I’ve been stuck on the theme of giant-killers for most of this year and unable to move from it, as if there was something God was trying to speak to me about the church and where we’re heading. It’s no surprise though, look around you right now and you’ll see that there are indeed giants before us. Whether you choose to see them as your problem to defeat or not, they are there and in this next year God is doing a massive work to engage the church more than ever before to contest the assignments of these giants and serve them an eviction notice going forward.
A VALLEY OF DECISION MOMENT - THE WRESTLE AT ELAH
I felt the thread of this word begin to come when one morning in June this year I had a vision of 1 Samuel 17:40 which says:
“Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine”
In the vision I saw myself (representative of the church) picking up the stones and could feel the flurry of emotions as David even semi-wrestled this moment between righteous fiery passion and raw, risky faith. I knew then that God wanted to have a longer conversation with me about the moment we are in and how we are right now, as a church, at the place of decision. Will we stand idly by to the shouts of the giants in the land, or will we go and collect our stones?
The fact is, we, the church, like the Israelites of that day are at a crossroad. Our promise is straight ahead, and we are surrounded by obstacles and seemingly menacing giants in our path. But the decision we need to make is “Will we cave in defeat, or will we take our inheritance?” Just like the place where Goliath stood to defy God’s people - the valley of Elah - we too are in what looks like a low place, a narrow passage, but a place where we must pass through to further establish the kingdom of God and advance.
DREAM OF THE RESET CHURCH
As I constantly faced daily news headlines like the taunts of Goliath, I kept asking the Lord the question, “Where are we and where are we going?” but I didn’t expect Him to show me what He did. 7 weeks ago, I had a dream where the Lord showed me three scenes and walked me through each of them like a tour-guide. I have personally wrestled how to share this, but for the sake of revealing where God wants us to go, I need to share this dream very candidly.
In the first part of the dream, I was in a busy marketplace or shopping mall and the Lord was with me. At first, we just simply stood and watched people coming and going in and out of different stores and vendors. Who were these people? I thought, and knowing what I was asking He replied, “This is the church.”
I noticed them going into nail salons and other beautification services, hairdressers, and fashion stores and while none of those things were bad, I felt the grief on the Lords heart that something was amiss. I tried to figure out what I was sensing it was, and the word came to me “Comfort”. This was the comfortable church, who had created a lifestyle out of comfortability over the cause of Christ. This was the church who couldn’t hear the cries of the lost, or the broken, because they were distracted.
Then what happened next took me by surprise. Suddenly one by one each store shut their doors and asked their patrons to leave. These comfortable believers were instantly cutoff from their comforts and unable to access them.
This part of the dream was sobering but it spoke so loudly of these things God is doing:
THE EMPTYING, THE TRAVAIL, & THE RESURRECTION
In the next scene of the dream, I just hear the Lord audibly ask me “Does my church have to be empty before they will rise? Is it only in crisis and when all is removed that they step up to the frontlines?”
Then I saw a scene flash before me of bloodshed, cries and screams in the street, murder, abortion, injustice... I was grieved and I wanted to wake up but couldn’t. I looked for the church to go and help but they ignored the cries. “Go and help the babies in the street!” I yelled. Then I realized I was doing nothing either. I fell to my knees and cried until it felt like I couldn’t cry anymore. When I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by the church who were on their faces too, in travail. “Heal us and heal our land!!” they cried out.
Then I felt the ground beneath my feet begin to shake like the very earth was speaking... It reminded me of Romans 8:22:
“To this day we are aware of the universal agony and groaning of creation, as if it were in the contractions of labor for childbirth”
A mass move of repentance was taking place. People were taking their brands and idols and throwing them into a fire. They were taking their distractions and other loves and heaping them up onto the altar. A true reformation had taken place. Unity out of brokenness. Suddenly nothing to prove. Nothing to throw at one another. No more chips on shoulders. No more points of separation and demonic agendas to buy into. Veils had come off and eyes were opened. A true movement had begun...
A LAZARUS CHURCH IS IN REBIRTH!
