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Introduction to Germany
This trip was more of an introduction to many of the cities along two major rivers-the Main (pronounced "Mine") and the Rhine. Brother David Walter, from Florida, was already there when I arrived at the Frankfort airport. It took no time at all to pick up on the heaviness that is over Germany; and I soon realized that our work was definitely cut out for us, and that the opposition would be great.
Our first two days were in Russelheim with the family of our main interpreter. The man's wife had come under severe attack and we were led to stay there and begin our tour of duty by doing battle to bring about victory on their behalf. Our presence, counsel, and many hours of prayer began to bring relief and release for the family and our mission.
"Mechenheim-of Rhineland"
On our third day we began our journey to Mechenheim-the lowest point on the Rhine that we were able to cover in the limited time available to us. It was here that we met our team and began to formulate our strategy for prayer walking. We had services Sunday morning and evening and then we started walking and praying.
We learned much Monday morning, and into the early evening, as we walked the streets and passages of this city, which is known for housing many of Hitler's officers and troops. We were very surprised to learn that it also offers asylum to some of Osama Bin Laden's men who are much sought after by the United States for their connection and involvement in the September 11th terrorist attacks in America. It was a great surprise to us that these men and their families are free to move about Germany without restrictions!
We prayed over many areas of the city, including where a Jewish synagogue once stood, along with many Jewish homes. They were located along an ancient road, dating back to the Roman's occupation of the 3rd Century AD. In November of 1938 these homes and the synagogue were ordered to be burned, and the Jews to be gathered up and exterminated. All that is left is a Jewish cemetery with no new gravestones since 1938 and a stone marker where the synagogue once stood for many generations-now just a vacant lot.
The Three Visions of Amos, Chapter 7
As I have been pondering the Germany Prayer Walk I am strongly reminded of those three visions in Amos, where pestilence comes to eat up the land. Grasshoppers like an army come to cover the land. This country dates back to the Vikings and the Romans who brought their devouring forces across the land.
Amos 7:2-7: "And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, 'O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech Thee. By whom shall Jacob arise? For he is small.' The LORD repented for this. 'It shall not be', saith the LORD.the Lord GOD showed unto me; and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend (Strong's #7378: mostly figuratively, to wrangle, i.e. hold a controversy.) by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part. Then said I, 'O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech Thee. By whom shall Jacob arise? For he is small.' The LORD repented for this. 'This also shall not be', saith the Lord GOD. Thus He showed me; and behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand."
Historically, as a nation, Germany has been divided by walls. The first time the 3rd Century Romans built a wooden wall all along the Main River and the Rhine River to divide the country because they were never fully able to conquer the German people. Then on August 13, 1961 another wall was built separating one-third to Russia and two-thirds to Germany, occupied by the Western Allies-again separating families under two regimes. This wall stayed up until a jubilee occurred 51 years later, in 1989, when the wall came down.
Amos 7:8-"And the LORD said unto me, Amos, 'What seest thou?' And I said, 'A plumb line.' Then said the Lord, 'Behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of My people, Israel. I will not pass by them any more.'"
I saw no Jews there anymore-no new synagogues or Jewish businesses and no Jewish burials in their cemeteries.
Amos 7:9-"And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries [synagogues] of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword."
Why does God pronounce all this against Jeroboam in this 7th Chapter of Amos? Let's see the parallel. Jeroboam was the son of Nebat, and his mother's name was Zeruah and she was a widow (I Kings 11:26). After Solomon's death the kingdom was divided with Rehoboam over Judah and Benjamin; Jeroboam was set over the 10 tribes of Israel (I Kings 12:20-24). the sword--Strong's Hebrew word #2719: drought; also a cutting instrument (from its destructive effect), as a knife, sword, or other sharp implement. It is from # 2717, which is a Hebrew primary root word meaning to parch (through drought), i.e. (by analogy) to desolate, destroy, kill.
Jeroboam, which means "whose people are many" . I Kings 11:22 gives a very precise definition of the man. "And the man Jereboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon, seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph." Solomon promoted Jereboam because he "was industrious". The margin reads, "Heb. did work."
However, Jeroboam made a vital mistake in forgetting his reason for being blessed of the Lord in this promotion and committed two very serious violations. In I Kings 12:26-29, "Jeroboam said in his heart, 'Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David. If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam, king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam, king of Judah. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, 'It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.' And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan."
"..any that breathed!"
From this point Jeroboam committed sin after sin before the Lord, thus putting his own counsel into action, which caused great transgressions to come to pass. It brought about the death of his son and all of the rest of his family. "Baasha left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah, the Shilonite." (I Kings 15:28-29)
So, by the prophetic word of the Lord, Jeroboam was installed as king over Israel. But, because of his disobedience to the Lord that placed him there, he and his family were removed. That was a very serious consequence for a man that began as an "industrious servant" under Solomon.
How does Germany's history fit this scenario of Israel's history?
