our nation, beseeching God that His mercy, forgiveness, protection, and divine intervention be extended to us.

There has been prayer in the individual congregations, but we have failed as a Body to be united as one Voice before heaven, in fasting and prayer as a priesthood on behalf of our people. There was one joint Zoom prayer meeting at the beginning of the war and another meeting of approximately 100 leaders, Jews, and Arabs, who prayed and repented before the Lord.

The sin in the Land has opened spiritual gates for this present disaster to come upon our land and people. The divisions and enmity within the nation and its leadership, the hatred without cause, the shedding of innocent blood through abortions, the advocacy of immorality and sexual perversion, the idolatry and pride, and the great sin of rejecting the sovereignty of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob over this land and its people - have all worked to remove God’s covering of blessing and a great measure of His protection from upon us.

The Nova party, at which our youth were dancing around a large statue of Shiva was reminiscent of the sin of the Golden Calf and a clear warning of its consequences. We do mourn with all those who have suffered and lost their loved ones at this event.

We have indeed failed as a Body to beseech the Lord in unity and unison for His mercy for Israel and to stand in the gap before Him in asking Him to forgive us of our many sins against Him and each other. Before we can effectively stand in confession and the humbling of our hearts before God for Israel, we must first begin with ourselves. We, the undersigned, in deep agreement and conviction of heart, believe that it is time to seek the Lord and to call the Body of Messiah in the Land to three days of fasting and prayer with a main emphasis upon Repentance.

The following is our understanding of how we are to seek the Lord during these three days, from the 25-27 February:

     The first day of the 25th is to be a day of personal repentance of each individual believer, for sins against the Lord and one another. Repentance must first begin with each individual human heart before God.

     The second day of the 26th is to be a day of repentance and prayer for the Body of Messiah in the Land. We have been delinquent in our priesthood as was clearly revealed during the period of the coronavirus pandemic when we could not meet together as a Body in prayer and repentance before God for our sins and the sins of our people.

     There is hardness of heart within the Body, unresolved and unrepented issues between brethren which include unforgiveness, divisions, a lack of confession of sin, and a poverty of grace and love. This refers to unresolved issues within the various congregations, unresolved issues between different congregations, and unresolved matters between the leadership of different congregations. Judgment begins in the House of God and so we must humble ourselves for these matters and other serious issues within the Body.

     The third day of the 27th is to be a day that we stand before God together for the many sins of our nation as mentioned above, according to the call of Joel 2:12-19. We beseech God to have mercy and to forgive our people of our sins, of our turning to the arm of flesh rather than to Him, the living God of Israel. We will bring the sins of our nation before Him and remind Him of His covenantal promises to Israel and pray that His Name would be honored and His glory revealed amongst us.

     It is our understanding that the leadership of each congregation that agrees to commit itself to this Call, should lead their people during these three days as the Lord would direct them. Rather than calling for joint meetings on Zoom, it would be better for the leadership of each congregation would gather its people together and help their congregations to relate to these specific issues together. Congregational leaders should orient their preaching of the Word before these days, to prepare the hearts of their congregants for this time of repentance, fasting, and prayer.

The Lord has long waited for us to come before Him together and He is faithful to do a deep work in our hearts as we humble ourselves before Him. If we come to Him in an attitude of mourning and sincere faith, He will surely hear our prayers for Israel and respond to our cry for mercy on behalf of our people. Our only true hope, legitimacy, and destiny as a nation is in the Lord Yeshua and His Word. Our only confidence is that as we honor, exalt, and enthrone our King through our lives as His Kehilah in His land, in faith and in lowliness of heart, the Lord will have pity on His people, will answer us and will be zealous for His Land (Joel 2:18).

