Calling all Shepherds!

This is the first post for my new blog page.

Yom Kippur 2021 was a big day for me. After spending the majority of the day in prayer, YHVH took me to a number of scriptures to define the focus He wanted me to have for this season, that is what He called the next leg of my journey, a new season. On account of that, I now have this blog.

The following day, He not only took me to a few more scriptures, but He also spoke to me in great detail about our future, I will get to that in blogs to come.

I have been walking with YHVH in His Torah for a very long time now. I have also been hearing His Voice very clearly since the early 1990's, but never like now.

A number of things had to change in my life in order for me to fine tune this gift and responsibility He has given me. I had to walk away from anything and everything that would or could become a hindrance. Anything that got between me and my single hearted pursuit of YHVH and His Torah, had to go. I have to be honest, it took me a long time to remove all the false doctrines of men and all the lies I had inherited as truth. I had to submit and surrender my life 100% to YHVH and none else. I had to remove so much it was like deprogramming my heart and mind from all the brainwashing of man. It wasn't easy, but nothing of value ever is.

So, the reason for this blog is because I needed an avenue to share, with anyone who would listen, the words, the instructions, the directions, the visions, the messages, and even the rebukes that He gives me while I am standing watch at my post.

That may not make sense to some of you, but my watch or my post, is basically my daily time with YHVH. I watch, I listen, and I intercede. I wait to hear what He will say to me or show me and then I will post it here. I started writing out my time with YHVH in journals back in the very beginning, as in early 90's. I have changed so much since that and so has my time with Him.

Just a quick note, there could be days where my blog post will say nothing more than I prayed the items He has given me to pray.

Let me explain that quickly. In May 2019 I was in prayer and He told me that a catastrophe was coming where many people would die. I should probably interject here that I was living in Germany at the time. I asked Him if that was specific to Germany or America, my homeland, or was it global. He said it was global. I asked Him if I could do like Avraham an intercede for Him to remove this judgment. He said no. I asked Him if He would accept my intercession to lessen it. Again, He said no. Specifically He said it had already been released so it could not be stopped. He said it had already been decreed so it could not be altered. Then I begged Him to allow me to do something, anything at all. I told Him He couldn't tell me something of this magnitude and not let me intercede. His response was, "Yes, actually I can." I told Him I had to tell people what was coming. He asked me if I knew what that was. I obviously said "No." So, He asked me how I could warn anyone, since I had no idea what was coming. I relented to that, but I interceded anyway. To that He said, do not pray for the nations, I will not hear you. If you want to pray a prayer I will hear and answer, pray for these three things:

1. Pray for those who are Mine.

2. Pray for those in the Valley of Decision.

3. Pray for those who will be Mine.

I have prayed for these three groups ever since that day. It wasn't until July 4th, 2021 that He added a fourth category. He told me I could now pray for His leaders, and His Teachers out in the nations. That became number four on the list.

4. Pray for My Leaders and My Teachers in the nations.

I want to digress just briefly. Please bear with me, there is a reason for this short story, it will come together in the end. In March 2020, right before the "Pandemic" was actually declared world wide, my husband and I were in Israel with 40 other people from all over the world. It was a trip to Israel like none I had experienced before. It didn't take me long to see that YHVH's hand was in this. He was orchestrating so much of our trip, even our miraculous trip back to America, because Israel was shutting down. We were one of the last flights out, after having had three other flights canceled. We finally got a seat in the back of an El Al flight to New Jersey. It took us two more connecting flights before we finally got back home, it was one of the longest days in my life, but so worth it.

We were given opportunities in Israel that we normally would not have been allowed to do. We went to the Temple Mount the last day of our trip. There was was hardly a soul up there, including the watchdog WAQF. We prayed out loud and read from the Tanakh. It was incredible and life changing.

A few days after this, we got to blow our shofars from the Mount of Olives and declare what YHVH told us to declare, most of that I will go into greater detail about at another time. I will share that it involved Joel 2 and the day after is when the Pandemic broke out and Israel forced every tourist out.

It was on one of our stops on the way to Jerusalem that our tour guide stopped at a random dig site, where Archeologists have come across the ruins of an ancient synagogue, just outside of Jerusalem. This was probably one of the highlights of my trip. The picture is copied below. It served to remind me that YHVH is in the process of rebuilding the ancient ruins, regathering a people and reuniting them back in their land. The old places shall be rebuilt. That focus has been part of the very foundation of what YHVH has called my husband and I to do since back in the Fall of 2009.

