[music playing] It's a big deal to be able
to tell what time it is. I was playing in a
band in Austin, Texas, and over against the wall
was a sign that read this. It said "Time is God's
way of keeping everything from happening at once." Now, I drove back home
to Fort Worth that night, and it started a journey
that I had to walk out, and a mystery that
I had to discover. You know, the psalmist
declared in Psalms 31, he said, "My times
are in Your hands." Now, I've done a lot
of thinking about time, and today I want to share
with you some mysteries that I have discovered. Did you know that there's a
big difference between times and a big difference
between seasons? Did you know that both
of them are prophetic? Did you know that
the ability to be able to discern the times
and the seasons of your life also comes with a
great prophetic gift. And that's what
the Bible describes as something tribal,
which means it's imparted from people that you live with. Did you know that the
wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, actually tracked down
a rotating prophetic timeline in Ecclesiastes,
chapter 3, and it's the key to understanding
where you are and how to number your days. And it's been there
for all the world to see, all of these years. Now, if you can discern where
you are within the timeline, you can predict,
and you can prepare the next prophetic season
that is coming your way. It's a biblical, prophetic,
dramatic, and progressively awesome revelation that
begins with a time to be born and it ends 28 seasons later
with a great time of peace. I know it's a lot
to think about, but this is going
to be so much fun. I'm Troy Brewer, and
today we're going to be looking at the
Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, rotational prophetic timeline
of times and seasons. We're going to learn
how to partner with God and trust the Holy Spirit
through no matter the time, no matter the season. Welcome to the big
picture view of how God speaks in seasons from
a prophet that lived over 3,000 years ago. It's the mystery of
times and seasons right now on Dreams
and Mysteries. [music playing] NARRATOR: This is
Dreams and Mysteries. You know, the
book of Ecclesiastes is a strange and mysterious book
written almost 3,000 years ago. Do you know that there were
less than 100 million people on the entire planet at the
time that this book was written? Yet from this tiny, ancient,
Middle Eastern country, comes something
supernaturally amazing. Let's talk a little bit
about the book itself. Now, the name Ecclesiastes
is derived from a Greek word, which means the assembling. Or you could also say one
who addresses an assembly. And then in Hebrew,
it actually means one who convenes an assembly. Basically, it means:
"Everybody has to listen to me and pay attention to what
it is that I'm telling you." Ecclesiastes is generally
credited to Solomon, and it would have been
written within his old age. And that's important to
understand, because see, he wrote the book
Song of Solomon whenever he was young
and full of passion. And then he wrote the book
Proverbs in his wisdom as a middle aged man, and
even as the anointed king. But it could be said that
by the time that Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes, he was
a rude dude in a crude mood. And like a lot of people,
Solomon didn't finish well. He was generally unhappy about
a lot of things within his life. But this book is
not all pessimistic. Even though he was
not a happy camper, he was still a powerful prophet. Now in the third chapter
of this ancient book, there's a rotational
prophetic timeline. And it's mostly been
dismissed just as poetry. And it is in fact
poetic, but that's because it's actually prophetic. You see, many times prophetic
phrases and utterances are creative and they're poetic. Solomon got that from
his daddy, King David. Now in the Book of
Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, he starts off this prophetic
calendar by saying this-- "To everything there is a season
and a time to every purpose under the heavens." You know, there are four
ideas that we're actually mapping out here. One is times and seasons,
and the next part of that is timing and purpose. Did you know it's a really
big curse to be out of timing? In Deuteronomy,
chapter 28, Moses describes the out-of
timing curse like this. He says, "And your life shall
hang in doubt before you, and you shall fear
day and night, and have no assurance of life. And in the morning, Ye shall
say, oh I wish it was evening. And in the evening you shall
say, oh I wish it was morning." You know, he's saying
you're always out of sync and your timing is off whenever
you're not letting God be God. And when your timing
is off, you're at the wrong place
at the wrong time. And then, all the wrong
things tend to happen. You know, when
you're out of sync, you're always fighting
the wrong battles, and you're always standing up
on the wrong battlegrounds. We substitute religion
for relationship within those places,
and then anytime that we embrace
religion, it always has us fight for things
that no longer matter. The kingdom's answer to
the curse of bad timing is to partner with
God through something that he calls times and seasons. So let's unpack
this a little bit. I believe that we have a
tremendous responsibility to understand the times and
the seasons that we're in, and to ask God to
