Newsletter #27 His banqueting table banner over us is LOVE

"He brought me to His banqueting TABLE; and His banner over me is love." Song of Solomon 2:4

WINE in the bible is symbolic of JOY, and the JOY of the LORD is our strength which is what we always get at the Banqueting table of the LORD: His Joy!

It is at this Table of joy, love and intimate fellowship with the LORD that we overcome our enemies, which is easy spiritual warfare.

"You prepare a TABLE before me in the presence of my enemies;" Psalm 23:5

During this year's Passover, a small group of us applied this principle of spiritual warfare by resting at the Table of the LORD in the midst of our city. About 20 of us met in the Big Spring Park across the street from the Madison County courthouse to pray and worship and partake at the Table of the LORD. We made a table with communion elements in the middle of our circle. Grapes from Huntsville's recent Christ our Passover celebration were used for the blood of Jesus, and matza bread for the body of Christ. These were placed on the Table to welcome others in communion as we sang songs of praise.

There was also a blue banner that was used prophetically to portray the water of life from heaven (pictured here around my shoulders). It was given to us the day before by Katie and Debbie from Utah who did not know we were planning to meet at this natural spring here in our city.(2) Katie's basement in her Utah house is currently being flooded from the underground wellspring of water that is rising up due to all of the unseasonable rain that the west has been getting. We pray the floodgates of heaven to open and let it rain the glory of Jesus in Huntsville Alabama!

It is from a place of REST that we WAR in the spirit. This is one of the many paradoxes in the scriptures, where the weak are strong; true life comes from dying to self; and winning wars comes from resting at the TABLE that our Father prepares for us. The enemy has absolutely no access to this table and so it is a "safe place" where we can bring the presence of God into situations like our city.

Ian Clayton has a great teaching on this truth where he says: "The Table of God gives us access to the water of life. The water of life is what is in the chalice... On the table there is a chalice that you can drink from, and that chalice is full of the water of the glory of the LORD, so that it can be seen in the land of the living. But if you don't drink from it, it will just sit there. You've got to drink from it as a choice."(3)

For me, worship in song with my guitar has always been a gateway to sit at the Table of the LORD and drink of His goodness and love and living water. Worship warfare has always been a strategy I've seen the LORD use on many occasions. At this particular gathering, after communion, we split up into groups to worship at different locations. Pictured here was my location at the historic first bank of Alabama which is situated right on top of the natural spring coming out of the rock. Overcoming the "love of money" by loving Jesus first is a huge key.

The other two locations included: 1) the place where we started in the middle of the grassy area by the big spring, and 2) the NW corner of the courthouse in front of the AL.com building which is the Alabama statewide newspaper where we were opening the gate for the spirit of Understanding in our city. The spirit of Understanding is one of the seven spirits of the LORD which deals with the community gate of media, arts and entertainment. Below are the seven Spirits of the LORD and how they line up with the seven major gateways in any community:

Gatekeeper Area of Jurisdiction	Seven Spirits of the Lord (Isa. 11:2)
1. Government	The Spirit of Love
2. Business & Finance	The Spirit of Wisdom
3. Media, Entertainment & Arts	The Spirit of Understanding
4. Church Organizations	The Spirit of Counsel
5. Healthcare	The Spirit of Power
6. Education	The Spirit of Knowledge
7. Military & Law Enforcement	The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord

The three gateways and spirits being welcomed into our city are highlighted above in yellow. Worshiping at the national bank was opening the gate for the spirit of Wisdom which deals with the community gateway of business and finance. The first location we met for communion was opening the gate for the spirit of LOVE which is the government gateway. This LOVE gate was also the final location where we all gathered again to fellowship until after midnight and where we blew shofars and had fun in the joy of the LORD!

"Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy!" Psalm 33:3

As we continue in "banqueting table worship," the Holy Spirit will lead to open the gates for the other five spirits of the LORD to manifest in our community.

"Feast at my banquet table - feast on horses and charioteers, on mighty men and all kinds of valiant warriors, says the Sovereign LORD." Ezekiel 39:20 NLT

The table of the LORD must also become OUR table. The enemy can't go through our Father who is resting at the head of our table. Sabbath means "rest" and Shabaot means "army hosts" as in Yahweh Shabaot (Lord of hosts). It is interesting that these two Hebrew words are so connected in sound because REST is connected with the ARMY HOSTS that overcome our enemies. Romans 16:20 says, "The God of peace will soon crush satan underneath your feet." So being with our heavenly Father in peace and rest gives us victory over our enemies!

We feast in joy while our enemies rage, because God's strength becomes our strength as we REST in HIM!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(1) Banqueting House (Table) in the New King James (NKJV) version of the Bible has a footnote which says: "Lit. house of wine."

His Banqueting Table