I have spent the better part of the last five months asking the Father what my heart posture should be as we move into 2024. I have never felt in my spirit more an urgency and an unfolding of what He was speaking. 2024 is going to be a revolutionary year as we watch alignments take place globally, spiritually, and locally. The church is going to experience a shaking and an urgent draw toward prayer and intercession. Revival is not just a word we will say, but an action we will be eager to live because of a personal revival in our hearts and minds. The church is going to experience a tearing down of idols, and the wheat is going to become different from the tare. God is speaking to His people about recovery from losses in past seasons, but He is also calling His Bride higher to the hill of the Lord.
THE ASCENSION
This coming year is going to be for those willing to ascend the hill of the Lord. The Bride of Christ has allowed the angel of light to deceive her into prostituting her gifts, calling, anointing, and worship. We have allowed an insurmountable amount of culture to dictate our worship. We love our things, our platform, our anointing, our gifts, and the way we have scaled to our positions in ministry. But this year, idols are going to be exposed within our hearts as we draw toward repentance and revival.
This year, our brands, our callings, our gifts, and our platforms will fail in comparison to what He wants to do in our lives. It truly is about the ascent and how much we are willing to climb the hill of the Lord.
He is asking His Bride to ascend into intimacy; into glory; into her beauty. To be consumed by fire and to carry nothing up the mountain except herself.
The year 2023 was a parallel to Psalm 23, and it’s His goodness and mercy carrying us into 2024. I believe Psalm 24 is going to be a prominent chapter as the ascension happens.
Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob.
Psalm 24:3-6, New International Version
However, I would be remiss to express that the coming year will be easy. The tension in my spirit is that it will be beautiful and full of blessings, but not without war, strife, and an awakening to much more. I believe the plans of the enemy will be exposed within the church and on a global stage. But with the exposure, an uncomfortable level of trust will be required of the children of God.
So what does that mean for the children of God? I believe the light will stay on in Goshen for those who belong to God, and the world’s darkness will get darker. There is hope for the children of God. There is rain coming for the children of God! But, the Bride has to prepare herself. This hour is crucial for the Bride as she prepares herself with clean hands and a pure heart.
THE SMOKE OF GLORY
One night in October, I woke up from my sleep and smelled smoke in my home. I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit speak to me and say that it was His presence and that there was smoke on the mountain.
The next morning, I continued to think about the phrase “smoke on the mountain.” I began praying over the next few days about what that meant and saw in my spirit three mountains as a symbol of the coming year.
Let me preface – what you’re about to read in the following is not easy. It’s cutting, and sharp and I made no use of sugar to coat my words. I am tired of the facade and the dance we eloquently take within the church. We have grown comfortable as we wait for an older version of revival to come to us. We are called to ascend, but our ascension has been stalled by our distractions. I believe He is coming to inspect our hearts and minds, and in the process, He wants to exchange our old oil for fresh oil that will carry us through the year. (More on that later.) He is drawing His Bride to the mountaintop. He wants to redeem His Bride and His people. Furthermore, He is calling us to live separate holy, and pure lives.
THE MOUNTAIN OF COVENANT
The first mountain I saw was Mount Sinai (or as it’s also called, Mount Horeb). This mountain is described in Exodus 19 –
On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning. A cloud covered the mountain, and a very loud horn sounded. All the people among the tents shook with fear. Then Moses brought the people from among the tents to meet God. They stood at the base of the mountain. Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord came down upon it in fire. Its smoke went up like the smoke of a stove. And the whole mountain shook. The sound of the horn became louder and louder. Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder. Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. The Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and tell the people not to break through to look at the Lord. For then many of them would be destroyed. Have the religious leaders who come near to the Lord set themselves apart to be holy. Or the Lord will go against them.” Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai. For You told us, ‘Set places around the mountain that must not be passed, and set it apart as holy.’” Then the Lord said to him, “Go down, and then come up with Aaron. But do not let the religious leaders and the people break through to come up to the Lord, or He will go against them.” So Moses went down to the people and told them.
