Kaph, the Hebrew pictograph for 2o represents an open palm/hand.
We have just entered the year 2020.
Is 2020 the year of two open hands? A double portion of the Hand of the Lord?
I find it interesting that God often uses what is right before us, speaking and making His point through symbolism…
The word of the LORD came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “I see the rod of an almond tree,” I replied. The LORD said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.” -Jeremiah 1:11-12
The Benson commentary of this passage from Jeremiah has this to say…
“Here, by symbolical representations, the meaning of which God immediately interpreted, future things were presented to his view. This method of instruction or information sinks deeper into the mind, and leaves a more lasting impression there, than any mere words can do; and therefore the prophets frequently received communications from God in this way.”
Benson’s commentary goes on to explain the symbolism…
“A branch of this tree, therefore, with buds or leaves, and blossoms upon it, was a proper emblem to denote God’s hastening the execution of the predictions which he declared by this prophet, who lived to see most of his prophecies fulfilled. There is also in the original a remarkable paranomasia, or affinity in sound, between “shaked”, an almond tree, and “shoked”, hastening, which makes the words more striking than they can possibly be in any translation. For not only the nature of the almond tree, but the very sound of the Hebrew word, which signifies it, denoted God’s hastening to fulfil the prophecies which Jeremiah uttered by his directions.”
Thus it is, in my estimation, with the Hebrew word “kaph” being a pictograph of an open hand and representing the number 20 in the year in which we have just currently entered, 2020!
This symbolism depicts what I believe God had already been showing me about the coming year…
2020 will be a year where the Sovereign Hand of God is on display!
The sovereignty of God is one of the key things that I believe God is showing me as we enter 2020. Not only did He give me two powerful dreams within about a week of each other showing me the providential Hand of God in sovereignty, but He has also been speaking to me through His Word about His sovereignty as revealed in the Book of Daniel.
“He considers all of the nations on earth to be nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven. He does what he wants with the nations of the earth. No one can hold his hand back. No one can say to him, “What have you done?” -Daniel 4:35
Expect 2020 to be a year where you will see things happening in the world, and in your life, that clearly display the sovereignty of God.
I almost can’t get away from this point because I feel it so strongly… God is going to demonstrate that He is God through sovereign acts of divine providence.
2020 is going to be the year where the Hand of the Lord comes upon people and we will not be able to ignore it!
One of the great truths of scripture that is so clearly brought out through the verse I just mentioned found in the Book of Daniel, is that God is sovereign. He does whatever He wants, whenever He wants, with whoever He wants.
The Church of our day is not accustomed to the God of the Bible. Many believe that God requires our permission to act and recoils at the thought that He simply does what He wants to, whether we like it or not!
When God shows up in His sovereignty all that changes!
“The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley, it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.” -Ezekiel 37:1
Ezekiel didn’t ask to go to a valley filled with dry bones. The Hand of the Lord came upon him and put him there! This is an example of the sovereign providential hand of God.
If it was me I’m not sure I would like to be placed in a valley filled with dead dried up bones! Feels like something you’d see in a horror movie! God picked him up and brought him there. And once he was there, it says that the Spirit of God led him back and forth to walk among the bones. Did Ezekiel want to be in that valley? I kind of doubt it! He probably would have preferred a tropical island with living people who had flesh on their bones!
God did all kinds of things in Ezekiel’s life just because he wanted to. He told him He was going to take his wife away, that she was going to die, and He told him not to cry about it!
“The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down” -Ezekial 24:15
What do you think Ezekiel thought about that? Here’s a better question… What do you think his wife thought about it? God never bothered to ask her if she wanted to be a living prophetic sacrifice as an object lesson to the people of Israel! He just decided to take her home, that her time on this earth was up!
The point of all this is that God is God! He does whatever He wants and nobody can hold back His hand.
“But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.” -Psalm 115:3
GOD HAS NOT CHANGED, AND HE HAS NEVER ABDICATED HIS SOVEREIGNTY.
This is one of the great truths that is missing from the modern-day Church and one that will be restored during the coming outpouring of the Holy Spirit in revival.
God is not bound in any way by our human preconceptions. When we look at the Hand of the Lord in scripture it’s very easy to see that it came in ways that we would consider negative as well as in ways that we perceive as positive. It’s important to understand that what God does in His sovereignty is always correct whether we like it or not.
In addition to the previous things I just mentioned, the Holy Spirit continues to speak to me about the glory of God and a coming revival.
The Hand of the LORD in Glory
On New Year’s Eve, 2019, I had a dream where I awoke covered in the joy and glory of God.
The dream was a simple one. I was singing over and over again with great confidence and joy, “The Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom!”
I awoke in an atmosphere of the glory of God singing the same song I had been singing in my dream and got immediate breakthrough that I had been seeking for 3 months!
The Hand of the Lord had come upon me!!
