The Book of Exodus Chapter 34 - Moses' Radiant Face - Covenant Restored - TOG EP 140

 In episode 140 of Tales of Glory, we are back in the Torah, the book of Exodus, chapter 34. Moses works to restore God's covenant with the Israelites. As Moses meets with God, his face becomes radiant. God promises to deliver the Israelites from the tribes in the land.

Timeline:

00:00:00 Intro

00:05:00 Exodus 32 and 33 Recap

00:08:06 Exodus 34 intro

00:13:08 Preparatory Measures verses 1-3

00:15:50 God's Self-disclosure verses 4-9

00:19:35 Apostasy verses 10-17

00:29:43 Festivals and Related Religious Obligations  verses 18-26

00:35:00 Moses Reaches the Pinnacle of Eminence verses 27-35

00:37:07 The Radiance of Moses' Face verses 29-35

00:46:13 Concluding Remarks

Listen to the Podcast on Anchor.fm

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Show Notes

Exodus 34 ESV

Supplemental Notes

The Ipuwer Papyrus and The 10 Plagues of Egypt

The Exodus Pharaoh Explained

Great podcast on Giant Steps with Doug Van Dorn on the topic of the Angel of the Lord

Till Next Time

As I mentioned in the podcast, I love the Book of Exodus. It is packed with the supernatural. Moses meets with God face to face, and Moses' face is radiant from the mystical experience. In the next episode of Tales of Glory, we will press on to Exodus chapter 35 or wherever the Holy Spirit lands us!

God Bless

Rev. Mike

Tales of Glory Episode 06 - The Spiritual Gift of Spiritual Discernment

Tales of Glory podcast, continuing on with the The way of the Holy Spirit warrior topic. In this episode we dive into the Holy Spirit's gift of spiritual discernment of spirits as it pertains to encounters in spiritual warfare and the likes of these experiences through the lens of Christian mystical theology.

What is a Christian mystical experience with God's invisible spiritual realm? What does it look like? How do we discern the spirits during these encounters?


In this episode we'll dive into this fascinating topic of spiritual warfare and spiritual discernment.


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Listen to the podcast, here on YouTube:

Show Notes

Intellectual Visions and the Presence of God

Interior Castle Sixth Mansions Intellectual Visions
Basilica of Immaculate Conception - where I had my intellectual vision of Jesus

Discerning Angels

Psalm 115:16 Jesus owns the heavens

Hebrews 2:7 We are lesser than angels

2 Corinthians 11:13-14 Satan masquerades as a angel of light

 My Dodge SRT4 totaled in a 5mph crash. The day I was leaving for Burning Man ministry (attacks on cars by regional spirits).

My SRT4 being towed with its motor blown. Was on my way to ministry in San Francisco. It was the night of trafficking ministry in a location that is under a regional spirit of San Francisco.

Room 217 at the Stanley Hotel, from cold opener.

Main lobby of the Stanley Hotel

The Stanley Hotel

Thank you for tuning in. Hope enjoyed the podcast and found it informative.
God Bless
Rev. Mike

Christian Spiritual Authority in the Heavenly Realms - Part III

John Paul Jackson wrote in his book, Needless Casualties of War, that engaging spirits in the heavenly places was like throwing hatchets at the moon. Do intercessors overstep their bounds and battle in places they don't belong?

Several years ago, I used to give spiritual warfare talks at a local bay area church conference. At the end of my talk, a local Asian pastor of a home church pushed his intercessor up through the attendees at the conference and begged me to help him. His intercessor manifested spirits immediately and this was a situation where I was warned by the PhD running the event that I was only allowed to give the rated G Disney version of deliverance ministry in my presentation. Well, now there was a manifestation and there was no putting the genie back in the bottle, so to speak. My wife and I discerned the intercessor went after a regional spirit. The intercessor confirmed she did, and was left with a nasty oppression demon. We did prayers of liberation and the woman was set free. The event was an interesting public example of over stepping ones bounds in the spirit realm and how the higher ranking evil spirits can respond in warfare, and dispatch a low-level demon to oppress and afflict the soul..

