On the evening of 2-19-25, I was spending some time with the Lord. The following conversation we had turned into the Bible study that follows.
(I’ve been concerned over some things that I hear in prayer, but not wanting to doubt that it’s You, Lord. Will the devil try to imitate Your voice, infiltrating our discussion while we’re talking; is he even allowed to and how can he hear me? [Answering my own question] He can’t hear us when not speaking, but he can read what I’m typing.”) “Yes, he will try. You must learn to decipher between My voice and his.”
(How will I know it’s him?) “My sheep hear My voice, not his. It won’t sit right within your spirit. All things are made visible in the presence of My light. He’s a tool in My hand that I use to sharpen My disciples.”
(Lord, my desire is to hear You clearly, and without any doubt.) “That will come in time as we hone your heart’s ability to hear Me alone.” (Thank-you Lord.)
I just finished watching the movie “The Jesus Revolution,” right after the above conversation with the Lord. It was God’s timing. The movie tells the story of a revival that broke out in California in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, with Pastor Chuck Smith and a hippie named Lonnie Frisbee as the leaders. The revival spread throughout North America, Europe, Central America, Australia and New Zealand, before it subsided in the late 1980’s.
As I watched Lonnie, in particular, ministering to people through words of knowledge from the Holy Spirit, letting him know their various issues that needed healing without the person telling him, I said to the Lord, “I want to hear Your voice clearly. I need a clear channel.” He then declared to me, “In order to have a clear channel, I need a clear channel.” In other words, in order to have a clear, open channel with the Lord I need to be a pure, clean vessel for Him to speak to clearly, especially in dark time periods with no interference (see the definitions below).
I then asked on the internet, “What is a clear channel?” to see if there even was such a thing. The following is what came up, revealing that those very words, “clear channel,” came from the Lord;
Clear-channel radio station:
· A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest level of protection from interference.
· This protection is especially important at night, when skywave signals can be more susceptible to interference.
· Clear-channel stations are important for cross-country and cross-continent radio service.
· The system is enforced by laws and treaties.
From other sources:
· A clear channel is a radio broadcast channel that's free of interference or cleared for long-distance broadcasting at night.
· Clear channel stations are protected from interference from other stations, especially at night.
· Clear channel stations are also known as Class A stations.
From Dictionary.com:
· a radio broadcast channel cleared for long-distance broadcasting during nighttime hours.
· a broadcast channel free of undesirable interference.
“What is the primary purpose of clear channel radio stations?”
· “CLEAR CHANNELS are comparable to long distance express high-ways. Their purpose is to transport radio signals over an extended area much of which cannot be reached from sunset to sunrise [i.e. darkness] with listenable AM signals in any other way. A I-A Clear Channel is used by only one station at night.”
Wow. A “clear channel” was not only a real thing, but the definitions for it caused me to just shake my head in awe of the Lord, again. It was a radio station with “the highest level of protection from undesirable interference” (such as demons), and was “for long-distance broadcasting (like the third heaven) during nighttime hours” (i.e. “dark periods” on earth of heightened demonic activity).
Interference is a two-way channel. Sin keeps us from hearing from God, and Him from hearing from us (see Psalm 66:18, and John 9:31 below). In between Him and us is the middle heaven where the devil and his demons rule (see Ephesians 2:1-2 below). This is the area where interference takes place in the natural, as well as the spiritual. Satellite television connection, for instance, can be interrupted when there is turbulence in the air.
Hearing God Through A Clear Channel
As we’ll see, within Ephesians, chapter two, Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives us a great explanation of the communication channel between mankind and God. In between us lies “the prince of the power of the air,” the ruler of the air-waves, so to speak, in what Paul refers to as “the second heaven.”
Ephesians 2:1-2 – Paul starts by explaining the devil’s place in the line of heavenly communication.
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
2 in which you formerly walked according to the course [165- “an age, era, a period of time, i.e. the cycle or present round of things”] of this world, according to the prince [758- “ruler”] of the power [1849- see def. in paragraph right below] of the air, of the spirit that is now working [1754- “to work in, to be active, operative”] in the sons of disobedience [543- “unbelief (obstinate and rebellious), obstinate opposition to the divine will”]. [See the Bible study The Sons Of Disobedience.]
NASU
Paul refers to the devil as “the prince of the power of the air.” The Greek word interpreted “power” is exousia [ex-oo-see'-ah]. It’s defined as “privilege, power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases, the power of rule or government” (see the Bible study and article Freedom In Christ). Through the fall of mankind, Satan gained the “power of rule or government” over us. He now has the “right” to rule over us from his domain in what many in the church, including myself, refer to as the “second heaven.”
In his second letter to the church in Corinth, Paul made the following statement;
“Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago — whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows — such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man — whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows — was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.”
(2 Corinthians 12:1-4/NASU)
By the way, the Greek for “caught up” [726; harpazo (har-pad'-zo)] is also found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, which I’ll discuss further below in the section “The Power Of The Air.” It’s where the rapture of the Bride and her attendants is unveiled for us. The Latin word for harpazo is rapturo, from which we derive our English word “rapture.”
