(in the conclusion of note 7 I said, “Because of the additional things He showed us, I can’t finish this in one note. So this will have to be continued….” Here is the continuation…)
Note 8 – Part 1:
The next weekend (March 1) we prayed again regarding what we needed to see/know. I had a title come to my heart, but didn’t say anything, waiting to see if Jesse would be led to the same. Instead, he felt led to “SALT.” We had seen it a few years ago, and I remembered 
it was about a spy, but had forgotten the connection with RUSSIA. What struck me when he picked that film was the title, due to all God’s emphasized the past few years about the necessity of becoming the SALT (and LIGHT) He’s called us to be. Apparently Jesse had also forgotten it involved Russia, since after he’d picked it and was reading the box before it began, he said it was interesting we were being led to that film in light of all that’s happening with Russia right now. Any question in my mind about whether the Lord was really leading us to see this film was quickly dissipating.
Although I don’t go in depth about the plot, since the film takes you on the journey of discovering the truth about one who is accused, and this note reveals the mystery surrounding her true character, I’ll issue the *spoiler* alert again. (Later in the note I also briefly discuss 2 other films He led us to see this past weekend, so I’m giving the same alert for them as well.)
The movie is named after the lead character, Evelyn Salt. Profoundly – It is SALT who thwarts and overthrows the evil plots and plans of the enemy (who in this film is RUSSIA) to start war with America and dominate the world! May we have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying!
SALT represents God’s Truth. Interestingly, like Pillars (discussed in note 7), salt can represent something either positive or negative in Scripture. On the negative side, salt can represent judgment, where the judgment is to be so severe that the land will remain desolate, never to be restored (Genesis 19:26, Deuteronomy 29:23, Judges 9:45, Psalm 107:33-34, Jeremiah 17:5-6, Ezekiel 47:11, Zephaniah 2:9). Even in this usage of salt for judgment, salt can still represent God’s Truth, His Word. I believe He showed me that in these cases becoming a desolate salt land was a judgment on lands and people who lost or rejected His “Salt” ~ who chose to cast off and reject His Truth (His Word). In other words, those who rejected His “Salt” (Truth), were eventually judged by Salt (Truth). This principle is seen when Jesus told us that the same Word (Truth / Salt) that would have saved us (PRESERVED us) if we had received it, held to it, continued/endured in it, put it into practice, and built our lives on it, will actually judge us in the end if we reject it instead (John 5:24; 8:31-59; 12:44-50, Matthew 7:13-29, Luke 6:46-49; 8:20-21, Revelation 3:8-10, Revelation 19:11-16).
Psalm 107:34 says the land was turned to salt “because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it,” and Jeremiah 17:5-6 states that this curse will be the condition of those “whose mind and heart turn aside from the Lord.” The latter brings to mind Lot’s wife (Since we’re talking about Pillars and Salt in these notes, you knew we had to go there, right?). The spiritual reality that her heart and mind had turned aside from the Lord is represented by her physical actions of turning back from the way the Lord was leading in order to gaze (likely longingly) upon her former home/life in Sodom and Gomorrah, despite the Lord’s clear warning not to do so (Genesis 19). From the evidence of the land in that region now, we know these cities were not only destroyed by fire raining down from heaven, but that they also received God’s irrevocable judgment of Salt (for rejecting His Salt/Truth), preventing them from ever being rebuilt or restored. Deuteronomy 29:23 and Zephaniah 2:9 confirm this.
In the same way, when Lot’s wife’s heart turned aside from the Lord to the things of this world, the same judgment of Salt overtook her ~
turning her to salt along with the land. (She was turned into a pillar of salt – pillar in this case likely represents a monument or a witness to God’s judgment on her and the land for rejecting His Salt/Truth.) This turning of her body (mirroring the turning that had taken place in her heart) revealed her true treasure was in the things of this world and not in God (Matthew 6:19-21 ~ continuing the message God’s been giving of idolatry). She was then turned into a physical representation of the very thing she had spiritually failed to be (a Pillar of God – as discussed in note 7 – and His Salt, who follows the Lord out of the ways of the world). By turning back she became a monument and witness to the judgment that will ultimately overtake those who fail to be His Pillars (see note 7) and reject His Salt (Word/Truth).
Before we dismiss the judgment of Lot’s wife as a one-time event from the Old Testament that has no relevance for us today, we should remember that Jesus is actually the One who makes her account significant to us today by connecting it to the message of the end, specifically telling us to remember her fate.
