Here's a thought. What if the seeming upsurge in violence against Israel and the Church has nothing to do with the last days or end times? What if God has actually "anointed" or empowered the world to attack His people?

Years ago there was a popular worship song called "Blow the Trumpet." The Prophet Joel proclaimed that we should blow the trumpet because God's army is on the move. But that army is not the Church or God's people. The army is, in fact, judgment coming against God's people. That's why the scripture says to sound the alarm on the holy mountain. The alarm is not being sounded in the enemy's camp, it is being sounded in Zion. The scripture is a call to repentance and transformation. The army that is rushing on the city and on the walls is an army of judgment against us, against God's people. Isaiah 10 talks about a time when God sent the Assyrians against Israel in judgment. Then, when God finished coming against Zion, He judged the Assyrians for their heart in the matter.

I think God spoke His word to everyone through a song because it is not a word that most people would preach. We all have a very hard time thinking that God may come against us. Many people took that song and danced to it rather than fall in prayer and repentance. We did in our church until I decided to read the scripture to see what the song was actually saying. But that word is coming to pass, and it is time to blow the trumpet and sound the alarm in the holy mountain.

The thing is, judgment does not come to bring death. If you continue to read Joel 2 you will find that all of this leads to a time where:

Joel 2:28-29
“And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

In the same way, what I think is happening now is that we are experiencing the birth pains of something new. In a manner of speaking, another reformation. I believe that God is about to bring a fresh wave of transformation to all of His people. Something incredible and amazing is coming!

The thing about reformations, they are always preceded by some form of heresy, or something very different from what has become orthodox. God's Word stands forever, but sometimes our beliefs include things we have been taught but aren't actually what God is saying. Martin Luther's teachings on justification by grace through faith, and all believers being part of a holy priesthood, were considered heresy at the time because they didn't match the orthodox religious teachings. Sometimes we interpret the Bible through something we have been taught rather than understand what it actually says. There is a chance that, as we blow the trumpet and move into a time of repentance and transformation, we may hear teachings that look like heresy; that don't match what we have been taught in the past.

The question then is, how will we respond when someone nails a message of heresy to the door of our hearts?