Has there ever been a year like 2020? I see memes quite often wishing for a do over. How great would it be to find a store and take this year back, “It keeps breaking and falling apart. Could I get a replacement?”
There is no way out of 2020 but to go through it, and God has given us many ways to overcome because the Devil has been waging his attacks on specific battlegrounds.
“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms?” (Ephesians 6:12).
2020 is also the Biblical Year 5780, and there is veiled revelation available because the meaning of Hebrew letters/numbers comes from the first time they are used in Scripture. In this case, the number 80 (Peh) was first used in Genesis 4 when Cain killed his brother.
So, even though peh means mouth, it’s first use was about a grave and the first words spoken were a curse by God. If you have wondered why this year seems so out of control and somewhat exasperating, the spiritual forces we are struggling against are stirring up a lot of disunity and control.
“…Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.” In Hebrew, the word favor or sha`ah, means respect. So, Cain felt he was disrespected for doing what he considered was his best.
You probably have noticed several groups in the streets recently calling for justice, but the word means something different to each group based on the hurts and wounds inside of them. To one group, justice means revenge and revolution.
To others, it means rage, the power to take what they deserve, or the correcting of all their woes. But like Cain, when we feel wronged, we forget that being “just” is the precursor of justice. You cannot seek justice for one person by taking it from someone else.
“So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
The phrase very angry in Hebrew is charah, and it is used to describe someone whose anger is burning or kindled like a fire. And rage causes explosions. The word accepted is se’eth which means to be exalted. Cain was the first born and would receive a double portion of inheritance so, He was already favored by God. But to him, only his wounds mattered.
Sharing acceptance was beyond Cain’s ability, so He killed, because he could not live with both Abel and what he saw as injustice. But Abel was not his oppressor, nor was God. “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil…” Acts 10:38
Those wounds are still alive today. During the span of just a few weeks in May, several criminals clashed with police and were tragically killed. Sadly, they were quickly exalted by men and turned into heroes and martyrs, while the police as a whole were vilified. This led to efforts to defund police and shut down anyone who challenged their narrative.
Be aware! Cancel Culture is a precursor to the mark of the beast, when paranoia will force most people to submit to oppression that they fervently disagree with but lack the courage and resolve to oppose.
Bitterness becomes unforgiveness, and then resentment becomes retalliation, until our anger is justified and our foe is “dead to us”. “While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.”
Charah is rooted in paranoia, so there is a false sense of “knowing” that there is only one answer. Fear wraps itself in self-focus and we allow it to fester because that demon never stops crying, “I’m being persecuted”
Not everyone explodes on the outside. Some make terrible decisions responding to what’s boiling inside of them. God gave Cain a chance to take responsibility, “Where is your brother Abel?” Obviously, God knew the answer, but He was saying, “Cain, the injustice you feel you have suffered doesn’t compare with the calling I have placed on you.”
But even murder hadn’t quenched the fire burning in Cain. So, he spoke his own punishment, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” and the crown fell from his head, “Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth [peh] to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” Our world is still full of restless people, not focused on God’s voice as much as their own agendas.
2020 has been ripe with the protest of Cain thanks to two plagues: a Spring plague of fear and death caused by the release of a virus called Corona; and a Summer plague marked by protest, riots, looting, destruction, and cancel culture caused by racial divide and cultural Marxism.
If you noticed, the Corona virus quickly became everyone’s responsibility (not just the sick), so everyone was forced to submit, shut down the economy, wear masks, quarantine, and continually wash hands, even as the rules repeatedly changed.
Likewise, the summer plague appears to judge everyone as guilty of injustice, thus making repentance everyone’s responsibility. Now advocates are demanding to cancel law and order, to rewrite history, and to redefine “normal”. Similar plagues – similar spirit.
“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 floodplain of the Jordan?” Jeremiah 12:5
The plagues are also present because we are experiencing a preview or glimpse of the end times. It’s not the first time such a glimpse occurred. The Bolshevik Revolution and the Holocaust provide easy examples that match up with events that will accompany the 4 Horsemen of Revelation.
But of course, the world didn’t end then and it’s not ending now. Glimpses are given to prepare us for the rise of the Antichrist and the Great Tribulation one day, and perhaps to help us discover how they connect with the Spring Feasts from Purim to Pentecost.
The end times glimpses had very little warning. The White Horse glimpse occurred on Purim as a viral worldwide pandemic of sickness and death swept the world bringing panic, scarcity, rampant fear, quarantines, forced unemployment. “Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.” (Revelation 6:2) At the time, many people noted that the pandemic didn’t seem to be about a virus as much as changes to crowns/authority. Extreme actions were initiated by unelected health officials as the authority structure shifted.
The Red Horse glimpse occurred on Passover with a loss of civil rights, attacks against authority and elected leadership, national and state level decisions were directed by unelected medical professionals, people were labeled as “essential” and “non-essential”, churches were forced to close, spiritual authorities stunted, and a powerful deception to shift national agendas emerged. “Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.” (Revelation 6:4) How do you take peace from the whole earth? Lies, terror, and panic! In the judgments of Revelation, you see a sword coming out of the mouth of Jesus because He is the Word and He is truth. Likewise, the Devil is a liar and his sword is his words and lies. This pandemic was spread by breath, but it was the spoken words that took away peace with lies and deception about the degree of danger, freedoms were limited, quarantines were mandatory, and as the economy closed all peace was eliminated.
The Black Horse glimpse occurred one month later on Second Passover as the intentional crashing of strong economies caused unprecedented worldwide famine, deception, disunity, foreign subterfuge, angry division, rage, the loss of spiritual discernment, and ultimately graves filling up worldwide. “Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand…“Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages…” (Revelation 6:5-6) In early May it was becoming clear that the Economies of the world had been devastated. The worldwide starvation rate is still expected to double. The entire world continues to face the worst recession since the Great Depression. Forty percent of low-income Americans lost their jobs, and oil prices turned negative for the first time ever. Everything seemed to look bleak.
Then the Pale Horse glimpse occurred on Pentecost with racial divide exploding onto the streets with rioting, Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and other groups permitted to run rampant, taking over police stations and portions of inner cities, to kill, burn, loot, terrorize, and destroy local economies. “They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.” (Revelation 6:8)
In His letter to the church of Philadelphia, Jesus warned us to, “Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.” The church is alive and we must guard our crown (authority) by speaking life and truth. In our words and voice is the power of life and death. Don’t Fear – Revival is Near!