In a time of intercession and prayer for Cornwall this week I had an overwhelming sense of God’s presence and I believe a prophetic unction or anointing came over me. What I saw in the Spirit I will try to describe as follows:

I was reminded of the story of Joseph who was hated by his brothers because of the dreams he had in which his brothers and his parents bowed down to him. As a result, he was betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery. He ended up being taken to Egypt where he served in Potiphar’s house, but because God was with him, Joseph found favour and was raised up to be in charge of all Potiphar’s house. But then, another injustice came against Joseph when he was falsely accused of rape. Consequently he ended up in prison for a number of years, but still the Lord was with him and granted him favour in the prison and raised him up there also. It was whilst in prison that Joseph interpreted the dreams of two of Pharaoh’s servants who had also been thrown into jail, and though both of the interpretations proved to be true, and the baker and cupbearer to Pharaoh were released from prison, Joseph was forgotten about once more. A long time afterwards, Pharaoh himself had a dream and when none of his advisors or magicians could interpret the dream, the cupbearer remembered Joseph and his ability to interpret dreams. So Joseph was brought before Pharaoh and the Bible records how he interpreted the dream and was subsequently appointed by Pharaoh to be one of the most powerful and influential men in all of Egypt. The dream spoke about seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of famine. Joseph was responsible for creating storehouses in which for the next seven years, grain was stored up in preparation for the famine which was to come. Well, the famine did come, and because of Joseph, Egypt was ready for the hard times which lay ahead, but even more importantly because of the storehouses, Egypt became the place in which people from all the surrounding nations came to trade for food, including those from Canaan and his own brothers who years earlier had rejected him, and sold him into slavery. It was then that Joseph’s first dreams about his family bowing before him came to pass, but through all that God had done in Joseph’s heart over the years, Joseph was not angry or vengeful, instead he gave glory to the Lord by confessing that which his brother’s had intended for evil, God had intended for good!

Now I said all that to say this: I believe God is raising up a Joseph generation – an army of forerunners who, from the outside, appear to be insignificant, possibly the outcast and rejected amongst God’s people, possibly those who like Joseph have dreamed dreams and seen visions from the Lord, but were persecuted or thrown into slavery, metaphorically speaking, banished from speaking or a place among the mainline churches. But though they may have been rejected by men, they were not rejected by the Lord. Instead, they are forerunners, people who have gone before in the things of God, people who are creating storehouses of great spiritual wealth and the glory of God. In the fullness of time, as economic prosperity falters, and true spiritual depth and maturity is tested, these storehouses will serve the nations and through which the Lord will preserve His people. And as for the Joseph generation, they will not be angry or bitter over the past, for they will be humble to know that that which had come against them, God had used it all for good, to test what was in their hearts, and to position them in a place where they could receive a special anointing to prepare for what was to come.