prophetically reveal his plans and his commands for the day
that we're actually living in. And we need to
understand that times are different from seasons. Now, both of them speak
of prophetic time frames and they also speak
of how we are supposed to lean in to the
time or the season that we're actually living in. Times, well, those are
epic prophetic moments that define things. Times always bring definition. There are moments, events,
that stop old things and they begin new things. When we enter into a time, we
have to release the old thing, and then we have to be
willing to embrace the new. There's a big difference--
and catch this-- between the new thing
and the next thing. A time is always a new
thing, and a season is always the next thing. And if you don't
know the difference, your timing is always
going to be off. And that's not for you. You may not always see
a prophetic time coming, because something will happen. Many times, we don't predict
the thing that happens. So how in the world
are we supposed to prepare for a prophetic time? How do we deal with
the marker of change? How you prepare
for prophetic times is determined by your
willingness to be teachable and to change. My friend, Graham Cooke,
says, the greatest threat to a new move of
God is exactly what we think about the
last move of God. I remember the first time
I heard him say that, and it totally blew my mind. Because many times we
miss the next thing because of what we think
about the last thing. And God-- we begin to think
this is how God moves, or this is exactly
what God does. And then when God
does a new thing, we tend to not recognize it. In Isaiah, chapter 43, verse
19, the Bible says, "Behold, I will do a new thing. Now it shall come forth,
shall you not know it. I will even make a way in
the wilderness, and rivers, in the desert." See? You do certain things
at certain times. And there are actually
only a few things that we do all the time. A few examples,
Biblical examples, one would be Psalms
chapter 34 that says, "I will bless the
Lord at all times." Man, I like that. And then Psalms 62 verse 8 says
that we should do righteousness at all times. But I want you to
mark-- it doesn't give the method of those things. Because the methods have
to change and the actions have to change with the
seasons and the times. See, here's how it
works prophetically. We tend to know the when
before we know the what. So that's what
times are all about. And again, it speaks of epic,
defining events that happen and serve as prophetic markers. Times always speak of actions. A time as a new thing and
the season is the next thing. Now, seasons speak of
predictable prophetic appointments. Prophetic appointments have
to do with where you meet God and what the theme of
your meaning is all about. There's a theme, there's a
narrative, there's a subject, there's a topic, maybe a burden. Within different
seasons of my life, God has given me different
burdens, maybe a new message. My friends, this year is a
year of unprecedented victory for you, and you're not
going to live your life out of sync this year. And you're going to prepare for
what God Almighty has for you. You're going to set
your mind and your heart to not be distracted from the
word of the Lord for your life during this specific season. So here's what we have to do. We have to learn
the confessions, we have to learn
proclamations, we have to learn the
declarations that go with this prophetic
season within our own lives. You know what? Whenever we come back, we will
actually look at the 28 times and seasons, as Solomon
mapped out for us, and it's important
that we understand in our journey for
life, we have to have something that's called
alignment for assignment. That's when we come back
to Dreams and Mysteries. NARRATOR: Dreams and
Mysteries relies on the gifts of our friends and partners. We want to extend a
heartfelt thank you to those that help us
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partnering with us? Visit
streamsministries.com/partner or dreamsandmysteries.com
to learn more. NARRATOR: The spiritual
realm is real, whether we realize it or not. It affects things in
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aware, but active in the spiritual
activity surrounding us. In Introducing Holy
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Spirit is, in all his wonder, glory, and joy. In Naturally Supernatural,
John Paul Jackson shares about many strange
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between heaven and earth, John Paul helps you be more
aware of what is going on in the spiritual realm. In The Mystery of
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heavenly beings study card. For your gift of
$65 or more, you can begin exploring
these realities. Call 1-800-538-5285 or visit
dreamsandmysteries.com. Welcome back. I'm Troy Brewer, and today
we're looking at the mystery of times and seasons. Now, we've discovered the
number one, to be out of timing with God is a curse, and
none of us wants that. Number two, the answer of
the out of timing curse is to partner with God
in what the Bible calls times and seasons. Now, we've discovered that
times define action and purpose. And seasons define prophetic
appointments, and the themes of how God Almighty is dealing
with us at certain times, or actually, at certain seasons. Now, let's look at the actual
