Amos 8:9-11

It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “That I will make the sun go down at noon And make the earth dark in broad daylight. Then I will turn your festivals into mourning And all your songs into lamentation; And I will bring sackcloth on everyone’s loins And baldness on every head. And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, And the end of it will be like a bitter. Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD.…

The Hebrew word for bee is Devorah ( Deborah). This is also the feminine form of the word davar (literally: Word).

The same word for bee, also means the WORD.

The idea is that the bee not only provides source for the hive, but shows where source for the hive can be found. This is done when the little worker bee bringing in his supply does his little dance, it gives direction to the source’s location. It is like the ultimate picture of the Lord Jesus Christ who was the word made flesh and dwelt among us. God’s word does not return void. But accomplishes that thing for which it was sent. Not only that but a true word from the Lord always brings us back to the source of all living. The Father.

It is well known that we have the famine of the bee in our land, because of the mysterious collapsing of their hives. In turn it appears that at their collapse the bees swarm in a “take over” of other hives, eating the honey meant for that hive, and attacking that hive of bees. Creating chaos.

Not out of anything but for hunger, and for survival. In the process they kill the queen bee whose presence and duty in the hive sustains the calm and order with in the hive. This is an attack against the spirit of unity and the bond of peace that the hive enjoyed. The invading force that has started all this, disrupts the hive, and bee larvea die.

That scenario alone, sets my mind on a prophetic journey, that’s just unreal Rhema! In the direction of not just a few prophetic applications, but the one I’m wanting to discuss now is from what I observed these last few growing seasons.

I’ve noticed, in my observations, that the gardens have been pollinated by other pollinators taking up the slack. This insures a garden that produces for the gardener a harvest. But, it is the honey bee who directly gives back to the gardener, a nectar from the bee’s hive made from the product of the farmer’s garden. This nectar becomes a product we call honey- that has many nutritional qualities, the most important quality is that it provides for the gardener an amazing immunity against weed pollen in his locality, that would make him sick.

The famine of the WORD, in this regard is the same as a famine of the bee. This represents the lack of godly, interpersonal, relationships, that provide for us a hive of fellowship that is better suited or customized for our immediate situation. It is the fresh manna provided for the camp, like the honey from our own region that immunizes us from the dangers with in our own environment.

What many of us are getting now, is a more costly and generalized store of God’s word imported from afar, rather than what is near, what is local. Although, it is generally applicable, it is not personally customized, leaving the feeling of being distanced from the Father and his house. We are getting a generic benifit, rather than a precise “where you live at” kind of WORD. Mostly because it is not processed through the hive. Meaning as the act of breaking bread. When we break bread together in the WORD, we are sharing bite sized bits of food that is better digested in our spirit when each one, out of their life experiences, that is local to us, give their prophetic insight.

In this age of the Internet, LIKE honey shipped from afar, the WORD OF GOD delivered to us from preachers, teachers, and prophets, often comes from afar. We are not assembling as we should. We are not functioning like we should. Anointings that are feeding us from a distance are the only source many have now days. It may be full of the principles needed to overcome in our environment, locally; Still, a local resource is able to get down into where we live, because their life and challenges, are not that much removed from ours.  They will be even more relevant because their giftings draw from the experiences they have living in the same region, and among the same people group, they are teaching and ministering to. This is ”setting some”  in the Church of our city, the 5 fold ministry as we see written in Ephesians 4. God using anointings among us. As studies have shown, nutritionally, it’s better for us to consume locally grown foods that are native to our growing zones. So spiritual food, rhema, revelation, and prophecy, that is relevant to us as a people is priceless, among us. But are they? Are they among us? Do we have a buzzing Holy hive thriving in our city, truly operating as the body of Christ? The Church of that City, and I’m not talking about an assembly. I’m talking about the Body of Christ.

Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

The Generic Gospel, one size fits all.

It is the best we can hope for from imported goods. Still the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ has power of itself to do a work. Having it broken down to fit our immediate challenges, locally, is God’s design. Thats why we need to trust whom He has set in the church, to break bread with us, and distribute the WORD of LIFE.

Ephesians 4

He has set some in the church; apostles, prophets, pastors, evangelists and teachers- not only that but Paul said when we come together each one has a song, a hymn, a spiritual song. There are different kinds of meetings. Some include those sent to us who are among us, and includes words of prophecy. To share a message, God gave them to give, just for us. They may live among us or be like Paul and Barnabus, sent directly to the Church world wide, where that message is on the road and recieved by whosoever will. Some we will go to them, or they will come to us. There are some set in the church to deliver a word. But it shouldn’t have to be the same person every time. However, those apt to teach or appointed to teach that are among us should do so. Other meetings would be more like the breaking of the bread of the word, a study where all are engaged or engaged after a brief lesson. We should seek all of these ways of receiving God’s word!

Beehive disorder manifests itself among fellowships, when the disenfranchised of other fellowships are seeking out those places where food is produced and order is enjoyed, out of hunger. But why do they kill the queen? The spirit of unity in the bond of peace? Because they seek to establish the order they come from, the form if you will. To accomplish a greater sense of comfort.

