THE SIXTH JUDGMENT THUNDER

By Bill Burns

August 1, 1999:

The seven thunders shall roar, and the lightning bolts of the fire of the Word in the mouths of God's servants will produce the spirit of burning, and will strike the demon powers that rule over the waters of this world.

Ezekiel 36:6 tells us to prophesy concerning the rivers. Ezekiel 29:3 says to speak against the great monster who lives in the midst of His rivers.

Isaiah 11:15 tells us that the Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt and with His mighty wind (voice of the Spirit) He will shake His fist over the river and strike it in the seven streams.

Demon powers have established strongholds in the waters of this world for the purpose of spiritually affecting people who live near the waters. In Revelation 17:1, the harlot (Mystery Babylon) sits on many waters. In verse 15 the scripture says that the waters sit over (have power over) peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues.

In Revelation 10:1-2 the angel of the seven thunders has his feet on the land and sea (waters) declaring ownership over both. Psalm 89:8-9, "O LORD God of hosts, Who is mighty like You, O LORD? Your faithfulness also surrounds You. You rule the raging of the sea; When its waves rise, You still them." Speaking of the Messiah, Psalm 89:24-27 "But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him, And in My name his horn shall be exalted. Also I will set his hand over the sea, And his right hand over the rivers. He shall cry to Me, 'You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.' Also I will make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth."

It is time for the kingdoms of this world to become the kingdoms of our Lord. The Lord Jesus is calling His prophets to come and strike the waters--to bind the demon powers which rule from the waters, demon powers like Leviathan. Psalm 74:13-14, "You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters. You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces, And gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness."

Our Prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ, wants His prophets to understand the power of striking the waters. First, we must understand the mantle of the prophet. Chapter two of 2 Kings tells us in verse 9 that Elisha asks for a double portion of Elijah's spirit to be upon him. In this narrative, Elijah is a type of Jesus and Elisha is a type of the Church. When Elijah was taken up into heaven (v.11-13) his mantle fell to the earth, and Elisha picked it up and struck the water of the Jordan River. Elijah (a type of Jesus) had already received power over the waters (v.8), and now Elisha would receive power over the waters. In the same manner, the mantle of the Holy Spirit that came upon Jesus in the Jordan River came upon the Church in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost. Therefore, the mantle is the power of the Holy Spirit. Elisha now has power over the water. In 2 Kings 2:19-22, Elisha healed the water with salt (a type of the church--Matthew 5:13) In 2 Kings chapter 5, Elisha sends Naaman to the Jordan, and he dipped seven times, and Naaman was healed. The number seven here could be a clue to point us to Revelation 10:7, "The days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets." God is about to reveal this power over the waters to His prophets.

Again, in 2 Kings 6:1-7, Elisha demonstrates his power over the water by causing an iron ax head to float. Striking the waters (by the Spirit) brings the victory over Satan's demonic powers who take authority over the waters. Water gives life. In Revelation 22:1-2, God gives pure water producing life. Jesus gives living water. John 4:10--Jesus answered and said to her, 'If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." The living water that produces everlasting life.

Satan comes to pollute the living water and set up strongholds in the waters of the world to keep people from the living waters of God. The mystery now being revealed is that he has assigned spirits to at least some locations to dwell in the waters as a position of spiritual authority from which to influence the people of the world. This is why God judges the waters in Revelation 16:3-6. Verse 5 refers to the angel of the waters. Most likely this angel is God's angel of Revelation 10:1-2 taking authority over Satan's angels bound in the waters of the Euphrates. In Revelation 16:12-14 when God's judgment is poured out on the great river Euphrates, we see the unclean spirits like frogs go forth to deceive the kings of the earth. This type and shadow is also seen in the Exodus narrative (Exodus 8:1-6). Moses, through his authority over the rivers, brought the very gods (frogs that the Egyptians worshipped) upon the people. In Exodus 7:7 God strikes the waters which are turned to blood--possibly a type of the blood of Jesus which brings victory over Satan in Revelation 12:11. Again in Exodus 14:15-22 Moses exercised the authority that God had given him over the waters. Prophets, take note: God told Moses to stop crying out to God and lift up his God-given authority!

