It was the night of Oct. 3, 2018, and a group of believers had assembled for our Samuel School of Supernatural Ministry. The subject of the module was “Third-Heaven Authority,” and a thick anointing was already hanging heavily in the room. As I made my way to the podium, a familiar sense enveloped me the sense that something supernatural was about to occur. I knew the indicators. The Holy Spirit had released the first of them earlier, as I prepared for the class.
Now, as I stood staring at the attendees, the spiritual realm began swirling around me, drawing me in. I could feel its tug as faint spiritual sounds and images caught my attention. Just before a spiritual encounter I typically experience these kinds of signs bleeding through the veil, from the spiritual realm into the physical realm. However, I was still not completely sure what would become of it, so I remained open to the Spirit, careful not to move impulsively. After gathering myself and welcoming the class, I shared from the podium an outline of the dynamic, enlightening things we were about to cover. Not more than ten minutes into the lesson, the spiritual swirling around me strengthened. Images of darkness were shattered by lightning forming in front of me. I could hear what sounded like muffled voices engaging in some sort of conflict. Glimpses of swords momentarily appeared. Something was up, and I knew the Lord was about to reveal an important truth.
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As this experience unfolded, I told the class I was being pulled into a vision, and I asked them to pray. As they lifted their voices to the Lord, the vision fully opened before me. Suddenly, I found myself in a lofty place looking down on a large battlefield. Positioned over one end of it, I saw the field stretch out in front of me. On the far end a horde of hideous and grotesque demons with angry faces scowled and hissed, anxiously awaiting the call to attack.
Just then the sound of a ferocious roar shook me to my core. It came from behind me, to my right. When I turned toward it, I was amazed to see a massive Lion, both majestic and terrifying. Yet my spirit knew that His wrath was not directed toward me. This Lion was for me, not against me. No doubt He was Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah mentioned in the book of Revelation when “one of the elders said to [John], ‘Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals’” (Rev. 5:5).
Gathered in front of the Lion was an immense army of righteous warriors clad in full armor with their swords held high, the light of God reflecting off them. This was the Lion’s army of born-again, Spirit-filled believers. Strangely, as they stood before the Lion, not only did His roar thunder, but there were words in the roar, and both the roar and the words entered the backs of those in the righteous army. As I watched from above while all this unfolded, I had the distinct awareness that I was also one of the warriors below.
When the words penetrated the warriors’ backs, the words came out of their mouths even as the Lion declared, “You have lost. We have won!” The Lion spoke this unanimous decree of victory through His army of righteous warriors. He possessed the ability to see the future outcome and then to infuse His warriors with that knowledge. A spiritual bond allowed them to work harmoniously with Him; the Spirit of God from the Lion was in His warriors.
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During our Sunday afternoon service on Mar. 12, 2023, it happened again—another open vision. The anointing was heavy in the room as I found myself back on the same hillside that I saw in the vision of the strong Lion and the weak lion.
The weak lion was still in hiding at this point and was nowhere to be seen. However, there stood the Lion of Judah, in all His regal form, who had just released the rainbow cloud of glory. Lifting His head, He roared, and as it always did, His roar carried within it the words “You have lost. We have won!”
Mike Thompson is a respected prophet and Bible teacher at Word of Life/Mike Thompson Ministries in Las Vegas. He functions as a prophet to the body of Christ. Thompson has been a guest on such programs as Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatural, The Eric Metaxas Show and ElijahStreams With Steve Shultz. His new book, The Lion’s Army is available on amazon.com.
