Early this year, I heard the Lord say “a new expression from Heaven is going to be released directly to a company of people that will position themselves correctly to receive it.” I inquired of the Lord and He started downloading strategies about the preparation to raise such a company. He has downloaded some of their characteristics and anointings for them to step into the new position. They will be very apostolic and prophetic people that are going to be creative in their approach to solving earthly challenges. They will be a recipient of heavenly expressions and downloads of blueprints directly from the heavens to resolve the great problems we face on the Earth and they will build new foundations necessary for the next move of God. The Lord directed me to Zechariah 1:18-20 and asked me to use this as a guide. As I studied the vision, the strategy started to flow. In this reading, Zechariah has a vision where four craftsmen destroy the horns that came to scatter the people of God. The Lord revealed to me that this new army or company will be like the craftsmen of this vision and they will be a creative and skilled people that build and have direct access to gates in Heaven to receive downloads necessary to destroy the horns of the world.
Vision of the Horns
Let’s examine the vision to understand the strategy (Zechariah 1:18-21). “Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were four horns. And I said to the angel who talked with me, ‘What are these?’ So he answered me, ‘These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. ‘Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. And I said, ‘What are these coming to do?’ So he said, ‘These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one could lift up his head; but the craftsmen are coming to terrify them, to cast out the horns of the nations that lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.’”
As we study the elements of the vision, we find four horns, four craftsmen and their purpose. Let’s start with the horns. Horns are mentioned across the Bible in different contexts and used metaphorically to mean various things. For the purpose of this article, I will focus on some of their significance. One type of reference is the actual use of horns to make sounds (Joshua 6:4-5). Horns are also used as a symbol of strength, power, high places, or representing a kingdom. The use of horns for sound is important in the strategy because sound will be a key element used by God to shift atmospheres and break into the new. Notice I say sound, not music. We see horns used as trumpets to make sounds. They can make sounds of victory as well as sounds for war. As I sought the Lord regarding the horns and the sound, I felt the Lord saying “the horns are powers that will bring a sound that will scatter my people.” There are powers and high places in the world that will be strong horns against the people of God and they will generate sounds that will go against the things God wants to establish. There are kingdoms and mountains of society that have very strong opinions and may contradict what God wants to establish on the Earth in this season. For example, we can easily see the mountains of religion, business, economy and education having agendas contrary to the principles of God. These are areas that we wrestle with daily. We can see how political, financial, educational and differences in our doctrines work against us to divide us and scatter us instead of unifying us. Many of these things im pact and control our lives and we are forced to conform, putting us in conflict with the will of God. These horns may put conflicts and heavy burdens on the people and they will not able to lift their heads as described by the angel in the vision. There needs to be a sound produced to counter the sound of the horns that will terrify them and establish the move of God. There must be a breaking sound to terrify these horns so they stop advancing. We will need true revelation from Heaven to possess the gates and portal to hear heavenly sounds. This new company will be anointed to hear directly from the Lord. The horns have come to scatter the people of God so no one will lift up their heads. This brings hopelessness and we lose sight of God’s plans and agenda. Lifting up their heads to become the gates is part of the strength the company will exercise. In Psalm 24:7-9, we see the importance of keeping the focus on things above.
“Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.”
We become the gates and doors to let the King of Glory come in and to be effective we must keep our heads lifted up to hear what God wants us to do. We need people that are like gates of Heaven for this new expression to impact the horns and bring Heaven to Earth.
The horns will continue to be successful if we are focused down and not up. They will distract us enough with their accusing and threatening sounds that we will not allow the gates to open.