This part of the dream was similar to a vision I had in the same week. The Lord showed me a vision as I was at church one Sunday morning. I couldn’t shake this intense grief and didn’t know why. Then the Lord spoke to me so clearly “Don’t be sad, this isn’t what you think it is - this is the new beginning!”
Then I went into a vision, and I saw people gathering around a tomb all mourning in sadness. Then I heard the words of Jesus from John 11:43 “Lazarus come forth!”
Then suddenly I saw a man come out and stand at opening of the tomb; and bandages were unravelling from him. As the bandages were coming off, I could see/discern that they were bandages from the world and demonic assignments that had sought to BURY the church and send it to an early grave. The bandages continued to unravel, and I began hearing words such as “defeat”, “powerlessness”, “unworthiness”, “dreams unfulfilled” and then even things like “Culture”, “progressive Christianity” and other evil blindfolds that the church has had wrapping around her, choking the life from her.
But as I witnessed this, I no longer felt sad but relieved. It looked like death, but it was actually brand-new life. It looked like death, but it was a deliverance…
I could see the church in all her beauty, she was radiant, glowing, and full of love for Jesus and nothing else. No other lovers. This was not just an awakening I had witnessed - this was a rebirth… a resurrection! Sometimes we have to go through seasons where it feels like death, the dark night of the soul, and the emptying to really be able to go where God is leading us. The pure bride is in process right now and her best days are ahead!
I THEN HEARD HIM SAY “GOLIATHS BROTHERS ARE GOING TO FALL!”
In the last scene of my dream, I felt the joy of the Lord all over me and around me. The Lord was still standing with me, and I could sense His excitement like this was the part of the book He was waiting for. He then looks at me and says very nonchalant “Goliaths brothers are going to fall!”
Now those last few moments before I came out of the dream were very significant to me, and I’m still unpacking them with the Lord because it was as if I was seeing David’s stones, all the way back then, as a prophesy of current day giants. What was the connection? I thought. Was it five nations that would rise up? Was it 5 leaders in the earth, that would be like the giants of old, that we would see fall? That is still unfolding because I believe there are many layers to this. But what I did feel strongly as I processed this statement, was that these giants were somehow linked or they were a prophetic snapshot of 5 demonic strongholds, or principalities in the earth.
LORDS OF THE PHILISTINES
Goliath’s brothers were called “The Lords of the Philistines” meaning they were the elite of their people. The word “Philistine” reveals the root nature of the enemy’s plan for these principalities to accomplish. It means:
These “Lords”- or principalities - have been tasked by the enemy to destroy and cause grief, burrow and hide themselves deep in cities and regions, weakening the church, causing mass division, and multiplying. Let’s look the individual giants too.
GIANT 1 - GOLIATH
Goliath means “Exposer, uncovered” Goliath as a modern principality would be likened to the assignment of the enemy to keep a victorious church in captivity and bondage. As an exposer, Goliath is an accuser of the brethren, and this causes much of the mockery of the church we see today; in the same way Goliath mocked the people of God back in David’s day. Goliath is also what keeps the church in fear and held back from pursuing the inheritance and territory God has given to them. On another note, the name Goliath represents both the uncovering of the mind and mental warfare, as well as insinuating minds being opened or exposed to sinful thoughts and beliefs. Goliath today has still been standing trying to obstruct the church and keep us bound, but God is raising up a remnant who will say like David “You are coming to fight against me with a sword, a spear and a javelin. But I’m coming against you in the name of the Lord who rules over all. He is the God of the armies of Israel. He’s the One you have dared to fight against. This day the Lord will give me the victory over you. I’ll strike you down. I’ll cut your head off!” (1 Samuel 17:45-46)
I also believe it’s not a mistake who took down each of these giants. Just as these giants represent some of the current giants we face in the earth, so too, do the heroes who defeated them reveal a facet of the army that is rising up. Who defeated Goliath? Well, we know David did. His name has a contrasted meaning of both infirmity, sickness, and weakness, and beloved. It reminds me of the scripture in 2 Corinthians 12:10 that says, “when I am weak, then I am strong!”; which speaks of the church who feels week, sick, and disabled actually being the beloved and approved of God, to take down even the greatest and most menacing of enemies.