The third heaven Paul spoke of is where God’s throne is, in Paradise. This is the place we refer to when we speak of going to “heaven” to be with God. The second heaven is where the devil’s temporary rule is, in the unseen spiritual realm between mankind and God. The first heaven is where mankind dwells in the seen world around us.
(Picture is from https://jesuschrist.co.uk/spiritual-realities-the-three-heavens/)
It’s my belief that the devil’s rule in the second heaven is the cause of “the veil which is stretched over all nations” (Isaiah 26:7; see the Bible study The Lavish Banquet Of The Lord). In the beginning of his second letter to the Christians in Corinth, Paul wrote;
“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god [2316- “god, goddess”] of this world [165- “an age, era, a period of time”] has blinded the minds [5186- “to blunt the mental discernment, darken the mind; see John 12:40, 1 John 2:11] of the unbelieving [571- “without faith or trust, unfaithful, untrustworthy”] so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
(2 Corinthians 4:3-4/NASU)
Like a cloudy day, the devil obscures mankind from seeing the light of the Son of God that causes us to see the unseen clearly through His eyes (i.e. discernment). Also, “the unbelieving” are not just those who have never turned to Christ, but also, by definition, the unfaithful, untrustworthy “sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2), in the church that turn back from following the Lord with an apostate heart.
Following this same line of reasoning, Paul tells the Thessalonian Christians that the return of Christ will not occur unless “the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3) He describes this lawless son/daughter as one who opposes God (i.e. anti-Christ) in an act of self-exaltation, seating themself on the rightful throne of God within His temple, which is now in His followers. They have accepted the lie of the devil that was presented to Eve in the beginning that they can become like God, even though they have chosen their will over His. If unrepentant, it will cost them their place at His table. (See the Bible study Outer Darkness.)
When we sin as Christians against the will of God, we lower ourselves back under the devil’s territory where he can then rightfully rule over us. In this place, the Christian is “slow of heart” to believe the truth. A lack of repentance will result in their participation in the great apostasy (i.e. defection from the truth) that will occur among the Lord’s “sons of disobedience.” As Paul declared, when we walk according to the world’s ways rather than the will of the Lord, the devil is the one who then becomes “alive and active” in our midst. We now see this in the majority of the churches in America. Knowing the time of the coming again of Christ is near, the devil will be very active in his object of deceiving many in the church. The Holy Spirit has warned us that the Lord’s return will be in conjunction “with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)
This is why guarding our hearts through obedience to Christ is essential, after we turn to Him, and in particular in this present darkness right before His return. Repentance, when necessary, is the key to maintaining one’s spiritual eyesight. When we sin against God, walking in “the course of this world,” rather than by the Spirit, we lower ourselves back down to the place where the devil has been given the right of “power” over us. In this place is where strongholds of the devil are established within us, causing us to not see clearly as we ought to within the spiritual, unseen realm. Victory in spiritual warfare is not possible in this realm when we continue in rebellion against the Lord’s will.
(The following insight is from the Bible studies The Inner Tunic, p.4, and The Lavish Banquet Of The Lord.)
“Ephesians 2:13-18 states that “in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near [the “inner-tunic”, close to Christ worshippers] by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall [the veil], by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.” Again, the only way to true unity is “through the cross,” the place of the shedding of Christ’s blood.”
In “the barrier of the dividing wall,” I see a picture of the barrier of the second heaven, between God and mankind. The veil between us is removed through repentance. When a person turns to Christ, making Him your Lord and Savior through confession of sin, the veil is rent and the light of the Lord above the second heaven is revealed.
The Power Of The “Air”
In his description of the “catching up” of the Bride, “in the air,” which is the exact same Greek word in Ephesians 2:2 of “the prince of the power of the air,” Paul says to the Thessalonian Christians;
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up [726] together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”
(1 Thessalonians 4:16-17/NASU)
According to Paul, in the spiritual realm of “the air,” which I believe is the second heaven where the devil rules, is where Christ will come to meet us, parting the “air-waves” as He did the sea for the children of Israel to cross over into the Promised Land, safely walking through “the valley of the shadow of death.”
As a side note, in my Bible study The Lavish Banquet Of The Lord, taken from Isiah 25:6-9, where the veil over the nations is removed, I’m seeing as I’m writing this a picture of the Lord preparing a table for His faithful followers right in the very presence of our enemy! (Psalm 23:5) And, there’s nothing he can do but watch as we are exalted in his very presence, right before he is cast down to the earth. Hallelujah!
It is when we are lifted up to meet the Lord “in the air” that the devil will lose his “right/authority/power” over mankind and will be forever cast down. The “war in heaven” will have been granted by God, and won by Michael and his angels, and the devil and his angels will be “thrown down to the earth,” in a fit of rage (Revelation 12:7-9);
“Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.”