Part III in our discussion on Christian Authority and Dominion in spiritual warfare. In this installment, I provide the framework on prayer posture and authority in heavenly realms. According to scripture the heavens belong to Jesus. I call out dark angelic choirs as defined in Ephesians 6:12. In this talk I also discuss basic forms of petitioning prayer as it is presented in scripture. Do Christians have spiritual authority in the heavens? Can you bind principalities using your spiritual authority? How do you know if an attack is coming from the heavenly places? We'll take a look at what scripture tells about battles in the heavens.

Download the study outline PDF here:
Christian Spiritual Authority the Heavens Belong to Jesus 

I present to you, the video for this training on battling in the heavenly realms:



If you missed Part I:
Christian Spiritual Authority and Dominion

If you missed Part II:
Christian Spiritual  Authority Over Low-Level Demonic Spirits

Addendum:

Also of interest is John Paul Jackson's 5 Reasons Not to Engage in Second Heaven Warfare

God Bless
Rev. Mike

If you have questions on curse breaking, or curse breaking prayers, I cover these in my book, A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare.

If you have questions on dealing with manifestations, I cover these in my book, A Field Guide to Advanced Spiritual Warfare.

paper back - A Field Guide to Advanced Spiritual Warfare - Deliverance, Exorcism, Healing the Effects of Ritual Abuse.

Kindle - A Field Guide to Advanced Spiritual Warfare - Deliverance, Exorcism, Healing the Effects of Ritual Abuse. (eBook)




Get your very own copy of the ORIGINAL  - A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare!

A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare - the Power to PULL the IMPOSSIBLE from the HEAVENLY REALMS

If you have any questions on how to deal with occult battles, please drop me a comment, and I will answer the question in blog posts.

Deliverance Ministry and Schizophrenia

Things have certainly shifted in the past eight years since God launched me into spiritual warfare ministry. Back then ministry clients would rarely divulge that they heard internal voices. Getting someone to admit they heard voices in a ministry session was no easy task. Admitting you heard voices was associated with a mental disorder rather than something spiritual. That was then, and this is now. Every email I receive currently seems to open with the tagline, “I hear demons, and I need an exorcism. Please contact me as soon as you can.”

What changed in the past couple of years? Why is everyone suddenly divulging they hear demons? I believe the upswing in this a trend is a directly related to deliverance ministry labeling schizophrenia and other mental disorders of hearing internal voices as being purely demonic in nature. This blank check covering of these disorders by deliverance ministers is harmful to the prayer recipient. I have witnessed some souls get miraculously healed from schizophrenia in my own travels in deliverance ministry. Only because in these cases were demonic activity actually involved. I have worked on numerous cases as a Christian counselor where deliverance wasn't an option because the human mind was physically sick or the human soul was broken and needed healing. In these cases, 100% of the prayer recipients reported they heard demonic spirits internally. Only 1% actually had demonic spirits involved.

In fact, some of these cases, the internal voices spoke during sessions and identified themselves as evil spirits. I remember one incident where my colleague brought me in to one of her sessions to evaluate a client as being a demoniac. The problem was, my colleague had dead on discernment like mine, and she couldn't feel the presence of demon as it commonly manifested during her client’s sessions. I was asked to sit in and observe as this individual acted out like the Gerasene demoniac in our office session. They even bit their own tongue and drew blood! Why didn't I believe them? Because of the Holy Spirit and spiritual discernment. Both my colleague and I work on a daily basis with survivors of the occult. Her discernment aligned with mine, no demon. The irony was at the end of the session, the human part that acted like a demon wanted know why they didn't
fool us with the fake magic show. I work and live in the supernatural. What we witnessed, although convincing to the human eye, was not a true demonic manifestation. Neither of us counselors could feel the presence of anything demonic while all the craziness was going down right before our eyes. During intense sessions I can discern the manifestation of demonic spirits or the summoning of occult powers.Nothing was happening at this time. Nada!

