RING THE GLORY BELLS

Posted in Worship

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness…” So wrote Charles Dickens in the Tale of Two Cities. Isaiah prophesied of a similar duality facing Israel. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.”

Isaiah’s prophecy is pertinent today—for Israel and for the nations of the earth as we all face uncertain and turbulent times. The good news is that stars only shine when it’s dark! And the glory of God also has its own unique sound. The glory has its own frequencies of sound that penetrate darkness. This sound is being released on the earth and will grab our attention. It will cause us to wake up and to look up—to look up and see the King of glory.

TWO DREAMS

During the middle of 2014 the Lord gave me two very important dreams. The first was about the “worst, dark times of despair”. The second was about a sound and a season of light, glory and hope.

Throughout Scripture, the Lord gave dreams and visions to His people at critical times. Increasingly the Lord is speaking to His church in the same way.
Much has been said about the four blood moons of 2014 and 2015. Whatever your view on them or eschatology, we are clearly living in a significant and historic day.

Even though the depth of hatred in the world seems to be escalating, yet this fact remains; the eternal God of love sits on His throne. He is above ISIS. Islam. Disease. Gay marriage. World finances. His love never changes nor weakens.

While in Ravensbruck concentration camp, Betty Ten Boom said there is no pit deep enough that God’s love is not deeper still. Across the nations God is revealing Himself in powerful ways. His word is becoming stronger and louder; “Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.”(Isaiah 60:1) God’s glory being upon His people is a fact. It is a done deal. Jesus revealed the Father’s glory to us. It caused religious spirits to tremble, while others found healing and hope. Today the call and destiny of every believer is to reveal His glory. We are called to be carriers of His glory and to show the Father to those around us.

FIRST DREAM - TSUNAMI OF HATE

Twice, on the night of 2^nd July 2014, I had the same dream. I was witnessing a terrifying tsunami whereby the swirling waters were filled with debris and filth. As I was watching the devastation I heard the Spirit say, “tsunami of hate, tsunami of hate, anti-Semitism.”

Some dreams are difficult to interpret—this one was not!! Almost immediately the essence of this dream was in the news. Within days the media began to report about ISIS rampaging though Iraq. A few weeks later the Gaza war began—unleashing a fresh and frightening wave of anti-Semitism across Europe and USA.

We flew from Berlin to Israel some months later. Our El Al plane had a police and military escort all the way to the runway and until we took off. We could sense increased tension. El Al, Israel’s carrier always has tight security that we really appreciate. However, none of us, and some are seasoned travellers to Israel, had ever known such a level of interrogation or security checks.

Just weeks before my first dream, on 12 June 2014, Palestinians dressed as Orthodox Jews were driving a car with Israeli number plates. Using this deception they were able to pick up three hitchhiking Israeli teenagers as they travelled home from school. They were kidnapped and murdered. Two weeks later, on 30^th June, their bodies were found near Hebron. Three days later I had my dream about the tsunami of hate. On the 8^th July, six days after my dream, Israel launched Operation Protective Edge in response to Hamas raining rockets on Israel from Gaza. On the 17^th July Israel entered Gaza with ground troops.

A tsunami of hate certainly followed and began fuelling a new wave of anti-Semitism as Hamas deceived, seduced and exploited the media to gain public sympathy. Hamas put their own children at risk by building tunnels under homes and schools and by firing rockets from homes and hospitals, then blaming Israel for the carnage. They killed their own people who would not obey their callous orders and threatened journalists who told the truth. Israel was portrayed as monsters.

While in Israel in November 2014 we had the privilege to meet, talk with and sing over some Israeli soldiers, some had been traumatized by what they had to deal with in Gaza. We also stayed in the home of a family at Beersheba who were within range of rocket fire, some landed in their street. They shared their trauma of having seconds to get to the shelter—as their husband / father was confined to a wheelchair.

We had just got home from Israel when terrorism reached its grubby paws onto our own shores. Australia lost its innocence and pre-Christmas joy in the horrific siege at the Lindt coffee shop in Sydney. No Australian will forget the trauma of 15^th December 2014. We had not even had time to take our collective breath when France was attacked on 7^th January. Not only was it an attempt to massacre free speech, but Jews were also targeted and murdered.

