Day 2 Morning Session I

The children of Israel in the wilderness were a prototype of the church; they were the first church cultured by God, and their journey was a prophetic parable, a pattern of God’s intention for the church. However, because of their rebellion and disobedience, Israel, Judah, and Jerusal​​em were scattered by the operation of four horns; they were dispersed to different nations. This scattering was a result of what had already occurred in the realm of the spirit, which was to the end that no man's head be lifted. Likewise, the working of the horn in our times is to hinder men’s heads from being lifted. (Acts 7:38, Zechariah 1:18–21).

Our heads ought to be lifted for God to have access to our hearts, as the head is a carrier of the major sense organs. Every provision God has for His children is communicated by the words of His mouth. Prophetically, the head is regarded as the upper region of the soul. Although unseen, the soul is one aspect of the tripartite nature of man created by God; it is an essential essence of man.

Man was made a living soul, that is, he could generate life; God never intended that man would become flesh, but man was beaten down to the state of flesh, which can be likened to the state of animals. Man inherited a strange nature—the nature of flesh and blood. 'Flesh and blood' does not refer to the outer layer of our skin or physical blood, rather, Adam’s soul was worked upon by the power of death, which made man degenerate into a state of flesh. However, God’s intention for the souls of men is that they be lifted and not cast or beaten down. Hence, He raised Jesus as the Horn of Strength to restore strength to man. (Psalm 121:1-2, Genesis 2:7, 6:3).

Horns in the negative represent spirits that fight against the program (agenda and plan) of God for His people. The greatest enemies of man are unseen; hence, Satan wars against us in the realm of our imaginations, which is also unseen. Man was not created to strive (contend) with God, but the workings of the enemy in man worked out a nature that makes him strive with his maker. Man became an enemy of God by the working of strife in him, which was introduced by the seed of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Hatred for God came as a result of man’s fellowship with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Zechariah 1:12, Ephesians 6:12, 2 Corinthians 10:4, Isaiah 45:9, Romans 8:6, James 4:4-5).

God’s intention is that man mirrors the whole essence of God. Thus, God put His spirit in man to aid in the fulfillment of His intent. Adam was meant to cooperate with God’s spirit to be able to come into this intention of God, but the working of the spirit was aborted when he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This new state of man worked out a contrary nature, which continually strives against the Spirit of the Lord in man. God is interested in image and likeness because He wants to still the avenger. In other words, God wants to stop the enemy at the gate and make the enemy of no power. God’s plan to still the avenger is to raise horns of salvation; which are heads with horns. (Psalm 8:2)

The enemy did his work so strongly in man that man could no longer lift his head. Man was beaten down till he became carnal, earthly (natural), and sensual. A carnal man cannot receive the things of the spirit of God as they are foolishness to him because of the enemy’s working in the soul which can be likened to the sowing of tares among the wheat God planted in man (Matthew 13:24-48).

The tree of good and evil in the garden was the tree of temptation, but God does not tempt man with evil. This is evident in the test He brought to Abraham in offering Isaac as a sacrifice. He provided a ram as a sacrifice because the killing of Isaac would have been evil. Otherwise, He would have broken a law in Himself. The instruction was given to Abraham to prove his heart. (Matthew 13:24-30, James 1:13, Genesis 22:2).

The seed of the knowledge of good and evil in man brought about the enmity, and hate in man for everything of God. After the new birth, Jesus ought to become our Lord, but one who is born again can still strive with God, by carrying on with his own agenda and not regarding God's purpose. An enemy of God is not just one who says he hates God, but one who is unable and unwilling to submit to His Lordship. (James 1:2, James 4:4).

Marriages fail because of the inherent nature of sin and death in men. Likewise, this is what is responsible for one who is single and not whole. These natures are worked out in us by Satan to prosper in his ways. This is what brings us into friendship, union, and accord with the world by conforming and submitting to the world's standards. The world is a system of life that Satan designed and sold to man. The world is inherent in every man; it makes man an enemy of God and a friend of the world. (James 4:4-5).

Friendship is a commitment, and it takes time to be built. All friendships are built on mutual investment and commitment. God called Abraham His friend after 24 years of rigorous training and a walk of obedience. The spirit of the world in us begins its operation through lust, to the end of making us its friends. God’s desire is that man become His friend, but Satan fights to do otherwise. Friendship with the world is conformity to everything that Satan stands for. Friends hold on to the same truth, hence, when Satan makes man his friend, man automatically becomes an enemy of God as he is. (Genesis 18:17, 3 John 2:14, John 15:15).

A man’s enemies are first and foremost those of his own ‘household’; these are the natures inherent in man. Every man’s enemy is his flesh. Hence, each man ought to look to himself rather than warring against others. (Matthew 10:36, Ephesians 2:2)

This world takes man through its course with the intent that man inherits the spirit of the world in him and ultimately becomes friends with the world. Satan trains man with the course of this world (lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life). Friends are fellows; they sit at the same table. When friendship is achieved, such a man can then come under the tutelage of the prince of this world, who culture men with the spirit of this age into sons of perdition. (Ephesians 2:2)

The spirit of this age has beaten men down so much that man have begun to lose their identity. Feminism, gay marriage, divorce, and disobedience to parents are expressions of the culturing of spirits of this age. The spirit of this age is what cultures both men and women to despise the institution of marriage. Such thoughts and ideologies sold to man by Satan are against God’s plan for multiplication. (1 Corinthians 2:12, 1 John 2:15-17, 1 Timothy 4:3).

Satan's intent in training men with lust is to bring them into perdition. Thus, we cannot be naive about the things happening in the times we are in. Youthful lust, fornication, and adultery ought not to be named among believers, but beyond departing from these lusts, there are works of nature that the enemy has crafted in us through the training of the spirit of this age. Thus, the program of God for the soul is centered on the change of nature. Not only the natures that are evident but also those that seem recessive, not yet obvious in us. Hence, God is raising the horn of strength to combat the workings of the enemy in us.

Family and marriage are institutions of God established from the beginning, and so they cannot be run by our earthly knowledge, due to our inherent natures. These natures ought to be addressed by the working of God. Prayer, although good, cannot substitute for nature's change. True liberation and victory over the wrong nature inherent in us come through obedience to the Word of God.  

The essence of raising the horn of strength is to combat the spirit of the age that is running in, through us and our families. A person who will conform to the image and likeness of God cannot be raised without combating this spirit. A man who can bridle his tongue and not stumble in words is regarded as perfect. We stumble in our words because we lack strength. God desires to supply strength for the raising of perfect men and women who do not stumble in their words (James 3:2, 1 Samuel 2:4).

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