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How God casts out the bondwoman

In April of 1998, Sunny Day Roberts invited a few people to Spokane, WA for a "Symposium," which is defined as a conference to discuss some topic. We did not know the topic when we arrived, nor did Sunny Day. Yet we sought the Lord, all eight of us, and the prophetic revelation then came the afternoon of our first day of meetings.

The primary revelation was that we were to "Cast out the bondwoman" (Gen. 21:10; Gal. 4:30). It appears that we are today seeing this same revelation, which tells us that its fulfillment is drawing nearer. When prophetic decrees are made in the higher dimensions of the heavens, it normally takes time for these to emerge into our three-dimensional world. As it does, we often see early evidence of its arrival.

A week later, I flew to Hagarstown, MD for another conference, where another eight people came together to "cast out the bondwoman" (Hagar). Thus, the word was doubled and confirmed.

As I said, those meetings occurred in April 1998 as the Israeli state approached its Jubilee (50th anniversary). To celebrate this Jubilee, the Israeli parliament did not set any prisoners free (as per Isaiah 61), but Ha'aretz News for April 23, 1998 did run a headline saying,

Jubilee Amnesty to cut jail time by 10% for some

In part, the article said, "The Blattman Committee has recommended 10 percent sentence reductions for all prisoners who have completed at least 60% of their sentence by the end of this year . . . the guess is that some 800 people will have their sentences cut..." [See chapter 20, The Wars of the Lord]

My discernment at the time was that the Israeli government had established the level of its own mercy when God casts out the bondwoman (Jerusalem). When the land is made uninhabitable by nuclear devices, as the biblical prophets describe, there will be about a 10% survival rate as God takes a tithe of the people for Himself.

Recall that God let King David judge himself in 2 Samuel 12. He does this to allow the laws of mercy to modify the normal sentence of the law. The merciful will receive mercy according to their own words. This too is a principle of biblical law.

Isaiah 29 is one of the most descriptive prophecies of judgment upon Jerusalem found in Scripture, with the possible exception of Jeremiah 19. Isaiah 29:1 and 2 says,

¹ Woe, O Ariel, Ariel, the city where David once camped!. . . ² And I will bring distress to Ariel, and she shall be a city of lamenting and mourning; and she shall be like an Ariel to me.

Ariel is a poetic name for Jerusalem, "where David once camped." God says, "I will bring distress to Ariel." In other words, God is the one taking credit for bringing judgment upon Jerusalem.

"Ariel" has a double meaning in Hebrew. It means the Lion of God, but it also means a hearth or fireplace. When verse 2 says, "she shall be like an Ariel to me," the prophet is telling us that Jerusalem will become like God's fireplace.

 ³ And I [God] will camp against you [Jerusalem], and I will set up siegeworks against you, and I will raise up battle towers against you.

Keep in mind who "I" is and what is meant by "you."

⁴ Then you shall be brought low; from the earth you shall speak, and from the dust where you are prostrate, your words shall come. Your voice shall also be like that of a spirit from the ground, and your speech shall whisper from the dust.

 This is Isaiah's way of telling Jerusalem of her death and end as a city. Even as people bury the dead, so also will Jerusalem be buried in the ground, and only her memories will "whisper from the dust."

⁵ But the multitude of your [Jerusalem's] enemies shall become like fine dust, and the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away; and it shall happen instantly, suddenly. ⁶ From the Lord of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.

So who are these "enemies" of Ariel that will "become like fine dust"? Who are these "ruthless ones" that will become like "chaff"?? Are they the ones God is using to "distress" Jerusalem? Most people assume this refers to the armies coming against Jerusalem. But God makes it clear that those armies are being directed by Himself. He is on their side in this fight.

No, the answer goes back to a principle of biblical law found in the Law of Tribulation. Lev. 26 makes it clear that when Israel or Judah was in violation of His Law, God would bring judgment (distress) upon them. When the people were "hostile" to God, then He would be "hostile" to them in return. In other words, if they considered God to be their enemy, then God would consider them to be His enemy and would bring them into judgment. This judgment would end only when the people repented as a whole (26:40).

⁴⁰ If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me-- ⁴¹ I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies....

Isaiah 63:10 confirms this idea:

¹⁰ But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; therefore, He turned Himself to become their ENEMY, He fought against them.

Hence, we see that the reason God was to fight against Ariel-Jerusalem was because they had acted with hostility against God. How? Primarily by rejecting the One sent by God, the Anointed One, Jesus Christ. In acting with hostility against Him, God then would become hostile to them.

So the enemies of Jerusalem are NOT the armies coming against the Jews. The enemies are defined by the law and by God himself as being anyone who is hostile to Jesus Christ. Thus, it is the Jewish occupiers of Ariel-Jerusalem who have established themselves as the "enemies" who, as Isaiah says, "shall become like fine dust." It will happen "suddenly." This event will happen with a great noise, the earth will quake, a huge whirlwind (mushroom cloud?) and tempest and "the flame of a consuming fire."

In my view, this describes a nuclear detonation, which Isaiah had no words for in his day.

Then God turns his attention to those fighting against Jerusalem.

⁷ And the multitude of all the nations who wage war against Ariel . . . shall be like a dream, a vision of the night. ⁸ And it will be as when a hungry man dreams--and behold, he is eating; but when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied, or as when a thirsty man dreams--and behold, he is drinking, but when he awakens, behold, he is faint, and his thirst is not quenched. Thus the multitude of all the nations shall be, who wage war against Mount Zion.

In other words, these armies which God is using to bring judgment against His "enemies" occupying Jerusalem--these armies will not receive satisfaction either. They hunger and thirst for the land. They have a "dream" of inheriting the land. However, because of the nuclear fallout, they will remain hungry and thirsty. Their dreams will prove unfruitful. No one will inherit that land, because God is casting out the bondwoman.

When God settles the ancient dispute between Hagar and Sarah, and between Ishmael and Isaac, all forms of the bondwoman will be cast out. Only Sarah, the New Jerusalem, will be the mother of the inheritors.