Each year I, like many other prophetic people, take time to listen to the voice of God specifically to hear what His heart is for a new year, or a new season. I believe the purpose of this is to gain an understanding of God's heart and purpose so that we can properly position ourselves in prayer and in perspective, standing ready to work with Him to bring the Kingdom of God to earth. In this Hebrew year 5777, it is a year of covenant blessing, a year of contending for favor, and a year of new spiritual wells of refreshing springing forth. The symbol for 7 in Hebrew resembles a sword, or a vav (that which connects Heaven and earth) with a crown on top of it.
This is a Crowned Year of God's Goodness...Our Paths Will Drip with Abundance!
I hear the Lord decreeing that 2017 will be an incredible Comeback Year! "Comeback" is actually a single word meaning, "A regaining of success, fame, health, prosperity, recovery, to return to a former good position or condition after a loss, the act of making up a deficit as in a contest or game, to become fashionable again, a spirited, clever reply."It is a hopeful word which carries the connotation of a resurgence of good times, revival and times of victory. A "Comeback Story" is one in which someone succeeds against impossible odds, often through overcoming a time of struggle. It is the "come from behind" story that has everyone cheering.
It is the person who has failed time and again finally triumphing and attaining success. It is the underdog who may have suffered horrible losses and heartbreaking defeat, who through sheer determination rises above every barrier and obstacle to obtain the prize. It is going from a position of being broken down to a position of breaking through! This is a year to see setbacks turn into comebacks!
The number 17 is tied throughout Scripture to victory, overcoming the enemy and yes, spectacular comebacks. As the Lord spoke about a Comeback Year in 2017, I looked at Biblical stories which are full of people who seemed to have everything going against them—defeat, failure, sin—only to find they were the Comeback Kids of the day.
Moses was a murderer and a fugitive who became a deliverer and was known as a friend of God. Joseph was the dreamer, forgotten in prison in a foreign land, who became the prime minister of the greatest empire of the day. David was an adulterer and a murderer who became the greatest king Israel ever knew and whose legacy is that he was a man after God's own heart. Job lost everything, through no fault of his own, yet God restored double of ALL that was lost. The Temple was destroyed but then rebuilt again twice the size with Babylonian money! Peter denied Christ three times but was used by God to preach to win 3000 souls on the day of Pentecost. Jesus—the greatest comeback story of them all—was beaten, crucified and killed, yet conquered death, hell and the grave and came back to life and is now seated with honor at the right hand of God! Wow! (Photo via Flickr)
With those great examples of comebacks we should all be excited about what is ahead! It's a year to celebrate 500 years of Reformation...the comeback of the power and authority of the Church. It's a time for continued and intensified Divine Reversals, which the specific emphasis this year of seeing some things turned upside down (which we will see actually means right side up).
It's a time to see every curse reversed, the plans of the enemy upset and dead dry bones coming back to life! We will see a comeback in our nation, in our economy and of the voice the Church has to impact culture and shape the world. This year the authority of the prophetic voice of God will make a comeback to challenge us all to rise to new demonstrations of miracles and the supernatural and to occupy new places of authority. A Comeback Year is here!
In the Comeback Year, Divine Reversals Intensify!
At the end of 2014, I heard the Lord say we were entering a three-year period of time where He was going to do incredible miracles and turnarounds. The purpose of this period was going to be, "To restore hope to the Church so that the Church can restore hope to the world." I believe that we are in the midst of some of the most exciting times of turnaround for victorious comebacks that many of us have ever experienced in our lives.Then at the beginning of 2015 (the first of those 3 years), the Lord spoke to me and said, "Tell My people I am bringing them into a season of Divine Reversals. I will turn things around for them." I was studying in the book of Esther at the time and saw the evil decree of Haman that was released to bring death and destruction to God's people. Esther went before the king and the scepter of favor was extended to her so she could tell the king what was at stake. The king then told her to write a new decree in the king's name and seal it with the king's signet ring so that it cannot be reversed.
Then in Esther 9:1 it tells us, "On the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred: The Jews gained mastery over those who hated them."
