Gideon’s Army

 

We’re stepping into a time of the miraculous - things are moving fast! The Lord is shutting old doors and opening new doors and this is no time to fool around. There’s no more time for those who are still waiting to step in; things are shifting too quickly now. We need to pray for the wisdom to align ourselves with this shift and to be ready for the harvest.

 

We’re in the final minutes of the final hour. If we miss this, there is no second chance...there is no trying again next year. There are many in the church who have not pressed in; they don’t study, they never took their walk with God seriously, and now they are being pulled out by the enemy. Whenever it is time to prune the tree, the enemy lurks around looking to prey on the weak. 

 

For this last move to take place, the Lord must have His apostles in place on the Earth. The Early Church clearly spoke of the importance of having the apostles (bishops) in the church and they taught that without the apostles there is no church. We can see this in the writings of Ignatius, who was a disciple of the Apostle John, as well as in the writings of Cyprian, Irenaeus, the Didache and many more. Even to speak against these apostolic fathers was a damnable offense. The Word says, “Touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm” (Psalm 105:15). The bishops are here to bring the revelation of the Word for the salvation of the world. There cannot be a final harvest until they’re in place. 

 

The Lord has been speaking to me about Gideon’s army and that they are being chosen now. In Scripture, the Midianites came against Gideon’s army (Judges 7). The Midianites are symbolic of quarrelsome people; they are religious people who fight with you about the truth of the Word. This is also an attitude that we fight within ourselves when we won’t submit to truth. If you’re murmuring and complaining about dying to yourself then you’re dealing with a Midianite spirit, and that religious attitude will hold back the blessings of God in your life. 

 

When God is getting ready to do something, He first sends the prophets to reveal His plan. The Word says that God does nothing on the Earth until He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7). Gideon’s Army is a foreshadowing of the 144,000 who are going to be summoned to fight in this final move of God. The twelve tribes represent the fruits of the Spirit. 

 

The pattern in Scripture doesn’t change. After the Lord sends His prophets to tell the people what He is about to do, the apostles are then able to manifest what the Lord has spoken through His prophets. The prophets reveal, the apostles manifest. When Gideon was called, we find that he was threshing the wheat in the winepress (Judges 6:11), which represents the sacraments of communion. The sacraments were known to the Early Church as the secrets of the kingdom. Gideon was more than a prophet -  he was chosen by God because of his ability to separate the letter from the Spirit.  He understood the mysteries of God and was able to use that anointing to destroy his enemies.

 

The “enemies” are those who are veiled to what God is doing. God is not at war with Satan; He’s at war with the carnal mind (Rom. 8:7). The battle of Armageddon makes no sense if you think of it in the physical. Why would Satan try to fight God with tanks and guns? How would a physical attack from a much lesser power like Satan hurt the creator of the universe? These are huge clues that we need to look beyond the literal interpretation! Scripture tells us that the battle of Armageddon takes place in the valley of Jezreel, which is exactly where Gideon fought the Midianites. When you break down the word “Armageddon,” it means “the mind of the overcomer.” Battles are always named after their location, so why isn’t it called the battle of Jezreel? The Lord is trying to tell us something. Jezreel means “God sows.” The battle of Armageddon is “to sow the seed in the mind of the overcomer.” It’s not a physical battle - it’s a spiritual battle happening in every one of us.

Gideon’s army was reduced to just 300 men because that’s how the Lord wanted it. Now we’re at the place where God is choosing the remnant, a Gideon company of people, who know how to drink the water (revelation). Deuteronomy 32 says “Let my revelation fall as the rain” so water, or rain, speaks of revelation. In Judges 7:5-7 NIV, those who knelt and drank the water from the palm of their hands were the 300 that were chosen to fight. This is symbolic of those who know how to drink the rain of revelation from the five fold ministry. This is how the remnant is being chosen right now.

 

The Lord is releasing revelation for the last move. Every revelation is a manifestation. Gideon represents the spirit of Elijah that prepares the remnant and leads them to battle to take down the false teachings of the religious system. The war is a battle of seeds (Gen. 3:15) and the seed is the Word. This is not a physical fight - it’s a war in the spirit and we need to know how to fight in the spirit realm. 

 

Let’s not waste what little time we have left. We have to be wise about what we're doing, and treat every day like it’s our last because tomorrow is not promised (Prov. 27:1). The battle is raging against that Midianite spirit, which is a religious spirit that doesn’t want to learn. The Lord is engrafting His Word into you. The Word is the person of Jesus, so when we’re engrafted, we’re becoming like Jesus. Shortly the glory will be revealed through Gideon’s army, the remnant who the Lord is sealing now. Amen.

 

Sincerely,

Apostle Michael Petro