prophetic timeline that brother Solomon wrote out for all
of us, it has been there all this time, is
Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, beginning at verse 1. "To everything there
is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to be born
and a time to die. A time to plant, a time to
pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill and
a time to heal. A time to break down
and a time to build up. A time to weep and
a time to laugh. A time to mourn and
a time to dance. A time to cast away stones
and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time
to refrain from embracing. A time to gain and
a time to lose. A time to keep and a
time to throw away. A time to tear
and a time to sew. A time to keep silence
and a time to speak. A time to love and
a time to hate. A time of war and
a time of peace." Now, what we just
read is Solomon's prophetic interpretation of the
sequence of times and seasons that come within
all of our lives. This is a biblical example of
a rotating prophetic timeline. It starts, it
progresses, it ends, and then it starts over again. Think about these terms,
rotating circuits, progressive revelations,
supernatural seasons, they're all in
perfect continuum. It's just like the
prophetic story that's written within
all of the heavens. The Bible says in Psalms,
chapter 19, verse 6, that says it's rising is
from one end of heaven, and it's circuit is
to the other end. Well, Samuel, the prophet, and
the very last judge of Israel, whenever he did his prophetic
thing, you know what? He did that within
a rotating circuit. Don't miss the circle. 1st Samuel, chapter
7, verse 16 says, "And he went from year
to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal and
Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all of those places." Bethel is a point of entry
into the house of God, and Gilgal, well, that's
the point of entry into the promised land. And Mizpah means the watchtower,
and it's that point of entry into the highly revelational
and prophetic visionary side of God. It literally means
the house of God and how we relate
to other Christians. Now, let's catch all of this. New encounter with God? Bethel. The new assignment with God? Gilgal. Whole new group of people
that God hooks you up with? Mizpah. OK, that's an example of a
rotating prophetic timeline that we know as a season. Here's another example. The spirit of God is always
symbolized as the wind. Ecclesiastes, chapter
1, verse 6, that says, the wind goes towards the
south and turns around again to the north. The wind whirls
about continually and comes again on its circuit. OK, I believe that you
starting to see it now. When it's prophetic,
it's circular. Now, while times are linear,
and they have beginning and they have end, the prophetic
seasons come in circuits. And if you know what
season you're in, you can see the next
season that is coming. If it's fall, you know
that winter is coming. If it's winter, you know
that summer's coming. Did you know that Jesus Christ,
our Messiah, the greatest prophet that ever lived
and was ever born, did you know that he did
all of his prophetic work in a progressive rotation? I want you to look at this,
Mark, chapter 6, verse 6. And he marveled because
of their unbelief, and then he went about the
villages in a circuit teaching. Wow, there's King Jesus working
in a circular pattern that is prophetic. Now, Solomon gives us
28 times and seasons. And 28 is the number that
represents times and seasons, and we're going to visit that
strong a little bit later. But there are
actually 14 in total that work as a paradox
of opposite things. Opposite things happening at the
same exact time for the purpose of heaven invading earth. That's 14 pairs
of opposite events that God has a sovereign design
for us to partner with him in. Now it starts off this way, with
God birthing brand new vision within your life, and you
laying down your life, or selling out for the joy
of the treasure that is hidden within the field, right? OK, how does he say that? A time to be born
and a time to die. But then here's the next season. It progresses into
a relationship with the Lord of the harvest. A time to plant and a time to
pluck up that which is planted. Then God begins to move us
into the power of redemption. And it's from the
blood of the cross that we tap into the
resurrection power the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what it
says, a time to kill and then a time to heal. You know, we could continue
to go through this, because it's patterned and
its in perfect sequence. So again, if it's fall time,
we know that winter is coming. If it's winter, we know
that spring is coming. And if it's spring,
we know that summer is coming because seasons
are always predictable. You can actually look at
Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, and if you can determine
the season you're in now, you will know the next
one that is coming up. [music playing] DREAMER: In my dream,
I was parking my car. I thought I had
parked it correctly, but my dad came out and
told me that wasn't how to park a car properly. He then got into my
car and showed me how to park in such a way that
it left enough room for people to get around it. In dreams, cars often talk
about ministry or work; what someone is doing to get
