TAKE UP THE ROD:

I  (Marsha) had a dream that I was wearing a snake as a hat with the idea that it would strike out at my enemies.  Then, I saw myself in the mirror and took the snake off my head and let it go.  At the end of the dream my plan was to find the snake and make a cane or rod out of it. 

Meaning two-fold:  First, my warfare cannot come off the top of my head (intellectually), but has to be done with authority.

And, this is God’s plan for every Christian.  We suddenly wake up to the foolishness of carnality and come out of Egypt (the world) where the cobra (serpent) was worn on the foreheads of rulers as a symbol of protection from the enemy.  It represented insight, a royal spirit, wisdom and healing.  It represented their god, the Fiery Eye of Ra.  We cast the serpent of false religion and false protection down and take up the rod of authority.  The Hebrew word for serpent is naw khash’, which means divination.

When I had the dream I was thinking of Tutankhamen at the end of the dream, remembering that his mummy mask, made of gold, inlaid with lapis lazuli, carnelian, and turquoise, had the image of a cobra and a vulture.  Then, I read these scriptures:

Exodus 1:

8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.

9  And he said to his people, "Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we;

10  "come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land."

11    Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses.

That king was Ramses II, Pharaoh.  Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s house (perhaps this king’s father or grandfather, since Moses was already 80 years old) because his daughter found Moses in the “ark” in the river and took him as her own when he was three months old.

Rameses was a “treasure city” built by the Israelites consisting of temples, shrines and other massive buildings.  Pharaoh was the political and religious leader of the Egyptians.

The Serpent:
 

Genesis 3:1  Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’ ?"

Genesis 3:2  And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;

Genesis 3:4  Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.

Genesis 3:13  And the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Exodus 4:

2  So the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod."

3  And He said, "Cast it on the ground." So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.

4  Then the LORD said to Moses, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail" (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand).

Exodus 7:

9  "When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’"

10  So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the LORD commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

11  But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.

12    For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.

Exodus 14:

16  "But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

17  "And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen.

18  "Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen."

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.

22  So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

23  And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

24  Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the LORD looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians.

25  And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians."

26  Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen."

27  And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

28  Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained.

29  But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

30  So the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

That was the end of Pharoah’s army!  Israel was, up to that point, a community of slaves; now they were an army and Pharoah was defeated.

The battle is the same for us … we are the army of the Lord against Satan’s army.  It is time to take up the rod of authority.

Faith Tabernacle
Bill and Marsha Burns
P. O. Box 1148
Kremmling, CO 80459