GIANT 2 - ISHBEBINOB
The name has a few parts to it, but the main conclusion of this name is that it means to: backslide, settle, retreat, detour from destiny, and be inactive. The second part of the name means to be from, or sits in a high place, called Nob. The city of Nob was not a Philistine city but a Benjamite city. So, this name could actually be seen as a mockery of God’s people and also a counterfeit to our inheritance and occupation of the high places (as we are the Benjamin generation called to be seated in Christ in heavenly places).
This principality today can be seen in a myriad of ways, but firstly it is the cultural pressure and influence on the church to settle, and retreat from the mission and calling to occupy until Jesus comes - which is a forward moving and militant stance. Secondly this principality is a counterfeit to the call of sons and daughters to occupy the high places of influence in the earth, and in our absence sadly it empowers the wrong thing to fill those seats. We can also see this principality in the elitist agenda of power and control who have occupied usurped authority and taken the steering wheel from the church.
Interestingly the hero who defeated this giant was Abishai whose name means “father of gifts” and we are in a time where the Father is empowering the church to rise up and take His kingdom back off the usurping principalities. We need to know we have authority and access to the “Kings Domain” - the Father’s house - and step into our roles again. The other significant thing to note is that this name means “many gifts” which speaks of the church God has handed out many gifts to, so they can occupy their unique roles in the many metros of influence in the earth. As we rise up and occupy these spaces again, we will see this elitist giant fall.
GIANT 3 - SAPH
Goliath’s brother Saph has a name of multiple layered meanings such as: territory border, a marked line or boundary, a threshold, a violent storm or tornado, defending a border, fence-keeper, outside of the borders, breaching the walls, to enter someone’s personal space, the bite of a snake, to attack then swiftly hiding.
To me, Saph, as a current demonic principality, would be the invasive demonic influence in nations and culture. It is violent, nasty, and bitter in nature, and it will cut anything down that opposes it. We see this right now in so many evil narratives and ideologies. We see this in the media and the censoring on platforms. It’s like a storm, or a tornado, and it will destroy and discredit anyone who stands in its path. It occupies a place it actually has no right to occupy, and it exerts its dominance and expects compliance. It’s the principality of “me”. My ways, my truth, my body, and my experience. It defends the borders of these lies ruthlessly and will attack swiftly, secretly, and stealthily, hiding in plain sight. It inflicts witchcraft wounds by employing the twisted tongues of those caught up in the game.
The mighty hero who defeated Saph was David’s warrior Sibbechai, whose name means simply, “weaver”; which to me is indicative of the counter response of the church to be IN the world but not of it. Meaning we are called to be interwoven into the fabric of society but not in a handshake with evil. It’s our role to be the yeast worked into the dough, and the church occupying all places of influence. Also, from a militant perspective, the word weaver speaks to me of the skill of battle and clever strategies to outwit and outsmart the enemy. There is a Godly wisdom we possess that carries the presence of heaven on it, that when it spoken to these ideologies and narratives, it begins to disarm and destroy the fabric of them. We are the giant killers who will pull the loose thread until it’s all unraveled in a heap.
GIANT 4 - LAHMI
The name Lahmi comes from the verb ( laham ), meaning both: to eat (bread) or to wage war. This giant, as a modern principality, is multi-purposed but with the same goal in mind - to rob the church. Bread is sustenance - it is supply - it’s your means to accomplish the call of God on your life. The enemy wants to eat your bread, drain your supply, and rob you of your inheritance. He wants to steal our seed, so we have no fruit to show for anything! This giant, as a modern-day principality, is at war with the effective and thriving church, and our produce. It wants barrenness. It wants stillborns. It’s after our babies in the womb, so that we are robbed of a generation to bring in the end time harvest. It’s after our finances and to own and manipulate the financial systems of the world. This giant’s name also mockingly means “bethlemite”; which is where Jesus was born. It wants to rob the earth of the knowledge of the very seed that would die and become the bread of life to the world!
The hero that defeated this giant was Elhanan whose name means: “God is gracious” and grace and favor. This name is the promise of Gods favor and supply system. It’s Gods provision and manifestation of promises that will confound the wise and all those who think we are under their system. This giant will fall in Jesus name!