It was a massive time of divine reversal for the Jewish people. Their mourning was turned to dancing and their sorrow was turned to celebration and joy. Interesting when I looked up the word reversed in Hebrew it was the Strong's Concordance number "2015"! It is the Hebrew word "Haphak" which means "to reverse, to overturn, to overthrow, to transform, to turnaround." (Photo via the Elijah Shopper, "For Such a Time as This" by Donna Smallenberg)
We began to see Divine Reversals for people's health, families, finances, legal situations, etc. We truly entered a period of time of Divine Reversals and turnarounds. Deuteronomy 23:5 uses this word haphak when it says, "I will turn (haphak) the curse to a blessing for you because I love you, says the Lord."
We must keep our minds focused on the fact that Jesus came to give us a divine reversal in every area of our lives! From death to life. From sickness to health. From poverty to abundance. From sorrow to joy!
How 2016 Set the Stage for 2017 – A Year of Chaos and Contention That Brought Dry Bones to Life
In 2016, I looked further at this word and found the Strong's number 2016 is the word "hephek" and also means reversal and turnaround, but it carries a connotation of a time of contrariness and opposition. We saw this clearly manifested in culture in 2016, a very contentious, contrary year in the earth.During this year, the Lord spoke to me out of Ezekiel 37 where the prophet is told to prophesy to the valley of dry bones. The phrase "dry bones" comes from the convergence of three Hebrew words: shame, disappointment and confusion. The picture of a valley full of dry bones indicates a place of horrendous defeat in a past season.
The prophet is told to prophesy life to that impossible scene. As he did so, there was a sound of shaking as the dry, dead bones came to life. The word shaking in Hebrew means the sound of chaos and confusion.
Clearly, the contentious political battle in the US, racial unrest, economic instability, as well as political upheaval in many nations in the earth, brought a sound of chaos and confusion in the earth. Christian values found persecution and seemingly lost ground in the US and the west, while in other places in the earth Christians were being beheaded and persecuted on a new level. The anti-Christ spirit along with an anti-Christ agenda seemed to be gaining ground at the expense of religious freedom. But God was reversing death and turning it into life! The sound of contrariness and chaos was necessary for the dry bones to come together.
God told the prophet to prophesy again at this point, but this time he was to prophesy breath. This is the second wind of the prophetic movement, which we are currently in, that will transform the dry bones into an exceeding great army. It's time for prophets and prophetic people to release God's revelation from their mouths, calling those things which are not as though they were. Prophesy life! Prophesy peace! Prophesy reversals! We must open our mouths and speak it and decree it for ourselves to see it come to pass.
The Lord had spoken to me at that time that the Church was "out of breath". He wanted to breathe new life into us so we can arise as that exceeding great army of Believers...a force for righteousness, justice and freedom in the earth.
The word used for breath is ruwach meaning "a violent exhale, bringing courage, releasing a prophetic spirit, imparting warlike energy and executive and administrative power, endowing men with various gifts, releasing the energy of life, releasing the manifestation of the Shekinah glory of God."
In John 20:21-22 it says, "Jesus said to them again, 'Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.' And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'"
This is a time for us to take time in God's presence to allow Jesus to breathe on us and fill us with His Holy Spirit again so that we are ready to release His breath in the earth. Allow His breath to transform every area of dry bones in our lives into a prophetic expression of warlike energy, power and life, which will release the Shekinah glory of God everywhere we go!
What a Comeback! From dry, scattered bones to an exceeding great unified army!
2017...A Year to See Upside Down Become Right Side Up
Which brings us to 2017. The word, "hophek," which is the Strong's Concordance number 2017, also means a time of reversal, but also means "to upset, to turn things upside down." Since the world culture is already upside down, I believe God is decreeing this will be a year to turn that which is upside down right side up! It actually says of the early Church that they were known as "those who turn the world upside down" (see Acts 17:6. Also notice this verse comes from a chapter 17! Lots of chapter 17's are about victorious comebacks). (Photo via Pixabay)We are to be God's change agents impacting culture through proclaiming what God is saying through building bridges of reconciliation in places of division and contention, and through praying God's purposes of Heaven to connect with earth. "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven!"
The word "upset" has several meanings which speak to what is ahead in 2017. It means to overturn. God will overturn power structures this year (see Haggai 2:22). It means to perturb or to disturb mentally and emotionally. As the world is turned upside down, or right side up, we must position ourselves in the Word, in prayer and in peace. Peace is our portion. The joy of the Lord will be our strength. Do not allow anything to rob your joy this year. Things will be stirred up...remember it is a reformation year and often reformations are messy. Keep your heart focused on Jesus and His promises to us in the midst of challenging times.
