Joseph Herrin (07-27-09)

Isaiah 42:18-20
Hear, you deaf! And look, you blind, that you may see. Who is blind but My servant, or so deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me, or so blind as the servant of Yahweh? You have seen many things, but you do not observe them; your ears are open, but none hears.

These words of the prophet have, with rare exception, always described the people of God. It was true in Isaiah’s day. It was true in the day of Christ’s first appearance upon the earth. It is also true today.

We often marvel and are filled with joy when we read of Christ restoring sight or hearing to one who was formerly blind or deaf. These things are miracles. They are remarkable events. If the restoration of physical sight and hearing are a wonder and a cause of rejoicing, how much more is there cause for celebration when a man or woman has their spiritual senses opened ad they begin to see and hear things they never discerned before?

I can remember a moment in my life when God touched me and opened my eyes to see things that had formerly been hidden. Life in Christ has not been the same since.

In the late 1990s a man named Monty Stratton moved, with his wife Renee, to Central Georgia. He was led to fellowship at a church congregation where I was one of five ministers. Monty ministered prophetically, and during his time among us he began working on a book that he intended to publish. The book was titled The Unveiling…

Monty was not trained as a writer, and he needed assistance editing the book. Somehow the Spirit of Christ brought me into the picture, and I was chosen to edit his book for grammar and punctuation. The book needed lots of work in this area, and I set to work editing it. This work required that I pay very close attention to all that was written. In many cases I had to find a way to express some truth in a better grammatic fashion without altering the meaning. This led to a deep consideration of all that was written. In the process, Yahweh opened my eyes.

Monty spent a good portion of the book speaking of various parables contained in the Scriptures. The Tabernacle of Moses was one such parable. Monty shared how the three parts of the Tabernacle corresponded to the three parts of man. The Outer Court represented man’s body. The Holy Place represented man’s soul. The Most Holy Place represented man’s Spirit.

Monty then brought forth other correspondences. The Outer Court also represented Salvation, for it was there that the altar was found and the sacrifices made. The Inner Court (Holy Place) signified Sanctification, this being a work of the Holy Spirit. The Table of Shewbread and the Golden Lampstand are found there. The Most Holy Place stood for Habitation. It is the place of abiding with Christ.

This three fold structure was then revealed in other patterns throughout Scriptures. The Feasts of God are also three-fold and have a perfect correspondence with this pattern. Passover, when the Lamb was slain, also relates to Salvation and the Outer Court. It is where we all begin our walk with the Lord. Pentecost pertains to the Spirit, for it was at that time that He was given to the church, and it relates to the Inner Court, Sanctification, and the soul of man. Tabernacles speaks of abiding. It typifies a time when God and man will dwell together in uninterrupted fellowship. It is the only Feast to not yet have found its spiritual fulfillment among the people of God.

As I read Monty’s words describing these very familiar objects I had heard about all of my life, since childhood, I began to see them as I never had before. What were formerly physical objects began to appear as spiritual truths. The invisible Kingdom of God began to appear before my eyes as I saw substance in what had been shadows. I began to see the anti-types hidden in the types. From that moment forward the Scriptures opened up to me in an entirely new way, and so did many other things around me.

Having observed how our Father speaks through symbols in the Bible, I began to see meaning in the natural world around me, for it has the same Author. I began to observe messages in ordinary events. For example, some years ago when I was at a different church where I had high hopes of ministering fruitfully among the saints the wife of a close friend called and asked if we could pick her up. She said she was out shopping and the starter in her car went out.

My wife and I quickly agreed to go pick her up. I got in our car and turned the key in the ignition, and our car too would not start. The starter had gone out in our car at the same moment. As I was standing by my car and pondering this unusual event the phone rang. It was one of the minister’s of the church asking me if I could meet with them that night. They had been considering inviting me to become a minister among them, and I thought surely this must be the reason for the meeting.

That night I was very much caught off guard when the two ministers present expressed dismay over some teachings I had shared with them in a book I had written. Their upbringing in a traditional denominational church would not allow them to accept anything different. They told me that as long as I held to the teaching in question, they would not permit me to teach among them, or to take communion with them.

Afterwards I saw plainly the meaning of the car’s starter failing. Vehicles represent ministries, and this car that I had fully expected to start, would not. This opportunity for ministry that I fully expected to materialize, also did not start. Observing how God had so perfectly ordered my steps, and revealing the parallel between these two events, brought me comfort in knowing that Yahweh was fully in charge of all things. He had told me beforehand what would happen, and reflecting upon it after the matter took place brought me a sense of peace in the midst of my disappointment and sorrow.