Many have criticized the Israeli PM for calling European Jews to make Israel their home. Yet his call aligns with Scripture and current reality, as the dirty waters of the tsunami of hate swirl and threaten every Jew. While at a post office in Jerusalem last November, we got chatting to a young Jewish man who was in the process of making aliyah from New York. Even though Jerusalem was experiencing a wave of terror attacks, which we witnessed ourselves, this young man told us it was much safer for him to live in Jerusalem than in America.

Sadly, anti-Semitic sentiments are increasing—too many to mention in this article, but with alarming similarities to the birth of Nazism. Not only is there an attempt to delegitimize the nation God calls the apple of His eye, or the blatant murder of His people, there are also boycotts on their products—an absurd and counter-productive situation that also hurts Palestinians as well as sick people and businesses worldwide.

However, the tsunami of hate is not just against Jews. Christians are now the largest group of martyrs in the world—even more than during the 1^st century church. In the natural, it looks dark and bleak.

SECOND DREAM OF RINGING BELL

As I sought the Lord I felt the mountain represented both the Lord’s presence and the nations. As eight is new beginnings, and nine the fullness and fruit of the Spirit; eight and a half is in-between these. A thousand means an increasing or amplification of the number, so it would be an increase toward Holy Spirit fullness. A bell is a metaphor for proclaiming the glory of God.

As we were about to embark on nearly two months of ministry in Asia, Europe and Israel, I felt the Lord was saying we were to proclaim His glory to the nations; to declare that His presence and glory would increase and multiply like a large tsunami to bring His people to completeness and maturity. The wave of His glory would supersede the tsunami of hate. Everywhere I looked, these words were being confirmed—many were also speaking about a glory tsunami. I also knew this wave involved a heavenly sound that would penetrate the realms of darkness.

RINGING BELLS

As we prepared to leave for overseas I felt I needed a bell to ring prophetically as we made decrees. However, I could not find one anywhere and so asked the Lord to provide me with His bells as we travelled. Wow! Did He answer that prayer or what? There were bells everywhere!

In Kuala Lumpur I had to content myself with a small tourist bell to prophetically ring and declare His glory. But in KL there was a manifestation of glory in the wonderful Feast of Tabernacles celebrations. His presence in those worship times was like a glory bell itself. It strengthened and rang within us as we travelled.

In Germany, we began at Herrnhut; where the Moravians prayed for over one hundred years. We had arrived at night, and in the morning light I found a big church bell at the entrance to the property! As we walked down the street to the original church site, we found a bell in the only wall still standing after the war.

But before I got to ring any bells, the lady who managed the prayer house reminded us of Germany’s history. As told in the movie “The Monument Men”, Hitler took all the church bells, just like he stole paintings belonging to Jewish people. The German Government has been returning all the bells as part of the war restitution. The bell at the prayer house was one of those that had recently been returned!

I gingerly climbed up the rickety stairs to ring the prayer house bell—not just because of my physical ailments but because we also had to dodge around the scaffolds and holes where renovations were taking place! The rope to ring the bell was right beside the original prayer room, which was currently being restored. But the significance of ringing the bell—declaring the glory of the Lord eradicating the tsunami of hate over Germany, was too important, to not overcome the obstacles to climb up! The bell and its prophetic message resounded around the whole village.

Earlier in the day, we had climbed the hill that Count Zinzendorf called “God’s acre”. It was where he had buried so many of his family and the Moravian missionaries. There, as we overlooked Czechoslovakia and Poland, I sounded the silver trumpet and shofar and an unusual manifestation took place.

A photo was taken of me blowing the silver trumpet, but the trumpet appeared to be out of my hands and “flying through the air” and my clothes showed different colours to what I was actually wearing! The Lord showed a prophet friend of mine that; “The trumpet represents an apostolic shaft going into the earth with the fire of God, which will cleanse those nations, but it will also ignite them to the ways of God with the fire of His Glory. A heavenly decree is established that Jesus Christ is the Lord of the nations. The “fire” on your t-shirt speaks of the fire consuming the darkness but also speaks of the breath of God going forth across the airways.”

The prophetic interpretation of the photo affirmed glory sound was being released to penetrate the nations. As we prepared to leave Germany, the Lord again confirmed the bell theme, as our last hotel in Berlin was called “ABell” and run by a Jewish couple!