I have had to sit through far too many sessions were I had to tell people what they're hearing is not demonic spirits, but angry, fractured pieces of themselves. Some fractured pieces are so angry they believe themselves to be demons. And can torment a soul just like a real demon! Through my own discernment and testing the spirit I am able to make an evaluation. The prayer recipient is usually distraught and then informs me of the long list of big deliverance ministries that cast this demon and that demon out of them. I am also encountering a lot more people who know ‘how to be delivered’. They act out coughing, shaking, and even false manifestations. People want to hold onto deliverance ministry as a magic bullet for healing. If they can just get the right demon cast out of them they will be fully healed. This is nonsense. They're not addressing the white elephant in the room - the schizophrenia. Again, I have seen healing in this area, but 95% of the time the healing came through the compassion of Jesus Christ and Him walking the fractured soul through its healing. This healing tends to be a VERY long walk, hand in hand, with Jesus Christ. I want to add too that the cases where we see healing involving people who not just desire to be healed but are willing to tackle whatever is thrown at them in life to get healed! That is a big game changer.

Also keep in mind, there also times, where a person who schizophrenic will require medication to stabilize their life enough so they can seek and pursue ministry and counseling help. Healing requires a community and a team. There are no short cuts when it comes to this.The ship must be turned directly into the storm. There are times when I wish I had Peter's anointing of having my shadow heal the sick. But for now, this is where we're at. Baby steps in healing.

A deliverance minister needs to have the maturity and understanding that when it comes to schizophrenia, you are dealing with a fractured soul trapped in a cycle of trauma. These souls obsess over every spoken spiritual word given to them. If you tell this soul there are demons present, it is very difficult for this soul to shake. My biggest headache in ministry is when the corporate deliverance ministries come through town, and tell people with a fractured soul they have a demon. Then they pull their tent stakes up the next day and leave town. Counselors are left with mopping up the mess. Never tell a person with Schizophrenia they have a demon, unless you intend to hold their hand for the next couple of months.

In ministry, I am encountering a lot of souls with very deep traumatic wounds. Many well minded people are involved in deliverance and healing ministries (such as sozo) where i believe problems we’re seeing are far above the common ministers pay grade. I know in healing ministry God is bigger than the problem. But what happens when healing ministry is the problem? An immature minister will fall back on knowledge and the soul (i.e. Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil) rather than resorting to long term intercession and possibly even fasting. If you’re in the miracle ministry you must have complete trust that Jesus Christ is doing something about the situation, and He doesn’t owe us an explanation of what He is doing! These are long term battles and we must have the faith that Jesus is bringing healing.

As ministers we must have the maturity to discern and provide spiritual direction in cases where people claim they hear demonic voices. As spiritual beings we have, normally, two internal voices, our own, and that of the indwelling God. As spiritual beings, we can hear from three internal sources, our own heart and soul, God, and from other spirits. It's the latter, we must be very careful in discerning. Other spirits include demonic spirits. Don't just take the individuals word for it that what they're going through is demonic. Because many times it isn't. Injured minds, either physically, or emotionally, can easily run with putting on the whole demon show. This is where the inexperienced, untrained minister gets sucked in and causes more damage than had there been demons there to begin with. This minister isn't using discernment and they are not hearing from God (again tapping into the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil).

When you get a case like this, bring them into a counseling session and discern what is going on. You may not get an answer from God right away. But that's okay too. It's the sign of a mature minister. As for me, I rarely do deliverance ministry on an individual whom I believe to be schizophrenic, unless I can I discern a demon is present and the soul requires liberation prayer ministry. But this should be the rule of thumb for any deliverance ministry practice. Hear from God what is going on!!!!

If you have any questions on how to deal with occult battles, please drop me a comment, and I will answer the question in blog posts.

If you have questions on curse breaking, or curse breaking prayers, I cover these in my book, A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare.

If you have questions on dealing with manifestations, I cover these in my book, A Field Guide to Advanced Spiritual Warfare.

Get your copy today!  Available on Amazon in:

paper back - A Field Guide to Advanced Spiritual Warfare - Deliverance, Exorcism, Healing the Effects of Ritual Abuse.

Kindle - A Field Guide to Advanced Spiritual Warfare - Deliverance, Exorcism, Healing the Effects of Ritual Abuse. (eBook)




Get your very own copy of the ORIGINAL  - A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare!

