I saw an
ambassador travelling to a neighbouring kingdom with a gift and a message of greeting for
the king. However, he was not what he appeared to be. He had really been sent to spy out
the land by another king, a cunning evil man, who was planning to invade the kingdom that
was ruled by a good king. (The good king is Jesus and the evil king is the devil.)When
the ambassador came to what had been the border, he was surprised to find that it was no
longer there. He travelled many miles further down the road before he came to the border
post. Those who were guarding the border had retreated far back into the kingdom.
As the ambassador travelled through the kingdom on the road to the king’s palace,
he was amazed by what he saw. The crops had been neglected and were choked by weeds. No
one had bothered to harvest the grain which was ripe and it had fallen to the ground and
been eaten by the birds. In the villages, the people were sick and starving. In the
streets men were fighting and killing each other. Everyone was a law unto himself.
In parts of the kingdom, wicked rulers had seized control. They dominated the people
who lived in their "turf", making their life a misery.
As he rode into the city the ambassador passed a statue of the good king. Children were
using it for target practice. Its face was almost smashed to pieces. The decrees of the
king had been published on a notice board, but they were covered with so much graffiti
that they were unreadable.
When the ambassador came to the barracks around the palace he discovered that all the
soldiers were drunk or asleep. The officers were all squabbling among themselves about who
should lead. There was no authority because each one was looking for a place of authority
for himself, but no one was willing to submit to authority. They were so busy jockeying
for power they were totally unaware of what was happening in the kingdom.
The ambassador was able to walk right into the palace without being challenged. When he
entered the throne room the king was surrounded by courtiers. They were all singing a song
in praise of the king. When the singing stopped, a courtier cried out in a loud voice,
"We praise you O King, because you are seated on the throne!" Another courtier
cried out, "We praise you O King, because your kingdom extends as far as the eye can
see!" At this all the courtiers gave a mighty shout and they all clapped and cheered
their king.
The ambassador listened, thought of what he had seen, and smiled...
A king sitting on a throne cannot establish a kingdom. He needs servants who will do
his bidding, and soldiers who will obey his commands.
As he headed back to his home, the ambassador noticed that scattered around the kingdom
were about forty powerful men. They were like giants, standing head and shoulders above
everyone else. They were loyal to their King and were trying to get things going for him.
However, they were ineffective because each one was working independently of the
others. They acted as protectors for the people who lived around them, but passed on the
same independent attitude. The people felt secure having these strong men to protect them.
When the ambassador saw these powerful men, he smiled again, because he noticed how
vulnerable they were. They were easy targets, because they were standing alone.
When I received this vision I was troubled because there seemed to be no hope. Then the
Lord showed me that something else has happening in the kingdom; something which the
ambassador had not noticed because he had looked in the wrong places.
In isolated and insignificant parts of the kingdom, men and women who understood the
times in which they were living were preparing for battle. They had formed into strong
commando units that were ready for warfare. Each member had a task and was equipped and
ready to do it. They had learnt to move in unity, because they knew each other and had
come to trust each other. The units were flexible, so that if one member was to fall,
another could step into his place. By learning to share, these people had been able, even
in a time of poverty, to devote many of their resources to preparation for battle. These
men and women, who were ordinary citizens during the day, had prepared quietly and now
were committed, trained, equipped and ready for battle.
In a number of places throughout the kingdom, similar groups had formed spontaneously
and independently. They were unknown and insignificant people, but the strength which came
from their dedication to the king and commitment to each other, made them the key to the
king’s victory. The ambassador had not noticed them, but these commando units would
be the stumbling block on which the enemy king would fall. They went unnoticed, but they
were at the cutting edge of the kings’ work. (February 1986)
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The ambassador returned to his kingdom and spoke to his king. He told him that the
kingdom that he had visited was very vulnerable. It would be the perfect time to attack
the good king.
Up until that time he had only made minor skirmishes into the kingdom. These had mostly
been made under the cover of darkness. The King now decided to make a full frontal attack.
He amassed his entire army, and marched down the road towards the good king’s palace.
Before the army got to the border, the bad King initiated his secret weapon to deal
with the giants who protected the people. Many weeks earlier, he had infiltrated skilled
bowmen in to the good King’s kingdom, one to track each of the powerful men, but
remain in hiding. When the bad King gave the signal, each of the bowmen attacked one of
the unsuspecting, powerful men they had been tracking. Before they realised what had
happened each of the powerful men was dead or severely wounded, brought down in a shower
of enemy arrows. When the people realised that the men whom they looked to for protection
had been blown away, they were filled with dread and began to tremble.
