The Shaking of Nations - A Harvest Tsunami Is On Its Way....

Embracing a victorious

And transformative future

by

Daniel J. Griffiths, D.Min.

© 2015 – ARK Ministries International,

Daniel J. Griffiths

Republished second edition, 2022.

All verses are from the NIV Bible unless otherwise noted.

Printed by BT Johnson Publishing

www.BTJohnson Publishing.com

1-866-260-9563

Printed in the United States

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Foreword

Dr. Dan Griffiths is not only an excellent Bible teacher but also

a prophet of God. He has locked into a developing stream of

end-time revelation for our generation. Jesus is coming back,

and before He returns there will be a massive evangelistic

explosion, the prophetic fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles.

The better we understand the days we are living in, the more

urgency will grip our every conversation with unbelievers. This

is a book that I recommend every Christian read: Learn its

content, and then share with others. Dr. Griffiths is a longtime

faculty member AT Northern California Bible College.

— Pastor David Sell , President of Northern California

Bible College

Preface

This book is a foundational study in the coming great shaking

of nations, a preparation for the greatest harvest of souls into

the Kingdom of God before Jesus Christ returns. It has taken

me years to revise my first edition of the book, because God

has continually allowed me to participate in the ever-growing

harvest movement.

God has actually given me a city in which to build my first city

wide Ark, a concept you will come to understand in the following

pages. He also has given me a wonderful college in which to

develop a school of the prophets, that many voices may be

raised up to prepare His people for His coming mighty move. In

all this I am both blessed and excited!

I hope to be able to write a sequel, The Shaking in Progress, to

testify how God has kept His promise to let me see His greater

move, after my early experiences in the Jesus Movement

(which I will begin to recount in Chapter One). Today the world

is going through one of the worst shakings of nations since

World War II. But with these horrendous shakings comes a

stunning opportunity to see the renewal of the church and the

salvation of millions into the Kingdom of God. Praise the Lord!

Please read this book with an open mind and with the

expectancy that God wants you to join in one of the most

dramatic spiritual movements in church history. I am the voice

of one crying in the wilderness, “ Prepare the way of the Lord! ”

Amen.

Table of Contents

Introduction .................... ......................................... .9 God is not going to let the world go quietly into the night of

eternity. He is going to shake things up until cities and nations

seek an unshakable life, which can only be found in Jesus

Christ. Contrary to pessimistic preaching, the church’s most

fruitful days lie ahead. For those who will prepare and believe

in what God is ready to, the best is yet to come.

Part One: The Promise and the Call .. ................... 23 Why am I writing this book? Because it is the message God has

given me to share with His church. As the Jesus Movement was

coming to an end, some 40 years ago, the Lord gave me a

promise that I would see yet an even greater move of His Spirit

— and that I would help prepare God’s people for it. The Lord

gave me this message of preparation for the church to draw

whole cities and nations into the Kingdom of God.

Chapter 1: The Building of the Second Ark .......25 God gave me a promise of seeing a greater move of His Spirit

than I had yet seen. A decade later He gave me two

assignments on how to get God’s people ready for the

promised greater move. The first assignment was to build an

ark . I did not understand what He meant then. Now I do. God

wants to turn cities and nations into salvation ships that will lift

millions above Satan’s rule, launching them into life-giving

cultures for the Kingdom of God here and now.

Chapter 2: The School of the Prophets ..............39 The second assignment the Lord gave me was to build a school

of the prophets. Again, at first I did not understand. But I came

to realize that God desired the church’s prophetic voice to be

restored through wise biblical training, so that His people could

be awakened for His coming greater move. No less than the

fate of nations hung on it.

Chapter 3: Our Future is Not Our Past ................47 From the book of Haggai we will learn how God wants the

church to look forward, not backward, to know how to follow

Him into the next great move of His Spirit. This movement will

be like nothing like the church has ever seen — demanding

fresh surrender to the Holy Spirt to understand new paradigms

in preparing he house of God

Part Two: The Shaking .................... ................... ....55 I will share my discovery of how God will awaken the nations to

their need of Christ through His divine shaking.

Chapter 4: The Shaking of Nations ......................57 According to the prophet Haggai, it is the shaking of the nations

that will cause a great harvest of people eager to be discipled

into the Kingdom of God. But what will the shaking look like? In

this chapter we see the biblical definition of this divine shaking,

and grasp its purpose and outcome.

Chapter 5: Who Is to Blame? ................................71 Inevitably the question will arise, “ Who is to blame for all the

pain and destruction that will come from the shaking of

nations?” The answer is in scripture.