God was showing me through the dream, that the Kingdom of God is a free gift to His children. There was nothing I could do to earn it or deserve it. It’s part of our inheritance and He distributes it among His children just as He pleases. He delights to give His Kingdom to us!
The moment I awoke from my dream, I was INSTANTLY brought into AMAZING breakthrough and FILLED with joy!
Since I had been struggling in spiritual warfare for the previous three months I began to wonder, “Is this for real? How long is this breakthrough going to last? Is there anything I need to do to keep it going?”
God responded to me, “You didn’t do anything to get it in the first place! You were sleeping!!”
God was making the point very clear. He had opened His Hand of blessing to me. He was giving me the Kingdom, not because I deserved it, but just because He wanted to! I didn’t have to strive to make it happen. He did it in a dream while I was sleeping to show me it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with Him.
What happened was a sovereign move of God. He was opening His Hand and pouring out a blessing upon me!
This blessing is not just for me! I believe God was showing me through my dream what the coming year was going to look like as He sovereignly stretches forth His open Hand over the earth and pours out a blessing!
“You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” -Psalm 145:18
The Kingdom of God is a pretty big thing! It encompasses all that God is in His glory! What an awesome inheritance God is pleased to give to us.
Our Father reaches down, He extends His Hand, and He gives us His Kingdom.
The coming outpouring of the Glory of God will be a sovereign gift of God. The Hand of the Lord will come upon His people and everything will change.
I was given this dream on New Year’s Eve. The very next day, the first day of the New Year 2020, I was at a worship night where a woman shared about “kaph”, the Hebrew pictograph that represents 20 that I mentioned at the beginning of this post. She felt “Kaph” held significance for the year 2020. It was then that God first began to speak to me about the spiritual significance of the symbolism represented in this Hebrew word. Her prophetic insight was used by God to open the eyes of my heart and the Holy Spirit further unfolded revelation to me about the year 2020.
She explained that kapf could represent an open hand with palms up or an open hand with palms down. As she spoke I saw a beautiful picture of God covering us with His open palm facing down over our life, as well as the joyful generosity of His large heart as expressed in His arms extended out and his open palms facing upward filled with blessings He was delighted to give!
I didn’t make the immediate connection, but later realized that what she was talking about was exactly what God was showing me He had done when I woke from from dream that morning!
Kaph is the open hand by which things are given and received.
God was giving me the Kingdom that was in His hands and putting it in my hands!
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.” -Luke 12:32
The glory of God poured out in a dream
Eight days later, on January 8th, 2020, I had another dream in which God spoke to me of His sovereignty once again showing the Hand of the Lord in an outpouring of His Spirit.
In the dream God showed me that the anointing, glory and power in past revivals was simply a matter of the time in which they lived- a day and hour when the Spirit of God was being poured out.
In this dream, as in the previous dream, God was speaking to me of His sovereign Hand.
When the Hand of the Lord comes in revival everyone will know it!
There is a move of God on the way that is so powerful, so sovereign, and so full of the glory of God that no man will be able to boast in himself. It will be evident that God alone is orchestrating what happens!
Since I’ve already posted the dream I urge you to read the revelation that I was given here.
2020- The year of the Hand of the Lord
An “Issachar Anointing” is where God gives understanding of times and seasons.
“Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times…” -1 Chronicles 12:32
May God help us to understand the day and hour we live in!
It’s my belief that the coming revival of which I speak has already begun for some. I personally have been experiencing an amazing outpouring for 2 1/2 years now. That being said, God is showing me an outpouring of His Spirit and Glory that far surpasses anything I’ve ever experienced, and probably most people have ever experienced in our lifetime. We are going from glory to glory right now, but I believe the Hand of God is about to come in such a way that will be startling to all of us!
Although this outpouring will be completely sovereign in nature, it is completely biblical to ask for it. I encourage each and every one of you to press in and ask the Lord to open His Hands and open His Heavens and pour out His Holy Spirit in a way and measure that we can’t contain or explain!
“Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” -Acts 4:30
2024 Update
As I look back at this prophetic word I was given in Januray 2020 I’m struck by the two elements that I strongly felt God was showing me at the time, both of which revolve around the sovereignty of God.
When I was given insight into this 4 years ago I wrote about “Kaph”, which is the Hebrew pictograph for 2o representing an open palm/hand. At the time I asked the following question…
“Is 2020 the year of two open hands? A double portion of the Hand of the Lord?”
As I sit here 4 years later considering the prophecy, and considering the events that ended up taking place, I would have to say that the two hands represented two aspects of the sovereignty of God from our human perspective.
The prophecy consisted of basically two elements:
- What we might consider the “negative” aspects of the sovereignty of God. This consists of God breaking into our world in ways that we do not expect or perhaps do not appreciate. He does this either by direct action on His part or by allowing things to progress without His restraining influence holding it back. Although God did not speak to me specifically about Covid or the events that followed, it’s not difficult to understand from hindsight that 2020 was a year of pivotal and dramatic change. Without question it changed the world and it changed the face of the church. We’ve yet to see the full extent of the cascade of changes that are still occurring because of what took place in 2020.
