The Four Winds in Revival History Part 3: The North Wind Revivals
In our discussion on historical revivals, we come to the North Wind Revivals. We find the north wind in Ezekiel 1:4: "Then I looked and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire." The north wind and its manifestations are admittedly one of the more perplexing aspects of revival. This wind can be defined as God manifesting heaven's glory and atmosphere in order to encounter man in at least one of the five physical senses.
For some Christians who walk by faith and doctrinal truth as their foundation (as we should), when God gives somebody a gold tooth, or oil starts dripping from their hands, it can be highly disturbing. New wine joy, which causes people to laugh for hours (or days), sometimes doesn't make sense to the theologically trained. Is this real? What's the purpose? Can it be faked? Observing or hearing about these encounters has caused a lot of skepticism.
But it is one of the ways of God, both scripturally and historically, in the church. The Puritans of four hundred years ago had a three-fold teaching about the presence of God:
God is present everywhere because the scriptures say He is, and we believe His truth. We take it by faith regardless of feelings or experience.
God's presence can be cultivated. That is, we can draw near to God, and He will draw near to us (See James 4:8). As we exercise spiritual disciplines such as prayer, meditating on the Word, singing, etc., God's presence draws experientially near to us.
God's presence is at times manifested in one of the five physical senses; our taste, sight, hearing, touch, or smell.
Please notice this is not a Toronto Blessing doctrine but a Puritan doctrine.
I have been in meetings when the beautiful fragrance of Christ was smelled. I'm Baptist enough, so I checked to see if it was someone's perfume or cologne, or if somebody had a piece of fruit nearby. There was no natural explanation. It's like no fragrance I've ever smelled. His Name is as ointment poured forth.
I love it when gold dust shows up on people. In Ukraine, while we were hosting a Glory conference, we were praying for a lady, and suddenly, before our eyes, approximately 70% of her blouse became covered in gold. It was such an overwhelming experience to witness this. There was no explanation except to say that the glory of the North Wind showed up.
While I was leading a meeting inside a hall in Ukraine, a man stood up and started yelling, "Rain! Rain!" And he began pointing at the air very excitedly. I told him to sit down. A few seconds later, about ten other people stood up and started yelling, "Rain! Rain!" They were also pointing. I realized I was missing something and asked the Lord to open my eyes. Soon I saw the rain. I walked back up on the stage and felt the strong drops of rain come down. Wind started to blow. Unbelievable. The glory of God hit that hall, filled His people, and marked many of us for life.
In Australia, it rained on my car, but only on my car. The other cars around were not rained on. It was a Sunday morning before the meeting, and as Gwen and I were being picked up at our hotel, our waiting car was soaking wet. The driver stood in amazement and told us he watched rain come down only on this car. We spent twenty minutes searching and asking the hotel staff if there was any natural explanation for this. None.
We drove to the meeting where I was ministering. While prayer soaking during ministry time, a young man told us he saw and felt a lightning bolt hit him in the face. I saw him the next day and we talked. He was still very shaken and astounded by the experience, in a positive way.
Scores of people have testified to receiving gold teeth at the Toronto Blessing meetings in the location of what is now Catch The Fire Toronto. These seasons of manifest glory in unusual manners seem to come in waves. I can't explain that. Maybe John Arnott can.
Our minister friend John Pena has a Bible that multiplies physical oil inside of it. John squeezes it out on people, and the glory of God hits them. I love it!!!
Ezekiel 1 speaks a lot about angels and heavenly creatures. They follow where the Spirit wants to go (Ezekiel 1: 20). I believe that when the North Wind moves, glory, angels, new wine, and joy all come together in an atmosphere led by the Spirit, and heaven's atmosphere is dispensed by the angels. Follow the glory and you will have angel encounters out of the North Wind!
More Lord!
Dan Slade
