Mountains of Safety
This is an amazing end time passage, because it summarizes the light and darkness of the last days in a few verses, but it is also really consistent, because there are numerous passages throughout the Bible that confirm this same idea:
Ezekiel 7:12-16 The time has come, The day draws near. ‘Let not the buyer rejoice, Nor the seller mourn, For wrath is on their whole multitude. For the seller shall not return to what has been sold, Though he may still be alive; For the vision concerns the whole multitude, And it shall not turn back; No one will strengthen himself Who lives in iniquity. ‘They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready, But no one goes to battle; For My wrath is on all their multitude. The sword is outside, And the pestilence and famine within. Whoever is in the field Will die by the sword; And whoever is in the city, Famine and pestilence will devour him. ‘Those who survive will escape and be on the mountains Like doves of the valleys, All of them mourning, Each for his iniquity.
Right now, we are in a very "acute" moment. We are literally in a moment all of creation has longed to see...we are in the hour the Bride...a descriptive term for the sanctified end-time Church...is emerging. The Bride will emerge in agreement with this description given by Ezekiel.
Ezekiel was describing two realities in the last days: trying live life as usual, and those who climb up onto the mountains for safety. You are in one of these camps, whether you realize it or not.
The signs of the hour are nearly unbelievable. MANY see them. The political movements, the signs in nature, the signs in the culture...the signs in the heavens...the signs in Israel and around the Temple Mount...the earth is experiencing significant acceleration in Biblical prophetic fulfillment. This is a wonderful gift, but a gift that comes with great responsibility.
This generation has been given much, and much is required. Because you live in the generation every other has longed to live in, much has been committed to you. You must respond, or else there is a judgment on you:
Luke 12:42-48 And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
The correct response is to "get ready." This is a very specific instruction. In fact, Jesus immediately followed this warning in Luke 12: 42-48 with a promise that "getting ready" would create great division:
Luke 12:49-52 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three.
Getting ready IS climbing the mountains. This is what Ezekiel saw:
Ezekiel 7:16 ‘Those who survive will escape and be on the mountains Like doves of the valleys, All of them mourning, Each for his iniquity.
"Climbing the mountains" is an idea developed in both the old and new testaments. Numerous...I would guess hundreds of...passages describe this end time reality: that those who want to be in God's presence will desire it with all their hearts and that desire will begin refining their lives in holiness to become pure and spotless. They won't become holy from discipline, but rather by desire. Like Jacob, they will wrestle through the night (end time darkness) to receive the blessing of seeing God. They will draw nearer and nearer to God (climbing His holy mountain to where He sits at the top) and as they do this, they will begin manifesting the glory of Jesus...the literal light of His presence on earth! Light is going to a whole new level, and so is darkness. this is the simple truth of the Bible:
Psalms 24:3-7 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord ? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the Lord , And righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face. Selah Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.
Some cities will choose this, and some cities will ignore this reality. Cities that choose to go after God will make this choice because the people of God that live in them will make this choice on an individual level. They hear the trumpet and they respond! Cities that ignore the formula to get ready will do so because the Church in that city ignores the day. The trumpet is blown and the church does not respond:
Ezekiel 7:14 ‘They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready, But no one goes to battle; For My wrath is on all their multitude.
The earth is going to get much worse...famine and pestilence within and the sword coming at us from the outside. This is the simple promise of God...not because He hates the people of the earth, but because He loves them and is demonstrating that loving Him back is the only way life will happen forever. So, in the last generation, God is going to begin removing the other things we tend to love instead of Him, even though He solely gives these things: food, shelter, peace, health... BUT, on the mountains...the geographic locations that respond now, while there is time...there will always be plenty. Psalm 72 describes the moment that the mountains prevail and, by their reach for God, he reaches back and breaks in by splitting the sky and setting up His new government on the earth. The mountains, the geographic locations that got ready and manifested the glory of God, will be clearly seen as the blessing they are:
Psalms 72:2-16 He will judge Your people with righteousness, And Your poor with justice. The mountains will bring peace to the people, And the little hills, by righteousness. He will bring justice to the poor of the people; He will save the children of the needy, And will break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear You As long as the sun and moon endure, Throughout all generations. He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing, Like showers that water the earth. In His days the righteous shall flourish, And abundance of peace, Until the moon is no more. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth. Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him, And His enemies will lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles Will bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba Will offer gifts. Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; All nations shall serve Him. For He will deliver the needy when he cries, The poor also, and him who has no helper. He will spare the poor and needy, And will save the souls of the needy. He will redeem their life from oppression and violence; And precious shall be their blood in His sight. And He shall live; And the gold of Sheba will be given to Him; Prayer also will be made for Him continually, And daily He shall be praised. There will be an abundance of grain in the earth, On the top of the mountains; Its fruit shall wave like Lebanon; And those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.