Chapter 6: The Shaking of the Heavens ..............83 Haggai is clear that the coming shaking of nations will also

shake the heavens. There was an amazing power shift with the

dethroning of Satan and the enthronement of Jesus in the

heavenly realms. Now the church must activate its heavenly

position in Christ to participate in the harvest of cities and

nations.

Part Three: The Unshakable Kingdom .................97 The shaking of nations will be meaningless unless the church

becomes what it is supposed to be. It is the church that must

demonstrate the unshakable life and power of the Kingdom of

God in the midst of a sin-shaken world. Only then will nations

know where to run for hope and stability.

Chapter 7: Becoming Unshakable .......................99 God’s people will not be exempt from the shaking: We live in

the nations that will be shaken. But the church must

demonstrate how to face life ’s storms with peace and grace in

God’s strength. In this chapter we will deal with how God will

prepare His people to reveal His unshakable kingdom on earth

as it is in heaven.

Chapter 8: The Gift of the Unshakable Kingdom ...109 We so often fail to realize the amazing gift that Jesus Christ

provided for us. He brought heaven down to earth — the

Kingdom of God. The good news is not just the hope of heaven,

someday. Rather, it is the transformational power to change

lives for good here and now.

Part Four: The Great Harvest (God’s Passion) ...117 The whole purpose of the divine shaking is to awaken people

and nations to their inability to achieve a stable, enduring, and

harmonious existence apart from God’s sovereignty. Such

divine shaking will prompt searching for what will provide a

stable life — in Christ.

Chapter 9: The Age of Harvest ...........................119 Jesus built His life and ministry around one goal, the harvest of

the nations into the Kingdom. Jesus expected an overwhelming

response to His gospel message. The church must embrace

the same firm expectation and match the Lor d’s commitment to

bring in this great harvest.

Chapter 10: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit ...133 The key to the church to accomplishing the Great Commission

is the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew the church would need the Spirit's

transforming power and strength to fulfill His command. An

unprecedented outpouring of the Holy Spirit will enable the

church to finish the Lord’s commission.

Chapter 11: Ten-to-One Ratio .............................143 One of the most exciting predictions in the Old Testament is a

10-to-1 ratio of how unbelievers will seek believers as they

respond to the gospel at the end of this age. We will explore the

prophecy predicting such a remarkable end-time phenomenon.

Chapter 12: A Continuous Harvest ....................151 The prophet Amos foretold that a rapid, sustained, rich harvest

of people would flow into the Kingdom in the last days. We will

examine his amazing promise of a continuous, uninterrupted

response to the churches ’ witness — and what that means for

the church itself.

Part Five: Israe l’s Role in the Great Harvest .....161 The nation of Israel — small as it is in territory and population

— will play a mighty part in the coming harvest of nations.

Israel’s restoration will greatly add to the momentum of this last

days movement.

Chapter 13: The War of Gog ...............................163 There is a war coming in which the very survival of Israel will

be in doubt. But God will directly intervene and not only will

save Israel, but use the surviving enemy soldiers to help finish

the Great Commission and begin the final conversion of Israel

to faith In Jesus Christ.

Part Six: God’s Growing Audacity .....................179 God is not a distant observer as this age of harvest comes ever nearer. Scripture is clear that we can expect God to become

audacious in His participation in the harvesting work.

Chapter 14: The Audacious Jesus and His Church ....................................................183 Jesus was the most audacious expression of God and His

message in bringing the Kingdom of God to earth. No one had

ever done the amazing numbers of miracles Jesus did, or

spoken with such authority, or lived such an extraordinary life.

And Jesus said plainly that He wanted His church to live and

minister just as He had — only in a greater and more glorious

way.

Chapter 15: God’s Audacious Love ...................195 The most audacious aspect of the gospel is the sacrificial love

of God. As nations experience the impact of God’s willingness

to sacrifice what He loves most — His sons and daughters —

to share His message of love to a hostile world, thousands will

be drawn to faith in Christ. There is no greater power encounter

than experiencing sacrificial agape love.

Chapter 16: The Gospel Angels .........................211 One of the most audacious last-days proclamations of the

gospel will be the appearance of the three angels over the cities

of the world, speaking to every nation, and tribe. Both the

gospel and the God’s warnings to sinners will never be more

clear.

Chapter 17: Time for Audacious Faith ..............219 If the Lord is ready to do audacious works to better reveal the

Kingdom of God and highlight the gospel message to the

nations, then we as His church must equip ourselves with

audacious faith that God can use.

