"Ish Milchamah."
 
As I was finishing up the painting of the Ox, representing the Lord as the "Servant" prophesied by Isaiah, I felt drawn by the Lord to read the next section of Isaiah's prophecy and little did I know that God was leading me to another aspect of His nature that He was wanting me to put on canvas - "Man of War."
 
After prophesying of the meekness of the Lord's coming Servant, Isaiah suddenly switches gears and begins to describe the coming of a mighty Warrior:
 
"The Lord will go forth like a warrior, He will stir up His zeal like a man of war; He will shout out, yes. He will raise a war cry. He will prevail [mightly] against His enemies." Isaiah 42:13 AMP
 
As if in unison, Nahum prophesies the same picture of our Lord as a warring King:
 
"The Lord is a jealous and avenging God [protecting  and demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His]; The Lord avenges and He is full of wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust beneath His feet." Nahum 1:2-3 AMP
 
With these images swirling in my head, I began to envision the Lord's soon coming return once again, this time with Him astride His white horse with the Lion of Judah looming in the background. I distinctly saw a sword cutting through the middle of this scene, dividing the sheep from the goats as described in Matthew 25:31-33
 
"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory and majesty and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him [for judgment]; and He will separate them from one another, as a shepherd separates His sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left."
 
It was also about this time that I stumbled upon a word given to a prophetic voice, Wanda Alger, and what she received from the Lord confirmed to me the timing and significance of this visual which God gave me.
 
"You think Me a tame God? You think My meekness and humility My only attributes?  I tell you, in these days you shall see aspects of My character and My name that you have not yet seen.
You are going to see the Man of War that I AM, for I have not come to bring peace, but to bring the sword with which to rightly divide the sheep from the goats, the true from the counterfeit, and the religious from the pure in heart. Before there can be peace among men, the demonic forces warring with souls and deceiving minds must be overthrown and silenced.
My zeal is being unleashed and I am not afraid to offend minds in order to expose the flesh."
 
This is the time I believe we are living in right now and the reason why I was given this strong and profound impression. The Man of War is coming to divide with His sword.  We can no longer remain lukewarm as His bride. There are demonic armies bringing a deadly delusion and they must be defeated. Our "Ish Melechamah" will do whatever it takes, even to the point of provoking our own flesh, in order to bring us to repentance. 
 
"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9
 
"You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God."
James 4:4
 
Will we, as His church, heed His call in this hour? As Frank Bartleman, intercessor of the great Azusa Revival of the early 1900's, wrote: 
 
"The depth of our repentance will determine the depth of our revival." 
 
And as J. Edwin Orr, a scholar and preacher of revival, reminds us: 
 
"The important thing to remember is repentance is the prelude to revival. The church must first repent."