Now is the hour to begin learning how to practically climb the mountain in your city...it is on the tops of the mountains heaven will open in the end time:
Matthew 16:28-17:3 “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
Ezekiel 7:12-16 The time has come, The day draws near. ‘Let not the buyer rejoice, Nor the seller mourn, For wrath is on their whole multitude. For the seller shall not return to what has been sold, Though he may still be alive; For the vision concerns the whole multitude, And it shall not turn back; No one will strengthen himself Who lives in iniquity. ‘They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready, But no one goes to battle; For My wrath is on all their multitude. The sword is outside, And the pestilence and famine within. Whoever is in the field Will die by the sword; And whoever is in the city, Famine and pestilence will devour him. ‘Those who survive will escape and be on the mountains Like doves of the valleys, All of them mourning, Each for his iniquity.
Right now, we are in a very "acute" moment. We are literally in a moment all of creation has longed to see...we are in the hour the Bride...a descriptive term for the sanctified end-time Church...is emerging. The Bride will emerge in agreement with this description given by Ezekiel.
Ezekiel was describing two realities in the last days: trying live life as usual, and those who climb up onto the mountains for safety. You are in one of these camps, whether you realize it or not.
The signs of the hour are nearly unbelievable. MANY see them. The political movements, the signs in nature, the signs in the culture...the signs in the heavens...the signs in Israel and around the Temple Mount...the earth is experiencing significant acceleration in Biblical prophetic fulfillment. This is a wonderful gift, but a gift that comes with great responsibility.
This generation has been given much, and much is required. Because you live in the generation every other has longed to live in, much has been committed to you. You must respond, or else there is a judgment on you:
Luke 12:42-48 And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
The correct response is to "get ready." This is a very specific instruction. In fact, Jesus immediately followed this warning in Luke 12: 42-48 with a promise that "getting ready" would create great division:
Luke 12:49-52 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three.
Getting ready IS climbing the mountains. This is what Ezekiel saw:
Ezekiel 7:16 ‘Those who survive will escape and be on the mountains Like doves of the valleys, All of them mourning, Each for his iniquity.
"Climbing the mountains" is an idea developed in both the old and new testaments. Numerous...I would guess hundreds of...passages describe this end time reality: that those who want to be in God's presence will desire it with all their hearts and that desire will begin refining their lives in holiness to become pure and spotless. They won't become holy from discipline, but rather by desire. Like Jacob, they will wrestle through the night (end time darkness) to receive the blessing of seeing God. They will draw nearer and nearer to God (climbing His holy mountain to where He sits at the top) and as they do this, they will begin manifesting the glory of Jesus...the literal light of His presence on earth! Light is going to a whole new level, and so is darkness. this is the simple truth of the Bible:
Psalms 24:3-7 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord ? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the Lord , And righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face. Selah Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.
Some cities will choose this, and some cities will ignore this reality. Cities that choose to go after God will make this choice because the people of God that live in them will make this choice on an individual level. They hear the trumpet and they respond! Cities that ignore the formula to get ready will do so because the Church in that city ignores the day. The trumpet is blown and the church does not respond:
Ezekiel 7:14 ‘They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready, But no one goes to battle; For My wrath is on all their multitude.
The earth is going to get much worse...famine and pestilence within and the sword coming at us from the outside. This is the simple promise of God...not because He hates the people of the earth, but because He loves them and is demonstrating that loving Him back is the only way life will happen forever. So, in the last generation, God is going to begin removing the other things we tend to love instead of Him, even though He solely gives these things: food, shelter, peace, health... BUT, on the mountains...the geographic locations that respond now, while there is time...there will always be plenty. Psalm 72 describes the moment that the mountains prevail and, by their reach for God, he reaches back and breaks in by splitting the sky and setting up His new government on the earth. The mountains, the geographic locations that got ready and manifested the glory of God, will be clearly seen as the blessing they are:
Psalms 72:2-16 He will judge Your people with righteousness, And Your poor with justice. The mountains will bring peace to the people, And the little hills, by righteousness. He will bring justice to the poor of the people; He will save the children of the needy, And will break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear You As long as the sun and moon endure, Throughout all generations. He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing, Like showers that water the earth. In His days the righteous shall flourish, And abundance of peace, Until the moon is no more. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth. Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him, And His enemies will lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles Will bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba Will offer gifts. Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; All nations shall serve Him. For He will deliver the needy when he cries, The poor also, and him who has no helper. He will spare the poor and needy, And will save the souls of the needy. He will redeem their life from oppression and violence; And precious shall be their blood in His sight. And He shall live; And the gold of Sheba will be given to Him; Prayer also will be made for Him continually, And daily He shall be praised. There will be an abundance of grain in the earth, On the top of the mountains; Its fruit shall wave like Lebanon; And those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.
Now is the hour to begin learning how to practically climb the mountain in your city...it is on the tops of the mountains heaven will open in the end time:
Matthew 16:28-17:3 “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
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