Exodus 19:16-25, New Living Translation
I can’t shake this image from my mind – a mountaintop surrounded by smoke as fire descends upon it as it’s shaking. We don’t know what the ascent for Moses looked like as he left the others at the bottom of the mountain. I’m sure fear encapsulated him, but not fear as we know it. A holy reverence must have overtaken his body as he climbed higher and higher.
The verses have distinguished the top from the bottom of the mountain. The top is consumed with smoke, fire, and rumblings of thunder as God speaks. While at the bottom, we have a scene of the Israelites impatient and frustrated with Moses. So much so that by the time Exodus 32 rolls around, we have a fully established idol in the shape of a golden calf with an altar and worship being extravagantly carried out.
I’m afraid we have set up camp for far too long at the bottom of the mountain. Since the veil has been torn through the sacrifice and mercy of Jesus, we have access to ascend. But instead, we have pointed out our own “Moses” who looks like they have a better relationship with God. We look to leaders to give us the only source of manna we receive. All the while lacking our own personal relationship with God. For the Israelites, they were more comfortable going back to an old, tangible way of worship which they were exposed to in Egypt. They found comfort in what the Egyptians taught them about worship, and they liked seeing a tangible god so they could make sacrifices. Even though the top of the mountain was on fire, they still preferred an old way of worship that was comfortable to them. If we are not careful, we will do the same. Our gifts, platforms, and callings will become idols because, at the bottom of the mountain, there is nothing holier to challenge us.
The ascension to the top of the mountain of God requires us to examine our hearts against a holy, righteous God. And in His face, nothing can stand. It’s why John fell like a dead man when he saw a vision of God, and it’s why Isaiah, a prophet, began asking for his lips to be purified when he caught a glimpse of the throne. Nothing unrighteous or holy makes it to the top of the mountain safely.
But we have grown comfortable and safe at the bottom. We idolize culture and mix and mingle the words of the world with the righteous word of Jesus Christ. Why? Because we like a little bit of Egypt. It reminds us we are humans. But friends, we are missing it.
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”
2 Corinthians 6:14-18, English Standard Version
At the root, God wants a relationship with us. But we have handed over our fear of God and exchanged it for a seat in the audience. We would much rather watch and hear others ascend higher than we do the same. We have grown used to being milk-fed and lack the taste of meat. We don’t know how to pray or intercede for our governments, churches, leaders, and communities. And we lack the boldness to speak the agenda of the Kingdom against issues like abortion, LGBTQ, anti-semitism, racism, and so on. The reality is those issues and more will be pushed, forced, and magnified even more as we head into an election year. Because the world will become darker, but the church is being called higher into the light of glory. We have the keys of the Kingdom to bring light into a broken, dark, and dying world – why are we becoming mirrors of it and not of the light of Christ?
The church has become tolerant and in a sense, complacent and scared to speak against demonic activity for fear of persecution. Jesus didn’t come to set the captives free without a risk of persecution. He welcomed it knowing He would conquer death in the end. Instead, we have come up with a softer version of Jesus which attracts sinners based on performance and emotionalism.
Progressive church leaders have convinced us that lies are truth because they have a brand, a multitude of followers, a blue check mark, and financial backing. Jesus doesn’t care about our brands. In the coming year, microphones (even the podcasting ones at home) will be exposed against the truth of the Gospel. We love hearing radical positioning and statements, but in and of those things we have created idols out of people who speak sharper and more bluntly. We have put so much pressure on leaders to lead us into holiness, when in fact, no one can lead into His presence, deliver you, or heal you other than Christ Himself. The Holy Spirit isn’t just something to guide our moral compass, but He is our confidant, friend, and teacher who will walk us through the trials and tests of 2024. Don’t give into the lie that you don’t have the same power who rose Jesus Christ from the dead living in you.
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
Romans 8:11, New Living Translation
This is why the Mountain of Covenant exists. Perhaps the most intimidating of the three mountains, Mount Sinani beckons us to fear God and draw closer and higher into His smoke of glory.
