The Killer Storm, The Bitter Pool, & The Prophet's Axe

The Lord can use insights and incidents to help us understand this
season.

Killer Hurricane Targets Prophets’ Compound
The hurricane named Dennis made landfall Sunday July 10th at Santa
Rosa, the small panhandle beachfront town in Florida that is the base
of ministry of Dr. Bill Hammon and his network of churches. Christian
International has equipped thousands of believers to activate the Holy
Spirit’s wonderful gift of prophecy. Dr. Hammon is himself a prophet of
the Lord.

Consider this as a symbol: the center of the storm’s killer winds were
targeted precisely against the center of the prophetic movement in the
modern church. Was this merely a coincidence? It has happened before…

In Matthew 14, Jesus stayed behind and prayed until the third watch
(3:00AM). What happens after this prayer vigil is the amazing story of
Jesus walking on the water through an intense storm to get to the
disciples’ boat. The storm was trying to kill or delay the disciples
from crossing over. The storm was an enemy of God’s purpose. Perhaps
that’s why Jesus knew he needed extra prayer to penetrate this new
region with kingdom power.

Afterward on the other shore came the most intense spiritual battle
recorded in the gospels, the demoniac from the tombs. Spiritual warfare
scholars believe the man was not influenced by ordinary demons, but was
also in the grip of the strong man or the principality ruling the
region. This evil fallen angel was using this pitiful man as a channel
to paralyze the population with fear. After he was powerfully
delivered, Jesus departed then returned later and was welcomed by the
people. The power of darkness over the region had been broken by Jesus
in a ferocious battle that began in solitary prayer, was manifested in
a vicious storm, and climaxed with a great miracle. It was not enough
to pray, they also had to survive the storm to get to where the need
was. The demonized man was set free and the gospel penetrated a new
region and touched many peoples’ lives. Jesus the healer was on the
scene.

The Bitter Pool Preventing Healing Flow Gets Healed
This morning the Lord showed me and some intercessors the coming flow
of healing waters. But first, I saw that the Bitter Waters have to be
healed. In Exodus 15:22-27, the people had made it out of Egypt by a
three-day’s journey, only to become thirsty due to lack of water and
begin to murmur. At that point they encountered a pool of water but it
was bitter, perhaps poisonous from harsh minerals. The people
complained but Moses prayed.

This is the choice all of us have to make on our journey when we
encounter trials and obstacles that both hurt and hinder. None of us
will be spared the trials of life. We all will be tested. The question
is: What do we do during our trial of faith? Do we discard our hope,
start murmuring and griping, and turn away from following the Lord?
Moses showed us the right response when the pressure increased: he
turned to the Lord in prayer.

The Lord told Moses to toss a tree into the water. This prophetic act
shows us today that the answer to life’s bitter experiences is found in
the Tree of Life, the Cross of Jesus Christ. We will never become so
spiritual that we no longer need to take ourselves back to the cross to
deal with our sinful nature, our unbelief, or our fear. The tree tossed
into the bitter water made it sweet.

In the New Testament, James talked much about what flows out of our
soul: either bitter water or sweet water. He said this ought not to be
(James 3:1-12). When we feel the pressure to sin with our tongue  the
possibility of judging, the chance to exalt our self, the biting word
that contains subtle accusation, the cold love of suspicious slander 
and let that venom flow off our tongue, we show proof that the bitter
pool still has a residue in our soul.

The cure is still the same: the Tree upon which Jesus died to set us
free. He took the curse to give us the blessing. We can’t earn it, only
receive it.

I enjoy what Bible teacher Derek Prince said about this incident. It
not only displayed the cure for life’s bitter experiences (salvation by
the cross), it also introduced a new revelation of God to his people:
he is the Lord our Healer! All of us have ailments, but God is our
Healer. The healing we need the most is invisible to most: inner
healing or emotional healing for our soul.

Unhealthy emotions are a bigger hindrance to the Spirit-filled life
than is the lack of the anointing. It’s the dirty vessel that muddies
the clean flow out of our life in ministry or relationships.

In the light of these truths, the Lord cautioned me today that despite
persevering through our trials and battles, we have to be very careful
not to let out hearts be hardened. The danger is that we start out
with tender hearts but lose intimacy with God and sensitivity to one
another in the heat of battle or the length of the journey. I have a
friend who is a spiritual advisor to me in the Lord, Anita, a dear lady
of mature years and wisdom. She recently underwent abdominal surgery to
repair an old surgical scar. During her recovery she said, “I never
thought it would take this long or be this hard.” Does this describe
what you are feeling?