Part Seven: Preparing the Church (Part A) .........227 What good is it to have expectant faith for a great harvest but

have an ineffective way of doing church? We will explore a

biblical pathway back to a more effective apostolic paradigm in

readying the church for its critical role.

Chapter 18: The Importance of the Apostolic ...229 What does it mean to “build arks” today? We will f ocus on how

to form united city and regional churches and make them ready

to receive the coming harvest — using the early church’s

apostolic model.

Chapter 19: Reaching Cities and Nations .........245 One of the most important calls to the church is to recognize

what the Great Commission actually says. We cannot be

satisfied with individual conversions. W e must embrace Jesus’

command to disciple and baptize nations.

Chapter 20: Forming Movements ......................265 The early church grew from dramatic sweeping movements

that drew thousands into the Kingdom of God quickly and in

large numbers. Only through forming movements can church

growth overtake world population growth and disciple the

coming great harvest. But how do we define “ church growth

movements ,” and how do we launch them?

Part Eight: Preparing the Church (Part B) .........275 God is sending the greatest prophetic movement in church

history to prepare the church for what He is about to do. The

Spirit of God is elevating the ch urch’s prophetic voice to a fresh

passion and renewal.

Chapter 21: Building the School of the Prophets ....................................................277 What will be the impact of the second coming of the spirit of

Elijah at the end of this age? This prophetic movement will be

a key to worldwide restoration and renewal of the church. But

the church must focus on understanding it and ministering it

effectively.

Chapter 22: The Coming of Spiritual Fathers and Mothers ...........................................295 One of the most powerful aspects of the Elijah Movement will

be the raising up of spiritual fathers and mothers in the Lord.

They will play a central role in the restoration and glorification

of the church.

Chapter 23: Final Thoughts ................................311

Appendix 1: The Saving of Cultures .................317 Appendix 2: Eight Key Paradigm Shifts ...........319 Appendix 3: A Vision of Arks ............................323

Definition of Spiritual Readiness

Readiness means a right relationship to God

and a knowledge of where we are at present....

Readiness for God means that we are ready to do the tiniest

little thing

or the greatest big thing, it makes no difference....

And we are ready for it with all the alertness of our love for

Him.

A ready person never needs to get ready.

Think of the time we waste trying to get ready when God has

called.

Oswald Chambers

His Utmost for His Highest

www.utmost.org

Introduction to the Second Edition

If the year 2020 brought us anything, it was a front-row seat to

what the shaking of a nation looks like. As I began a major

revision of this book, America was caught up in a terrible

worldwide pandemic. But that was not all. I have never seen

such a panorama of national crises in my lifetime. There were

violent riots, and mass marches in the streets of American cities

over racial injustices. My region experienced some of the

biggest, fiercest wildfires in state history. The political world

was in upheaval for weeks with an unresolved presidential

election.

It was a case study in nation shaking — one that I believe left

an indelible impression on all of us.

So more than ever, this book is a now word. It is a timely

message to the church and to the nations concerning God’s

promise to once again shake the earth — and an outline of how

the church must be prepared to deal with such shakings.

The divine purpose of such shakings is not to bring judgment,

but rather to awaken the nations to their need of God, and to

awaken the church to the opportunity of drawing nations to faith

in Jesus Christ. God’s heart is never for destruction, but instead

for redemption. The Lord will not allow mankind to drift into

eternity without being confronted by the love and salvation that

He has provided through His son.

I am not saying that Covid pandemic, the fires of California, and

the racial riots and marches are the greatest shaking events of

our times; but they illustrate how quickly the world can be

brought into crises, and how nations can be overwhelmed in

trying to grapple with such events. I was amazed by the waves

of panic, fear, and crushing loss — physically, economically,

and emotionally — that swept over America and the world.

Through the last several decades God has called me to write

this message, and to help ready the church for what is coming.

But I want to say up front that this is not a proclamation of doom

and gloom. Yes, the shakings will be deadly and devastating

for many; but they will usher in a day when the church, with

God’s help, will emerge as an unshak able force in every nation

— revealing the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

Some will want to frame these shaking events as “everything

going to hell in a handbasket, ” with the take-away that things

will only get worse. This must not be our message to the world.

Our job is not to measure the level of a nation’s sin to decide

whether it has passed a point of no return. Instead, we are to

believe for the transformation of people and nations, bringing

the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

The world is in darkness, but Jesus has come to turn on the

light. In the days ahead millions will come to readiness to

receive the good news of Christ. We as the church must be

ready for an incredible harvest of souls into the Kingdom of

God.

Make no mistake. God is going to shake the nations to awaken

them to their need of blessing and peace that is unshakable in

the kingdom of God. This discovery will produce a ready

harvest of searching people and nations looking for answers

only found in Jesus Christ.