It’s important to note that the words Sinai or Horeb (another name for Mount Sinai) mean this:
- Sinai: thorn or thorn bush
- Horeb: to lay waste; be dried up; to fight
The ascension to the top of the Mountain of Covenant is not pleasant. It’s a thorn that will fight you because it means laying aside our idols of comfort and pleasantries to come into a real, authentic, unfabricated, unadulterated covenant with God. The worship of our modern-day idols has caused the church to believe she can prostitute herself with no consequences. We lack intimacy, purity, honor, and costly worship which pleases the King.
WE BECOME WHAT WE MIRROR
When Moses destroyed the golden calf, he threw the ashes into the water and gave them the choice to drink the water. Some theologians believe it was a test of their allegiance to YAHWEH or the Egyptian gods. Others believe it was to make a spectacle of the gods and to defile them. No matter the stance, idols will bring us to destruction because, in the end, Moses commanded the Levites to destroy the ones who drank the idol-ash-ridden water. When we consume things that are tainted and stagnant, we lose the life that the living water gives. And in the process, we become those things, we mimic those things and we lose our identity in the process.
You are sons and daughters. Don’t give up your birthright in the Kingdom for a lesser portion of the world. God is raising up a generation of people who carry the passion, zeal, and fight that Moses had. In this coming year, don’t back down from the truth. Learn to ascend the hill of the Lord because there you will be set apart and holy. The name Moses means “to pull out or draw out.” Moses was placed in the water at a young age because of the command to kill the infants, but he was saved. Like Moses, I believe God is asking us to pull out of the culture even more to draw those to the living waters of Jesus.
THE MOUNTAIN OF CONSUMING FIRE
The second mountain I saw in my spirit was Mount Carmel found in 1 Kings 1 Kings 18:16-45.
In this story we see Elijah coming against the prophets of Baal. Again, we see the Isrealites gathered near the mountain with the prophets of Baal and Elijah. This chapter is loaded with parallels to what I believe God is going to show His people.
THE AGENDA OF JEZEBEL AND BAAL
At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
1 Kings 18:27-29, New International Version
In the coming year, all things pretending to be God will continue to be exposed throughout culture and our church. The spirit of Jezebel has had her hands and feet at work for too long in the church, and the spirit of Baal has encouraged vial sacrifices to be made to false gods. While raging, demonic agendas against our children and the identity of sons and daughters will be magnified, the shaking of God will bring down demonic forces. But, it will be the ones ascending higher who will gain courage and strength to speak for freedom on their behalf. God will show Himself to be the God of consuming fire, leaving nothing behind.
At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
1 Kings 18:36-38, New International Version
Mount Carmel reminds us that God is consuming fire. He longs for our sacrifices of worship, praise, and suffering. I believe the church is going to burn with such fire and passion that she will live and abide by Jeremiah 20:9, despite the persecution she will face.
But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak any more in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.
Jeremiah is expressing in this verse that even though he tries (remind you, he is a prophet) to escape the word of the Lord or ignore the words and truth of God, he can’t. For too long the church has extinguished her fire. But God is reigniting souls to burn with a fiery passion that will withstand the heat of demonic agendas.
Hold tight to the words found in Song of Songs 8:6-7 (The Passion Translation):
Fasten me upon your heart as a seal of fire forevermore. This living, consuming flame will seal you as my prisoner of love. My passion is stronger than the chains of death and the grave, all-consuming as the very flashes of fire from the burning heart of God. Place this fierce, unrelenting fire over your entire being. Rivers of pain and persecution will never extinguish this flame. Endless floods will be unable to quench this raging fire that burns within you. Everything will be consumed. It will stop at nothing as you yield everything to this furious fire until it won’t even seem to you like a sacrifice anymore.