And now, back to Elijah. In 1 Kings chapter 18, we have some insight to Elijah's conflict with the fake prophets of Baal. Notice in verses 32 through 35 that Elijah dug a trench around his altar and had it filled with water. I believe that it is quite possible that Elijah's intention was to not only show that God's fire was more powerful than Satan's but that God's fire would destroy the power of the prophets of Baal. The water must have been taken from the Brook Kishon because when God's fire came, it licked up the water in the trench (verse 38), and Elijah then took the powerless prophets of Baal to the brook and killed them there. The word, Kishon, means binding. Is it possible that the power of the prophets of Baal was bound in Kishon?

Elijah then brought the rain of God to the earth, and when the rain came, the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah, and he received supernatural power to outrun the horseman. Could it be that God is showing us that first the powers of darkness must be consumed (spiritually) by the fire of the Spirit before we will receive the abundance of the latter rain that enables us to contend with the horses (principalities in the heavenly places)? Jeremiah 12:5, "If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the flooding of the Jordan?"

We have the fire of the Holy Spirit. Now, we must use it. John the Baptist said in Matthew 3:11, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." We are to be flames of fire pulling down the strongholds of Satan. John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah to prepare the way of the Lord. How did he do this? First he announced (prophesied) the coming of the Kingdom (Matthew 3:2). He also prepared the way for the Prophet (Jesus) to come by baptizing people in water (in the Jordan, Matthew 3:6), as they confessed their sins. Repentance breaks the power of Satan's control of the flesh. Then, Jesus came to the waters prepared with repentance and was Himself baptized--He who had no sin. Certainly Jesus validated John's ministry and also confirmed water baptism as a symbol of the new birth. The question is--why would Jesus have to be baptized (a symbol of repentance) if He had no sin? I believe the answer is in Matthew 3:15, "But Jesus answered and said to him, 'Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.' Then he allowed Him." In order for all righteousness to be fulfilled, the powers of darkness had to be defeated. As Jesus descended into the depths of the waters, in the same manner that He would one day descend into hell itself, His statement must have been, "Satan, you will now be defeated, your powers over this river are broken, and the Jordan is now living water representing the anointing." And when He broke through the surface of the water, the mantle of authority in the form of a dove came upon Him (Matthew 3:16), and He was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness testing (Mark 1:12-13). Satan was not happy that the Son of God would now instruct His church as to how to have victory over his demon spirits. I have always found the account in Mark chapter 5 intriguing. Jesus cast a legion of demons out of a demoniac, and they begged Jesus not to send them out of the country but into the swine. Is it possible they used the pigs to get back to their source of power, the waters of the sea, where they could keep their authority and later prey on others in their assigned area? Interesting at least.

Our Lord then from time to time demonstrated His power over the waters. In Matthew 14:24-26 He walked on the water, proving that Satan is under His feet. And, in Matthew 8:26, He rebuked the wind and waves, and then He did the most remarkable thing--before He would go to Jerusalem to endure the cross, He took His disciples to the north, to Caesarea Philippi. But, one might ask, what does Caesarea Philippi have to do with demons and waters? Caesarea Philippi just happens to be located near the head waters of the River Jordan. It was also a stronghold of demon worship. This is the setting we find Jesus and His disciples in when Jesus reveals the destiny for His church in Matthew 16:13-19. It is this stronghold of Satan to which He would bring His church to two revelations: First, that He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God as revealed to Peter who momentarily walked on the water. Secondly, that these gates (places of authoritative rule, such as Satan had established at the head waters of the Jordan and thus the whole river) would not prevail against His church. In verse 19 He said whatever you bind and loose on the earth will be bound and loosed in heaven. Could it be that He was telling us to strike the waters? Bind the power of the gates; loose the people from the powers of darkness.

Is it not time, you prophets of the Most High? I say, yes, it is time to pick up the mantle that I gave on the Day of Pentecost. I say, pick it up and put it on and wear the power of My Spirit, and then it shall be that I shall reveal to you the hidden streams of Satan's power. And, then My prophets, strike those waters by the power of the voice of the Spirit, and many captive will be set free. Psalm 29:3-4, "The voice of the LORD is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; The LORD is over many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; The voice of the LORD is full of majesty."

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