A group of 16 Christians recently completed a unique mission to prophetically proclaim God’s light into South Africa by giving 90 cm high brass lampstands (menorahs) to a ministry in each of the nine provinces in South Africa.
The so-called Menorah Mission which was conducted without any publicity from March 31 to April 14, 2014, was inspired by a faithful ministry team from Singapore that has been commissioned by God to take menorahs to certain countries to prophetically release the lampstand for that nation and to proclaim that the lampstand of the nation will be burning bright.
John Dawson prophecy
The journey of more than 6 000 km was also linked to a prophetic word over South Africa in 1993 by John Dawson, President Emeritus of Youth With a Mission (YWAM) and pioneer of strategic prayer evangelism. “He [Dawson] prophesied 3 seven-year periods over our nation of which most has already manifested but the last, the 21st year of the prophecy is 2014; and this is the year that we trust to see God’s manifested glory and revival in our nation,” says Retha Venter, author of a recently released report on the mission.
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The South African Menorah Mission team members and the Singaporean ministry, Open Heavens, led by Pastor Kum Pui, met in Jerusalem in 2007 during the Feast of Tabernacles. Subsequently Open Heavens have attended the ICZC Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem annually, completing a 40 day fast before each visit to Jerusalem. They fasted for 21 days before coming to South Africa to release menorahs. Previously they have been to Malaysia, China, Indonesia and Philippines.
7 spirits of God
During the fortnight mission trek which began in Johannesburg and ended in Cape Town, the team “also prophetically declared a release of the seven spirits of God (Isaiah 11:2, Revelation 1: 10-20, 3:1, 4:5. 5:6, 11:4, Zechariah 4) also typified by the menorah and declared our solidarity as a nation with Israel,” writes Venter.
“It was a journey of repentance and decrees before the Lord. He told us that He would lay a table for us in the presence of our enemies and we experienced that on all levels, Hallelujah to the Lamb!
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“Part of the outreach was to fly banners over the land in the form of kites – making specific declarations. Pastor Kum Pui made 7 white dove kites specifically for SA to be released over our nation in various geographic areas,” she says.
As the Menorah is also the symbol of the restoration of Israel the team made connections with churches that have a heart for Israel. Their first meeting was hosted in Gauteng at Reverend Dr Kenneth Meshoe’s church on the evening of March 31 which is 1 Nissan in the Jewish calendar, corresponding with Exodus 40:17 which records the erection of the tabernacle on the first day of the first month.
New season
“…we proclaimed a new beginning, new season for our nation to tabernacle with God. This then was the prophetic time for the first lampstands to be released and the last lampstand was released on the eve of Passover in Cape Town as we were led to stay with the Lord’s Feasts, His appointed times,” reports Venter.
Throughout the mission God had His army in place, in the ministries, the guesthouses which provided free food and lodging, and intercessors who prayed from their homes and kept on confirming what the Lord was doing without having foreknowledge of what was happening daily.
Before the mission started the team received a vision from an intercessor that included a giant menorah in the centre of South Africa and many small ones on the borders. Before Pastor Johanna from Limpopo province was selected to receive a menorah she had a dream about collecting a lit fluorescent lamp for the church. The day after the first meeting where all nine menorahs were lit together and the team released the menorahs for Gauteng, North West Province, Limpopo and Mpumalanga Province, an intercessor reported a vision in which “The heavens above SA opened with a blazing brilliant diamond blue-white light and from its midst appeared a gigantic Menorah”.
“The Lord then instructed that we should build an altar called Yahweh-Nissi [The Lord is my Banner] as we journeyed. As a fulfilment of this word we built a corporate Yahweh Nissi altar by lighting nine Menorahs, one in each province on the eve of Passover, Monday 14 March at 20:00,” reports Venter.
At their second stop, in North West Province the team prayed at the Marikana mine, “repenting for the bloodshed and cancelling the curse on the land”. They also flew various kites proclaiming the Lord as Yahweh Nissi in Marikana and SA.