- The other aspect of this prophecy was the hand of the Lord in blessing and a future outpouring of the Holy Spirit in glory. From our perspective we would tend to look at this as the positive aspects of the sovereignty of God.
I think it’s often the case that what we might consider the “negative” and “positive” aspects of the sovereignty of God are often working in tandem to produce His desired outcomes. This is the principle behind Romans 8:28.
And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
God is working all things (those we consider good, and those we reconsider bad) to ultimately end up for our highest good and to accomplish His purposes. How God does this is a great mystery, but the fact that He does do this is a reoccurring theme in the scriptures. I can attest to the truth of it in my own life as well.
2024 Revival update
I felt it important this year to go through the things that I’ve written and to clarify exactly what I mean when I’m talking about “revival”. There are many different ideas of revival floating around the church right now, some of which I believe to be quite unbiblical.
I first began praying for revival seriously in 1987. Although I often speak of the glorious nature of it there are some things I am NOT saying when I speak of it.
It may be helpful at this point for me to make a statement of my own theological positions concerning the supernatural and revival:
I do NOT subscribe to the revival teaching that’s going around the church today that preaches a sustained, never ending revival, with the world getting better and better until the time of Christ’s return. Neither history, nor the scriptures, speak of such a thing!
My understanding of revival is that God in His graciousness at times pours out His Spirit to a much greater measure than what we usually see. It shouldn’t be surprising that God would do that as the days grow darker. That does not mean, however, that darker days are not ahead for the world or that the world can somehow escape the judgments recorded in Scripture! Nor does it mean that there will not be a great falling away in the Church. It simply means that God in His love at various times and seasons chooses to bless His people by sometimes giving extraordinary visitations of His Spirit.
The primary evidence of revival is not supernatural manifestations or amazing miracles. We’re plainly warned that in the last days miraculous signs and wonders are going to be performed by people who are not of God. This is reason enough to exercise discernment. The primary evidence of a visitation by God are changed lives marked by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Authentic revival brings a love for Jesus and a hatred for sin and worldliness. It gets our eyes off the world and on to heaven.
I do not subscribe to a Latter Rain view of revival, nor do I subscribe to Manifest Sons of God theology, or Dominionism.
I caution you to beware of those who teach an overrealized view of the Kingdom of God. Although the Kingdom of God is within us, and in a very real sense here now, in another sense it will not be fully realized until the return of Jesus Christ. To take spiritual truths that will only be fully realized in the future and expect them to be normal and part of our everyday life now is unbiblical! Many have gone into great error by failing to realize that heaven on earth will never be a completely fulfilled reality until the return of Jesus Christ.
As wonderful and awesome as revival is it will not bring the spiritual utopia that many are expecting.
Revival also has nothing to do with going after spiritual manifestations and experiences for their own sake. If that’s what you’re running after you’re missing the whole point!
An explanation of what revival is can be found in the word itself. From a medical point of view we revive somebody who’s in great weakness or close to death. This is exactly what revival is meant to accomplish in the spiritual realm as well. When the church finds itself in great weakness and decline God will often come with a fresh wind of His Spirit to revive us and bring us back to life again!
Repentance, holiness, and a renewed faith and love for Jesus Christ is what real revival is all about.
There’s absolutely nothing in the Bible that teaches us to run after manifestations and experiences!
Although I’ve personally experienced on occasion some extraordinary supernatural manifestations from God, I do not elevate the experiences themselves, but rather see them as something that attended a great work of God in my life. As far as I’m concerned, it is never about the manifestation; it is always about Jesus Christ. I’ve never felt that God has ever wanted me to glory in an experience! When we begin to do that we’re missing the whole point of what it means to have a relationship with God. My glory is in Christ alone.
Closing thoughts for 2024
As 2024 comes to a close I find myself in sublime enjoyment of God’s presence. The goodness of God and His love is overwhelming. His mercy is beyond anything that I can put into words! At the same time, I am more determined than ever to value and to walk in the truth. It’s not enough to just feel the awesomeness of God, I want my experiences to be rooted and grounded in the truth of God’s word.
TRUTH MATTERS.
I’m personally grieved by how little truth seems to matter in the lives of many Christians. I’m constantly being made aware of situations where Christians are being taught things that directly contradict the Bible, and if these errors are pointed out to them, they seem blissfully unconcerned. All I can say is that doctrine actually matters in the Christian Life. Jesus went about teaching his disciples, and he also taught the crowds that came to see Him.
And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them… -Matthew 5:1
The apostles also considered teaching to be important.
But when some of them stubbornly refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way, Paul took his disciples and left the synagogue to conduct daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. -Acts 19:9
God graciously gave us the Bible for our instruction. We are being utterly foolish to disregard the importance of biblical doctrine to our faith. I urge you to dive deep into the Word of God.