This then is the challenge: We must prepare the church for both

the coming shaking and the unprecedented harvest it will

produce. God is going to cleanse and glorify His church as

never before. The church’s future is not that of barely hanging

on by our fingernails until Jesus comes back to take us home.

As you study this book, you will realize that God has an

astonishing future for the church, here and now, not just

someday in heaven.

My assignment and the assignment of thousands like me is to

raise a chorus of prophetic voices to call God’s people into what

He is doing. Truly the greatest moments, the greatest harvest,

and the most glorious expression of the church are yet ahead.

It is my prayer that you will believe, prepare, and participate in

what God is ready to unfold.

Part One: The Promise and Calling

Why am I writing this book? Because it is the message God has

given me to share with His church. God gave me a promise that

I have carried for over 40 years – a promise of a greater

movement, beyond anything I had yet seen.

He also gave me two assignments that have taken me decades

to fully understand; but in these pages I now can share them

with you. It has been the journey of a lifetime, with God

preparing me for this moment. Now I join my voice with those

of the many whom God is raising up to share this message —

to get the church ready for the greatest harvesting movement

in its history.

Chapter One

The Building of the Second Ark

The Promise

The year was 1971. I had been married less than two years and

was pastoring my first church when God used two converted

hippies to draw me into the now- famous “Jesus Movement.”

That movement was a divine magnet for young, disillusioned

dropouts from American culture in the ’ 60s and ’ 70s.

At first I had no idea what I had stepped into -- but I began to

see growing numbers of young people saved and brought into

the Kingdom of God through this movement.

It was exhilarating to see poorly dressed, free-spirited youth

believing God’s word and living it out on the streets of the San

Francisco Bay Area. As for me, I saw the Bible come alive

through a youth movement that many churches rejected.

As the Jesus Movement was drawing to an end, I sat in my

church office wondering if I would ever experience anything like

it again in my ministry.

Revivals like the Jesus Movement tend to spoil you, leaving you

unwilling to settle for “church as usual.” True revival makes you

hungry for more of the pulsing presence of God, and His

spiritual power and the saving of thousands as the Holy Spirit

does His incredible work in and through you.

As I sat at my desk considering these things, the Lord made me

a promise: He said I would see a much greater move of His

Spirit later in my life. For over 40 years, I have held onto that

promise.

God also assured me that I would be a “spiritual father” in the

next move. It might seem strange for God to say this, but I knew

exactly what He meant. The impact of the Jesus Movement had

been limited through its early rejection by much of the American

church. Left largely on their own, the Jesus kids had a dearth

of spiritual fathers to give them guidance.

Long hair, torn blue jeans, granny dresses, and bare feet were

typical of the converted hippies. Dressed that way and

spiritually awkward, these kids were offensive to many

mainstream congregations. A few churches even borrowed

from the restaurant trade and posted signs warning, “No shoes,

no shirt, no service!” Thus, there was a scarcity of mature

Christian leaders willing to take these brash, excited new

believers under their wings and disciple them.

At the ripe old age of 26, I was considered by some of these

kids as a “spiritual father.”

With little seasoned leadership, the Jesus Movement suffered

from youthful excesses and immaturity. And yet this movement

became worldwide, dynamic, and incredibly powerful in

changing the lives of millions. As I look back today, it pains me

that the church missed such a tremendous opportunity to fan

the flame of this movement and make it even more impacting

— simply because it came in sloppy clothes, long hair, and

immaturity.

As I considered God’s promise of spiritual fatherhood in a future

move of His Spirit, I was greatly encouraged.

The Calling

Almost a decade after receiving this promise from the Lord, I

felt the Lord speak to my heart again. He was activating me and

calling me to become one of His voices in calling His church to

prepare for the greater coming harvesting movement He had

spoken to me about. His words to me were direct and to the

point: “Get my people ready for my coming visitation and

harvest.”

The Lord impressed again on me that this movement would be

something the church has not yet seen in size and scope in a

worldwide touch of cities and nations.

The time had come for me to get myself ready. Over the next

several weeks, as I prayed about my new assignment, the Lord

gave me two objectives.

Objective One

The first objective the Lord gave me was - “Build me an ark.”

This sudden thought made me stop. I felt the word was from

the Lord but honestly, I had no idea what He meant.

I went into one of the Sunday school classrooms at my church,

found a picture of Noah’s ark, brought it into my office, and

taped it to the wall behind my desk. It became a point of focus

for me in my prayer times. But as I mulled over the familiar

images of Noah hammering away on the Arks hull, and animals

going in two by two, I felt no closer to understanding the

message.