Spiritual heart
The next stops were in the Northern Cape Province — a meeting in Kimberley and a prayer time in Douglas at the convergence of the Orange and Vaal Rivers.”This area is a spiritual heart of SA and the rivers are the spiritual aorta that feeds the nation and we could release the seven spirits of God here and also the blood of the Lamb into our nation’s heart, trusting the Lord to take out the heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh. We also asked the Lord to remove the Root of Bitterness from the heart of our nation,” says Venter.
In the Free State at the House of Bread in Bloemfontein, Pastor Kum Pui lit the menorah during a power failure and somebody had a revelation that His church had been dependent on natural light for too long and now is the time to depend on the supernatural light!
In the Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal the team released kite banners in the area of Champagne Castle and Mont Aux Sources and the seven dove kites were flown on one string. Pastor Ricketts shared a word that his church received in 1994 as a word of significance for the nation: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” which is one of the words the mission team received before starting their journey. Powerful meetings followed with Pastor Jonathan Naidoo in KwaZulu-Natal and with Pastor David van der Walt, in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape.
21 acorn seeds
The group stopped over in Genadendal – “a very prophetic place where the legacy of the spiritual seed for 24/7 prayer was brought by the Moravian Missionaries to the Khoi people in 1737,” says Venter. “Here each one took 21 acorn seeds anointed with oil and as we released them at the Church bell we thanked God for bringing forth the seed of all the prayers that have gone up for the past 21 years of the Dawson prophecy and before,” she writes.
In Cape Town the team released banners on Table Mountain and at Cape Point and again declared that the revival fire will start in the south of Africa.
“On Monday 14/4 we released a Menorah in the Parliament in Cape Town. Someone who did not know what we would do on this date had a word for us – she heard 4:14 and then Esther! Who knows whether you have been brought to royal position for such a time as this!” reports Venter.
Passover
“The ninth Menorah was released on Passover evening in Cape Town.This is the Lord’s appointed time for passing out of Egypt and into the Promised land and our proclamation was that SA passes into a new season during this Passover when there is an open window to prophetically exit ‘Egypt’ and enter the promised land!,” she says.
The Menorah Mission group of 16 were also in Israel last year during the Feast of Tabernacles, where the Lord gave them “the Psalm 133 prophetic assignment of walking in unity so that HE can COMMAND His blessings”.
“We felt that much of the glory we experienced during the journey was because of unity, and that the Lord truly released commanded blessings,” says Venter.
A Judaism symbol used for Christianity? The two do not work together. You are embracing symbolism of a religion that denies the Deity of Christ.
This is absurd to be placed on a Christian website. Hokey pokey rituals that have absolutely no biblical truth…
Darryl, designed by God (Exodus 25:31ff) for a permanent light in the tabernacle, the menorah is referenced extensively in both the Old and New Testaments and is symbolically linked with, inter alia, the light of God, the Word of God, and Jesus Himself.
Sir, the whole if the Scriptures are a Jewish book. And in fact, it is truly one book from Genesis to Revelation. The patriarchs and prophets were Jewish. The disciples and apostles were Jewish and so is our Messiah. He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Did you know that the term Jew is a short form of the word Judah? Unless you understand the system of worship in the Jewish tabernacle, you will never truly understand the Book of Hebrews. Might I also suggest you reread the 11th chapter of Romans Verse 18 directed at the Gentile church says : Do not be arrogant toward the branches (Jewish people). If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.
A prophetic picture of what Zachariah saw. When you look at the Minora with understanding, you will see Christ and not Judaism. I dont own one but must admit gazing at it gives so much revelation even of the Word of God. Blessed Lamb of God.
Christians must remember that Jesus was a Jew and so where His desciples
Wees baie versigtig en ondersoek die Skrif self. Buite Bybelse profesë kan vals wees, gebore uit die mense se hartsbegeerte om raakgesien te word. Onderskeidingsvermoë is baie nodig vir hierdie webtuiste se artikels.
Well done good and faithfull servant.
Shalom Brian Gerber