them to their destination. In other words, destiny. I was being shown how
to change the way I present my ministry so that
people could come around it. The way I had been operating
made it harder for other people to help me get to
where I'm going. So, God is showing me how
to operate in such a way that it makes room for
others to help me accomplish what I'm supposed to do. NARRATOR: God has
concealed messages in the dreams we dream. And as we search them out,
we learn more about his ways. Decades of study and thousands
of dream interpretations gave John Paul Jackson
a unique perspective on understanding dreams. With a beginner's
dream kit, you'll be taught to recognize the 20
most common dreams and what they are saying. This kid includes the Top 20
Dreams book, John Paul's two CD set, teaching the basics
of dreams and visions, the Moments with God dream
journal, and two dream cards to help you understand
your dreams. For your gift of $60 or
more, we will send you these important tools
designed to start your journey towards a greater
understanding of the dreams you dream. Order your beginner's
dream kit today. Visit dreamsandmysteries.com,
or call 1 800-538-5285. So now let's look
at what I think is the most amazing
thing about this rotating prophetic timeline,
and this is it. It's in perfect sequence. The sequence is actually
laid out there for us. So it begins with
a time to be born, and then eight versus
later, well, it says a time to love and a time to hate. OK, what's that all about? Well, this is the
fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord means that
you love what God loves and you hate what God hates. And then from there, you
upgrade into a time of war and a time of peace. And guys, catch that, because
the end of the timeline is peace. Peace is always the end. Psalms 37:37 says
mark the perfect man and behold the upright. For the end of that
man shall be peace. Peace is always the finish line. Do you know that your
end is going to be peace? This is the promise for all
kingdom people and I love that. So we can conclude that
if the first one is right in the order of sequence,
and if the last one is right in the order
of sequence, then you can bank big that
those in between are in the right order sequence. See, my friends? God doesn't hide the
order of seasons. When it's winter, you know
that spring is coming. When spring is coming, then
you know that summer is coming. When summer's coming, you
know that fall is coming, and it's like that. And you always know
what the next season is once you're able to
identify the season that you're in right now. In the kingdom, it's
exactly like that. And I'm telling you my
friends, that if you look at Ecclesiastes, chapter
3, and if you can find out what season you're
in right now, you can see what the next
season is that follows. For example, we find
this strange season. I love this. This is a prophetic
speech that says a time to cast away stones and
a time to gather stones. Well, what's that all about? Well, casting away stones is
when you move to a new ground, and you're about to
plow a new ground, so you remove all the stones. Why? Because the ground is
about to be broken. And then you take
those stones, and you build walls of
defensive positions around your new territory. A time to cast away stones
and a time to gather stones is all about God giving
you new territory. You say, "Yes, I will take
responsibility for this." Now after that,
Solomon says that you upgrade into the next
prophetic appointment. Let's look at what it is. Boom, a time to embrace and a
time to refrain from embracing. What's that all about? That is the upgrade into a brand
new walk in selective intimacy. Where you get to
know God in a way that you've never known, where
you get to see a part of God that you've never seen. Where secret things happen
between you and God, and that only happens
following a season of taking over new territory. It's amazing, and
it makes you want to read Ecclesiastes,
chapter 3, doesn't it? You see? Knowing the times and the
seasons is a prophetic gift. Now, let's look at this. The Bible describes
this prophetic gift of understanding the times and
the seasons actually something that is tribal. OK, 1 Chronicles,
chapter 12, verse 32 says the men of the
tribe of Issachar had understanding of the
times to know what Israel ought to do, and I liked that. There was actually a tribe
that was called Issachar. And part of the
anointing of the tribe was the discernment
of times and seasons. So prophetically
speaking, when we tend to know the when before
we tend to know the what. And that was what the tribe
of Issachar was able to do. Now, tribal anointings have
to come with the people that you live your life with. Hey, do you know your tribe? Are you walking with the right
tribe for the right season that you're in right now? It's super important
that you understand that. There's no such thing as a
biblical giant slayer that's not connected to
the tribe of David, they're all close
friends of David. If you want to be somebody
that slays giant-- listen, you have to learn how
to join the tribe of people who are already slaying giants. It's important that
you know your tribe. You know what? Knowing what to do flows
out of a full understanding of what season that you're in. That's why Paul says in
Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 15, he says see them that you