A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare - the Power to PULL the IMPOSSIBLE from the HEAVENLY REALMS






 Well, that's enough for now. Hope this was beneficial.
Blessings

Rev. Mike

Removing Cursed Objects and Haunted Possessions

Cursed objects and haunted possessions are in the media quite a bit lately. For the 2017 Halloween episode of Ghost Adventures, Zak Bagans and the GA crew took us on a spiritually twisted tour of Zak's haunted objects museum in Las Vegas. Followers of the paranormal are dangerously obsessed with haunted and possessed objects. These objects are collected under the blatant lie to be preserved and researched. Spiritually infested objects need to be rendered powerless and destroyed - not preserved!

Objects came become defiled or cursed in various ways. The most common method is through occult rituals. Dolls are commonly cursed as they are used as ritual fetishes in voodoo and the occult. Other objects, such as tribal masks, cultural jewelry, paintings, sculptures. or objects intended for bringing curses are activated through occult rituals. Objects can also become infested just by being in an environment with demonic activity. Mirrors are another common item that can become cursed through ritual activities, occult dabbling, and practices. Note, even illegal drugs are cursed objects  (substances) now. But that's another conversation...

If you are a Christian minister that is called into one of these situations, please use extreme discretion. Always be on guard with your spiritual discernment and allow the Holy Spirit to instruct you on what is present in your environment. Tainted objects usually radiate oppression at the locations they are in. You may walk into an environment and feel a heaviness immediately without seeing the item. You may have experienced weird car problems on the way over. These are not signs of tainted objects, but the some of the whole of the experience, are indicative of something may be present and pushing back on you.

When you receive an email or a call about on object always give yourself ample time to pray and consult God. If you are in this ministry you are not a paranormal investigator, nor do you participate in any way with the paranormal field, but a follower of Jesus, who spends most of your time helping others spiritually in their inner prayer life and growth. You must have the capacity to connect with Jesus and know His voice, the name above all names, the one true God. I am not talking about visions and so forth. You must hear the peaceful inner voice of the indwelling Jesus and the convictions of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual maturity is critical because this is where the tactical information is going to come from in shutting down occult powers and object fetishes. I highly recommend meeting somewhere, like at church, or someone's home, to spiritually pray up and worship before you go. Also, have an off-site intercessor team that is praying for you while you are in infested places. Keep in mind, if you are doing this level of ministry, that this is not your first rodeo. The Holy Spirit has already raised you up, and you have already defeated the lion and the bear.

If you are on site where the object is, you must discern the power of the demonic presence. Is the presence a low-level demon that comes under the jurisdiction of your spiritual authority? Or are you dealing with the occult, and high-level demons and satanic angels which requires the petitioning of Jesus for His help? These questions are crucial to being the spiritual first responders. Let the Holy Spirit and Jesus reveal to you everything and never consult angels, which is a dangerous and growing charismatic practice. False angels of light always answer that call. Proceed through the home, with a team, never go alone, using listening prayer if you're new to this. Listening prayer is asking Jesus to bring revelation on what is going in on.

Jesus, could you bring revelation on what this object is?

If you feel anything demonic, bind it and forbid it from calling on higher spiritual powers. Bind the occult and witchcraft. Ask the Holy Spirit to go before you. If you are spiritually mature in your own inner prayer life, the spirits will look at you like Philistines seeing the ark of the covenant coming their way. You must be spiritually mature and be walking in your authority. That is, you know that Jesus is going to do something to bring healing to the situation. You may not know what Jesus is going to do, you just know that you showed up and He is too. Never put Jesus in a box, let Him fight these battles. Pray to fall in step with what He is doing rather than pray and tell Him how to fight. He pretty much already has that one covered.

Walking in your authority also means not stepping out of your covering. This means you don't start a bar fight in the second heaven like most deliverance ministries wrongly teach and practice. The heavens belong to Jesus and Jesus alone. We stay out! If you are dealing with the occult, you're dealing with rituals and high order spirits, whether high level demonic or satanic angels. Petition Jesus in this warfare. Listen to what He tells you.

