086 - The Keys of the Kingdom
Letter from the Editor:
In our last Briefing, we published a dream about needing to change paths to get beyond an obstruction and make it all the way to the top of a hill. We wondered if the Texas lawsuit might have been the road that would get us up the hill. When the Supreme Court dropped the Texas case at the end of the week, we got our answer. However, the dream still holds - there is a way to the top! Today’s Briefing points to scripture and addresses the prophetic timing that we are in as a nation. It beckons us, as part of God’s ekklesia, to stand with Him as The Judge and see the tables turned on our enemies. We urge you, as always, to test the prophetic and then let it direct your prayers. God will honor our participation in response to the revelation He brings. History is in the making.
-- Cheryl Amabile
THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM
Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Acts 12:1-3
Those who have been tracking with The Briefing all year will likely remember a dream we received in March involving a class called “The Art of War.” The text for this class was Daniel 9 and 10. A few days ago, Chris Berglund had a similar dream, but this time the Apostle Peter was grabbing our wrists and pulling us into a classroom full of children. Peter was intent on having us participate in this class he was teaching. In the dream we were called “Petersons,” which Chris knew meant “Peter’s sons.”
This dream caused us to wonder what subject matter the Apostle Peter might be teaching us at this time. Whatever it was, Chris sensed that we needed to apprehend it and walk out Peter’s instruction in order for the younger generation to walk in their inheritance as well. The interesting thing is that just before we heard Chris’ dream, our team had been discussing another dream from earlier this year in which it was said, “These are the times in which Herods will be eaten by worms.”
The combination of these two dreams caused us to consider Peter’s experience in Acts 12 just prior to Herod’s death. As we began to interact with this chapter, Chris shared another detail from his dream that he had forgotten to mention. He said that Peter’s name wasn’t “Simon Peter'' in the dream, it was “James Peter.” Now, we were convinced the class was on Acts 12, which starts with Herod’s execution of James, then tells of Peter’s supernatural release from prison, and climaxes with Herod being struck by the angel of the Lord.
As we talked and prayed into this chapter, what stood out to us the most was the content of verses 5 and 12 which both describe what we believe to be the determining factor between James being killed by Herod’s sword and Peter being rescued from death: the Church gathered to pray! To the contrary, there is no mention of the Church praying when James was martyred. It could be that the early Church learned a sobering lesson in this tragic death. This may well be the lesson Peter was intent on us learning. When the ekklesia does not take up their position of governing authority, we can lose battles we were meant to win.
So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Acts 12:5-7
What happened to Peter was so astonishing that at first he thought he was having a vision. It wasn’t until he was outside the prison, past the gates, and left walking alone in the city streets, that he realized he had actually been delivered from Herod’s hand. As you probably know, the rest of the story continues rather humorously as Peter shows up at the very house where the prayer meeting is being held for him, but the intercessors don’t believe it’s actually Peter at the door.
Despite the surprise of the intercessors, this miraculous turn of events shows the intervening power of the prayers of the saints. We believe these prayers also had something to do with the judgment that came upon Herod in the following verses when the king failed to give glory to God.
On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. Acts 12:21-23
It’s interesting that an angel of the Lord struck Peter and delivered him from his prison cell, but when an angel of the Lord struck Herod he was eaten by worms and died. A distinction was made between the righteous and the unrighteous. What happened next is: “...The word of God grew and multiplied.” Acts 12:24
We believe there is a parallel between the progression of Acts 12 and the purposes of God in this hour of history in America. Herod Agrippa, the king who had James murdered and was intent on killing Peter as well, was the grandson of Herod the Great who killed all the male babies of Bethlehem. This ancient spirit of death that asserted itself at a governmental level is not unlike what we are dealing with in state-sanctioned abortion and the assault against President Trump, who is a present threat to the Herodian infrastructures of our land.
Peter and the disciples were also a threat, even though they were not functioning in civil positions of authority, they possessed the keys of the kingdom of heaven. So did the ekklesia that were in prayer when the gates of the city opened to Peter during his escape.
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:18-19
We too have been given the keys of the kingdom and must use them in this hour to bind and to loose, to open and to shut. We are in an Acts 12 moment of prayer. The ekklesia of God is rising to judge the Herod spirit in America and in the nations of the earth. Let us turn the keys of the James Peter storyline and loose President Trump from any bonds and obstructions to him fulfilling his God-ordained scroll.
It’s time for the saints to decree a death sentence upon the spirit of Herod in the land. In doing so, please understand we are not speaking death or curses over any individuals. It is not God’s desire for anyone to perish. However, as we agree with God over the tearing down of thrones of iniquity and systems of injustice, then those aligned with them will be impacted.
Even as we counter the plans of the enemy in this defensive posture, the Lord would also have us go on the offensive by praying forth His marvelous intent for this hour. Lou Engle recently had a dream in which he was asked to speak at pastor Che An’s church in Pasadena. He noticed the building was far bigger than the one they meet in now. In the dream, Lou found himself preaching passionately on the prayer of Jabez.
The revelation that came with this dream is that out of the difficulties of these past years, God would have us extend our boundaries. Our sense is that this cry of faith is pregnant with the ending of abortion, the explosion of revival, and the expansion of God’s kingdom in innumerable ways.
Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request. 2 Chronicles 4:10
As our 21-day fast soon comes to an end, may these prayers and decrees continue to be upon our lips. As long as God’s purposes and His people are being opposed by evil men, let it be said of us, as it was in Peter’s day, “but the church was earnestly praying to God.”