In the true bond of His fellowship, love, and faith, your brothers

 Avi and Chaya Mizrachi - Tel Aviv

Reuven and Benjamin Berger - Jerusalem
Tony Sperandeo - Kfar Sava
Evan Thomas - Netanya
Rick and Patti Ridings - Jerusalem
Eitan Shishkoff - Haifa
Claude Ezagouri - Tiberias
Shmuel Birnbaum – Bat Yam
Dani Sayag - Haifa
Karen Davis - Haifa
Beni Mugas - Haifa
Najib Attieh - Haifa
Nizar Touma - Nazareth
Saleem Shalash - Nazareth
Ariel Blumenthal - Jerusalem
Michael and Dina Beener - Sderot
Victor BahBah - Ramley
Eehab Ashkar – Shefa-‘Amr
Daniel Matiash - Haifa
Gil Afriat - Tel Aviv
Alexsey Raikhstad - Tel Aviv
Michael Yaron - Rishon Letzion
Howard Bass - Beer Sheva
Chad Holland - Jerusalem
Guy Cohen - Akko
Jonathan Moore - Jerusalem
Marcel Rebiai – Jerusalem
Simcha Davidov - Ashdod
David Injiashvili - Rishon Letzion
Daniel Rozen - Tel Aviv
Argaw Andargachew - Tel Aviv
Lev Guller - Neytanya
Gennadiy Shykhotvsov – Haifa
Eli Dorfman - Jerusalem

Indoctrination of Young People the Root of IHOP Chaos? I believe so.

Indoctrination of Young People the Root of IHOP Chaos?
I believe so.

IHOP could not be playing better worship music in between its only 2-a-day live worship sets. "And what else can I give? I'm desperate for You." Amazing worship, a deep reminder of the value of IHOP to the greater community.

Yesterday I read some of the comments from people about IHOP that were on Michael Brown's Facebook page. He was asking for some of the positive reports people had about IHOP. There were many I could agree with, but many came to silence any good reports. 

One negative comment came from a young woman who had been at IHOP who regarded the telling of the "prophetic history" of IHOP as  manipulation. The prophetic history of IHOP is, of course, its vision: 24/7 prayer & worship and the Israel Mandate - that God means for the Church to pray and prophesy over Israel for Israel's salvation.

That young woman actually wrote that it was the young people who were targeted with the prophetic history: "They literally targeted those with more vulnerability to fantastic tales." Also that "what older people got was a fraction in emphasis and weight of what the young and the involved or staff got."

Also she said, "Without understanding the psychology, the sociology, and those all consuming dynamics you will never come close to beginning to understand the impact one facet of a teaching had on the people who were in it."

I recognize a narrative when I see one. Where is God in all that? Nowhere to be found.

Yesterday the name "Absalom" was dropped in my spirit. I need to go study the verses again, but I remember what Absalom did: he betrayed his father who loved him. He went around behind David's back spreading unrest and badmouthing David, while wooing people that he would be a much nicer leader for them to have than David. 

It makes me both sad and mad that so many young people, who have self-confessed "more vulnerability to fantastic tales" have believed the narrative that has been spoken to them how Mike Bickle was leading "a cult". That's why the noncharismatic/prophetic always say about the charismatic/prophetic.

Why are so many Christians NOT alarmed by these things going on among the young people tearing a ministry down to the ground?

Why would so many Christians just accept accusations against a minister and not be concerned that there has not been biblical due process carried out. We Christians even in the current corrupt political environment, have realized that a person is "presumed innocent until proven guilty." Why has that been absolutely thrown overboard in Mike Bickle's case. 

The woman referred to above, and many of the Christians who have tried to silence my questions of what is going on there, said that it is biblical that all that is required to determine guilt is two witnesses. That is one verse but that is not the whole counsel of God on passing judgment. God saw there were different levels of complications in human matters that required more standards of justice. 

Anyone in the United States or Israel, or other nations across the earth today, should be well aware by now that even multiple accusations against a person does not equal guilt. A perfect example of that is seen in the story of Jezebel, patron demonic spirit of Feminists, in her orchestrating two lying witnesses against Naboth so she could STEAL NABOTH's vineyard for the wicked King Ahab. We have seen this play out in the political realms and now we see it play out in Kansas City at IHOP. Stealing Bickle's vineyard that the LORD gave him.

Would you begin to pray over all those who have been caught up in the narrative that is destroying IHOP, for God to blow away the fog of deception that has settled on the Kansas City House of Prayer? 