If you are dealing with an object with spiritual attachments to an individual, have them renounce their attachments and free will bonds to the item. If the item was an occult fetish, a conjuring device such as an ouji board, cameras, ovulus, spirit boxes, flash lights, digital voice recorders, crystal balls, wands, and mirrors, to name a few, the user must renounce their use of the objects and renounce satan. Once it is discerned the connection with the individual is broken, the spiritual attachments to the object must be evicted through prayer. Bind the spirits and command them to go where the Holy Spirit instructs them. Always let the Holy Spirit tell you if the site is cleansed. Don't rely on your senses. Demons are great decievers.  It may take one session or several sessions. However, log it takes to expel the occult activity. Always operate in humility and to the protocols of Jude 8-10. There is a common charismatic practice to laugh at satan. This is ill-advised and is a form of reviling angelic beings. We are told in the Bible that we are lesser than angels.

Once we have the certainty that the spirits have been expelled from the object, the item must be destroyed. Most fetishes you need to burn in the church parking lot drum. Mirrors and crystal objects need to be shattered once the spiritual attachments have been removed. Care must be given to get to this stage and ensure the object has been cleansed. There may be times where an object will require a Roman Catholic exorcist to handle the object's destruction.

When you leave the site, pray and have the Holy Spirit cleanse you of all dark assignments and attachments. Spiritually clean yourselves off from the demonic muck.

I can easily write a lot more on the subject. But that's it in a nutshell.

If you have any questions on how to deal with occult battles, please drop me a comment, and I will answer the question in blog posts.

If you have questions on curse breaking, or curse breaking prayers, I cover these in my book, A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare.

If you have questions on dealing with manifestations, I cover these in my book, A Field Guide to Advanced Spiritual Warfare.

Get your copy today!  Available on Amazon in:

paper back - A Field Guide to Advanced Spiritual Warfare - Deliverance, Exorcism, Healing the Effects of Ritual Abuse.

Kindle - A Field Guide to Advanced Spiritual Warfare - Deliverance, Exorcism, Healing the Effects of Ritual Abuse. (eBook)




Get your very own copy of the ORIGINAL  - A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare!

A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare - the Power to PULL the IMPOSSIBLE from the HEAVENLY REALMS






 Well, that's enough for now. Hope this was beneficial.
Blessings

Rev. Mike

Fireside Chat on Intercession for Demonic Possession

There are a lot of books out there on spiritual warfare, but very few offer any good insight on the practical side of deliverance. It's a hot topic in religious reading so publishers are going to fill the market. What the market is filled with in top selling books and what actually goes on in intense prayer sessions are two completely separate topics.

Very few ministers are truly involved in exorcisms. What is an exorcism? I am a non-Catholic exorcist, which means I don't use 'The Rite'. I use the gifts of the Holy Spirit in warfare. Yes, the Catholics do to, they call these ministers charismatics. From my point of view, an exorcism is the expulsion of demons in what is identified as a true demonic possession. 99% of the demonic activity and manifestations most Christians have seen are what are known as demonic oppressions. A demon can manifest in a Christian and speak through them. A deliverance prayer team can evict this/these unclean spirit(s) because the individual is requesting prayer to be set free from them.

In demonic possession, which is difficult to diagnose (to the average deliverance minister), requires a lot more background and expertise. When our ministry is involved in a case of demonic possession, we already have some medical professionals involved who had aided in the diagnoses and medically deemed the situation to be spiritual in nature. A person may look and act demonically possessed but could simply be mentally sick.  Their mind is broken. We commonly work with people that have dissociative identity disorder.  You need spiritual discernment to determine what is an alter (an alternate identity) and which is a demonic presence. When we work with DID, there are both alters and demonic spirits, and the team has the discernment to tell the difference between the two.

In cases of demonic possession, the individual will not allow you to pray for them. All too often there are the horror stories that I have heard where an inexperienced deliverance team will hold someone down and try to cast a demon out of a possessed person. Then get tossed across the room in the process.

The individual that is possessed must want to be set free from their demonic prison. And they're not going to let you reason with them about wanting to be set free. There will be too many voices in their head and around them mocking every word you say.