Let me explain as I sum up my impressions of Germany in the time that I walked there. The leaders of Germany have committed most grievous sins of setting up many idols and wicked carnivals [Think in terms of the Mardi Gras and masked people; but these carnivals start on 11-11 and last up into March of the next year. The people wear their masks and congregate in darkened rooms while they commit vile fornications-even producing children that no one knows who fathered them. These take place mainly in Meinz, Cologne and Dusseldorf, but they exist all across Germany.]
Hitler set up an abominable altar with images from the gods of ancient Pergamos of Revelation 2:12-14: "And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write: "These things saith He which hath the sharp sword with two edges, 'I know thy works, and where thou dwellest--even where Satan's seat is-and thou holdest fast My name, and hast not denied My faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.'"
The historian, Pausanias, in his account of Pergamos described the throne-like altar to Zeus on the top of the crag above the city. It was discovered in 1871 and taken to Germany, where it stands reconstructed today in the East Berlin Museum. The Zeus to whom the altar was dedicated was called "Zeus the Savior". A Pergamenian coin shows the Emperor Caracalla standing spear in hand before a great serpent twined around a bending sapling. He raises his right hand in the salute that Hitler's Nazis brought back into practice.
We enter the city of Meinz
As our team entered Meinz, my head began to ache with such intensity that I felt it difficult to just breathe normally. This area was ruled by the Romans from 300-500 AD. During this time a column with a bronze statue of Jupiter on top, to honor the Emperor Nero, was erected. This column was found broken in over 2000 pieces and built back up in 1905. This troubled me. "Why?" I asked the Lord, "were they doing this when a mighty move of your Spirit was taking place all across Wales. This revival spread across the Atlantic and set Pentecostal fires in America. Why was Germany setting up statues and reopening the door of the Roman Empire?" That was when the Lord explained to me that the Church has never brought the strongholds down, and reclaimed the land. That is when we, as a team, began remitting the deep sins and iniquities of many past generations in this area.
One side of the town from the other
We observed that on one side of the town the Romans had installed a stone arch with the Zodiac engraved in it. The arch was dedicated to the God Jupiter. It contains a list of the Roman Caesars up through Nero who obtained military victories in this region. (Bear in mind that the modern word for the German rulers through World War I was "Kaiser", which is the modern derivative from the Latin "Caesar", which the Romans pronounced as we pronounce "Kaiser".) The arch also contained carvings associated with the months of the Zodiac, depicting what was to be sacrificed in their seasons. It began showing the offering up of grains and fruits, then the blood and bodies of animals, then children, and finally, adults were to be offered on the altars of these gods of the heavens. It also contained these words, following the list of the victorious Caesars, "Zodiac, wolf ruller of winches"
On the other side of town Gutenberg's Press was established. He invented (c. 1436) printing from movable type. The first printed Latin Bible, known as the Gutenberg Bible, (1452-5) is attributed to him.
On September 13th we traveled through Rothenberg and Alheim enroute to Baumbach, where we stayed with the Mumfreds in their very lovely home with wonderful gardens and fruit trees loaded with apples, pears and plums. Mrs. Mumfred's grandparents were political leaders over that area during Hitler's rise to power and were able to give ample warning to the Jews to quickly sell their farms, homes and businesses and leave Germany. Many came to the U.S.A. After the war was over these Jews won rights to require more payment from those who paid so little for their home, farms and businesses. However, to this day, no Jews live there anymore-only occasionally do some return to visit the many-centuries-old cemetery up on the hill above town.
While staying with the Mumfreds we walked every street of Baumbach. We took special notice of the old farmhouses, erected in the 1500's, right in town-consisting of a house and barn built together. As old as they were, they were very well maintained through the centuries by generation after generation of hard-working, very industrious families. We frequently came across farms being worked by a single man-either widowed or never married. I inquired why this was so common and was repeatedly told that no woman wanted to marry a farmer, because the work was so hard. They preferred going right out of school to the big cities where a career was attainable, along with a much more enjoyable life that included time for the carnivals and greater prosperity. So, many farms are operated by one person-or are being sold off.
We prayed over these areas as we saw the power of this dominant "Jeroboam" spirit, and its attendant curse that has prevailed over Germany for many generations.
Another area of significance that we prayed over was Spangenberg. From 1871-1941 Spangenberg housed many French and English prisoners of war-most of whom were officers. The shackles that bound them were still attached to the deep dark dungeon walls. In 1913 Kaiser (Caesar) Wilhelm was schooled here. I wonder if that ruling "industrious" spirit entered the Kaiser from his time spent here, where some lived like royalty and others suffered so terribly.
I left Germany with a greater understanding
of the plight of these people and asking the Lord if it is His
plan for me to return to walk their streets and pray. My thoughts
went back to my roots of a German grandfather and English grandmother
on my father's side and the Scottish roots of my mother's family.
I related in my mind the wall built by the Romans dividing Germany
and also between England and Scotland-never conquering the Scots,
or fully conquering the Germans. They are such a warring people
in the natural bloodline. But then that is "the natural,
which is first" (I Corinthians 15:46-a). Praise God for His
plan and our motive for going to Germany-which is "afterward,
that which is spiritual" (I Corinthians 15:46-b). Thank the
Lord for not leaving us in a fallen, rebellious natural state.