The tearing.

A few weeks back I was sensing a darkness / heaviness in the spirit realm. It felt uncomfortable. It felt like war. I asked the Lord what was happening and I saw a tearing. It wasn’t like paper being torn, it was something heavy, weighty being painfully ripped apart, as if the fabric of the heavens was being rent in two.

The Lord immediately took me to Matt 27:51

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open.

And He revealed something to me that I had never seen before:

The tearing of the temple curtain was a sign of His grief. The veil that covered the entrance to the Holy place was God’s outer garment in the earth, separating His divine dwelling place in the tabernacle from the world. The curtain tearing was a profound outworking of the intensity of emotional pain that Yahweh felt when His son was crucified.

And I saw that God’s grief did not work in on itself, like human grief so often does. It did not point inwards to shut-down ness or bitterness of heart or the holding of grudges. God’s grief surged outwards with outstretched arms in an extraordinary invitation to come, to draw close to Him in the place of suffering.

And I saw that just as the crucifixion itself was death being swallowed up in life, so the tearing of the veil was grief being swallowed up in comfort and gladness and blessing.

The Lord took me to Isaiah 64:1-5

Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways

I felt the invitation of the Lord to join Isaiah in this plea. Oh God would you rend / tear open the heavens and come down.

Yahweh is coming down. He is coming close and the heavens are being torn apart. This is not merely poetic rhetoric. There is a real and felt and visceral tearing apart in the very fabric of our lives. We feel it within and we feel it without.

He is separating the bride of Christ from her foes. From indwelling sins and fears, from unholy agreements and alliances, from demonic strongholds, from ancient generational long standing curses. He is tearing her out of the arms of the ones who have pinned her arms to her side, silenced her voice and stolen her hope.

Do you wonder at the painful trials you are undergoing? Your non flesh and blood enemies are being exposed. The enemies that have been hiding within you and your enemies who are all around you.

I felt the grief and anger of God at the relentless ravaging and distress of His beloved.

I felt His jealousy and His passionate longing for His bride and His desire to make her pure and spotless and glorious.

(Oh God would you come down to make your name known to your enemies). Isaiah 64:2

And in this place of tearing, there are two camps emerging in the church. There are those who are have given themselves wholeheartedly to Jesus, who do not count the cost, who are yielded to Him. His betrothed. His beloved. And there are those who are betrothed to the world; to religious and political spirits, to cultural ideologies and earthly wisdom. To another gospel.

Heart postures are being uncovered and laid bare, as brothers and sisters in Christ find themselves on opposite sides of the splitting.

A mans’ enemies will be those of his own household.

And I began to see how we (the church) have brokered a false unity. How we have worshiped ecumenicalism instead of worshiping The Truth. We have sought unity at any cost. Unity for the sake of unity. Unity because aren’t we meant to love each other and cover sin with grace? Unity because isn’t that how the world will recognise us?

Not if its false unity. Not if its Babel.

Truth divides.

Jesus himself said:

Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household. Matt. 10: 34-35

This scripture has been resounding over and over in my spirit for the last few weeks.

The Lord confirmed this to me last week with something very sad that happened in our family.

Our lovely older dog Winnie collapsed on Wednesday morning and completely lost the use of her legs. Long story short, after 2 very distressing days we hade the heartbreaking decision to put her to sleep on the Friday evening. Very painful. We have a younger dog Percy, who misses her terribly and is very subdued.

The Lord showed me (through a wise friend) that this was a prophetic sign. It resonated in my spirit and I sought God for more. He asked me to look up the meaning of the names Winnie and Percy.

Winnie means peace and Percy means to pierce the valley

Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. Luke 12:51

Look the Lord is coming down from his dwelling place. He comes down and treads on the heights of the earth. The mountains melt beneath Him and the valleys split apart. Micah 1: 3-4

The Lord is coming down and the heavens are being rent asunder.

And the spirit of the Lord says “Beloved do not be surprised at your painful trial. Do not be surprised as your insides tear and as dear friends and long-standing ministry partners are torn from you for I AM is with you and it is in the place of tearing that a new way is made and it is in the place of separation that you become wholly and wonderfully and gloriously mine”.