GIANT 5 - THE ONE WITH 6 FINGERS & TOES
Now the last giant had a name, but it was not recorded. It simply said that:
“Yet again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to the giant. So when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David's brother, killed him " (2 Samuel 21:20-21)
The little that we do know about this giant speaks volumes. 6 is the number of man. Man’s ways. Man’s systems. Man’s intellect. But to me it also speaks of perversion of God’s design. This principality is responsible for every vile and perverted thing on the planet and this giant must fall!
The hero that defeated this giant was Jonathan, whose name means “God has given” and firstly speaks directly into the humanistic mentality of this principality. “GOD gives. No one else… GOD”. The name Jonathan to me points back to God. Like a chiropractic adjustment, to see this principality fall we must be a people that align ourselves with the heart of God and untangle ourselves from the mixture and perversion we see around us.
The main takeaway from this part of the dream is, that God is right now preparing us to take down every giant in our path in the days to come. There has been a lie that has been damaging - that darkness is incontestable, but we are called to be the light! Church, you are anointed and appointed to take down the giants of this hour!
5782 & 2022- THE VOICE OF THE CHURCH UNSILENCED & RESTORED
As I was unpacking this with the Lord, the year 5782 of the Jewish calendar that we have just stepped into, and the Gregorian calendar year 2022 came to mind.
What spoke the most to me was firstly breaking down each number simply and finding their meanings then as a whole:
5 - “Heh” Grace, redemption, speech, and action. (Pictograph of man with arms raised).
7 - “Zayin” Crown, sustenance, and weapons. (Pictograph of sword).
8 - “Chet” Doorway, community, & life (pictograph of a door and people linking arms).
2 - “Bet” House of God, tent, family of God, covenant, and tabernacle. (Pictograph of a house or tent).
In that sense you could say that 5782 speaks of the grace to speak, act, and slay what stands in our way entering into a new season/rebirth, where the church is baptized in the spirit and reacquainted with Jesus. Wow!
As we moved into 5782 it’s important to remind you that 80 - which in Hebrew is “Pey” representing the mouth, the voice, the roar, and the testimony - initiated what has been a major focus for the church, to be a prophetic voice for the world to look to and see Jesus. Now in 5782 the focus is on “pey - 80” and “bet - 2” which reveals the voice of the church but in the context of the house, or the family of God, and personal revival. To me this is the Lord saying that in this next year there will be a focus on:
What will this accomplish? Well, mainly fresh intimacy and connection but secondly, it’s going to expose the counterfeit Christs’ being accepted by the church.
Regarding 2022, these are the scriptures that came to my spirit:
“As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated” 2 Chronicles 20:22.
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites this: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven” Exodus 20:22.
This will be a year of the revived and unadulterated voice of the Lord in our midst so that it reminds the church who we are so we can defeat and scatter the enemy.
THE RAW WORSHIP MOVEMENTS RISING
In terms of the pure worship I see flowing from the church: In a dream I saw a riot breaking out in a street with millions of people in uproar. But then my attention was drawn to a building, and I knew instantly it was Abbey Road studios in Westminster UK, where some of the most famous albums of all time have been recorded. God has shown me visions of this place before, but this felt different. I felt like it represented the Church. They were hidden or separate from the chaos outside, insulated, and not really part of it or influencing it. It grieved me.
Inside though they were all busy and focused. As I listened to what the orchestras and bands in each studio were busy doing, I heard them say that they were wanting to write hit songs that would put them on the map... They needed the songs that would win them awards and how that would help the world see Jesus in this time. But then I said “No, we need the raw cry for revival again!” As I said this everyone fell on their faces and begin crying out to the Lord, and soon a sound of messy intercession could be heard. Singing, tongues, and loud travail.
Then they started singing and grabbing their instruments and all these many songs and cries began to form one powerful song together, that was unlike anything I had ever heard. The volume seemed to increase to the point that it seemed to break through the walls of the building and then what I saw next was chilling. I was drawn once again to the streets and could hear the new sound of the church beginning to disrupt the chaos outside. People stopped and were listening and then started singing the same tune.