Instead of conforming to the order established by God in the peace of a meeting that the displaced converge upon. But, what is this disorder that is breaking down hives leading to their collapse? The science world describes a greater threat then the displaced whom simply need to be taught regarding the tendency to persecute the new form that is giving them, refuge; to recreate their own comfort level from the culture from where they came. We see this in immigration. People moving to another place wanting to recreate a society that actually let them down, and caused them the need to migrate, in the first place. Any government that does not demand some level of culture assimilation, is asking for a divisive element among their ranks. Mindsets that have broken down order in one group will begin to deteriorate that order in another if its disfunction is not kept in check at the gate. Seriously, if your religion is not mounted on the “love your neighbor as you love yourself” philosophy it will fail you. They call it the golden rule for a reason. In case some may not know, Jesus was the author of that statement.
How the palate rejects new wine! How important it is to embrace renewal rather than reject it and repeat what has defeated us in the first place. What disfunction made us rigorously religious extremists, to start with? Science tells us that many of these hives that collapse do so because a parasite has entered into the hive through an effected worker bee. This happens from the sting of a wasp that injects the larvae of its species into the bee, immediately it begins to change its natural behavior disrupting the hive. The bee becomes a creature of the night rather then resting in its environment, where all the other bees are. It seeks out artificial light. Which is a perfect description of the wayward soul turning to darkness. After being injected with a bitter spirit. It’s a knee jerk reaction to begin to think this paralell falling away, has to do with party animals returning to alcohol and drugs, running around at night, but I think this natural allegory speaks of something more diabolical. There is nothing more sinister than religious deception. Where the light that is in you is actually darkness. Scientists are able to identify these bees infected because they are found buzzing around porch lights at night. Odd behavior for a bee. The parasite grows to the point of separating the bee from its head when it hatches. By that time the unfortunate victim is a living carcass. Being devoured by the host. A wounded soul bitten by a bitter spirit. A root springing up defiles many. Clearly, this is a horrific and stunning picture of what it is like to become completely taken over by demon power, portrayed to us through the animal kingdom, with a few interesting spiritual applications. Beginning with loving not the truth, and hating not the lie. To the degree, that the bees infected loose there purpose. What’s more it wrecks other hives, if allowed. Creating a collapse. The end result for the hive infested by this parasite is being separated from its head, for the sake of this prophetic parallel this danger in believing a lie is the same for us, anything that seperates us from our head, including pastors that believe they are the “Head” of the church. Over the years, as a dream interpreter I have found an interesting phenomena, that takes place among churches that have a dominating figure as a lead pastor. Often these churches are void of strong male figures, sharing any true form of leadership. Few would want to admit, but many have had dreams of being in bed with their pastor. This dream type is not sexual, normally. But is a disturbing picture that they have allowed their pastor to become their head, rather tham their husbands. Women fitting this scenario are neglecting their household duties, serving the church, and the pastor. They are no longer a help mate to their husbands, and a spiritual shift begins to occure that is out of order. Often the husband senses something is not right but is conflicted by his wife’s desire to serve. In cases like this the husband may begin to feel a disruption to his family life, and may begin to resent his wife spending so much time at church. He may begin to voice his concerns, and this is where he is often accused of being disobedient to God, or looked at as being used by the enemy. This only distances him from the Church, pastor, and his own wife. While the family is dutefully carried off to church every Sunday morning, wednesday night, and any meeting in between- the husband, who once attended church with his family, becomes aloof. The pastor often begins to reads this as a problematic spouse, of one of those serving in the church. The spiritual head of the home is no longer the husband. This man’s wife is not serving Christ, nor is she really serving the saints. She is more than likely serving the agenda of an ambitious man, who runs an organization he calls church. God, hates this out of order headship so much, He reveals what this looks like to Him in dreams. Adultry. The woman is not in bed with her head, but in spiritual adultery, she dishonors her head, by serving another man as his help mate.  A man can have a dream like this too. He has allowed his pastor to take the place of his head who is Christ. Being men and single women in such a dream is saying, your pastor has become your head, and not Christ. Jesus is the fulness of the God head bodily. He is the head of the church. The husband is not who is running his home because his wife is subjected to another man. This has nothing to do with a woman who is legitimately called into ministry by the Lord. Who ultimately is the Head of us all. For her husband would then have the ability and grace to accommodate her obedience to the Lord Himself.

We suffer this plague of the bee, this famine of the word, as an allegoric parallel, showing us that lies, sin, and bitterness, can cause us to be seperated from the Head. That hive collapse causes the invasion of other hives, just like the collapse of government does the same, where millions of people begin to run from the chaos, migrating into other countries- some unwilling to assimulate to there new home. As it is when people find a new fellowship to go to. Wanting to create an environment that is palataple for them. Rather than excepting the fact that God is leading as He has promised, to still waters and green pastures, if we put our trust in Him. People running from chaos as the bee hive invaders, create the same in their new environment, unless they conform to the order of the existing hive, after being displaced from a collapsed one. Meanwhile there is a real and present danger out there that seeks to separate us  from the headship and government of God. That we need to do our diligence to avoid.