It has taken me years to fully understand what God meant by

this challenge. It has been a slow transformative journey of God

dealing with me as much as giving me clarification in what He

wants me to teach. But I can say that today I have a firm grip

on what I believe the Lord was assigning me to say and do.

Why the Picture of an Ark?

Why did the Lord give me the image of Noah’s ark to picture

the transformation of cities and nations in preparation for the

coming harvest? What does Noah’s Ark have to teach us in

preparing us for the great harvest God wants us ready to

receive?

As I reviewed the story of Noah’s ark and Jesus’ references to

it, and the a postle Peter’s reflections on his ministry ,I gained

some wonderful insights.

The Story of the Ark

First let me summarize the story of the Ark in Genesis 6-9. The

story is about a man and his family being commanded by God

to build a great ship on dry land. He was to build this massive

ship according to God’s specific instructions and preach

repentance and righteousness to his generation calling on them

to repent and enter the ship at the command of the Lord to save

themselves from divine judgment. This was a long term

dramatic construction of something that was meant to catch

people’s attention and cause them to stop and check out what

was going on.

The earth had become intolerably corrupt and violent and

disobedient to God. So God determined to judge mankind for

how badly it had degenerated and how evil it had become in

thought and deed. Such living, I am sure, created multiple

crises and deplorable living conditions but no one was turning

back to God. And yet God who is rich in mercy found a

righteous family who He could use to extend one last effort to

redeem humanity from destruction. Many see Noah and the

flood as a story of shocking judgment but it is more than that, it

is a story of amazing mercy from a broken hearted creator.

God’s Salvation Ship

As I have carefully studied the scriptures dealing with the ark of

Noah, one thing clearly stands out: The ark was a salvation ship

to lift those who would obey God out of condemnation into a

new and better life.

The idea of the ark in early Christianity became a symbol of

rescue and deliverance and salvation. The underground

catacombs of Rome, where early Christians met secretly for

worship, had many pictures of the ark on the catacomb walls.

The ark was to them a picture of Jesus’ providing the way of

salvation for all of mankind.

The apostle Peter refers to the ark and the great flood as

representing not only salvation from judgment but also of

baptism (1Peter 3:20). Like Christian baptism the flood waters

buried the perverted and sinful life of the ancient world but also

lifted Noah and his family to a new life in covenant with God.

This picture is consistent with Paul’s teaching that Christian

Baptism is the picture of burying the old life of sin and raising a

believer to new life in resurrection power (Rom. 6:1-6).

But Jesus added one other element to this story. Jesus

declared:

As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away …..That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. (Matt. 24:37-39,42)

Jesus adds the element of urgency. At the time of the flood people were going about their regular life with little regard to what Noah was preaching. They ignored God’s message up to the day the flood came. Jesus is saying that the same spiritual resistance for many will be there in the last days, just before Jesus comes again. So He tells His disciples and the crowd:

Wake up and prepare your hearts for His return and the ending of this age.1

The Principles of Building Arks

This is the purpose behind this book and my calling: To be sure

the church is awake to what God is doing today. The Lord wants

the church to awaken to the urgency of our times. There will be

a time when the church will no longer be able to do the work of

redemption (John 9:4), but today the harvest is ready, and we

must be ready to bring it in (John 4:35).

Let me lay out a few more insights to be gained from Noah’s

ark story from the apostle Peter (1 Peter 3:21). Peter points out

that the great flood is a symbol of baptism. The word “symbol”

is the greek word ἀντίτυπος; (antitupos) which means something that resembles or is a type of something else. 2 I

believe that from the flood story the Holy Spirit has given me

It is important to say here that Jesus is not predicting that the nations will not have heard the gospel or that many will not be receiving the gospel. What He is saying is that if the church fails to stay awake and ready, it will fall prey to Satan’s distractions — losing the urgency of its harvesting work. But God will not let this happen, as you will see.

2 Thayer’s Greek Dictionary

five insights about preparing the church for God’s coming

harvest movement.

1. Every ark needs God’s leading and plan to form it. God

chose Noah and gave him detailed directions. In building

His church (the second ark) Jesus also gave His disciples

detailed instructions in how to build His church. This is what

this book touches on, how the Lord wants His people to

awaken, study His word and by faith form spiritual vessels

for the rescuing of billions — lifting them out of violence and

corruption into a transformed life of the kingdom of God.

This book seeks to add to this effort to provide the why, the

what, and the how in building spiritual arks in your home,

community, city, and nation.