Break the power of deception, on all those who have embroidered a false narrative, we pray the Spirit of conviction would fall upon them. 

Terrify them to catch a glimpse of how they have aligned themselves with the Accuser of the brethren. 

Break the power of the lies, cause people who know better than to believe all of these grandiose narratives, to rise up and declare freedom to the captives and a release of repentance to sweep across all of them. 

Declare a reckoning with reality of all those who have believed in lies and a release of repentance on all liars. 

In Jesus name, I pray Abba Father You would move now, and not allow the enemy to have the upper hand in this place, this network, this holy work You called to be raised up for such a time as this.

Release an anointing of spiritual courage to rise up and oppose the  overweening flood of lies that have been spilling out of so many, marring those in its path, discouraging faith and revealing so many to be in great envy and jealousy of the work in IHOPKC. 

Do not let them destroy what You called and anointed, O LORD.

A Prophetic Warning: Did God speak about Oct 7 BEFORE it happened?

 

In late November, after being held hostage by Hamas for over 50 days, 17-year old Mia Lamberg clutching her beloved dog, Bella Bida, was released in a hostage deal that included her mother and her aunt Clara. Mia is shown here “perp walked” through a crowd of civilians in Gaza snapping pictures of their victorious hostage grab of a young Israeli. Many female hostages that were released from captivity have spoken to being victims of rapes and sexual assaults while in Hamas captivity. Even more women on October 7th were victims in a frenzied attack of unspeakable brutal – not only sexual assault but also horrific murders of entire families. How are Israelis to process that level of violence in their own land? What will God do to punish the wicked and vindicate and heal the innocents?

My cover story this week in Arrows from Zion is from the Tel Aviv Tiferet Yeshua congregation, A Prophetic Warning: Did God Speak about Oct 7th BEFORE it happened? by Tamar Afrait

Last year on Purim (March 7th, 2023), an announcement was made that there would be a historic global prayer initiative for Israel which would take place in May. By all accounts, this global prayer initiative, called “The Isaiah 62 Fast\Global 21 Day of Prayer for Israel”, was unprecedented: over five million believers from around the world committed to stand in prayer for Israel during that time.

One of my fellow worshippers at Tiferet Yeshua who had also heard about this prayer movement for Israel said to me, “What is going to happen here that God is raising up so much prayer for us right now? It’s kind of scary. There is definitely a reason that we are going to need this prayer.” If we had known what was really in store for us exactly 7 months later…frankly, we would have been terrified.

That horrific tragedy would strike our people on October 7th, the dimensions of which we are still living out today. However, as we gathered together as a congregation on zoom that day to seek the Lord, we recalled a prophetic word which was shared in our midst less than one month before and realized with awe that God had been lovingly preparing us for this moment.

God is Speaking to Us and to You | The idea of suffering and enduring persecution is terrifying and naturally something one wants to avoid. This is perhaps one of the main reasons the theology of pre-tribulation rapture is so largely embraced and advanced (Tiferet Yeshua leadership does not hold to a pre-tribulation rapture of believers). The point here is not to argue the theology of those differing positions. What I want to convey is that, here in Israel, we are experiencing a tribulation: a condensed, microcosm of the worst of human horrors (sadistic rape, torture, murder, captivity in abominable conditions) which has then been followed by a growing chorus of hate, blame and offence from many in the world.

God, however, in His mercy, spoke to us before it happened. Even though we had no idea how quickly and how literally the prophetic word would come to pass, it continues to be an encouragement and guide to us as we navigate this difficult, frightening and often confusing situation. This prophetic word strengthened us in the knowledge that God is sovereign, that He is motivated by perfect love for us, and that He will clearly speak to us in order to prepare us beforehand.

In this tribulation, we are discovering how incredibly present He is. We are also discovering how this tribulation is causing so many frivolous pleasures and worries of the world to simply evaporate. It is causing His Word and promises to burn within us. We do not see explicit promises in the Word of God to take us out of tribulation: on the contrary, Yeshua promises that we will have tribulation in the world (Jn. 16:33). However, the Word promises that God will be a very present help in tribulation (Ps. 46:1). Discovering that through experience is gold refined by fire!