About the same time, the enemy’s army arrived at the border post. The border
guards were asleep, but were eventually woken up by the sound of the large army marching
by. When they saw the size of the army, they panicked and ran away. As this great evil
army marched into the kingdom people everywhere were paralysed with fear. The soldiers of
the army were wicked ruthless men, who destroyed everything that they touched. They cut a
swathe of destruction across it. It was frightening to watch. The people were so confused
they didn’t know whether to run away or to surrender and welcome the enemy.
Then suddenly I saw a stirring. All over the kingdom soldiers came out of their homes
and work places. They joined together into commando units fully equipped, trained and
ready for action.
One commando team moved quickly to a bridge over a large river the enemy army had to
cross before it could reach the king’s palace. They set explosives and blew it up.
When the enemy army arrived they came to the river but there was no way to cross. Another
commando unit moved quickly to set up an ambush in a narrow gorge that the enemy army had
just passed through. Their way of retreat was cut off. Other units attacked the enemy army
at points where it was vulnerable. They would move in to inflict damage and then swiftly
withdraw to safety. Other units set up large artillery on the hills nearby and began to
lob shells into the trapped army. Soon panic began to spread through the army.
Some of the commando units moved towards the king’s palace and took up defensive
positions. One team went into the palace. The palace guards were still squabbling among
themselves. In the palace, the courtiers were still singing the praises of the king.
"Your kingdom extends as far as the eye can see". They seemed to be totally
oblivious to the danger to the king, or that their kingdom was under threat. The members of
the commando unit warned the king of what was happening. When the courtiers heard what was
happening they began to tremble with fear. The palace guards, who were watching, looked
like they wanted to run away.
The king recognized that the commando unit understood what was happening and were ready
for action. He gave them authority over the palace guard. They quickly reorganised the
soldiers, establishing order and authority. They moved to get the defence of the palace
secure.
Some of the commando units went into the towns and villages, where they gathered the
people and taught them the decrees of their king. Many of the people did not even known
that their king was. The commandos also organised the people into groups and established
order in the land. The people started to work in unity and began to harvest the crops
together.
A number of the commando units immediately moved over the border into the evil
king’s kingdom. He had been so confident that he had left few soldiers behind to
defend his kingdom. The commando units were able to take control of all the strategic
positions in the kingdom. Two of the commando units went straight to the bad king’s
castle. Within a few hours, they had captured the remaining guards and raised the good
king’s flag over the castle tower.
Back in the other kingdom, the army was trapped on the road. It couldn’t move
forward and it couldn’t move back. The evil king sent out numerous patrols to find a
way out, but each one was quickly captured and never returned. Eventually the whole army
was in panic and began to run away. Once they moved off the road and into the countryside,
the commando units had a tremendous advantage. They knew the lay of the land like the back
of their hands; the enemy soldiers were lost. Many were killed or captured. A few
escaped back to their own land.
The king managed to escape with a few of his soldiers. He got back to his own land, but
he couldn’t get back to his castle. He fled into the mountains at the very back of
his kingdom. He hid there for many years. He would occasionally go out and make an attack,
but he was almost totally powerless. I do not know what happened to the ambassador. He
probably survived but he would not have been very popular.
The good king was able to recover all the territory that he had lost. He was able to
extend his authority over most of the enemy king’s territory. He was also able to
establish order in his own kingdom.
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I was amazed at how effective the commando units were. They all seemed to know exactly what
to do; yet no one was in control. They operated in a totally
co-ordinated way. It was
amazing. The Lord showed me why.
Many years earlier, the good king had written a manual for the defence of the kingdom.
He had foreseen what would happen and he had prepared a plan for the defence of his
kingdom and for conquering the enemy’s kingdom. The commando units had studied this
manual as part of their training. This was why they knew exactly what to do. They had
trained and prepared for this battle.
I was also amazed at the speed and power of the commandos. Again, the Lord showed my
why. Each commando unit had a good supply of special water. At first I thought there jars
were labelled H2O. When I looked closer, I realised that the water was called
HS. This gave them super ordinary strength. It enabled them to move incredibly fast and
with great power.
The members of these commando units were unknown and insignificant people. Yet they
were to become the key players in a great victory for their King. This victory meant that
their King and his Kingdom was unmatched for many, many years.
July 1999
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