This is where intercessory prayer comes in. For starters, you must pray to have yourself released into battle. And if you do make this prayer, you are certain of your prophetic gifting and that you hear God clearly. You are certain in your faith and you know how to pull down from the heavenly realm. You must also be a person who has their life in order and your family isn't dysfunctional at home. You must lead a life that is built on a strong relationship with Jesus. You will be a person who is free from bondage and can immediately identify demonic oppression as it is thrown at you. This is warfare. Demons fight back and bite back! If you're experiencing extreme warfare on your team it may be because you stepped out the covering and will of the heavenly Father. Be careful this doesn't happen to your team!You are a mature prayer warrior and understand the battlefield. You don't immediately start your prayers by binding regional principalities. Instead, you consult Jesus and the Heavenly Father for a battle plan. Jesus will heal this person from possession. Not you and your book on routing demons! You must listen clearly to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

You must be a member of a prayer team that works in unity for this intercession. You must be a person who is not closely associated to the possessed or the family. You will have limited contact with all individuals involved. All your information will come in through intercession and you will pray as the Holy Spirit directs you. On occasion, you will receive information from the family of the possessed on the individuals status. Don't rely on the status. Rely on what the Holy Spirit is telling the prayer team. Furthermore, don't get caught up in the chaos and drama coming from the person reporting the information. Many times Christians who don't belong in the battle get caught up in the fight for the excitement of battling demons. They will ignorantly and emotionally direct you how to pray. The demons will use these people to irritate, distract and even control your prayer team. If you allow these people to carry on like this your intercessor prayer team will be compromised. Stay out of the drama and focus on the time with Jesus.

Covert prayer ministry is the best approach to minimize outside influence. Never discuss the prayer ministry with anyone outside the prayer team. The information is confidential and it's disrespectful to the person who is in your pastoral care.

How long should intercession last? Many Christians get frustrated after praying for two weeks and give up. Intercession for exorcism can take months! If not longer. The purpose of the intercession is to turn the person's heart back to Jesus and pray for breakthrough for them to have a Jesus encounter. The exorcism can't be done unless the person willfully turns back to Jesus and wants the spirits driven out. Jesus knows how to deal with his own enemies. Jesus also knows it will take time to turn the demonically possessed person around. Jesus respects free will even to the point of it leading to one's demise. The person possessed must choose to turn to Jesus under their own free will.

Intercession will last up until there is a spiritual break through. The intercessor team that is listening to the Holy Spirit will all receive the same information on when to switch from intercession and move to evicting the spirit.

Intercession for an exorcism requires mature Christians, who are not doctrinal in their walk with Jesus. People on intercessor prayer teams were literally drafted by God and very seldom do people find themselves on these intense prayer teams because they felt called into it. The intercessor must understand that God is big enough to handle this situation while we only step in and work under his will and movement. Not our own battle plan!

This is not something to play around with and try. You must be a seasoned spiritual warrior who understands the enemy can manifest and inflict both spiritual and physical harm to the prayer team. The prayer team must understand to the spiritual nature of spirits of suicide and how they operate during the season of intercession. It is intense and it is not something for church intercessor team to take on.

If you're learning Deliverance ministry, I strongly recommend you pick up my book.

A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare - the Power to PULL the IMPOSSIBLE from the HEAVENLY REALMS

Blessings,

Rev. Mike

Christian Ghost Hunters and the Tennessee Wraith Chasers New Show

Hi Warriors!
Yet another paranormal show has surfaced in the reality tv world. The show's name is Ghostland Tennessee, which aired this last weekend on Animal Planet HD. Again, why are there ghost hunting shows on Animal Planet?
What really caught my attention about this show is another (scripted) reality show that fuses two money making reality shows together. In this case, Ghostland Tennessee is Ghost Hunters meets Duck Dynasty. I kind of wish they wrote Si into the script. The show would have been more entertaining. Which is what this is ...entertainment.

The fact that the individuals in this show portray themselves as Christians raises alarms and this show needs to go through the Biblical spiritual warfare dissection.

Enjoy.

If you're learning Deliverance ministry, I strongly recommend you pick up my book.

More information on spiritual warfare can be found in our book,  
A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare - the Power to PULL the IMPOSSIBLE from the HEAVENLY REALMS.

Blessings.