A Word from the LORD | In September of 2023, Oren, a greatly gifted teacher at Tiferet Yeshua, submitted a word he had received from the Lord to Gil, our lead pastor. Oren, a truly humble and sincere man of God, explained to Gil that he had never heard a “word” from the Lord before and, furthermore, that nothing like this had ever happened to him. Oren described how on the evening of Rosh Ha Shanah he experienced an overwhelming presence of the Holy Spirit and was moved to write words which he felt were barely His own.

After prayerfully considering the word and sharing it with our elders, Gil felt that Oren needed to share it with the whole congregation at the next service which was the service right before Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). The timing was perfect, of course, because it was God’s timing: that service was dedicated to standing before God in humble repentance and intercession for our people.

Continue reading the Word given to Oren online

https://tiferetyeshua.org/2024/02/05/god-is-not-silent/...

Donna: There was a cry this week I heard in a Zoom meeting as Joel Jelski of Fields of Wheat expressed the level of grief, pain, sorrow and hurt that Israel is reeling from still after 4 months since the attack on Oct. 7th. It is much more deeply felt than most people realize, then the PTSD of what their eyes have seen, and the shock of how the world concerns itself over what Gazans instead of having empathy for devastated Israelis. That is why this Feb 9th issue has that as a major there in the ministry letters I have shared, also there is a strong theme of the prophetic too. What is happening is prophetic. The anguish, the terrors – these are what real people are experiencing as the devil challenges God for Israel as the place the throne of King Yeshua will be seated in Jerusalem – on earth as it is in Heaven. As people of this only true King, it is our duty to intercede as His kingdom is birthed in Israel. It is coming.

Smite the Shepherd to Kill the Israel Mandate

 

Yesterday I got a comment that helped me distill my great dismay about the situation at IHOP. Someone was encouraging me to realize that the Israel Prayer room is going on as it always has at IHOP. That is just the problem: the idea that it can just be a take it or leave prayer room one can enter, instead of it being a major emphasis of the congregation, church or prayer network.
What I was watching throughout 2023 is Mike Bickle removing Israel Prayer from a small side prayer room, out into the central global prayer room where it belongs. It is not a side-issue to the dual vision given to Mike to raise up a 24/7 prayer house network that would pray for Israel's salvation in such a time as this.

Everyone makes prayer for Israel a side room not understanding the ripple effect that Israel's salvation is going to have on the last great harvest of souls: "For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?"

People want to pray for themselves. Everywhere - from Messianic synagogues to churches with a major commitment to support the work of the Israeli ministries doing the work of Jesus' ministry to Israelis - it is hard to get more than a few dedicated souls to treat Israel prayer as something more than a 'side room'. They may have a full house for prayers for the congregation, the city, healing, etc., but Israel prayer will be a side issue comparatively. And few of those want to lift up the arms of our Israeli Messianic brothers doing the ministry in Israel because everyone is more interested in praying for the 'big issues' of wars and politics and Israel's public relations in the nations.

Until prayer for Israel focuses on the SALVATION of Israel, and until the people are rooted and grounded in Israel's central position in God's plans for the end times, praying for Israel will always be just a little side room where a handful of dedicated souls gather.

To increase the numbers of those willing to dedicate themselves to prayer requires being

#1 taught the scriptures related to God's promises to Israel and how it impacts ALL believers Jew or Gentile, and

#2 to be taught the TRUTH which wipes out the lying narratives about Israel that many Christians are entrenched in along with their unsaved loved ones and peers.

I thought the accusations rolled out against Mike Bickle stunk like rotten fish from the beginning. Because having just begun to follow the IHOPKC Prayer Room in March 2023, I had seen that what Bickle was rolling out was breaking out of the side room vision for intercessions for Israel and making it a significantly increased theme of the prayers made from that Global prayer network. DISCLOSURE: I have been to a couple of past Israel Mandate conferences at IHOP, but I have never followed IHOP or so much as said "Hello" to Mike Bickle. This is not about loyalty to Bickle, it is about seeing his loyalty to the Heavenly vision given to him for Israel's salvation.