(Revelation 12:10)
When a Christian that has been raised up over the middle “air,” the second heaven of the devil’s “place” through the blood of Christ that is applied to a repentant heart, walks in sin without repenting, we then place ourselves, once again, under the devil’s authority. At the end of this age, when “some” take hold of the hope set before us (Hebrews 6:17-20, 3:1-19), and enter into the fullness of God’s rest by faith (Hebrews 4:1-6) at the appointed time of the Lord, the war will have been won and the faithful servants of God will rise up, gaining the glory of the Lord. As with the rising of Noah in the place of God’s protection, and the fall of the wicked in His judgment, our rising at the end of this age will cause the devil’s fall from his place in the second heaven to earth.
The Authority Of The Believer In The Second Heaven
Right before He ascended into the third heaven, Jesus said to His disciples; “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18)
“Just as the earthly realm is subject to the principalities in the second heaven, so the authorities of the second heaven are now subject to the citizens and government of the third heaven. Jesus’ authority in the third heaven is unchallenged. In heaven there is but one will.”
(Picture and quote are from https://jesuschrist.co.uk/spiritual-realities-the-three-heavens/)
Luke 10:17-20 – Seventy disciples appointed by the Lord were sent out in pairs with instructions to every city and place where He was going to come. Jesus sent them with power and authority over the enemy. At their return, He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.”
17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."
18 And He said to them, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.
19 "Behold, I have given you authority [1849- see Ephesians 2:2 note for def.] to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power [1411- “force, strength, ability, miraculous power”] of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. [See Ephesians 1:19-23 which refers to the working of God’s mighty power.]
20 "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven."
NASU
Ephesians 2:3 – The things that Paul lists cause interference in our walks, granting the devil a place of power over us (the “right of authority”; [1849]). When we walk “according to the course of this world,” we then walk under the devil’s authority, allowing his power that is now over us to interfere with our ability to hear the Lord.
3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
NASU
Ephesians 2:4-7 – In Christ we bypass the wicked, “middle man” and are raised up with Him “in the heavenly places.” He makes us “alive together with” Him, which, by definition, means, “to quicken together with, to make one alive together with another.” To walk in disobedience is to return to being “dead in our transgressions.” (See Colossians 2:13-15 below.)
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with [4806- “to quicken together with, to make one alive together with another”] Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
NASU
Colossians 2:13-15 – In our warfare against the devil and his demons, Paul tells us the way to despoil and disarm them, to “wholly” (entirely, fully) put them off from you. It’s through the cross (i.e. the crucified life; see Luke 9:23-26). In his letter to the Galatian Christians, Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20/NIV) He also said, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18/NIV)
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
15 And having disarmed [554- “wholly (“entirely, fully”) to put off from oneself, to despoil (“to rob, plunder, or ravage”), disarm”] the powers [1849] and authorities [746- “rulers”], he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing [2358- “to lead in triumph, to celebrate a triumph”] over them by the cross.
NIV
Ephesians 2:13-16 – Jesus broke down the barriers of the dividing wall (KJV- “and has broken down the middle wall of separation”). The “middle/second heaven” is a barrier between God and mankind. Again, it’s through the cross of Jesus, where He shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sin. When applied to our hearts through repentance, the barrier is removed, creating an open heaven for us to communicate with God without the devil’s interference.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,
16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
NASU
Daniel 10:11-13 – The answer to Daniel’s prayer took 21 days because of resistance (i.e. warfare) in the middle heaven between the Lord’s angels and demonic powers that rule over specific regions on earth.
11 He [an angel] said, "Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you." And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.
12 Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.
13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.
NIV
Those Whom God Hears, And Doesn’t Hear
Psalm 66:16-20 – The writer of this psalm speaks of his prayer with God, of whether or not He heard him, and what would cause Him to not hear. “Cherishing” sin interferes with our communication. To cherish something is, “to hold dear, feel or show affection for; to keep or cultivate with care and affection; to entertain or harbor in the mind deeply and resolutely.”
16 Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.
17 I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had cherished [7200- “to look at, observe, get acquainted with, choose, discover”] sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;
19 but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.
20 Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!
NIV
John 9:31 – The requirements for hearing God.
31 "We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him.
NASU
Luke 8:16-18 – In Jesus’ teaching parable of the lamp, He says that we are to “take care how you listen.” The Greek for “listen” is defined as, ““to hear, to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, to understand, to consider.” In God’s kingdom, a good listener is one who considers what they are hearing from Him, and then keeps it. In His letter to the church in Sardis, the Lord declared, “So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.” (Revelation 3:3/NASU) To “keep it” is “to attend to carefully, take care of, to guard.”
16 "Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light.
17 "For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.
18 "So take care how you listen [191- “to hear, to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, to understand, to consider”]; for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him."
NASU
Matthew 13:10-17 – The disciples asked Jesus why He spoke to the people in parables. A parable uses images to teach a spiritual lesson. It is a picture of something that requires spiritual discernment to understand. A hard, calloused heart towards the Lord makes a person hard of hearing. To be spiritually hard of hearing is to hear the word of God but not understand it.
10 The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
11 He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
12 Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
13 This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people's heart has become calloused [3975- “to make thick, to make fat, to render the soul dull or callous”]; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
17 For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
NIV
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