walk circumspectively. Not as fools, but as wise. Redeeming the time,
because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be
unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Hey, let's unpack this
just a little bit. Ephesians, chapter 5,
verse 15 starts off by saying see then that you walk
circumspectively, not as fools. Did you get the
circumspectively part? It's a circuit, it's a circle. It means that we advance from
season, to season, to season. And that we have faith,
not as unwise, but as wise. Not as fools, but as wise. The Bible says that the
fool has said in his heart that there is no God. So it has to do with
your willingness to have faith towards
times and seasons. Man, I love this. And it's important that you
and I embrace this together. I love this, and
whenever we come back, I'm going to show you
one more mind blowing biblical truth that comes
from Ecclesiastes, chapter 3. NARRATOR: Every believer
can hear from God. So why does it seem that
some hear better than others? The Art of Hearing God course is
the culmination of the lessons John Paul Jackson learned from
30 years of study and walking with God. Join John E. Thomas and Paul
Cheatham in Dallas, Texas, July 13th through 15th as they teach
this life changing course. It is also available to live
stream right to your home. Visit
streamsministries.com/aohgtx to learn more. NARRATOR: Season four of Dreams
and Mysteries is now available. This season includes special
guest Shawn Bolz, RT. Kendall, Mickey Robinson,
Troy Brewer, and Marc Dupont. For your gift of $25 or
more to the ministry, you will receive your choice
of either a DVD or Blu-ray set. To order, visit our website
at dreamsandmysteries.com, or call 1 800 538 5285 today. NARRATOR: Troy Brewer is known
for his relevant and authentic teachings. A servant, whose
greatest desire is to bring the
authenticity of Jesus, and the reality of
the kingdom of heaven into the lives of
people around the world. In the God Speaks
package, you'll receive Troy's book,
Looking Up, where he reveals the connection
between the story and the stars, and the Biblical
account of the fall of man, and redemption through Jesus. You'll also received
the Looking Up reference guide, that will
break down the signs in the heavens and
the constellations within those signs. And with Numbers that Preach,
a book by Troy Brewer, you'll learn about how biblical
text show powerful meaning in the numbers around us. For your gift of
$55 or more, you'll receive these three
resources that will help you understand how God
speaks to us through numbers, and even the stars. To order, visit us on
dreamsandmysteries.com, or call 1 800 538 5285 to ask
for your God Speaks package today. In my book,
Numbers that Preach, I lay out the meaning
of the number 28. The subject of times and
seasons is a prophet symbol in the form of a number. It's the number associated
with the beginning and the end of certain god given timelines. Ecclesiastes, chapter 3
lists 28 times and seasons for every purpose under heaven. 28 times the word weeks
appears within the Bible. That of course, is
a measure of time. The phrase day and night
appears exactly 28 times throughout the scriptures,
that's amazing to me. There's 28 days
in a lunar month, and years normally
follow a 28 year cycle. And how that works is this way. Since there are
seven days in a week, a leap year occurs
every four years. And then the calendar
from 28 years ago is exactly the same as this
year's, it's amazing to me. So 28 is definitely
connected to the calendar. And in fact, 28 is
the number of days in the shortest month of a
Gregorian calendar, February. Except of course, in leap
years, whenever there's 29. All 12 months of the
Gregorian calendar have at least 28 days,
regardless of the year. So 28 is all about
times and seasons. Now, here's something amazing. The word cross shows up
exactly 28 times in the Bible. What does that mean? It means that Jesus Christ is a
cross for every season for you. Jesus Christ saw to it
that he can personally guarantee your
victory every time and every season
within your life. Way to go, King Jesus. Another cool phrase,
the end of the world shows up exactly 28 times
throughout the scriptures. Why is that cool? I want to show you why. Because the end of the
world doesn't just mean that the world is ending. One of the ways
that you can loosely translate the term
the end of the world is the end of your rope. The place where you don't
know what else to do. To me, the promise of
Jesus is that he'll be with us in every
season, all 28 times, that he calls us to venture
out off of our maps. When he calls us into
what is unfamiliar, and into those scary places
of uncharted territory. Something like saying lo,
I'm with you always, even to the ends of your map. And then He says,
look for Me there. That's what lo means. This verse is found in the
28th chapter of Matthew at the very end of the book. I love that. And lo, I am with you always,
even into the end of the world. Amen. Matthew 28 verse 20. So may the Lord bless you
with overcoming victory in every time, in every
season of your life. May it be said of
you that you are a person that could walk with
King Jesus in every season, no matter the season. Well, I'm Troy Brewer, and I
encourage you to join us again next time as we discover
his kingdom come in some new and fascinating
way on Dreams and Mysteries.