If the horns are to bring an opposing sound and declaration against the things of God, we must have a company of people willing to say yes to the sound of the Lord that comes directly from Heaven. They need to be familiar with the breaking sound directly from the voice of God and it is essential that they access heavenly portals to master these sound downloads. Their sound may be unconventional but will be used to terrify the horns. Now let’s look at the meaning of the craftsmen in the vision. The word craftsmen in the original language is Hebrew strong 2796 charash which means artisan, blacksmith, carpenters, craftsman, engraver, jeweler, manufacturers, skilled. Based on this definition, these will be people that can shape and engrave the heart of man with their skills, sound and creative efforts. We see this process modeled when the commandments were given. The master engraver, the Lord Himself writes the commandments in tablets of stone. The Ten Commandments were spoken to Moses in God’s own voice and then later written on two tablets of stone by the very finger of God. After Moses destroyed the tablets inscribed by God, he made Moses write new ones, just like the ones he had written himself. In both cases, the download came from the sound of the voice of God and engraved like a craftsman would do in tablets of stone. As the horns of the world harden our hearts, the Lord will raise up a company of craftsmen to engrave the messages coming directly from Heaven in men’s hearts. This is one of the skills given to this company. They have access to heaven itself and anointing to engrave hearts with the message and sounds from the voice of God. They will create a new atmosphere as they reproduce the sounds from the voice of the Lord. These creative blacksmiths will pound our hardened hearts and horns until they take the shape that God desires. The horns will be pounded until they become our trumpets of victory. These craftsmen will rebuild what the horns have destroyed and be used by God to bring His rule to the world as well as His judgment. I don’t see these craftsmen as artists necessarily; I see them as strategic forces that have access to the Heavens and the supernatural to address what the horns have come to do. They are the solution to natural problems that can’t be resolved with solutions from Earth. It is a community of people that need to be able to see outside the four walls of the church to see things from God’s perspective. The craftsmen are individuals that have the skills and the sharpness to defeat what has been established by the world as normal. This tribe of craftsmen are individuals that have developed a direct connection not just with the spiritual world but with Heaven itself. They have a vertical relationship not just as prophets but as apostolic people that can transform and build. This company will be gathered by the Lord like the Gideon army or David’s army. Unusual, non-traditional, highly-skilled, apostolic and great at building; these are some of the criteria that will help us recognize them. They will stand out for their discernment and easy access to Heaven which will make them a very effective force against the powers of the world. The company will have a global impact since it addresses the nations. They can be compared to the Special Operations Group in the Army which receives orders directly from their Commander and Chief (voice of God) and they are well trained and skilled for unconventional warfare. Last but not least, number four in the vision is a very important element in this strategy. The number four in the Bible has many appearances and meanings. Four speaks of timing because on day four of creation, the sun, the moon and the stars where created, establishing days, years and sea sons (Genesis 1:14-19). The horns will get us out of time with their sounds and the craftsmen will understand how to counter and redeem the times, just like the tribe of Issachar (1 Chronicles 12:32). Another significant meaning of number four is the elements around the vision of God seen in Ezekiel 1 and 10. He sees four living creatures transporting a throne with four sides and four wheels. Each of the living creatures (likely Cherubim, a class of angels) has four faces (the face of a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle) and four wings (1:6). The horns will try to create a counterfeit of God’s movement and government with their sound. The craftsmen will need revelation like Ezekiel of what a vision of God’s throne and government looks like to establish the new. A clear understanding of God’s nature will become critical for the success of this army. Number four in Hebrew is the letter Dalet. The pictograph of this letter is a door. This is the door that gives us access to the supernatural. Jesus said I am the door and for this reason, through Him, we can have access to the things of Heaven. This company becomes the door that the Lord can use for the sound to come in. If we then look at the characteristic of the horns which are higher powers and sounds that come to destroy the people of God possessing gates for destruction, then we have the craftsmen that are skilled, creative people with direct access to Heavenly downloads, sounds of deliverance and very connected to the Throne room, the strategy is clear. The craftsmen will terrify the horns by opening gates to the supernatural culture of Heaven and establish Heaven on Earth as a new government. These will terrify and bring judgment to the horns; in the same manner, the altar of sacrifice with its four horns was used for the judgment of what did not meet God’s standard.