No matter the pain or persecution during the ascent, we are sealed as prisoners of love upon his heart. I pray this year you burn hotter and stronger than before. I pray when you see the spirits of Jezebel and Baal rise against your children, family, neighborhood, community, and church, you dare to step up and call on God. I pray the fear of man falls of you, and that you would be so consumed by the fear of God, that nothing of your fleshly identity remains. The fear of man has overtaken many in the last year, and people have lost their voices of passion. Opportunities have been missed and we have become distracted by our fear of failure and persecution. Let me encourage you, God will answer you and show up for you in this fight. Do not back down at this hour. Rise! Ascend! He is the God who goes before you, and He is your strength!
THE PRUNING IN THE GARDEN
Mount Carmel means this: an orchard or a garden. It’s known as a symbol of beauty (Song of Solomon 7:5), and it’s known to symbolize strength. But I want to focus on its name’s sake – an orchard or a garden.
While Mount Sinai reminds us of our covenant with God, Mount Carmel reminds us that He is a consuming fire drawing us to the garden of intimacy and passion. The Master Gardner is on the move. He is calling His Bride to preparation by tiling the ground and pruning her branches for new growth. Blooming buds of revival will spring up in our homes, churches, and nation. But our posture must be this – we have to be willing to be pruned. We can’t skip the work the Master Gardner needs to do in our lives during this season.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
John 15:1-8, New International Version
THE LIMP ENDS
Lastly, this mountain continues to remind us that the wheat and tare are more evident than ever. God is a relentless God for His Bride, and He longs to have a relationship with those who follow Him. However, we have tolerated the demonic assignments of Jezebel for too long.
And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.
1 Kings 18:21, English Standard Version
It’s time to stop limping between culture and church. The two don’t mix well, and we have allowed it for far too long. I’m reminded of oil and water. When you combine the two into a single bottle and try to mix, they separate. Because oil and water don’t mix. We have to remind ourselves of the same and be led by our convictions.
Ascending means letting go of the cutesy things the world has convinced us are okay. Satan has worked through innocent-looking idols to distract us from the holiness of God. He knows that distracted Christians are no threat to the Kingdom of darkness. We have mixed and mingled with the world for too long, and in the process, we have fallen out of love with the words of Jesus. We have allowed social media prophets with no viable credit to speak to us when they are limping between two gods. We need the Holy Spirit to clean our tongues of gossip, curse words, hate, malice, death, and destruction. Life and death are in the tongue, and in the coming year, how you speak is how far you will be able to ascend.
How long will you limp between culture and Kingdom? The snake is still allowed in our gardens, taunting and persuading us into thinking that we are like God. Stop giving a foothold to the enemy. Make room for the Master Gardener to come in a burn the branches of your life not producing fruit. Rid the foxes and the snakes. Drawback to the sweet intimacy of just you and the King. He wants to heal your heart from the wounds the limping has caused.
THE ABUNDANCE OF RAIN
Lastly, once the prophets of Baal were defeated, Elijah and his servant climbed to the top of Mount Carmel. From there they watched for rain. An abundance of rain is on the horizon. Keep watching, keep praying, and keep drawing close to Him. It’s only on the mountaintop of consuming fire that you can see the abundance of rain coming. And it’s coming!
For so long, many have been in a spiritual famine. You’ve lost your hope, your passion, your fire. But the rain of God is about to crash down on His people. He is coming to revive your souls and consume your land. His fire consumes and burns, but His rain gives life and life more abundantly.
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
Isaiah 55:10-12, New International Version
THE MOUNTAIN OF CRUSHING
The last mountain I saw in my spirit and the one I have pondered on the most is the Mount of Olives. The mountain of suffering love. The mountain of crushing.
The Mount of Olives shows us this about Jesus Christ – It’s His place of coming, His place of going, and His place of coming again. While Jesus spent the majority of His time on this Mount and He suffered before the cross on the garden here as well, we know He will come back to step His foot on the mountain and split it.
OIL CHANGE AND INSPECTION DUE
At the bottom of this mountain sits something unique – the Garden of Gethsemane. You will see olive trees abounding if you Google any images of this mountain or garden. Olives represent the oil and the crushing.