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will PRESERVE it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” “Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.” Luke 17:26-37
When I asked the Lord about His seemingly strange dead body/vulture response, I believe He may have showed me that the context of this passage, as well as Matthew 24 and Matthew 13, reveal that those “taken away” are not those who are raptured (as often interpreted), but those who, as in Noah’s flood, were taken away (Mt 24:39) by judgment/death on that Day (hence the dead bodies/vultures). Rather than experiencing this form of being “taken away,” in Revelation 3, the Lord rocked my world when He showed me that He promised those in the church of Philadelphia who have PRESERVED and kept His Word (Greek word tēreō, meaning those who have ~ attended to carefully, taken care of; guarded; kept, in the state in which he is {in other words, PRESERVED}; observed {to see, watch, perceive, or notice; to regard with attention, especially so as to see or learn something;…to state by way of comment; remark; to keep or maintain in one’s action, conduct…}; reserved) that God will return the favor by PRESERVING and keeping them (same Greek word tēreō ~ attend to carefully, take care of; guard; keep, in the state in which he is {in other words, PRESERVE}, observe, reserve) (Revelation 3:7-13)! Therefore, we see in both cases that our fate is determined by what we do with God’s Word (and Jesus, the Living Word). If we reject it (Him), we will be rejected/judged by it (Him) in the end. If we receive, attend to carefully, guard, preserve, and keep it (Him), we will be received, carefully attended to, guarded, preserved, and kept.
As mentioned in the post on election day 2012 ~ one of the verses the Lord gave us repeatedly for the church since Spring of 2012 (regarding our need to speak His Truth and stand against the destruction of our Christian foundation and heritage in this nation) was ~ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” (see Matthew 5:10-13) Here again we see consequence/judgment that follows the failure to be the salt He’s called us to be. It’s believed that salt lost its saltiness by becoming contaminated by other minerals (through being mixed with them). In regard to Salt representing God’s Word, this can refer to the contamination and adulteration of God’s Word by mixing it with other philosophies and ideologies (theologies). In regard to salt representing God’s people (as the salt of the earth), this can represent failure to fulfill our purpose as the salt of the earth due to becoming mixed in with the “earth” (the world – becoming “of the world” rather than just “in it,” but not “of it”). This is the same message demonstrated by the blood moons, mentioned in note 7, of allowing the world to influence and interfere with our purpose, preventing us from being/doing what we were called to be/do.
The election-day post (2012) also mentioned how the Lord had been reminding us that one of the positive and essential purposes of salt (which was known to everyone during that time) is to PRESERVE, to prevent corruption/decay. Therefore, part of our purpose as SALT is to PRESERVE God’s standard in society (His Word, His PILLARS of Truth) and to prevent moral corruption and decay. If we lose our SALTiness (by failing to preserve His Truth and allowing moral corruption and decay in society), Jesus says we will we be thrown out and trampled underfoot. We’ve already been seeing this happen to a degree in this nation, through the consequences of the Pillars of God’s Word that our nation was built on being torn down and the pillars of the kingdom of darkness being set up and established (as discussed in note 7). But the Lord has also been giving warnings for the past several years that this will happen to a much greater degree, with destruction coming on the whole nation (we believe He’s spoken in terms of leaving only a remnant), if we do not repent and fully return to Him and His Word.
Though we know the chapter and verse divisions in Scripture were added by men, there are times when they also seem inspired. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the verse ~ “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him” (which speaks about the multitude who turned away from following Jesus after hearing His hard teachings – as discussed in the prophetic word from 2012, parts 1-8) is recorded in John 6:66 ~ a number which represents the antichrist and the powerful delusion of his message of lawlessness (the acceptance of continuing in sin rather than repenting/turning from it – Mt 24, II Thess 2) that will result (is already resulting) in a great falling away (apostasy) from the Lord and His Truth.
Also mentioned in the election-day (2012) post, in Mark 9:49-50 Jesus said that everyone will be SALTed with fire. The cross reference for this passage points to Leviticus 2:13, where Israel was told that every sacrifice must have salt – they were not to leave the salt of the covenant of God out of their offerings. Mark 9:50 connects that to us, saying that in the same way we are to have salt in ourselves ~ since we are to be living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2). As the natural realm testifies, having salt in us is essential for life. God’s Salt (Word/Truth) is to remain and abide in us and we are to remain and abide in Him (His Word/Truth) (John 8, 15). His Salt (Word/Truth) in us enables our sacrifices of worship (our lives) to be offered in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:23-24). He desires Truth (Salt) down to our innermost being (Psalm 51:6); His Word is a vital part of that process in order to keep us from being deceived and having a “light” in us that is truly “darkness” (counterfeit illumination) (Hebrews 4:12-13, Matthew 6:19-24). Interestingly, Jesus tells us that the devil doesn’t have Truth (“Salt”) in him (John 8:44). And thankfully, He also tells us how to recognize when we don’t have the Truth (“Salt”) in us either (I John 1:8; 2:4, see I John 1-3 in the Amplified version for clarity on Greek verb tenses used).
Clearly, none of us want, like Lot’s wife, to be judged for failing to be God’s Pillars and His Salt by turning back from following Him and His Word (Truth); we want to be His Pillars and His Salt by UPHOLDING and PRESERVING His Truth.
to be continued… (see part 2 here)
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