Rev. Mike

Sign of Jonah - Resurrection

As a kid in Sunday school one of my favorite Bible studies was always The Book of Jonah. Maybe because it was the funnest story to listen to about a bald guy (which is how he was depicted in the accompanying coloring art assignment with the lesson) and this friendly big whale. In Sunday school the whale played the role as God's taxi. Unfortunately, to simplify the story for Sunday school, Jonah took on a fairy tale persona. He didn't seem real when he was taught. Perhaps my teacher didn't believe the story and so it came across as make believe. Jonah is not the Santa Claus of the Bible. Let me make something perfectly clear, the Bible is the infallible word from God. But poor Sunday school lessons can condition us for the rest of our lives. How did I break free of this?

As an adult, I read the book several times too. My head got several readjustments when Jonah was mentioned in the historical book of Kings. Jesus also referred Jonah, which really got my head thinking about this Jonah guy. But it wasn't until I read the book through the eyes of a someone who has prayed for healing and inner healing that the pages of Jonah illuminated a deeper story. It's a small book, about 4 chapters (2 pages in my Bible) and nearly every chapter has a miracle in it. Something I felt my mind was conditioned to overlook because of the Sunday school mishandling of the book. But it was pretty clear to me now. There were miracles going on in the Book of Jonah. For a tiny book it was actually overflowing with miracles!

In the Book of Jonah, God assigns the prophet Jonah to go to Nineveh. Nineveh is the capitol of  Assyria, which is now modern day Iraq. Iraq is a brutal land today, it was more so in the time of Jonah. God sent Jonah to tell the barbarians of Nineveh to repent. Jonah decided he feared the Assyrian barbarians of Nineveh more so than God. So Jonah ran away to Tarshish. The first chapter of Jonah tells us he boarded a boat in Joppa and made his escape from the Lord.

The next thing we're told the ship is caught in a violent storm. Jonah finally divulges to the panicking crew, after drawing lots and loosing, that he is the culprit. His God is angry at him and he should be thrown overboard to spare the crew.

Chapter 2 is where things become interesting. We see Jonah's prayers from the belly of the fish. Was it a whale or was it a fish? Scripture doesn't specify. From chapter 2 verse 2,

“I called out of my distress to the Lord,
And He answered me.
I cried for help from the depth of Sheol;
You heard my voice.

Clue number one is from this verse, Jonah cried from the depth of Sheol. Sheol is death! Verse 5 is also filled with some interesting clues.

5 “Water encompassed me to the point of death.
The great deep engulfed me,
Weeds were wrapped around my head.

Basically, we see a description here of Jonah drowning. The deep engulfed him. What is the significance of the weeds wrapped around his head? Does it mean he was on ocean floor for some time before the fish picked him up?

In verse 6, Jonah descended to the deep. Metal crushing water pressure comes to mind at the depth he is talking about.

6 “I descended to the roots of the mountains.
The earth with its bars was around me forever,
But You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.

I believe in verses 2-6, Jonah is painting a picture of his death. He died. The bars of the earth describe his fate was sealed.

What is difficult to piece together is if the fish snatched Jonah as he was cast overboard, like the Sunday school rendition, or the fish plucked the dead body from the bottom of the ocean. The verses sited paint the picture that Jonah was dead on the ocean floor when the fish plucked him up.

Whatever may have happened, we know from Jonah 1:17, that Jonah was in the belly of the fish for 3 days. Then in verse 10, the fish delivers Jonah.

10 Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.

Now I can't help but feel this is a miracle of Jonah being dead raised. No matter how you paint the picture, Jonah was either dead on the ocean floor, or dead by the digestive acids in the fish's stomach. Jonah was vomited out of the fish!

An interesting correlation is from Jesus in the Book of Matthew (12:40).

40 for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Jesus is speaking on his resurrection! And then in Luke 11:29-30, Jesus mentions Jonah as a miraculous sign.

29 As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. 30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

It's possible that the sign being referred to here is the resurrection of Jonah's body and spirit as he was vomited out of the fish. All the pieces are there for this miracle. If you look at all the other miracles in the Book of Jonah, the possibility of Jonah's resurrection is not entirely out of the question.