Now here we are a year and half after our trip to Israel and that picture and the events of that trip still give me pause. Again, shouting Joel 2 from the Mount of Olives and sounding the shofar was a very moving moment. It wasn't my first time to blow a shofar in Israel, or even from the Mount of Olives, it was what He said before He directed us to do this.

Back on Shavuot 2014, my husband and I went to Israel with our close friend Keith Johnson. We met in Jerusalem for eight days. At that time, my husband and I were living in Germany, we moved home precisely 6 weeks later. On this trip to Jerusalem, YHVH instructed us to walk around the Wall of the Old City once a day for seven days. We were told to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, for the restoration of His people, for the return of all the Tribes, for His people to repent and return to Him and His Torah. The first night, all three of us walked the wall and prayed as we went. The next two days, my husband and I walked together. On day four, my husbands Planters Fasciitis flared up so much he couldn't walk, so I walked the rest of it alone. Everyday, we (I) started at a new gate and walked all the way around and ended at the gate we started at. Obviously, everyday it became a longer walk. If you aren't aware of the temperature in Israel in June, let me just say it is HOT!

At the end of the seven days, on day seven, it was Shavuot, and I met my husband at the Golden Gate. There we climbed up and prayed the prayers we had been praying the last six days. Even though, he couldn't walk with me, he stayed in the apartment and prayed, so we did pray together. Now at the Golden Gates, we sounded the shofar after we prayed. Right before we sounded the shofar, YHVH told us to shout one word. To this day I am not 100% certain why we were to shout this word, what it meant and has it happened? The word still gives me chills when I think about it. That word was "Assemble!"

The reason I shared all of that was because that was the last time we went to Israel before we moved home to America in late July 2014. Many great things happened for us on that trip, just as YHVH promised they would. If I shared them all here, this blog would turn into a novel. I wanted to share that part of the story because it is connected to our blowing the shofar on the Mount of Olives in March 2020. The last time we sounded the shofar in 2014, and cried out Assemble, it was from the Golden Gates, directly across from where we stood in March 2020. YHVH's instruction on May 2019, included praying for those who were in the Valley of Decision. Between the Mount of Olives and the Golden Gate is the Kidron Valley, which leads into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, aka, the Valley of Decision.

Now, for the sake of space, I won't print out Joel (Yoel) 2, but you really need to pause and go read it, then come back. I'll wait.

Oh good, you're back. Let's keep going. After we read Joel 2 and sounded the shofar, we went over to the Old City and met with a very important person in Israel. I won't share his name out of respect for him. During our meeting with him, while he was sharing his heart with our group, YHVH showed me a vision of him.

The last time I met him, back on Shavuot 2014, YHVH gave me a vison of him then too. Part of that vision back in 2014 came to pass and the other part is happening right now. The vision in 2020, just inside the old city, part of it has come to pass already, as in days afterwards, and part is ongoing right now. There is a small segment of that vision that is yet to come, and I believe it is connected to the one back in 2014 and to that word, assemble. Those two trips to Israel and all their events, are significantly connected. To be honest, I didn't want to go on either of those trips initially, because neither of them were convenient for me at the time. Never the less, YHVH was adamant that we go, so we did, and both of those trips were the most important trips to Israel we ever made, and both trips were life changing.

I shared all of that so you could maybe understand how significant it is that YHVH has now limited my prayers to those first three things. Why on July 4, 2021 He decided it was time I add a fourth item? I have no clue, but I gladly added it. When I say that is all I pray for, that is what I mean. Someone will call me, text me or email me and ask for prayer. I have to see how that person and that request fits into one of those four categories before I pray. That list utterly defines my prayer time. It is what He said I could pray, it is what He said He would hear and it is what He said He would answer. Anything else is pointless, it is a waste of time and breath.

On Yom Kippur 2021, just last week, YHVH released me from those bonds for the day. He told me that it was a day of release and repentance so I could pray for whatever I wanted to and He promised to listen, to hear and to answer. I spent the entire day on my face praying for all the people, places and situations I normally don't pray about.

The following day during my prayer time, He gave me a new direction for my prayers. He moved it up from four to ten.

