In this day the Lord is revealing the principle of reversal. It is an end-time manifestation of both Mary’s Magnificat and Hannah’s song of praise. These women rejoiced in the way God brought down the rich and sent the full away empty, but exalted the poor. James prophesied that the rich should rejoice that God had brought them low, and the poor should rejoice that God had exalted them (James 1:9–10). Rarely does a rich man rejoice when the Lord is cutting him down, but he should rejoice. When the reversals come and God is completely changing entire situations, it should be an obvious manifestation that the Kingdom is coming.
This is happening now as Christ’s Kingdom is coming forth. The Lord is taking away the glory of the arrogant, and He is beautifying the meek with salvation. He is coming to rain righteousness upon the poor of the flock. It is the little flock who will end up with everything, but the majority will lose out from now on. This earth does not belong in the hands of any political powers. It should be controlled completely by a remnant of Christ, a small minority, a little flock. This can be accomplished by their speaking the Word of the Lord. Voters can never be as great an influence at the polls as believers can be at the throne of God.
Ever since God brought forth the glorious walk in the Spirit for His people, everything on the earth has been changing. The complexion of the Christian world has changed; Babylonian systems have changed. This has been happening because a few believers started prophesying the Word of the Lord. Those who prophesy are unique vessels in the hand of God to bring to an end this age, which, with its very momentum, might have coasted on for centuries. God is bringing it down now, and what He wants upon the earth can be brought forth quickly by prophesying and believing Him. Do not underestimate what can happen. It can happen anytime and anyplace through only a handful of people praising the Lord and rejoicing in Him.
The following passage of Scripture is prophetic of today’s end time. Zechariah 4:1–14: Then the angel who was speaking with me returned, and roused me as a man who is awakened from his sleep. And he said to me, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it; also two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left side.”
Then I answered and said to the angel who was speaking with me saying, “What are these, my lord?” So the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” Then he answered and said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ”
Also the word of the Lord came to me saying, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel—these are the eyes of the Lord which range to and fro throughout the earth.” Then I answered and said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?” And I answered the second time and said to him, “What are the two olive branches which are beside the two golden pipes, which empty the golden oil from themselves?” So he answered me saying, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones” (literally, “sons of fresh oil”), “who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth.”
Joshua and Zerubbabel are types in the Old Testament, just as the two witnesses are types in the book of Revelation. Both are symbolical of the double prophetic witness that is to come in the end time. The Lord presents a unique and beautiful picture in this passage. Although at first it applied primarily to Zerubbabel, it applies even more to us in this day, because this Scripture was written down for our benefit, upon whom the ends of the ages have come (I Corinthians 10:11). God is speaking something special to us in this vision of Zechariah. There is a lampstand with seven lamps on it and two pipes coming into it. The two pipes are connected to the branches of two olive trees, which represent the sons of fresh oil. This is not oil that is processed. Somehow, in a unique way, the oil flows out from the living trees, from two anointed ones, and into the lamps to create the light.
The Lord told Zechariah not to despise the day of small things. In other words, do not despise the feeble efforts of Zerubbabel, because Zerubbabel has laid a foundation and Zerubbabel is going to see it finished. God has started something, and He says it will not come about by might, nor by power, but by the unending flow of His Spirit. We are not to despise the little insignificant channels. What really counts is not the might or the power of the individual, but it is the fact that he has a connection into the living flow of oil. The oil of God is flowing right to him. The supply is inexhaustible. There will be no end to the perpetual flow of God’s grace and the illumination and the victory that is going to come.
In this day the young men shall faint and the youth shall utterly fall but they that wait upon the Lord will not lack strength, because the Lord never grows weary (Isaiah 40:28–31). He is an unfailing source of supply. It is not by might or by power, but by the Spirit of the living God, continually flowing and perpetually renewing us, that will bring forth what God wants in our lives. This means that we do not have to worry about what we can do or about coming to the end of ourselves and becoming exhausted. This perpetual renewal is taking place by a miraculous and inexhaustible supply of the Spirit which the Lord is going to minister in the end time. It will have to be a double portion. It will have to be something that we are continually appropriating.
The pressure in these days will be such that not even the strongest man will be able to stand against it. The number of people who will require help for mental breakdowns and emotional disturbances will increase significantly. The people who will withstand the pressures are not necessarily those who are the wisest or the best adjusted, but those who have a continuous absolute flow of the Spirit to their lives. We do not need to be anything but channels. We do not need to be supermen, like some superior race that has come to invade the earth from outer space. The world will look at a handful of believers and wonder where their power is coming from, just as the Philistines wondered about Samson and his strength. He did not appear to be a muscle man; therefore no one could figure out where his great strength came from. We read that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him (Judges 14:19). That will also be the secret in this end time. People will wonder where the signs and wonders and exploits are coming from and how they are being done. They will not be done by might or by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord who will move upon His people to produce miraculous changes upon the earth.
Do you want to be one of those whom the Lord is going to bless and use? Do you want to become one of His miracle workers? Then do not despise the day of small things, for the Lord can take a few small things and accomplish wonders. With just five small stones, picked up out of a brook, He began to bring down a Philistine dynasty. With only a few little loaves and fishes in the wilderness, He fed a hungry multitude who otherwise could have fainted by the way. It does not take very much. The Kingdom of heaven is likened to a mustard seed. Although it is the smallest of seeds, God brings it forth bountifully. He is a master at it. How God does these things, we do not know; but He will take a handful, a remnant, and bring forth a new age.
Psalm 72:16 says there will be just a handful of corn on the tops of the mountains, but the harvest will shake like the forest of Lebanon. Do you believe it? Then prophesy the Word of the Lord. Speak it into being! Start now, and even when it seems foolish, get up and prophesy anyway. It does not matter what people think. The Word of the Lord that you speak is going to happen.