From the moment Yahweh opened my eyes to the mystery of the ways in which He communicates to His people, I have begun to discern His speech in many more areas. Yahweh began to speak to me through numbers. He began to speak to me through signs in the heavens, and through signs upon the Earth. He began to speak to me through movies and songs, through life’s events and their many details. I am always pondering and reflecting upon what I observe and experience. It is as if my eyes have been opened, and now I cannot help but see things all around me that I did not formerly observe.

It has been my joy to see others have their spiritual senses opened as well. I know men and women who are walking with their spiritual senses open. They are also observing things that most men and women pass right by. They are discerning Yahweh’s speech when most of His people remain deaf and blind.

How fitting that Yahweh used a book titled The Unveiling… to open my eyes. For those interested in the book, it was self-published by Monty and I do not know where it can be found. However, the book itself contains no special power to open blind eyes. Christ simply chose to reach out His hands and touch me at that moment, and He used this book like the mud that He placed upon the blind man’s eyes. It was not the mud that held any special power. The power lay in the hands of the One who applied it.

Many other people have read Monty’s book and have failed to experience the same thing I did. A number have heard me speak and read my messages on the parables of God all around us, and they too have had their senses opened. I delight when I observe this spiritual sensitivity in men and women around me. I have had wonderful conversations with my daughter Kristin as she has spoken of some wonderful way in which God has communicated to her.

Kristin has wanted a horse for some time, but she did not know if the Father would have her to purchase one, for the hour is late and uncertain days lie ahead. A couple weeks ago a young man from her church volunteered to let her keep one of his family’s horses in the field at the home where she is staying. She was delighted by this, and the horse was brought over.

The horse is not too active, so it is a good horse for a beginning rider to learn on. The reason for the horse’s gentleness has much to do with her age. The horse is 25 years old. Her name is Midnight.

Last week Kristin called me and told me she was feeling bad for the horse. I asked her what was wrong. She said the horse’s owner came over. The owner was concerned that the horse may be pregnant, and that giving birth at her age may kill her. He therefore gave her a shot that would cause her to miscarry. Kristin said the horse broke out in a sweat. She was tossing her neck around, and manifesting many signs of great discomfort. The horse would even lie on the ground at times, panting.

I have not spoken to Kristin yet about the symbolism of this. Two days ago I read Benjamin Baruch’s book titled The Day of the Lord is at Hand. Repeatedly in the book he stated that we are now at the MIDNIGHT hour. As I read this statement the Spirit quickened within me the symbolism of my daughter’s horse.

The church is like this horse. In her old age she is destined to give birth to a Man-child. Sons must come forth in the image of Christ. This birthing process will be very severe, and it could cause the death of the woman who gives birth. This symbolism is seen in Rachel who died giving birth to Benjamin, the 12th and last son of Jacob. Rachel named her son Benoni – son of my sorrow, but Jacob changed his name to Benjamin – son of the right hand. (Is it not symbolic that at this hour the Pope has broken his right hand? There are many impostors who would take to themselves the role reserved for the overcomers in Christ.)

There are many, in pondering the great distress that the church must go through to bring forth offspring for Christ during this Midnight hour, who would suggest that the life growing within her be aborted that her own life might be spared. Already, we have observed the church aborting many sons. They have caused her distress as they have been being formed into the likeness of Christ, and the church has concluded that it is better to live free of distress than to bring forth offspring for Christ. She has cast away many who were advancing to maturity within her even as the world is sickened with the evil of abortion. These sons are left to struggle for life outside the camp of Christianity, but God is there to help them.

I anticipate that in coming days we will see many offering counsel to destroy those who are taking on the shape of Christ within the womb of the church. The Pope will certainly be one such voice. There will also be Protestant voices offering the same counsel. Many would seek to preserve the church as she now is, even though she is a beast, rather than putting her through the suffering necessary to bring forth spiritual offspring. But the birth pangs will come. The Scriptures testify to this fact. A day of tribulation is at hand.

Well, I have digressed from the theme of this post. It is hard to not speak of those things that now appear so evident, things which were formerly hidden. The messages of God are all about us if we have eyes to see and ears to hear. I pray that many of God’s sons and daughters might have their spiritual senses opened.

I do delight to hear of those who are now seeing when previously they saw nothing. May we all have the testimony of the man whose eyes were opened by the Lord. “I once was blind, but now I see!”

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063