2. The ark was a physically unavoidable work that caught

people's attention and caused them to ask questions. God

wants us as His people to raise up good works and solutions

that catch the eye of the lost. The Church has, in Christ, the

solutions for the problems facing people and nations. I love

what Dr. Ed Silvoso declares in his book Ekklesia, “that the

premier social indicator of spiritual transformation (or the

kingdom of God in action) is the elimination of the four levels

of systemic poverty.” 3 What would catch any nation’s

attention more than to solve the problem of poverty and all

the destruction and ruin that problem brings to its cities and

people. The church must show it has practical and visible

good news for people in need here and now and not just

words or a future hope. As nations are shaken and God’s

people, with God’s favor, step up with desperately needed

solutions, the salvation ship of God will take form in front of

a watching world.

3. As the church teaches and practices the teachings of Jesus

Christ throughout a city or region, Jesus says we will begin

baptizing them (Matt.28:20) - washing the environment of

homes, communities, cities and nations with the

empowered words and works - changing them into kingdom

centers where God’s harvest can be discipled in Kingdom

life here and now. The main difference between Noah’s Day

and the church is that Noah had to be rescued from his

culture, whereas Jesus has made it possible to rescue

cultures . I am not going to deal with these truths of national

baptisms and cultural transformation here, but will explain

3 Ed Silvoso, EKKLESIA, Chosen - Baker Publishing Group, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2017,

pg.36.

them in more detail later in the book. The church is a second

ark that must be built anywhere and everywhere to rescue

and disciple the harvest that is ready to receive the life of

the Kingdom of God.

4. The God given sign of the truth of Noah’s message was the

supernatural arrival of every kind of animal in multiple pairs.

The second ark is also a vessel that will present signs and

wonders resulting in transformed lives. God’s glorious

presence and signs and wonders in people's lives will be

seen by cities and nations confirming the truth of the gospel.

5. It is important to recognize in Noah’s story that it was a

family effort that built the ark and preached to the people of

their time. The family is the foundation of everything in

society and especially is true of the church. Spiritual arks

are formed from the family on up. The church always begins

with two or more (Matt. 18:19). I want to enlarge on this

more later, but for me this is a crucial insight the Lord has

provided in the building of spiritual arks.

Today there is only one visible vessel God is constructing, and

to which He is bringing people, and that is the church. God is

patiently building His church anywhere and everywhere,

through anyone. But let's be clear, these arks are not just

church buildings and Sunday-morning-only programs.

A true ark is the church of two or more gathering throughout our

communities, in every sphere of life, catching people's attention

with supernatural works and solutions of the Kingdom of God.

And like Noah, these ark builders will stand out as they live and

build a better life that only God can provide.

This is what the Lord asked of me, to prepare God’s church to

become a transformational vessel that can raise cities and

nations above the waters of destruction — baptizing them in the

gospel — until heaven's atmosphere permeates them here and

now. Into such ark cities and nations God will pour His harvest

with amazing, life-transforming results.

Study and Reflection

1. The church is a type of spiritual ark. Reflect on these

scriptures: Gen.6 and 7; 1 Peter 3:20-21, Matt. 24:37-42; 2

Peter 2:5. As the church, are we to accept that sin is

stronger than grace — dooming our cities and nations to

coming judgment? Is it not possible for the church by the

authority and grace given to it to lift cities and nations out of

judgment into Kingdom life here and now?

6. How are the last days of this age like the times Noah lived

in? Is there not a difference between Noah’s vessel of

escape and the Church as a vessel of transformation?

7. Where is your focus? Is your focus on the impossible

lostness of your home, neighborhood, city or nation? Or is

your focus on the incredible empowerment of the church to

reach every people and nation with resurrection

transformation?

8. How would you begin building an ark in your neighborhood

or city?

Chapter Two

The School of The Prophets

Not long after I heard God’s first objective, the second one

came: “Build me the school of the prophets.”

This was as puzzling to me as the command to build an ark.

Nowhere in scripture does the literal expression “school of the

prophets” appear. However, the Bible does speak of a

prophetic training school, in the first book of Samuel (1 Sam.

19:20).

The prophet Samuel led Israel through one of its greatest

spiritual revivals in the Old Testament. This revival was initiated

and carried out through Samuel gathering hundreds of young

men and women, training and anointing them to carry God’s

word throughout all Israel.

As I studied Samuel’s life I began to grasp what God was

asking me to do in this second assignment.

