When I was preparing the message for the Sunday gathering on Saturday, practically everything that I had prepared earlier in the week was discarded. I strongly heard the Lord saying that it is now time to blow the third trumpet – the final warning to the faithful remnant in the Church to now arise and be a prophetic people, declaring the word of the Lord to the nation.
Quite amazingly I pulled out a quantity of old copies of Prophecy Today and the first one I opened went straight to an article called "An Issachar People". I really had no recollection of it although I knew that from 1987, we started forming small groups that we called ‘Issachar Communities’ and this theme was very much part of our teaching with the team on the road around the country. Here is a reproduction of that article:
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I am deeply concerned about the widespread expectations of imminent revival that are being built up among Christians in Britain by some church leaders with more spiritual enthusiasm than discernment. There is even expectation among some that revival will break out in the UK this autumn, with people falling down in the streets slain in the Spirit, and miraculous healings occurring throughout the land that will be featured on TV.
The revival will come out of the brokenness, and not before. The true word of the Lord is to prepare the people for the days of darkness that are coming, that at least the remnant may be able to withstand the testing days and to take a firm stand against deception or compromise with the truth.
My response is ‘Amen, Lord. Let it happen!’ But the Spirit within me declares this to be a false expectation and to warn against filling the people with false hopes through crying ‘Peace, Peace,’ when the Lord is saying, ‘There is no peace!’ There will be no revival in Britain without repentance. Indeed, revival will come! But it will not come until the breaking of the nation and the church. The revival will come out of the brokenness, and not before. The true word of the Lord is to prepare the people for the days of darkness that are coming, that at least the remnant may be able to withstand the testing days and to take a firm stand against deception or compromise with the truth.
This is what the Lord says to the people of Britain:
‘I sent a lightning strike upon York Minster, a thunderbolt out of a cloudless sky, yet you did not return to me. I sent the plague of AIDS among you, the fruit of an adulterous generation, yet you did not return to me, says the Lord. I allowed disasters to come upon you that caused much grief and sadness and caused me to grieve also, yet you did not return to me, says the Lord. I withheld the rain and sent a drought on some parts of the land and unseasonal weather on others, yet you did not return to me, says the Lord. I sent strange diseases upon your cattle and upon your herds and upon your factory farms that are an abomination to me, yet you did not return to me, says the Lord. I sent a hurricane to sweep across south-east England as a sign to you, felling great trees and causing havoc in your most prosperous area, yet you did not return to me, says the Lord. I caused the Stock Market to crash as a sign of my anger against the greed of the wealthy and the injustice done to the poor and the powerless, yet you did not return to me, says the Lord. I sent economic problems and hardships upon you that the wisdom of man is unable to solve, yet you have not returned to me, says the Lord. I sent storms to rage across your land to terrify even the stout-hearted as a sign of my anger, yet you have not returned to me, says the Lord.
‘Surely I have been merciful in my warning signs and forbearing in my great patience. In my great love I have sent you warning after warning. But you have ignored the signs I sent to you, you have spurned my word and closed your ears to my voice. Shall I now continue to hold back the forces of destruction that are poised to strike you, to bring judgement upon this nation that has had my word of truth for centuries and has turned its back upon me? You have chosen darkness rather than light; you shall indeed have darkness. The time is coming, and now is about to break upon you, when you will long for the light, and you will cry out for the day. But you will not see the light until the forces of darkness have accomplished their work. Night is coming, but also the day’ (see Amos 4:6-12).
God wants a discerning people who will be able to stand against all the deceptions of the enemy. In preparation for the testing days that lie ahead of us I believe the Lord is raising the awareness of his people to the necessity of listening to him. He wants a listening people. He wants a watching people; he wants an understanding people. Above all, he wants a holy and obedient people.
God wants a discerning people who will be able to stand against all the deceptions of the enemy. In preparation for the testing days that lie ahead of us I believe the Lord is raising the awareness of his people to the necessity of listening to him.
In ancient Israel it was the tribe of Issachar who were those who ‘understood the times and knew what Israel should do.’ God is preparing an Issachar people today through whom he will speak to the church, so that the church may convey the word of God to the nations in days when momentous events are occurring. I have been in many nations across the word with the PWM Ministry Team over the past ten years, teaching churches to understand the times and how to listen to God, how to discern what the Holy Spirit is saying, and how to avoid deception. Now the Lord has tod us he wants to form Issachar communities- communities of believers who will act as watchmen in their area and who will spend time together seeking the mind of Christ to understand the times and to know how to respond with the word of God for our times.
In Britain we have been holding Prophecy Today Schools of Prophecy and Issachar Conferences to provide teaching and training for those who feel called to such a ministry of watching, listening and interpreting.
Issachar communities are now springing up all over Britain. If any of our readers feel the Lord is calling them to such a ministry and would like to know more about these communities, please contact the Team Administrator.
To find out more about Issachar Ministries as they are now (2022), with a very similar mission, you can sign up to an introductory email via the PT sign-up page, or go to IM's website.
