The Thirteen of Judgment, the Three of Refuge

Psalm 100:4: "Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!"         

Ezekiel 40:10-11: “And there were three side rooms on either side of the east gate [of the Temple]. The three were of the same size, and the jambs on either side were of the same size. Then he measured the width of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits; and the length of the gateway, thirteen cubits.”

I have been utterly cast down before the Lord since last night, for as I lay in bed, incapable of sleep due to the seeming failure of the “13 Days” word, I had an increasingly heavy burden that needed to be released before the Throne of Grace.  As I got up to pray, I looked at the clock.  It was 11:44, which in itself was something of a rainbow of hope to me, for it immediately made me think of the 144,000 of whom the “13 Days” was primarily speaking.

It has been a long day of brokenness and waiting on the Lord.  But our God is so faithful and so gracious; He will not leave His people hanging.  Early afternoon, it came into my mind to do a word study in the Scriptures of the number thirteen.  I was rather surprised to find that number, actually.  The immediate thought that came to mind as I read Ezekiel 40:10-11 was our entrance into the gates of heaven as it is written Psalm 100:4—was this not the very topic of “13 Days”?  But the striking resemblance of numbers in Ezekiel cannot be overlooked: See how the number three for the rooms within the gate stands out, even as the number three stood out in “13 Days,” and how both the numbers 10 and 13 are given a place in the gate’s dimensions.  I have asked the Lord what these numbers are meant to teach the church or indicate to us.  The following is what I heard:

My daughter, you are right to understand the numbers that I gave you as an analogy of my grace, for 5 times 2 is 10.  Grace times two, or double grace, has composed the time of the saints in this age, which is now coming to a close.  This age has been the gateway into my courts of praise.  As you enter into my gate, you will go through tribulation and testing.  You must be purged white through trial so that when you enter, you are sanctified by my grace and have learned obedience by what you have suffered.  Therefore, the length of the gateway is the period of time that I allow this trial.  Thirteen is a metaphor for the trial of my tribulation period.  This is why I have told you that after 13 days from the time you received my word to you, you would be transformed, for the 13 days figuratively speaks of the days of time in which you walk through my gate.  However, my precious sons and daughters, those of you who are found in me will see in yourselves a transformation of grace and power as I give to you all that you need for this time.  My banner over you is love. (Song 2:4) You will find that the walk of trial has become for you a walk of love.  You will bask in my love and pour love out upon all who need it, as I give them to you.

The rest of the word is in light of the following passages:

1 Kings 7:1: "Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished his entire house."

Joshua 21:19: "The cities of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, were in all thirteen cities with their pasturelands."

Notice the number 13 here, which the Lord has explained to be a metaphor for the shadows and types of His Kingdom that comes upon the earth:

You are my people, Oh children of Abraham, and I love you, and I will never break my covenant with you.  Even those who are descendants of the Aaronic priesthood are beloved of me, yet their time has come to an end.  The days of the cities of man and the types and shadows of the Messiah have ended.  Now I am raising up for myself a priesthood in the order of Melchizedek whose days have no end and whose priesthood is faultless.  This priesthood follows in the footsteps of my son Yeshua and is composed of all my holy priests who call themselves by my Name.  They are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:19-20).  “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).  How very long have the earthly representations of my kingdom stood, says the LORD, but now will all these shadows of my Kingdom crumble.  Have I not ordained all these things?  Why should anyone marvel because they are at the door?  Truly I say to you, there is no more time and no more human understanding, for all my wisdom will be exalted now in the earth.  Quietly has my kingdom advanced throughout the earth for generations, but now, it will come out of hiding and burst onto the world stage.

I asked the Lord if He would be willing to speak to the number three in the word “13 Days” and He immediately brought to my attention Judges 7:7 through a sister in the Lord.  “And the LORD said to Gideon, ‘With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.’”  Although the Age of Grace is ending (5 times 2), a period of God’s deliverance from the enemy is rising up (plus 3).  Judges 7:12: “And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance.”  It matters not how great the powers of evil may seem now.  God will deliver His people through an army of merely 300 (figuratively) that goes forth in His name.  From a human standpoint, that army pales in comparison to the enemy’s resources, yet God will receive all the glory when His enemies are put beneath His feet.  By the Sword of the LORD and of Yeshua, we overcome.

I must also take note of the cluster of three rooms within the gate.  The Lord immediately brought this Scripture to my mind: “Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by” (Isaiah 26:20).  The fury of God’s wrath has been poured out upon the Son, our Savior Yeshua.  The three rooms symbolize the refuge He is to us.  He was plunged into the grave for three days but rose in victory.  We need not experience the darkness of God’s wrath; “If we died with Him, we will also live with Him” (2 Timothy 2:11).