But upset also means to defeat or overthrow an opponent who is thought to be more formidable. An upset is when an unrated football team beats the team ranked first. Don't count yourself out! Don't count others out! It will be a year of surprises! Don't quit! Your time of the greatest victory is before you! Remember, your setbacks are merely setups for your comebacks! Great things are ahead! What setbacks do you want to see become comebacks?
Psalm 65:11, You have crowned the year with Your goodness, our paths will drip with abundance.
500 Year Anniversary of Reformation – The Church's Greatest Comeback
On October 31, 2017, the Church will be celebrating the 500-year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation marking the day Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg church and declared "the just shall live by faith." This event triggered a major shift out of the Dark Ages, where the then existing Church barely held any resemblance to the first century Ekklesia that Jesus gave His life for. It ushered in a time of fresh revelation and restoration, which was tumultuous to say the least, yet was a major comeback for the Church. Biblical truth made a comeback. God's heart revealed for mankind made a comeback. The working of the Holy Spirit made a comeback. Relationship with God over religious form and ritual made a comeback!This will be a Reformation Year. The spirit of personal reformation will bring Believers into greater connection and intimacy with the Father. Those who have gotten discouraged in their faith will receive fresh oil. Passion for Jesus will make a comeback for many! The challenge for this year is to allow God's personal place of reformation to bring change in our hearts so we will be equipped to carry reformation into the places of influence in the world. (Photo via Flickr)
The anointing for Reformation will bring a spotlight on new Biblical truth and revelation so the Church can experience a resurgence of affluence and influence in nations throughout the earth.
Over the last several years, the Church has been divided, demoralized, disenfranchised and even demonized over social issues, political correctness and a drift from critical thinking based out of a Biblical worldview. Rather than being the source of light for our communities, the Church has been increasingly characterized, and yes, demonized as the problem rather than the solution.
I feel we are coming into a comeback season where the Church is going to get a bit of a reprieve from all the negative press. The persecution will continue as we live in a culture hostile to Christianity, however, I believe this gives the Church time to teach Believers how living their lives out of a Biblical worldview sets them up for triumph. At the same time, this apostolic/prophetic reformation will bring a greater divide between those churches who have determined to promote casual, comfortable, politically correct Christianity (in name only) and those who have decided to be the "army of the Lord," willing to pray and yet also willing to engage culture to bring change.
In the US and other nations, we will see this reformation spirit bring change to government and governing. With the unanticipated "comeback election" of Donald Trump, we have the potential to see a reforming of the Supreme Court and other courts in the US, a reformation in the economy, a reformation in foreign policy and a realignment of nations, and many other areas of governance.
As was seen in the Protestant Reformation, this can be a very messy time. Some things will be turned upside down. It is vital for the Church to pray as never before for the President, his cabinet, governors and local government and spiritually steward the reformation taking place in the land. Our mistake will be to put our trust in a man to save us. We must pray for God's wisdom on the man, but put our trust in the Lord. Our Appeal to Heaven to see reformation and awakening come to the Church and to our nation has just begun!
One more note on this subject...I heard the Lord say, "That which seems to be done can still be undone." I heard this when I was praying about the UN resolution against Israel, but feel it has even farther reaching applications. What was meant for evil against Israel will be turned for its good. What was legislated to bring evil to our nation can still be turned for our good. We can personally apply this as well. Whatever the enemy has tried to use to make you feel trapped or hopeless, stuck in circumstances or situations that refuse to change...remember the word reformation means to change.
This will be a reformation year...a time of Divine Reversals and a time when every setback is transformed into a set up for a comeback! Believe and receive in Jesus name!Jane Hamon
Vision Church @ Christian International
Email: click here
Website: www.visionchurchci.org
Tom and Jane Hamon are the senior pastors of Vision Church @ Christian International in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. Their ministry together is an example to the Body of Christ of a husband and wife team working in tandem and unity to accomplish God's purposes. Their ministry is characterized by a rich deposit of God's wisdom to provide apostolic covering for the Church, prophetic teaching and ministry, and demonstration of Kingdom anointing and power. They travel as an apostolic/prophetic team to the nations, imparting both the spirit of wisdom and revelation to establish the Church and break open territories through spiritual warfare for the Kingdom of God to be experienced in a powerful and practical way. Jane has also written several books, including her very practical work on Dreams and Visions, her call to marketplace ministers called The Cyrus Decree, and her proclamation over women in the Church to arise and be The Deborah Company.
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