The IHOP 24/7 prayer and worship house was raised up for the purpose of prayer for Israel's salvation - it was not to be just another side room for prayers in the house, it was meant to be the primary purpose for the Global Prayer Room for such a time as this. Did God not intend IHOP to be leading prayer for the horrors and needs of Israel facing the first great outbreak of brutal attack in the Oct 7th massacre by Hamas?

Making Israel's salvation a priority prayer every day in the Global Prayer room is exactly what Mike Bickle was moving it. That began to unfold with the announcement in March to do the 21-day of prayer for Israel on behalf of the worldwide prayer group that was going to meet in Jerusalem at the end of May. The intercession specifically was for God to open their eyes to catch the understanding of what God is calling the ENTIRE church to - intercession for Israel's salvation in the time when the warfare against it would begin to increase in earnest.

There is no other way for me to look at this than an attack on the Israel Mandate. Even after that 21-days ended there was an increase in the prayers being made for Israel in the main prayer room continually ...and it has dwindled away since Mike was separated permanently from IHOP BEFORE the investigation and judicial hearing for him! The vision Mike carried from God was to finally merge into the dual mandate 24/7 prayer & worship & Israel's salvation. Now Israel is back to being treated like a side issue.

Some good strides have been made toward investigative and judicial hearing that is fair to Mike, but already, the new leadership of IHOP has stepped away from Israel Prayer intercession as even mentioned in the recent speech about what IHOP's commitments would be going forward. Israel prayer was not even mentioned.

So no matter what, without Mike Bickle, IHOP may continue, but the reason God raised up that prayer house will have cut out the primary purposes of God that the Church would be the intercessory midwife that helped Messianic Israel to bring forth the birth of "all Israel" being brought forth.

God is never defeated. As Mordechai told Esther, "Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Esther 4:13-14

I know that everyone thinks this is about Mike's sins over 2 decades ago, but in the end I believe it will be shown to be something else. It will be about Mike taking IHOP to a level of commitment to Israel that the people under him did not have grounding in to support, so like Korah fighting Moses, a revolt was led to oust him. The enemy knocked out the Israel Mandate at Kansas City just when the need for intercessions has never been greater. The #1 Thing Most Christians Know RIGHT NOW is just how severely traumatized and hurting Israelis are. You really have no idea how deep the wounding, pain and grief really are even among believers. In my view, the accusations against Mike Bickle were faked traumas to halt the intercessions about real and devastating traumas that would unfold among Israelis at the hands of Hamas terrorists on October 7th. What has been revealed ever since has been at a horrific level of man's inhumanity to man and most of the world lines up spouting foolish defense of Gaza. It is also impacting the horror, sorrow and grief in Israel. It is appalling to me that the feeble accusations against Mike would wipe out the prayers being made for Israelis at this time, but that is exactly what has happened. From Israel-oriented prayers being made 7 days as week in the Global Prayer room at IHOP, going out all over the world, dribbling down to focus on one day only? That is what this fake sex controversy has been about. Nothing about the accusations so far have given me any reason to believe this is nothing but trumped up #MeToo inflated sexual false allegations. Traumatized? See what the Israeli women suffered Oct 7th. That is sexual trauma.

Am I Saying There Is Nothing God Wants to Correct at IHOP-KC?

Job Rebuked by His Friends 
Painting by William Blake  (1757–1827)

Yesterday a Christian minister I have connected with in the past, and with whom we continue to follow each other on Facebook, contacted me. He wrote to get a clarification about what I have written in response to the situation we have all been watching at Kansas City IHOP. Probably it was the last thing I wrote that he was referring to, which was What is Happening at IHOP-KC is a Demonic Assault that Impacts Prayer for Israel.