The School of Samuel

Scripture says that the “word of the Lord was rare” at the time

of Samuel’s birth (Sam. 3:1). There was little if any preaching

or teaching of God’s word in that day. Israel had a cultural

religion but not a heart faith in God and His laws. People openly

worshipped the Lord but privately served others gods. It was

the responsibility of the Levitical priesthood placed among

every tribe of Israel to teach God’s word to His people and

encourage their obedience to it. But the Levites were failing to

do their job, and God’s people were drifting farther and farther

away from the Lord.

The call came to Samuel to declare God’s wor d in a fresh and

powerful way. Samuel grew in his ministry and he considered

doing something that had never been done before in Israel. He

would multiply himself and his effort by developing a prophetic

school that would train, anoint, and send hundreds of young

prophetic leaders throughout Israel to declare God’s word.

This prophetic movement put fire in God’s word and began

catching the attention of the nation. Through Samuel’s

prophetic schools, the land was increasingly filled with God’s

teaching — going out through the young prophets he trained,

inspiring a great renewal of faith.

I believe God wants to develop such a prophetic movement

today.

Never before has there been more availability of scripture to the

church. There are Bibles in many translations and languages,

recorded and online as well as in print. But at the same time

there is a growing problem of God’s people failing to know and

practice His word.

The preaching of the Bible takes place almost every day in

pulpits and over the airwaves. Yet too many believers are not

really listening, not motivated to live out the word of God in their

lives or teach it to their children.

What is missing?

There is no life in the church. The Christian life is supposed to

be supernatural – miraculous and transforming, manifesting the

Kingdom of God. But where do we see this in the church today?

We see much talking, and fixation on religious traditions — but

little power and life in the words we speak.

If God’s people cannot get excited and committed to the gospel,

why should the world? As in Samuel’s day, God’s people need

reviving to again know and believe what is in the scriptures. We

need the fresh fire of the prophetic word of God to arise, with

miraculous anointing to awaken His people.

Prophetic leaders like David, Nathan, Elijah, and Elisha were

some of the more famous prophets that arose in Samuel’s

School. Once again, God wants to raise up thousands of

powerful prophetic voices in every nation, releasing fresh

revelation of the truth of His word to change lives and nations.

God wants to unleash the greatest prophetic movement ever

seen by the church, stirring millions of churches and believers

to incredible faith and miraculous works for His glory

The Elijah Movement: Raising the Prophetic Voice

The prophet Malachi declared that the Lord would again send

the prophet Elijah to restore God’s people to faithfulness to the

Lord (Mal. 4:5-6). John the Baptist was the first manifestation

of this promised visitation of the spirit of Elijah (Luke 1:17;

Matt.1 7:11). But Malachi is clear that there would be a second

coming of the spirit of Elijah just before the great and terrible

day of the Lord, when Jesus would come a second time (Mal.

4:5).

The Old Testament prophets did not understand that the

Messiah would come twice. They thought He would come just

one time, in a dramatic way at the end of the age, to set up the

kingdom of God on earth. And yet the Spirit of the Lord in them

did indicate a second coming of the Messiah and the spirit of

Elijah before Jes us’ final return.

The truth is that the spirit of Elijah is a work of the Holy Spirit in

reviving God's people. From the time of John the Baptist to the

final coming of Christ, the spirit of Elijah has been growing and

reviving work of the Holy Spirit in the church. Increasingly we

see such restoration movements in church history. But

scripture is clear that there will be a finale of the Elijah spirit that

will come just before Jesus’ returns.

But why is God going to launch such a dramatic end time

prophetic movement? Because it will be needed. Scripture is

clear that many of God’s people in the last days will need to be

called out of their sin and their compromise with the world

(Rev.18:4). And there is nothing as powerful as the prophetic

word.

A true prophetic word can pierce through the hardest heart and

change the atmosphere over cities and nations (Heb. 4:12). As

called prophetic leaders heed the voice of the Lord and submit

to His preparation, they will become an unstoppable force in

awakening the end-time church.

More needs to be said about the objectives of the ark and the

school of the prophets, but we will deal with that deeper

discussion later in this book.

These objectives are major themes that the Lord is bringing to

the worldwide church. What I call “ city arks ” are what others are

calling “apostolic focus and movements” to draw whole nations

and cities into the Kingdom of God. The Lord has simply given

me a slightly different slant on how to look at what He is going

to do in preparing His church for the great harvest.

The Elijah Movement is raising up the church ’ s prophetic voice

for church renewal. I am only one voice among many. I hope

and pray what the Lord has taught me will add to this great

move and preparation of His church.

Study and Reflection

1. Reflect on the second coming of the spirit of Elijah indicated

in Malachi 4:5. Review Jesus’ statements found in Matthew

17:11. There is nothing more powerful in touching people’s

hearts than an anointed word from God? Could God be

calling you to be one of His voices?