5. Pray for My Prophet to come fourth.

6. Pray for My King to arise.

7. Pray for My Priest to arise.

8. Pray for my Temple to be rebuilt.

9. Pray for My lost sheep in all the nations to be gathered.

10. Pray for the whole house of Ya'akov (Jacob) to return to their land.

Other than what He gives me during my time on the wall, like it says in Habakkuk 2, I am not allowed to pray for anyone or anything else. When He originally limited my prayers, He actually said, "Do not pray for the nations, I will not hear you. I will only hear you if you pray for My people in the nations, but that is all.

The day after He gave me the new additions to my prayer list, I went into prayer and had an amazing time with Him. While I was at my post, I heard Him ask me, "Who is watching the Sheep while the Watchmen are watching for approaching danger?" I told Him that was the job of the shepherds, the leaders and teachers, not mine. His response was quite powerful,

"The shepherds need a shepherd as much as the sheep they are supposed to be watching."

Since that is number four on my list, I began to pray for them. I was detailed and thorough as to what I thought the shepherds, leaders and teachers needed in order to make them stronger, dependable, committed and loyal. I took into mind that some of these people may not even know right now that this is what they are called to do. So, I asked Him to wake them up and show them who and what they are and to write His Torah on their hearts.

What He impressed upon me really hard after that prayer was the need for unity in the community of YHVH. I was heavily impressed with the need for His people to walk in love, regardless of everyone's shortcomings, flaws, weaknesses, and areas of brokenness. We need to learn to amplify and focus on each others strengths. We need to learn how to walk in love with each other and assist each other in dealing with our areas of weakness and brokenness. We need to help each other learn, heal, and grow! I asked Him to help us build a real community. Not to sound silly, but I prayed for us to have a Community of Unity. That was the direction He took my prayers after I prayed for the shepherds to come forth.

I prayed for YHVH to rebuild His house, His people and His land. I began to pray numbers 1 through 10 above, then I ended. As I did, I heard Him tell me to turn to Jeremiah. I did that, and I actually opened my Tanakh to Jeremiah 23. I still stand amazed every time He does this to me! I ask you for the sake of time and space again, that you stop here and go read it for yourself. I read verses 1 through 8.

PRAISE YHVH!

The rest of Jeremiah 23 causes me to shudder. YHVH takes eight verses to talk about the shameful behavior of the false shepherds, but it takes verses 9 through 40 to talk about the false prophets. Seems to me that He takes that topic rather seriously.

I wanted to close with those verses in mind since this is the first of many more blogs to come. I wanted to use them to clarify my position here. It is true that some people, and even YHVH, have called me a Naviah, or His Naviah (female for Prophet/Navi as in Prophetess). Although, in my own estimation, I see myself as a Scribe, a Messenger, a Watchman, or a Mouthpiece for YHVH. I do receive visions. I do dream dreams. Yes, I have many times given a person a message from YHVH, so in that sense I am His messenger. I'm not sure why I am not comfortable with the term Prophetess, but it probably has everything to do with the religious traditions I have come out of. To be honest, I want nothing to do with that or those within those traditions who call themselves Prophets or Prophetesses. It is my opinion that if a person does not follow the Torah of YHVH then they cannot be a true Prophet/Prophetess. I am sure there will be a number of people in the religious traditions I referred to earlier, that will take great issue with that, but as I said, that is my opinion.

Let me tell you why I believe that. Jeremiah 23 seems to shed a light on these people rather negatively. If they a person tries to lead the people of YHVH away from Him and/or His Torah, they are called False Prophets/Prophetesses. Let me take this opportunity to boldly claim something right here and now, before you ever read another one of my blogs. I will make you this oath before YHVH and man, and it is upheld by my husband, I will NEVER, EVER willingly or intentionally lead anyone away from YHVH the One true God of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'akov (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob). I will NEVER, EVER willingly or intentionally lead anyone away from the Torah that He gave us through His Prophet Moshe (Moses). There is One Law for the homeborn and One Law for the foreign who chooses to dwell amongst them. There is One God and only One God. His name is holy and I will always treat it as such. The last part of that oath is this, I will NEVER, EVER willingly or intentionally change a word, a message, a dream or a vision that He has given me, nor will I EVER willingly or intentionally add to or take away from the Word of YHVH. I will give it and/or share it just as I have received it.

Thank you for coming along with me on this journey in this season.

Shalom Aleichem, May His peace be upon you!

T. Elisheva Brown