The Lord is saying, ‘This is a time of great courage. As David recorded the names and acts of his mighty men, so I will record your names and acts in these times. World events have arisen and will continue to arise that will demand courage and action. For I have shaken My people, I have shaken My church, I am now shaking Egypt – the current world power – until it falls.
For it will fall by the sword struck by other nations. I am using the unification of other nations to take down Egypt. When it falls, the hearts of many will tremble and fail. For that which they placed their trust in – the wealth and operational systems of the earth will completely shatter and break. However, I am speaking peace over My beloved! Be not afraid when you see the tall trees fall in the forest of the earth. I am cutting them down, and even those who are striking Egypt will be dealt with by Me. I am using the enemy to destroy himself. The east will strike the west. Surely My storm is coming, but My people are called to stand. For the storm will rage but it will move through the trees and when it’s gone through, My Oaks will still stand strong.
This is not the time to be shaken, My beloved. This is the time to stand and not be moved. Hold onto courage, bravery, faith and hope… for this is your portion, and you will be remembered for it. Mighty men and women of valour, this is your hour to shine in the midst of the darkness. Know for certain, the darkness only lasts for a night time. My light will burst and break through and you will know when the day has dawned. For a new peace will be released upon the earth when the mighty have fallen. A new foundation of justice and truth will be laid, as I have spoken by My prophets. My Word is ‘Yes, and Amen’, do you not perceive it?
Be not deceived by words of doom and gloom for your future and the future of the nations. Those are not the words of My mouth. I speak peace and renewal to the earth. I will make all things new when the new day dawns. This is the time I have been preparing My Bride for, the time where My Kingdom will come and My Will will be done on the earth, through our divine partnership.
You, My trees of righteousness, are planted in the field of the nations. I have scattered you, strategically, to be a place of gathering and a refuge in the storm. In this season, the church will not need to go out and find the lost, but the lost will find you. Your treetops will be towering and your branches will be outstretched. New world-events will change the shape of ‘church’, for these new circumstances will demand new responses. The unity that I’ve been calling the church to, will come about in the storm. However, hear and understand this one thing: the storm will pass and the earth will be made new. You are facing the night before the dawn, not the night which forms part of an enduring storm, as some are saying. This is a crucial revelation that My church needs in this hour, for the expectation of deliverance is ‘key’ in the standing. You are not standing without hope of deliverance, and this deliverance is a swift one that will happen in your lifetime!
So when you hear of world events that bring a shaking, remind yourself to stand. It is a passing storm that must blow through until the mighty trees have fallen. Be not afraid when you see the strength of the east against the west, for I will deal My blow to all after My purposes have been fulfilled.
I am penning down your names as David did. Your mighty acts of courage and bravery to stand in the midst of the storm will be recorded for eternity.‘
2 Samuel 23:8-39
David’s Mighty Men
8 These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the three. He wielded his spear against eight hundred whom he killed at one time.
9And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar the son of Dodo, son of Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew. 10He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword. And the Lord brought about a great victory that day, and the men returned after him only to strip the slain.
11And next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines. 12But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked a great victory.
13And three of the thirty chief men went down and came about harvest time to David at the cave of Adullam, when a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. 14David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. 15And David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” 16Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the Lord 17and said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.
18Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty. And he wielded his spear against three hundred men and killed them and won a name beside the three. 19He was the most renowned of the thirty and became their commander, but he did not attain to the three.
20And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two ariels of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. 21And he struck down an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. 22These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and won a name beside the three mighty men. 23He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard.
24 Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 25Shammah of Harod, Elika of Harod, 26Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoa, 27Abiezer of Anathoth, Mebunnai the Hushathite, 28Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai of Netophah, 29Heleb the son of Baanah of Netophah, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the people of Benjamin, 30Benaiah of Pirathon, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash, 31Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth of Bahurim, 32Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, 33Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite, 34Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai of Maacah, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, 35Hezro of Carmel, Paarai the Arbite, 36Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, 37Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai of Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah, 38Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 39Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.
Ezekiel 31:10-18
10“Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because it towered high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height, 11I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out. 12Foreigners, the most ruthless of nations, have cut it down and left it. On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land, and all the peoples of the earth have gone away from its shadow and left it. 13On its fallen trunk dwell all the birds of the heavens, and on its branches are all the beasts of the field. 14All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to towering height or set their tops among the clouds, and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height. For they are all given over to death, to the world below, among the children of man, with those who go down to the pit.
15“Thus says the Lord God: On the day the cedar went down to Sheol I caused mourning; I closed the deep over it, and restrained its rivers, and many waters were stopped. I clothed Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it. 16I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit. And all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the world below. 17They also went down to Sheol with it, to those who are slain by the sword; yes, those who were its arm, who lived under its shadow among the nations.
18 “Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? You shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the world below. You shall lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.
“This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God.”
Ezekiel 34:25- 31
25 “I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. 27And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 28They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. 29And I will provide for them renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations. 30And they shall know that I am the Lord their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God. 31And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God.”
