I do not claim to be a prophet, but I do fall in the category of Joel’s prophecy, “Your sons and daughters shall prophesy.” I have taught for years that five is the number of grace, based on the patterns of five in the Bible. For the past five years, a phenomenon has been taking place in our world that many have not yet recognized as signs and wonders.
In 2006, I took a one-month sabbatical to rest up from a very busy year of ministry. While on the sabbatical, I continued my daily routine of spending time with God early in the mornings. One morning, I saw a short vision. It was a map of the United States, and it was as though someone held matches underneath the map, causing it to burn in several places. The Lord instructed me that this was a spiritual sign and wonder that would occur in 2007.
I gave the prophecy in the Twin Rivers pulpit on the first Sunday in January 2007. That year, we saw fires break out in America where we had never seen them before. It was a year of burning in our country. While we are used to seeing fires in certain parts of our country, what made the prophecy so unique was that we would see forest fires in unusual places and that’s exactly what happened. Fires broke out in places like the Tennessee Valley and northern Minnesota. Everywhere I spoke on the road that year, I gave the prophecy, explaining it was a sign of revival that was coming: one that would break out in obscure places.
The National Climatic Data Center recorded 2007 as the second highest year for the most acreage burned by wildfire in our nation. Worthy of note, the first highest year was 2006; the year God gave me the word. The years 2006 and 2007 recorded the most acreage burned in the historical data of keeping record!
In November of that year, the Lord told me 2008 would be a year of winds and floods. Once more, I gave the prophecy publically to keep myself accountable. We watched it happen again, just as the Lord had spoken. According to the National Climatic Data Center, the annual average for severe windstorms in the U.S. is around 15,000. In 2008, severe windstorms in the U.S. rose to 21,442 – 6,000 more than the average! For U.S. flooding statistics, the annual average is 4,000 floods. In 2008, there were 6,168 floods. In addition, 2008 was a record year for tornadoes and hurricanes.
In the late fall of 2009, the Lord showed me that 2010 would the year of shaking. I began to tell people on my staff about this and then declared it in my annual Vision Casting sermon from the Twin Rivers pulpit. As you know, the headlines are giving us these signs from God almost every week now.
What is the meaning of all this? I didn’t see the pattern at first, but in February, I was praying over the congregation during one of our Sunday services and the Holy Spirit revealed the meaning during the prayer. I was just as astonished as everyone else when the Holy Spirit began to reveal this through me. The word came that these are the days of Elijah and this is the Elijah pattern. In 1st Kings 19:11 is the story of Elijah in the cave. He was looking for God. (Could it be God’s 9-11?) God was not in the wind, the earthquakes or the fire, but after that, God spoke. It is my belief that after this shaking will come revival.
After Elijah’s revival, he was raptured…
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Dr. Bryan Cutshall is senior pastor of Twin Rivers Worship Center in St. Louis, MO. www.trwc.com and www.churchtrainer.com.