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Deuteronomy--Moses' first speech, Part 12

God's war against the descendants of the Rephaim was not completed in the days of Moses. It served as a type and shadow of the war that is currently being fought today against their descendants who live among us today. The current war, I believe, could be the last battle against them, which began in the days of Noah, although it is possible that a final battle against them will yet be fought in about a thousand years (Rev. 20:7-9).

There are certain powerful families today who are very proud of their Rephaim (and Nephilim) heritage, for they believe it gives them great spiritual power by which they may retain control of the nations. They are, however, losing their grip even now as God makes war against them. It is accomplished primarily by spiritual warfare, which weakens their power and allows people on earth to rise up against them.

Timing set by the 46 years from 1947-1993

The detour around Edom began to come to an end in 1993 when the Israeli state reached the end of its 46-year allowance in which to build their "temple." John 2:19-21 says,

¹⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." ²⁰ The Jews therefore said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" ²¹ But He was speaking of the temple of His body.

There is more than one temple. Jesus' body was a temple. We are the body of Christ and are also a temple, both individually (1 Cor. 3:16) and corporately (Eph. 2:21). Likewise, the Jews of that day had a temple, which took 46 years to build. It was Herod's project.

The word for "temple" in the New Testament (Greek) is naos, which appears 46 times in Scripture. Likewise, the phrase, "It took forty-six years to build this temple," carries a numeric value of 3588, which is 46 x 78. Even more important, it is also 276 x 13, because 276 is the number of "all flesh," and 13 is "rebellion or depravity." Hence, built into the text itself is the revelation that Herod's temple was a spiritual type of all rebellious and depraved flesh. Such is the result of a temple-body apart from the Holy Spirit.

Herod completely dismantled and rebuilt the temple built by Zerubbabel after the Babylonian captivity, which had been completed in 515 B.C. But that temple had never been glorified, nor did it possess the Ark of the Covenant. His temple was a type of fleshly temple without the Holy Spirit. Further, Herod was half Edomite, half Judahite, so he was a prophetic type of the nation that he ruled.

The Israeli state, I believe, was given 46 years to build its "temple." This was not necessarily a physical temple, although that certainly has been their goal. Yet dating from the Palestinian Resolution of Nov. 21-29, 1947, we can count 46 years to Nov. 21-29, 1993, the first phase of our Jubilee Prayer Campaign.

Because Edom had to be given ample opportunity to bring forth the fruits of the Kingdom, this 46-year time represented a detour. The overcomers are the true inheritors of the Birthright and the divine Mandate to receive authorization and jurisdiction to do the job (Dan. 7:27). Hence, on Nov. 29, 1993 we appealed to the Divine Court that the overcomers, or "saints of the Most High," would be given that Mandate.

Edom's 46-year time had expired (Nov. 29, 1993). Saul's 40 Jubilees had expired as well (May 30, 1993). Babylon's 70-year time was also expiring since the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. (This was actually 80 years, due to the Hezekiah Factor that gave them an extra ten years.)

Our Prayer Campaign was the start of the wars against the Rephaim, Nephilim, and Anakim, the giants in the land, which had to be overcome even before we could enter the Promised Land to receive our inheritance.

Our bodies are the true temple of God. We are fulfilling the type of Solomon's temple, which took seven years to build (1 Kings 6:38) and which was then glorified by God's presence (1 Kings 8:10) on the eighth day of Tabernacles (8:2). We do not know yet when this feast will be fulfilled in our time. When it happens, then the prophetic timing will be clarified by the manifestation of the sons of God.

Meanwhile, we have taken note that Jesus' prophecy of "three days" (John 2:19) had a legal fulfillment from 1993-1996. We were led to declare the 120th Jubilee from Adam on Sept. 23, 1996. Secondly, there was a seven year period (1 Kings 6:38) from 1993-2000, which followed the pattern of subduing Babylon (Daniel 4:25).

This coincided with the 7-1/2 year transition from Saul to David (or from Hebron to Jerusalem) that was prophesied in 2 Sam. 5:5. This cycle extended from May 30, 1993 to Nov. 30, 2000. It ended the day after the 7-year Babylonian cycle was completed (Nov. 29, 2000).

Though we have seen major prophetic dates over the years, all of which have been very important, we have yet to see the actual manifestation of the sons of God. Our warfare continued until October 7, 2006, and since then we have begun to see God dismantle Babylon's financial system. We do not know yet how long this will take.

We do know, however, that we have been fulfilling the prophetic pattern of Israel's war with the Rephaim, Nephilim, and Anakim. For this reason, it is important for us to study that history, as Moses gave it in his first speech in Deuteronomy. To many, this is useless and boring history. To us it is relevant and up-to-date prophecy that affects us daily and provides us with a basic framework of modern-day prophetic fulfillment.

Possessing "the Land of Rephaim"

When Israel conquered the east side of the Jordan River, Moses called it "the land of Rephaim" (Deut. 3:13, NASB). In that this territory was not even in Canaan proper, it represents prophetically the work that is to be done even before our Jordan crossing. In other words, it is the work of spiritual warfare that we are called to do prior to receiving our actual inheritance--the glorified body--at the fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles.

We are not called to sit and wait for the final inheritance. There is much work to be done here and now. There is land to be taken, enemies to be conquered, and preparations to be made for future conquests.

The lands of Gilead and Bashan were given to the family of Machir, the firstborn son of Manasseh (Deut. 3:15; Joshua 17:1). The daughters of Zelophehad received their inheritance in the tribe of Manasseh across the Jordan River in the land of Canaan itself (Joshua 17:3-6).

Continuing in Deuteronomy 3, we read,

¹⁸ Then I commanded you at that time, saying, "The Lord your God has given you this land to possess it; all you valiant men shall cross over armed before your brothers, the sons of Israel. ¹⁹ But your wives and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in your cities which I have given you, ²⁰ until the Lord gives rest to your fellow countrymen as to you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God will give them beyond the Jordan. Then you may return every man to his possession, which I have given you."

The conquered territory east of the Jordan River became Israel's staging area for the Canaanite wars. Verse 20 shows that inheriting the land had to do with entering into "rest." There are important implications of this, as seen in Hebrews 3 and 4. It also suggests that some will enter into this place of rest before others. Those who do are called to assist the remaining body until they too inherit the land.