JERUSALEM BELLS

In Israel the Lord provided lots of bells: church bells, tourist bells and bells on hotels and shopping malls.

In Jerusalem we met up with teams from across Asia for three days of worship at Living Bread Church. Our visit was during a time of much tension and many terrorist attacks in Jerusalem. Many of you were praying for Karen Dunham whose church was under siege by militants. There was a mighty breakthrough as a couple of hundred from every tribe and tongue worshipped the King of kings for 72 hours non-stop. Peace was eventually restored to the neighborhood! An example of this transformation was that on our first day a small team went to worship at the Golden Gate and had to dodge stones being thrown at them. On the third day, all two hundred of us went and worshipped the Lord at the Golden Gate for about an hour and without any disturbance. This was a miracle.

On the first day at Living Bread Church, I was inside and facing the door. Suddenly, it was like the Lord opened my eyes! I was stunned to see a large bell inside the church foyer. Even though I had previously been in that building I had never noticed the bell before! Because of the tensions in the area we had to be sensitive as to “when” we sounded it.

On the third day, I shared with all the worshippers from the nations about the two tsunami dreams. We rang the bell and declared the glory of the Lord would be over Jerusalem, and that a tsunami wave of love would cast out all fear and hatred.

After that, the Chinese believers bought every tourist bell in sight! By the time we got to Caesarea Philippi—the place where Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail—we had hundreds of bells ringing and declaring His glory. Bells of every size and quality were rung at the border of Israel and Lebanon and from Mt Hermon as we looked into Syria!

Yes, anti-Semitism is on the rise and it is hard to comprehend the hatred coming forth from ISIS and such groups. BUT GOD. In the midst of the most unimaginable tsunami of hatred, waves of God’s love and glory are flowing across the Middle East and across the nations of the world.

WHAT DOES THIS GLORY LOOK LIKE?

The glory has many facets. It is seen in the testimony of an ISIS fighter raised from the dead by an encounter with Jesus! It is seen as Christian martyrs, dressed in orange overalls, surrendered to the Lord and their families forgave the perpetrators. It is seen as millions of Muslims dream of Jesus and turn to Him. It is seen in the outback of Australia as young believers are healing the sick and raising the dead. It is seen in the testimony of a Pastor who died of a heart attack at Sydney airport, was raised from the dead and recently shared his testimony at the UN! It was seen as two former Aussie drug smugglers worshipped the Lord as they were executed. It is seen as broken hearts are made whole by the love of God. It is seen when forgiveness flows and relationships are restored. I have seen it in the eyes of Israeli’s who ask why we come to Israel when everyone hates them, and when we reply “we love you”, tears of hope fill their eyes and distrust of Christians melts away. It is seen in His Presence when shalom transforms a fearful atmosphere.

While the end-time spirit is raising its abominable head, yet simultaneously, God is doing something extraordinary in our day. He is changing hearts and lives by His love and mercy—and giving hope to many decimated by hatred.

KINGS WILL FEAR THE GLORY

Kings rule. Those who rule over nations and empires wield great authority and power. When such rulers are tyrants, like Pharaoh or Hitler, the people are so crushed they wonder if God is less powerful or just missing in action. Yet, God is always on His throne. “The nations will fear Yahweh’s name.
All the kings of the earth will fear your glory.” (Psalm 102:15 Names of God)

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened to accomplish God’s purposes. (Romans 9:17,18) But the loss of his eldest son and then the parting of the Red Sea had to have caused Pharaoh’s heart to shudder and quake. And there is coming a display of God’s glory that will cause other despots, even the rulers of ISIS, to tremble, fear and bow the knee. “The nations shall know that I AM the Lord”. (Eze 38:23)

The book of Isaiah suggests this respect for God will be seen in both the east and west. “The people of the west will fear the name of Yahweh. Those in the east will fear his glory.” (Isaiah 59: 19)

East and west is not just a geographical direction but also refers to socio-political divides. We consider western nations as being Judeo-Christian democracies and the east being those who follow eastern religions and based on ethnic tribes and kingdoms. Bible teacher Perry Stone says that domination of the earth has alternated between east and west throughout history. He believes the recent domination by the west is currently transitioning to the east. https://www.youtube.com/watch?src_vid=yeyfSRnW9Yw&annotation_id=annotation_4058091599&v=4THduGbGYYI&feature=iv&app=desktop

The current tsunami of hate is predominantly in the east, though spreading to the west. If kings fear the glory, then the wave of glory that is about to travel the globe will be so significant it will cause those who are currently instigating barbaric hatred to tremble. Terrorists like Saul will become the “Apostles Paul’s”. Expect kings, presidents, prime ministers and those in high places to bow to the glory waves. Around the globe, wave after wave will cause people and powerful rulers to tremble. They may not admit their fear—but everyone who hates God with such vengeance is scared of something! Every knee will eventually bow to the King of kings.