Since he asked, I'm sure some might have the same question for me which he framed as: 

"Several of your posts have seemed to infer that the ‘only’ reason all of this is happening to IHOP / Bickle is because they have prayed / do pray for Israel and have a commitment to Israel as part of their mandate. Maybe this is not what you meant to convey, but that is what seems to be coming across.

"Sadly & unfortunately, I don’t think that this is ‘only’ reason this exposure and clean-up is happening to IHOPKC. I have sadly walked through 4 moral failures among pastors in the last 20 years of being in Texas – all very close to us. Our involvement spans from; watching ‘others’ decide everything as junior leaders, to being involved in direct confrontation and decision making. Some worked out well and some did not.

 

"Based on 30 years of pastoral ministry, the fact that moral failure being cleaned out in every corner of the Church (Ravi Zacharias, Hillsongs, Southern Baptists, Bill Hybels, etc.), AND observing the processes and communication coming from IHOPKC - there has to be by default, unhealthy governance issues within the IHOPKC organization that have overridden the ways of God for an extended period of time. These need to be revisited and reset. I don’t agree that separation with Mike Bickle was needed – but this also depends on whether he was cooperative with their internal process (if any is in place) for discipline and restoration. We may never know.

 

"For me, inferring (intentionally or not) that IHOP’s current issue is ‘only’ related to Israel, is problematic.    

I appreciate my friend's feedback on how he perceives what I have written, though as I told him, I have written a lot on what's happening at IHOP and I doubt he has seen all of what I have written. I say that because there are obvious issues amiss, but I believe what is amiss at IHOP is general practice in the non-denominational church and perhaps in denominational too. It is due to a lack of understanding the justice principles God lays out in the Hebrew scriptures. Since there is so much rejection of the "Old" Testament among Christians, there is the idea that everyone can make up their own rules for handling things. That is like the Book of Judges where "everyone did what was right in their own eyes."

Early on in my exposure to the Messianic movement I came across Daniel C. Juster's book called, Due Process | A Plea for Biblical Justice Among God's People. Over the years of my walk with the Lord, I have discovered that biblical justice means a lot to me. That is one of the reasons I vehemently reject the ideas of current "Social Justice" warriors. Their justice is doing what is right in their own eyes, not in God's eyes. It is a sure formula for injustice. 

To get Mike Bickle and IHOP-specific, hopefully within all I have written about what has been happening there I have managed to communicate that I don't believe there was nothing broken that doesn't need repair at IHOP. Certainly there is, as there is in so many congregations.

But I do look at Mike Bickle as being similar to the example and case of Job. There were things that God wanted to do in Job, as He wants to do in Mike, but it was not as his friends accused him of. What they did was dump every biblical reason someone might find themselves in such a bad place in life as being the result of some sin they in essence were accusing Job of.

I believe the same has been done to Mike Bickle and when the dust has settled we are going to find that God actually has a really high regard for this man.

As I just wrote in my blog post, What is Happening at IHOP-KC is a Demonic Assault that Impacts Prayer for Israel, I do believe this is a WOKE attack against Mike to destroy the Israel Prayer Mandate of his dual commission from God. And just to make it clear, I DO believe there is a raised level of warfare against Mike Bickle because of the Israel Mandate. I don't want to waffle of that point. Many reject it thinking the Israeli Mandate is just another ministry focus a person can be devoted to in ministry. That is not the case. The Israel Mandate is truly the final frontier in the kingdom of God. So, YES: I do believe the attack on Mike, in the hidden demonic shadows, is to dismantle the IHOP network for praying for Israel's salvation. No waffling on that point for me.

We are all in a process of being transformed into the likeness of Yeshua/Jesus. We are not perfected. We all still have pockets in our hearts that God does not fully occupy. We are pressing toward it, but as 1 John 1:7-9 tells us: "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

One of the few things we have learned from Mike Bickle is that he acknowledged an inappropriate relationship 25 or so years ago that did not include sexual intercourse, which he confessed to God, repented of, turned away from and thought it was under the Blood of Jesus. 

On the other hand, there are two women who have accused Mike Bickle during the time period of 20+ years ago. Accuser #1 and accuser #2 have been misrepresented as if they were children. There has been ZERO talk of the women to confess, repent and turn from their sin. They are not acknowledging their sin, seeing themselves as victims only. This is typical religious woke feminism.

