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May
2002
"This
Cup is 1931"
by
Rick Joyner
I
had a dream in 1991 in which I saw multitudes of
fighter planes departing at a fast speed. I knew they
were going to war. As I looked in the direction that
they were going, it was as if I were on a cliff
standing over a large city by the sea shore. I then
saw six large sailing ships rise on the waves and come
crashing down the streets of this city. As the ships
tumbled down the streets, they were being destroyed
and were doing great damage in the city. The dream
then changed and I was standing in front of a doorway.
A man came out of the door and gave me a cup, and
said, "This cup is 1931."
This dream has proven to be true as far as the speed
with which we went to war at that time. However,
knowing that we "see in part," my
interpretation in 1991 was only partially accurate. I
still do not have a full understanding of it, but I
have a little more than I want to share now. At the
time, I knew that the planes taking off at such a
speed represented the speed with which we were going
to war, but I assumed that the rest of the dream was
likewise related to the present situation then. I now
think it was more expansive than that.
In 1991, I felt that the sailing ships represented
those who are blown about by the wind, or who are
unstable. This may be true in a way, but I now believe
that these ships represent spiritual leaders because
the wind often represents the Spirit (see John 3:8),
and these ships were sailing vessels. Ships often
represent leader-ship in dreams and visions. Because
there were six ships, and six is the number of man
(see Revelation 13:18), I feel that these were
spiritual leaders, but those whose authority was more
from man than from God. The way that the waves picked
up these ships and sent them crashing down through the
streets of the city, doing much damage to both the
ships and the city, speaks of waves of the sea
(humanity) coming that will cause these leaders to
crash into the works of man (the city) doing much
damage to each other.
This was a very dramatic event, and it could relate to
what has actually been happening since the PTL
debacle, though it certainly has not been limited to
that ministry. I do believe the judgment that begins
with the household of God started in a significant way
in the 1980s, and that it too is coming as many things
do at the end, in wave after wave of spiritual
contractions. Eventually, all of these ships that are
built on using the power of the Spirit to propel what
is in fact man’s ministry will be destroyed. Their
destruction will also bring significant destruction to
"the city of man," which I think has
certainly proven to be true.
All of this is also taking place at the time when we
will again have to partake of the same cup that was
served in 1931. This was not only the year that The
Great Depression actually began, but also the time in
which many of the events were released that paved the
way for the Nazi spirit to prevail over Germany. The
main purpose of that spirit was to destroy the Jewish
people. I believe that this same spirit is what is
presently working in the Islamic extremists, and it
will again try to exert itself through major,
world-wide economic problems. That is why the World
Trade Center was a target of the September 11 attacks.
I believe we must beware of this Nazi spirit which is
seeking to gain entry into every aspect of our
culture, and even into the church. The Nazi’s used
the church in Germany as one of the springboards to
power, and in times of conflict such as we are
entering, we must guard our hearts against the kind of
racist extremism that is seeking to prevail in the
hearts of men in our time. As Christians, we are
called to be a house of prayer for all peoples, Jews
and Arabs included.
The following are practical things that I wrote in
1991 which remain crucial for our time (some I have
modified to include the additional understanding that
I have at this time).
1. We must Seek the Lord.
We should NOT seek Him for what we should do but
because He is what we are to be doing. Our first
calling is fellowship with the Son, to be conformed
into His image, and to follow Him wherever He goes. We
may know exactly what is about to happen in the world,
but if we are not abiding in Christ we will almost
certainly be in the wrong place at the wrong time and
suffering the wrong consequences. If we are abiding in
Him, we will be in the right place at the right time,
doing the right thing, regardless of whether we know
what is going on or not.
READ: Matthew 6:25-34, Hebrews 12.
2. We must become an established, fruitful,
functioning member of the body of Christ.
No one is properly joined to the Head who is not
also properly joined to His body, the church. The
church is, and will be until the end, the vessel
through which the Lord does His work on the earth in
this age. However, we must discern that which is being
built whose "…architect
and builder is God" (Hebrews 11:10)
from the works of man. We are also proceeding into the
time when everything that can be shaken will be, and
we must build our lives on the kingdom that will not
be shaken.
READ: 1 Corinthians 3:3-6,10:16-17, 11:23-30,
Ephesians 4.
3. We must get rid of our excess baggage.
We must get out of debt and get out of everything else
that is entangling us, sapping our time, strength, and
resources and keeping us out of God’s will for our
life. To the degree that the world and the prince of
this world has his grip on us, it has been used to
keep us out of God’s will. Debt is one of Satan’s
most effective yokes to keep the church neutralized
and powerless.
It does not matter how badly you are presently
entangled, or how disobedient you have been to His
previous warnings, if you repent now without
compromise or wavering, He will help you.
READ: Deuteronomy 15:6, 28:12, Proverbs 22:7.
4. We must go on the offensive spiritually.
The Persian Gulf War, and the present War on
Terrorism are parallels of what is happening in the
spirit. This war is a righteous war that we must fight
in both the natural and spiritual. We must fight
against those who seek to control the world through
fear, intimidation, or other forms of tyranny. We must
do this in the church as it is being done in the
natural. We must reject fear, paranoia, and the other
forces of darkness that seek to destroy the true works
of the Spirit. Fear cancels out love, and if fear is
dictating our actions, we have fallen from our place
in Christ.
This particular war is against the biblical
"prince of Persia" whose contemporary name
is "Allah." This is the same principality
that resisted the prophet Daniel. Its primary strategy
is the subjection and then destruction of all who call
upon the true God, just as we see in its schemes to
destroy Daniel when he prayed to the Lord. This is not
the only battle that the church is in but it is the
major one that is raging at this time.
Our warfare is for the destruction of strongholds so
the people can be saved. It is time to pray for the
destruction of the stronghold of Islam and the
salvation of the Arab people. Before we can
effectively launch a spiritual offensive against this
stronghold, its grip on us must be removed.
Strongholds are deceptions or misconceptions. A part
of the strategy of the stronghold of Islam has been to
erect misconceptions about Arabs in the minds of
Christians as well as the reverse. Presently, this
stronghold has a grip on Christians through fear,
intimidation, and misunderstanding. We must respond to
the fears and intimidation with courage and boldness
and cast off the misunderstandings we have about the
Arab people. We tend to perceive them in the light of
the more extreme elements in their religion, just as
they tend to perceive Christians by the extremists in
our midst (who have historically been just as cruel,
intolerant, and even murderous as any Moslem
fundamentalists have). Our offensive against the
stronghold of Islam must never become an attack upon
the Arab people. We are commanded to "honor
all men" (I Peter 2:17).
We must honor the Arabs for that which is honorable,
respect them for that which is worthy of respect, and
above all, love them because God loves them and gave
His Son for them.
King Solomon said that there is a time for war and a
time for peace (see Ecclesiastes 3:8). We must be
discerning of the times if we are going to be
effective in our calling. One who has been in a
conflict or battle knows that there is no other
sensation quite like the level of consciousness,
intensity, and focused vision that comes in the
battle. Those who do not wake up to the circumstances
when the battle begins will be in the most jeopardy.
It is now time for war; the battle has begun. It is
time to go after the strongholds of the enemy without
relenting until the gates of hell have been shut.
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