Ancient Anointings for Ancient Strongholds

      Last summer, my wife and I had the privilege of attending the East Coast 2000 conference hosted by Eagle’s Wings Ministry. It was one of the most intense times in the Spirit that we have ever experienced. During one of the sessions that Robert Stearns was teaching, the Spirit of Prophecy came upon him strongly and a powerful and timely word came forth. One of the phrases that was spoken in that word exploded in my own spirit—it was that God was releasing “ancient anointings for ancient strongholds.” Then this year at the National School of the Prophets Conference, my wife and I were once again confronted with the issue of ancient anointings—but this time on a more personal level. After the conference was over, Deborah and I had the pleasant opportunity to speak with a dear Native American Grandmother. In the course of our conversation, she asked if she could pray over us, and we quickly agreed. As she prayed, the Spirit of God came and moved strongly among us. One of the many things she prayed was that the ancient anointings would come forth. She also prayed many other confirming things that connected strongly with us, but here was this phrase again—ancient anointings. God most certainly had our attention.

       Our society today is largely superficial. The primary focus of the status quo is the here and now and what it can do for me, me, me. Little consideration is given to the past—or the future for that matter. Even large portions of what our history books tell us are romanticized generalizations of what really took place. Heritage is virtually non-existent. We barely know our parents and grandparents, much less where we came from generationally. But God is a God of heritage. He is a God who thinks generationally. Time has no meaning to Him. A day is as a thousand years, remember? So when He sees you…let me put it this way…God knew every member of your family line clear back to Adam and Eve. Think about that! You are the result of perhaps hundreds of generations of heritage, and God knew them just like He knows you. And not only did He know them, He looked forward to this time and saw you. Think about it. It’s an awesome thought! As God looks at you right now, He sees all the genetic attributes that make you who you are from your entire family lineage and knows where each part originated.

       I have been doing genealogy research on several of my family lines. (If you have never researched your roots, you need to do it.) Recently, as I focused my research on one particular branch of my family tree, I was fortunate to discover genealogy research that another person had completed which connected with branch I was researching. Both my father and his mother (my grandmother) never knew their fathers. So the branch I was researching was the only pure path on my father’s side that I could trace—the line through my great-grandmother. The discovery I made allowed me to trace part of my lineage back through my great-grandmother 26 generations to the year 1220…781 years! As I sat there stunned, looking at the names of my relatives, the Holy Spirit started showing me how the Father really sees us, and what He means by ancient anointing.

       One of satan’s greatest weapons against us today is his detailed knowledge of the past and our lack of it. Teaching has been done on generational curses, and we’re starting to understand a little bit of what that’s all about. But I don’t know that I’ve heard a lot of talk about generation anointing. I know it must exist. Think about it…in my family, 781 years ago, Henry de Horton was born in Horton, Northampton England. God had a calling and a plan for his life, as He did for every one of the thousands of Henry’s seed (including me) since then. Of course, I will never know until eternity how many of those before me were believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that my Christian heritage goes back until at least until the year 1600 in England where my family members were strong Puritan believers. Every one of us has redeeming qualities in our heritage that reflects God’s character and nature. Our make-up is not the luck of the draw like some card game, But rather, God chose the giftings, callings, and anointings that He released into your heritage, and therefore, into you.

       You’re probably wondering why I’m making such a big deal about this and what it has to do with you? Let me answer your questions with a question: Did you ever wonder why Scripture lists Jesus’ genealogy? Between Genesis chapters 5-11 and Matthew, chapter 1, Scripture lists all 62 generations from Adam to Jesus! Why? It’s the ancient anointing. All the anointing that existed in Jesus’ lineage—Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Ruth and David, just to name a few—still corporately exists in the earth today because God is the same God today as He was then. Do you realize that there are people living on the earth today that are direct descendants from the very same line mentioned in Matthew Chapter One? Perhaps it’s you! We have to change how we think! We are not spiritual islands unto ourselves. We are the corporate spiritual product of hundreds of generations of God’s anointing being released into the earth! Are you getting the picture?

       So, if this ancient anointing still resides in the earth today, where is it, and what is it for? I can answer these both quickly. It is in you right now, and it is for the restoration of people to the Lord—the Harvest. Let’s look at a few Scriptures.

 Isaiah 49:5-13 “And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the LORD, And My God is My strength), He says, It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, To the despised One, To the One abhorred by the nation, To the Servant of rulers, Kings will see and arise, Princes will also bow down, Because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You. Thus says the LORD, In a favorable time I have answered You, And in a day of salvation I have helped You; And I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people, To restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages; Saying to those who are bound, "Go forth,' To those who are in darkness, "Show yourselves.' Along the roads they will feed, And their pasture will be on all bare heights. They will not hunger or thirst, Nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down; For He who has compassion on them will lead them And will guide them to springs of water. I will make all My mountains a road, And My highways will be raised up. Behold, these will come from afar; And lo, these will come from the north and from the west, And these from the land of Sinim. Shout for joy, O heavens! And rejoice, O earth! Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people And will have compassion on His afflicted.”

 Isaiah 58:12 Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.

 Isaiah 61:1-4 “THE Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, They will raise up the former devastations; And they will repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations.”  

      Isaiah was seeing something here in these passages. Notice the words he is using here—ancient ruins, desolate heritages, age-old foundations. What is he talking about? Restoration…the restoration of people and people groups. There are many, many people and people groups that need to be restored. Our hearts are for the Native Americans—a major people group right in our midst in America that needs restoration. I can list many, many others. So can you. Each group reflects an aspect of God that no other group does. We have had such an incomplete picture of who God is because so much of Him has been missing among us. So you have a task before you, and the anointing to accomplish it. Learn to see differently. Let’s begin to call forth those ancient anointings and begin to rebuild the ancient ruins. Remember that everyone you meet contains a portion of God, a piece of His spiritual DNA, so that the more people you meet, the more of God you see. That homeless person you pass on the way to work may just be a descendant of King David, but even if he isn’t God loves him just as much. Why not be a repairer of the breach for him?

Last Month's Newsletter “A New Song”