TWO SIDES OF THE GLORY

There are two sides to the glory—the goodness and severity of God.

Moses asked to see the glory and God showed Moses His goodness—love, kindness, peace, triumph, beauty, majesty.

The severity of God is His uncompromising holiness and righteous judgements. Yet even in judgement there is mercy. Ultimately God wants us trust Him.

Before his execution, the Australian drug runner Andrew Chan, spoke of his arrest and imprisonment being the best thing for him. He felt it was a wake up call and without it he would have died and gone to hell. So even though his execution was politically controversial, he is now with the Lord. Jimmy Baker made a similar statement. He said if he had not been caught and imprisoned he would have ended up in hell. In both cases, arrest and imprisonment may have seemed severe judgement, but it was God’s grace and mercy from an eternal perspective.

THE GLORY HAS A SOUND

Like bells, the glory has its own distinct sound—varying according to its size, shape and material. It is a unique sound that will be heard clearly. It is a sound that cannot be silenced or muffled. Bells announce, call attention to, reverberate and echo. In the same way, glory sounds announce and reverberate the message of God’s goodness, love and resurrection power.

When King Solomon dedicated the temple it was the Feast of Tabernacles. There was a unique sound. There was one sound— unity, harmony, a symphony. The Glory was seen in the temple and the priests could not stand up to finish the worship service.

On the day of Pentecost, the sound coming from heaven was a mighty rushing wind! As we begin to see the awakening of a fresh Pentecost, expect to hear the sounds of heaven, expect to hear the rushing wind of the Spirit. Expect to hear the one sound that has perfect harmony, without any discord at all. Musically a one sound is so powerful it multiplies. I can’t go into the details here, but it is a phenomenon that brings multiplication in the natural and spiritual realms.

Accompanying the tsunami of glory will be the glorious and majestic sounds of heaven. There is a beautiful sound that many churches have yet to capture. But it is becoming more and more critical that worship music is filled with sounds that originate in heaven. Throne-room worship and glory sounds intertwine and cause the realms of darkness to shake and shatter.

Currently the prince power of the air fills the airwaves with sounds of hatred, murder, witchcraft, discouragement and hopelessness. God’s judgement on Babylon is to silence such music. (Revelation 18:22) There is an urgency to overwhelm the airwaves with the glory sounds of love, encouragement, hope and holiness.

For too long the enemy has been singing his lullaby over the church to put her to sleep. This lullaby may sound harmless and even nice but like carbon monoxide, it is deadly. The ringing glory bell and the blasting shofar, are needed like alarms to penetrate through every apathy and delusion. The glory bell is calling the Bride. Time is short. Watch and pray for glory sounds to be released on the earth—we need them desperately.

THE GLORY DEFEATS DEATH
The glory of the Father raised Jesus from the dead. (Romans 6:4) Resurrection life is found in the glory of the Father—for us as well as Jesus. As the tsunami wave of glory breaks across the earth, expect the raising of the dead to become “normal”. Expect hopeless dead situations to be rejuvenated with fresh life, fresh hope and fresh vision.

It’s time to ring the bell. It’s time to sound the shofar. Let the glory sounds awaken the church. Let the glory sounds call the perishing. Let the glory sounds stir the nations. In this Hebraic Year of 5775, let the sounds of Heaven permeate the airwaves, our families, workplaces, homes, the sea, the sky and even the very land. Let the sounds of resurrection life peal out to the multitudes. Let the frequency of the glory fill the airwaves and reverberate around the earth.

“Open your mouth with the mighty decree; I will fulfill it now you will see! The words that you speak, so shall it be!” (Psalm 81:10 TPT)

Article by Ruth Webb  © Published in Praise Alert May 2015