2. Would such a dramatic second coming of the spirit of Elijah

require biblical understanding and training for God’s

people? Yes. Would God use you to assist in that

preparation in your family, church or city? Will you embrace

the Elijah movement?

Chapter Three

Our Future is not Our Past

As I prayed over understanding my calling and how the Lord

would launch this greater harvest movement, He led me to the

book of Haggai. There, God began to give me insights into the

last great shaking of the nations that will precipitate the great

end-time spiritual harvest.

It was from the book of Haggai that I received part of the title

for this book. I began to grasp how God was going to cause

cities and nations to seek after Him. This became foundational

to my message — the truths that God wanted His church to

understand.

Let’s begin by looking at the first truth God brought to my

attention as I studied the second chapter of Haggai.

A Circumstance-controlled Life Study of Haggai 2:1-5

The background to this chapter of Haggai is that God was

restoring the Jews to their land, and He wanted them to rebuild

the temple after 70 years of captivity in Babylon. God had

caused the new empire of Persia to release the Jews so they

could return to their land and begin rebuilding the temple.

At first only a remnant returned to try to carry out this divine

mandate. But circumstances developed in which the Jews were

facing great difficulties and unexpected dangers, which caused

them to stop their work. Intimidated, discouraged, and

distracted by their fears and personal needs, these Jewish

exiles turned away from rebuilding God’s house to working on

their own homes and businesses.

As a result, the Lord sent Haggai as one of two prophets to

encourage the people and their leaders to obey the call to

rebuild His house.

“ But now be strong, Zerubbabel, ” declares the LORD. “ Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, ” declares the LORD, “ and work. For I am with you, ” declares the LORD Almighty. “ This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.” (Hag. 2:4-5)

The people’s obedience had become dependent on their

circumstances. God had to assure the returning exiles that He

was still with them to help them and protect them, despite their

circumstances. He reminded them that He is the same God

who miraculously brought Israel out of Egypt, against all odds.

He wanted them to focus on Him and not on their ability to deal

with their obstacles. With Him they could do anything.

The Glory of the Past

One of the key factors that discouraged the exiles from

continuing work on the new temple was their comparing it to

Solomon’s temple. As these Jews laid the foundations to the

new temple, the workers and people became aware of how

inferior the new temple would be in comparison to the former

one.

Solomon’s temple was a grand structure with gold overlays in

its architecture and golden vessels used in worship. On the day

of its dedication, God had come and literally filled it with His

overwhelming glory (I Kings 8:10-11).

These Jews felt that God would want the same kind of temple

that Israel had in the past. They obviously could not produce

such a level of splendor in their current situation, so they would

need to wait until it became possible. The inability to build such

a magnificent temple and the difficult circumstances

confronting them brought work to a standstill. They went to build

their own homes to simply survive and make the best of a bad

situation. (Hag.1:3-4).

Haggai speaks of this backward focus:

Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? (Hag. 2:3)

The people were looking at their past to determine what they

could do in the future. But they did not understand that God

wanted them not to look back, but to look forward. Again, they

were letting circumstances and a wrong focus determine

whether they could obey God.

When the people ceased obeying God’s mandate to work, the

Lord stopped blessing them. (Hag. 2:10-19). No longer was He

receiving their sacrifices on the rebuilt altar, because their

disobedience made such sacrifices unclean to him. Their lives

and hard work were achieving far less than they wanted,

because Go d’s blessings were withheld.

Yet, if they would stop letting circumstances dedicate their

obedience, and return to obeying His word, He would once

again bless them.

The Church Today

The Lord quickened a thought to me as I read about the

struggles of these exilic Jews: Too many churches, like these

ancient Jews, are gripped by fear of their circumstances and

are looking for answers to past glories of the church. Their

concept of what God wants them to do is based on what God

has done in the past.

God did not have in mind another elaborate temple like

S olomon’s Temple , but rather a new house that would embrace

the nations. God did not want them to look back but to look

forward — to a new covenant and new type of house Hr would

live in, from which He would draw all nations into His kingdom.

The exilic temple was only a beginning step toward what would

become a worldwide house of God. The prophet Zechariah

wrote:

Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the LORD that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel? ( Zech. 4:10)

Both Haggai and Zechariah infused their prophecies with far

deeper meaning and a grander vision of what the second

temple was to become.

Reflecting on God’s past faithfulness is a good thing. We can

learn valuable lessons and truths from the past. But when God

tells us to move forward, we are not to look at the past for

direction. Isaiah expresses it best:

Remember you not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall you not know