In November, God asked me to take the anointing oil in my home and create a fresh bottle. But instead of using just my essential oils to create a fresh bottle, he asked me to add olive branches and cinnamon along with the oils found in Exodus – cassia, cinnamon, myrrh, calamus, and olive oil for the base. The day I decided to freshen my oil, I opened my bottle and smelled it. I was expecting the familiar scent of the oils, but instead, it smelled old and musty. I had just used the oil, but within a matter of days from its last use, it smelled terrible. Bothered by it, I asked the Holy Spirit what He was speaking. He said – new oil is required for a new season.
A change of oil has to be made in our hearts and home. We need a refreshing and a renewal of His oil. We have grown stale and stagnant and our incense of worship has grown the same. We have confused the pressures of the world and our flesh with His suffering and His crushing. We’ve lost our desire for true worship and have hoarded our oil in the process. While your oil isn’t cheap, it’s not meant to be pushed back on a shelf and hoarded for yourself. Break open your box of oil.
There is a message on my car that pops up when it needs service and says, “Oil change and inspection due.”
Friends, we are in the changing of the oil and the inspector is coming through. God is coming to inspect our oil. Is it fresh? Is it ready? Are our lamps filled with His oil to burn bright in the darkness?
THE PILLAR OF GLORY
*This portion is likely to be pulled out into an additional post since it is a compound word that I believe is greater than personal revelation.
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Isaiah 60:1-3, New International Version
One thing I cannot shake from my spirit is “Arise, shine, for your light has come.” In 2024, we will see the light in a greater way over America and Israel; Over our churches and homes. These verses are critical as we move forward and see things from a global perspective. The glory of the Lord is rising and He is coming with pillars of smoke.
Who is this one ascending from the wilderness in the pillar of the glory cloud? He is fragrant with the anointing oils of myrrh and frankincense— more fragrant than all the spices of the merchant. Look! It is the king’s marriage carriage— the love seat surrounded by sixty champions, the mightiest of Israel’s hosts, are like pillars of protection. They stand ready with swords to defend the king and his fiancée from every terror of the night. The king made this mercy seat for himself out of the finest wood that will not decay. Pillars of smoke, like silver mist— a canopy of golden glory dwells above it. The place where they sit together is sprinkled with crimson. Love and mercy cover this carriage, blanketing his tabernacle throne. The king himself has made it for those who will become his bride. Rise up, Zion maidens, brides-to-be! Come and feast your eyes on this king as he passes in procession on his way to his wedding. This is the day filled with overwhelming joy— the day of his great gladness.
Song of Songs 3:6-11, The Passion Translation
The King’s Marriage Carriage is on the move and with it a pillar of glory. He is vying for His Bride and He will not pass her by!
Whatever plots and plans are set in motion for 2024, none of them will prevail.
PSALM 24
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it, for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob. Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty—he is the King of glory.
Psalm 24, New International Version
Many will see the progression of Psalm 23 carrying them into a Psalm 24 season. We are in the year of the door and with several alignments taking place between the Gregorian and Jewish calendars, we are on the cusp of the King of Glory coming in. The door isn’t to be confused with another tangible blessing or promotion. But it’s Jesus. We need the King of Glory to sweep through our homes and nations.
We have suffered for the wrong causes far too long in the church. We have allowed idleness and idol worship to penetrate our pulpits, prayers, and promises for too long. The King of Glory is sweeping through and the gates of hell will not prevail.
2024 will be a year of personal purging and a purification of the Bride. We will see the body unite in one heart and one accord as we seek revival through private intercession and prayer. The wheat and the tare will be separated even more, as the King raises a generation of people who carry the heart of Moses and Elijah to speak forth His truths.
Lift your weary head, son and daughter! The King has not forgotten you! He is coming in a pillar of smoke on His marriage carriage to whisk His Bride away in an ascension of love. Come to Him with a pure heart and clean hands. Let go of the entanglements of the world, and look up! Your redemption draws nigh!
Blessings,
Hannah Faith
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