From the beginning I was alarmed to see the Advocacy Group and their close allies among the former IHOP central leadership, conflating the handling of all sexual-related issues at IHOP in the past as Mike's sin.

From my observation throughout the prophetic circles and many churches there are no policies for dealing with sexual accusations involving leaders or members. If the person accused is a frequent visitor, minister or supporter of the ministry not directly under the authority of the minister involved, there is a reluctance to address the person because they are not under direct authority of the minister.  

It is a bit of widespread cowardice I think, because if someone is being accused of repeated sexual impropriety, whether directly under the ministry authority or not, it is a matter of protecting the sheep in my view. We would do almost anything to keep from confronting on the issues of sin.

I don’t know if you read the latest investigator’s report or not, but I was struck at how many of the unnamed accusers were divorced with their ex-husband’s involved in whistle blowing or adding some layer of character reference.

The church doesn’t even bother preaching about divorce anymore and the rate of Christian divorce is on par with the unbelievers. Sure there are plenty of things wrong that need to be addressed, but I deeply oppose all those things being dumped on Mike Bickle’s shoulders. Gee, if we could just get rid of Mike, we could be so much holier - we might even be without spot or wrinkle!  (Huge eyeroll!)

I to believe the moral failures of Mike differ from those named by my friend because Mike said he repented – confessed and turned away from the sins going forward  the next 20 years. That is a huge difference.

I cannot even fathom God letting Mike go on in unrepentant sin all the way to 2023 where Mike would actually for the first time in history, orchestrate worldwide prayer for Israel's salvation. It was the largest Christian prayer for Israel EVER held. Believe me, this is a priority to God. Just like God is not going to allow any war to wipe Israel off the map, He is also heavily invested in Christians in ALL nations praying for Israel's salvation. (Not just the Asian Christians as one prophet had the audacity to suggest recently!)

It is not even expected of the two women accusers that they be held accountable. 19 is not a child as they are being portrayed. This is WOKE justice and I am increasingly convinced a Woke-Feminist (Jezebel) attack on Mike. I have to repeat what I wrote days ago: 
At the end of the age two chief principalities make war on the saints of God: Jezebel and the Beast (brute beasts like Hamas, China, Iran, etc.). Since this is so, why don't we see the Jezebel warfare involved in destroying Bickle?

Every young congregation needs to look at IHOP-KC as a cautionary tale: if young people are not rooted and grounded in God's intentions and plans for Israel and how they fit in, a coup may be waiting in the wings. Many of the ideas of equality and social justice are not rooted and grounded in God's Word at all. The younger generation carries the baggage of indoctrination into the views of secular social justice. They must be taught Biblical justice. God has real justice. 

Those are some of the reasons I stand by my assessment that the attack is primarily to do with the Israel Mandate that was blossoming at IHOP the last year. I don’t believe IHOP’s current issues are only related to Israel but I believe the hidden demonic agenda to destroy the Israel Mandate is also exposing the issues common throughout the body of Christ from all who are participating in dumping all blame on Mike.

I do not mean a bunch of people at IHOP got together and formed a conspiracy, but in the demonic realm the uprising has been forwarded in order to abort the worldwide prayer commitment for Israel's salvation that Mike initiated in 2023. It is just as clear to me as it was Pharaoh ordering the murder of babies to stop Moses and Herod ordering the murder of babies to stop Yeshua. The baby in this instance is a 24/7 worldwide prayer for Israel's salvation.

In one of my favorite passages, Isaiah 54:14-17 “In righteousness you will be established, far from oppression, for you will have no fear. Terror will be far removed, for it will not come near you. 15 If anyone attacks you, it is not from Me; whoever assails you will fall before you. 16 Behold, I have created the craftsman who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its task; and I have created the destroyer to wreak havoc. 17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the inheritance of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.

I expect to see Mike Bickle emerge at the end of this thing vindicated by God.  I hope that clarifies my thinking somewhat.