Young Leaders & Remnant

You may have noticed that we haven’t been posting our Sunday messages. The past few months we’ve been refocusing on the intimacy and interaction that are foundational to Wellspring. Instead of a sermon, we’ve gathered in a circle and practiced learning conversations. I bring a fresh topic as led by Holy Spirit, we each take turns reading relevant scripture, and then we discuss and pray.

This past weekend, I felt like the Lord wanted us to focus on 1 Kings 20:1-21. In the English Standard Version of the Bible, this chunk of scripture is titled “Ahab’s Wars with Syria”. King Ben-Hadad of Syria gathered 32 kings to attack Samaria, the capital of Israel. A prophet tells King Ahab of Israel that Yahweh is going to give this massive army into his hand.

And Ahab said, “By whom?” He said, “Thus says the LORD, By the servants of the governors of the districts.” Then he said, “Who shall begin the battle?” He answered, “You.”
1 Kings 20:14 ESV

Some very interesting things are revealed in the original Hebrew. The ESV says, “By the servants of the governors of the districts.” The Hebrew says, “By the naar sar of the regions.” Naar means boy, lad, youth, servant, young man. Sar means prince, ruler, leader, chief, captain, official

Here is a different way to read the conversation in 1 Kings 20:
“Have you seen all this multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.”
“By whom?”
“By the young leaders.”
“Who shall begin?”
“You.”

God told the chief leader of Israel that the young leaders would lead the advance upon the enemy and that he needed to initiate this. Interestingly, there were 232 young leaders. God responds to 32 enemy kings with 232 youth. 200 means double blessing and anointing. It would seem that the enemy army is overwhelmingly powerful and huge, yet it would be shattered and scattered by doubly blessed youth. That’s how our Father works.

1 Kings 20:15 says the 232 youth were followed by an army of 7000. This number refers back to the previous chapter. The Lord had said that He was going to bring three swords of judgement upon Israel, but He would leave 7000 who had not worshiped Baal. 7000 is the number of the remnant, but it is also hopeful. 7 is completion, perfection, and rest in God, while 1000 means ever increasing. So the remnant is also the ever increasing Kingdom of God.

All of these details come together to paint a prophetic picture for us. It may seem that we face an overwhelming enemy set on our complete destruction, but we have this wild Father God named Yahweh who loves those kinds of odds. Time for the present leaders (myself and others like me) to lead by sending. Our young leaders have been doubly anointed and blessed by the Lord. Time to send them forward as the tip of the spear, and the remnant will follow. Then we will see a great and miraculous move of God. “Behold, I will give it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.”

This past Sunday we had everyone 30 and over gather around everyone under 30. We laid hands on the young leaders and prophesied and prayed over them. Then we reversed the process and had the young ones pray for the older ones. This was a beautiful time of impartation and unity. The doubly anointed young leaders will lead the remnant into the greatest awakening, revival, and transformation the world has ever seen. Not by their might and not their power, but by the Spirit of the Lord. It is His anointing that breaks the enemy’s power.

Seeking His face!
Matt