The Lord showed me Hebrews 3:7-13 which reads, “Therefore the Holy
Spirit says, ‘Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts’…
but encourage one another.”

The condition of our heart is our own responsibility. We make choices
which harden or soften our hearts. For example, the decision to repent
is a choice. The decision to hold a grudge is a choice. The decision to
humble ourselves is a choice. The decision not to trust someone is a
choice. The decision to hear what the Spirit is saying is also a
choice. These choices, done once and never retracted, will affect the
condition of our heart into the foreseeable future.

Failure to hear and respond in faith when God speaks to us is called
“an evil and unbelieving heart” and God’s reaction to willful unbelief
is anger, judgment, and eventually, our disinheritance. The Lord wants
our hearts tenderized and able to love freely, void of imbedded
offenses.

One tool that pours healing salve into our hearts is prophecy. This
gift of the Holy Spirit, more than any other gift, ministers
encouragement to believers. Perhaps that’s why the devil targets
prophets and prophecy so much: he wants Christians to have weak hearts!
So he tries to control prophets with condemnation, or keep them outside
the circle of leadership, or discredit the operation of the gift of
prophecy so it won’t be permitted among the saints.

As I’ve dealt with issues in my own life where my heart needed healing,
and also as I’ve attempted to help others, especially leaders who carry
deep hurts from decades of being wounded while serving God’s house, I
have often tried to be patient and sympathetic sometimes beyond the
degree of mercy God allows. The Lord recently said to me, “My kindness
is revealed in my severity.” He also said to me, “Don’t be more
sympathetic with stubbornness than I am.” God’s cure may seem severe,
but he only hurts us (with truth, in love) in order to heal us.

When a bitter pool is all that we’ve ever drank from, we’re in danger
of becoming a fountain of bitterness. The writer of Hebrews warns us,
“See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of
bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.”
(Heb 12:15 NASB)

The word defiled is a strong word. In the Greek, the original word is
the root word for miasma, an old medical term for a disease
mysteriously spreading on the air. A root of bitterness, once released
through spoken words, spreads inexorably like an airborne plague from
patient to patient until everyone is sick. Once made ill, the only cure
is the biblical application of repentance: the axe has to be laid to
the root. That’s what John the Baptist said he was doing with his
radical preaching (Matt 3:10). The prophet used his ax.

This verse in Hebrews about causing trouble is an instruction to all
believers. Bitterness in one person will have an effect on other
people. This is especially true if the bitterness is coming from
leaders with authority. Pastors of churches as well as all believers
have a responsibility. There is something we are to see to, tend to,
take care of; this issue of bitter hearts.

Bitterness has stages of growth or degrees of infection. Like a plant,
it has a root and it has a shoot. The root of bitterness is at first
invisible, buried beneath the surface. No one knows it is there but the
original carrier, and they’ve covered it over for so long they’ve
forgotten it. The shoot is the first evidence of a sick heart,
bitterness in its early stages, barely discernible to casual contacts,
often manifested as the spirit of rejection or the spirit of control.
The trouble is the evidence of bitterness in its mature stages. Close
contact, especially covenant love, feels it the most keenly.
Relationships split and accusations fly. Trouble multiplies quickly.
The defilement is the end result of this assault from Satan left
unchecked: embittered souls who are no longer of any use to God or man,
the kingdom or the church.

We have a responsibility. We are to see to it that no bitter root is
allowed to remain in us. If you see it, expose it. Only after you see
it can you repent of it and expel it. This scripture also tells us that
it is possible to come short of the grace of God. This is a sobering
realization.

The grace of God, as powerful as it is, can be frustrated by two
things: imposing extra-biblical authority and judging one another with
words of suspicion or accusation. The Bible is quite clear on this:
legalism or criticism grieves the Holy Spirit and nullifies God’s
grace. In an atmosphere of such poison, healing is distant and disease
is common.

The bitter taste in our mouth always has a root cause. It had to come
from somewhere. We had to swallow it for it to be inside us. When did
it happen? Where did it come from? Often we find its source in failed
or dysfunctional families, legalistic churches, injustice, or abuse.
Regardless of its source, the healing water of the Lord’s grace can put
a sweet taste back on our tongue!