It was reviving cold, hard, and angry hearts. It was bringing peace to the fearful and anxious, it was restoring hope and a future to those who have only seen doom and gloom, and most of all people could see the heart of the Father for them in this time. A fresh sound of worship and new soundtrack for revival had been birthed and broken out of the walls and had disrupted the enemy’s agenda and drawn the world to the feet of Jesus once again!
I believe this is already happening. God is stirring up the raw cry of the church to release the fresh sounds and cry of a bride that is present and active and a voice in these times. For the last 4 years there has been a cap, or a ceiling, that has prevented the most anointed songs from being written and has brought a creative block and frustration over the psalmists of the earth. They have felt stopped up, and shut up, and shut down, yet they are bottling up the most anointed songs and prophetic anthems that we have yet to hear. But they are coming!
This dream also speaks to me of the church breaking out of the four walls in a greater way and being the public sound instead of the private symphony. I believe we are going to see not just worship movements birthed, but movements of all types, that simply carry the pure heart of worship, and focus on Jesus, that the earth needs right now.
THE HEAVYWEIGHTS & THE WILDCARDS
Just as it was David’s mighty men that defeated these giants, out of the fires of affliction are arising some pure hearted warriors who God is right now refreshing and readying for what’s ahead. They have They have only seen loss and defeat but in this next chapter they will ride the wave of triumph as God turns the page into this new chapter. I kept hearing these two words, heavyweights and wildcards.
Who are the heavyweights? They won’t look like heavyweights on the outside, but they have been through the fires of hell and the season of crushing and are now weighty glory carriers for this season.
The heavy weights of religion - aka Saul’s armor - just won’t cut it for this battle. We can’t fight these giants with our man made and institutionalized weapons. We can’t fight them with our intellect and knowledge, but with engaging our spirit. These heavyweights will move offensively using methods that will confront the stale and powerless methods of religion.
Heavyweights are weighty because they have been laying in the glory in heavenly realms. We have to fight this next season from our position IN CHRIST in heavenly places and quit battling personalities and flesh and blood. We have to come higher.
Heavyweights don’t rely on their own abilities, but God’s, and they don’t run from their posts but rest in the power that is inside of them. We have to stop evading and running from the reality of the enemy’s plans and the things taking place in the earth. We have a role, and we can’t hide from it.
And from the painful process of the past few years a remnant has risen up, who are the wildcards of heaven, who are those who have zero filter and zero motivation outside of loving Jesus. When He says go, they go. No questions asked. They are the ones the enemy is most afraid of because where most see giants, they simply see another opportunity to hurl their stones into a problem.
They are wildcards because God will use them to torment the enemy in the years to come. Just when situations look bleak and hopeless, and the enemy begins to laugh, God will flick his wrist and send these wildcards into impossible situations and expose the enemy’s hand.
THE FULL HOUSE, FIVE STONES, & THE SHIFT OF THE BATTLE
As I end this word, I want to just paint one last picture. The last word I heard for the year was “Full house”; which in a game of poker is a superior hand but even more than that spoke to me that the church is moving into its greatest days. We are going to see a full house. This is revival. This is harvest. This is fruit. What also came to me was that this year will be an awakening of the five-fold like we have never seen it before. The FULL expression of the house will be seen. The whole bride beginning to emerge.
God is looking for those, who despite the rapid darkness seeming to spread, will hear the laughter of heaven booming in their spirit because they know that regardless of the way the match seems to be going, it isn’t a match for God Almighty; who right now is pouring out His fiery Spirit upon a generation fed up with watching the narrative and story go the wrong way and are rising up as bold as lions to see history written according to heaven.
What if when David went down to the stream that day, he wasn’t just collecting stones for his battle, but what if he was inadvertently prophesying? He had 5 stones. 5 is the number of grace. 5 is the whole bride in unity. 5 is the five-fold church rising.
What if it was God speaking through him into this hour of history saying “Church, the giants look huge, but you have got this... it isn’t over, pick up your stones and take the land!” And the cry of my heart for you and I, is a resounding “Yes we will!”
Church our best days are ahead!
PRACTICAL GIANT KILLING TIPS FOR THE HOUR