By returning to the Lord in repentance and prayer, we find salvation
for our sick souls and freedom from slavery to controlling spirits. Not
only that, but we will witness outbreaks of unforced grace that will
put on display God’s great healing power to the glory of our Risen
Savior. I’ve seen it before and I will see it again. The Lord has even
promised me that creative miracles will occur. Why? Because I’m so
special? Or I have such great faith? Of course not! It is only because
of the loving nature of God- He is our Healer!

The Floating Ax Shows God’s Hand Is At Hand
The final word God gave me today came through a prophetic intercessor
named Lori. She showed me a scripture after I had discussed the Bitter
Pool. She pointed me to 2 Kings 6:1-15. As she showed it to me in her
Bible, amazing insight suddenly gripped my mind.

A company of prophets were growing larger and needing a bigger place to
meet. They asked Elisha, their leader, to go with them. They went to
the river to cut timber for building. One young man’s ax came off the
handle and flew into the water. Dismayed, he cried out, “It was
borrowed!” Elisha tossed a branch into the water and the ax floated up.
The young man put forth his hand and took up the ax.

Here’s the interpretation and prophetic application I saw today. The
place of the prophetic company has become cramped. God is enlarging
their place (space, grace). This is important because prophets are
forerunners and also because they deal with religious idolatry and they
call for repentance to prepare the way for God to build on the cleared
ground. This is no light thing. (Think you are ready to receive
apostles? When was the last time you received a prophet? What did you
do with the word he spoke? If you didn’t receive the prophet, you’re
certainly not ready for apostles.)

The prophetic company moved camp to be near deep water (so deep the ax
was lost). When they moved, they asked Elisha, the Double-Anointed man,
to go with them. He went! That’s good news! They started to cut timber
and build, but resources were slim (it was a borrowed ax). The branch
that was tossed in the water was another sign of the cross of Jesus,
The True Branch (John 15). When Jesus came on the scene, the ax came to
the surface!

Hear this: The ax is being restored into our hand today! If you put an
ax into a prophet’s hand, he (or she) will use it to cut off roots so
dead trees can go ahead and fall. If you put an ax into an apostle’s
hand, he (or she) will cut timber and build with it. Whether warring or
building, whether prophet or apostle, the ax symbolizes tools, Holy
Spirit grace-gifts, to get the job done.

The ax is a sign of supernatural power coming back into high level
operation in the church today not just through foundation ministries
like apostles or prophets, but through believers who will step out in
faith united with Jesus our Lord. In our day, the tools will be paid
for with abundant provisions. The ax is rising to the surface out of
the deep waters of worship. Tomorrow won’t be like yesterday.

Back to the beginning, to Exodus 15:27. When Moses led the children of
Israel forth, after they made it past the Bitter Waters, they came to
Elim. This is significant. It was worth the effort. At this camping
place, they found Twelve springs of water and Seventy date palms. The
next time we see 12 and 70 is when Jesus is Training the Twelve and
Sending the Seventy to heal the sick, drive out devils, and proclaim
the gospel of the kingdom (Luke 9:1; Luke 10:1)

Past our bitter waters of today, what lies ahead? I see apostolic power
to heal and a new season of commissioning new workers. A few years ago
I asked the Lord “Where are we on the time-line of Jesus?” He answered,
“In-between the Training of the Twelve and the Sending of the
Seventy.”

What was that season like in Jesus’ day? It was filled with unbelief,
carnal behavior by young Christians, competition between the young
apostles as to who was the greatest, powerlessness before suffering
humanity shown by their inability to drive out a demon from a
defenseless little boy, and prideful jockeying for position in the
kingdom. Sound familiar?

All this in Luke 9 and 10 while Jesus was praying on the mountain top,
bathed in glory, meeting with Moses and Elijah, being affirmed by the
Father’s voice, then coming down to finish the work of equipping his
infantile apostles for the work he would shortly delegate to them as he
turned and went to the cross.

Jesus has more faith for us, that we’ll make it, than we do for
ourselves.

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“The Killer Storm, the Bitter Pool, and the Prophet’s Ax” © 2005 by
Ron Wood, P.O. Box 12749 Wilmington, NC 28405
Write us at ron@touchedbygrace.org
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