Breaker Anointing

How God Breaks Open the Way to Victory

Barbara J. Yoder

• Publisher: Chosen Books
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781441231437
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

Landmark Text Now Revised and Expanded for a New GenerationWe all face hard times and obstacles in life--whether physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, creatively, or relationally. Yet we have a God who is with us and for us. A God who, as Micah 2: 13 says, is a Breaker who goes before us.Now revised and expanded, this new edition of Barbara Yoder's best-selling book will help you discover that the same God who led Moses and broke open the way for his people is leading the church today--and he will break open any way or route he has ordained for us to go through. Yet he does not do it alone. You are part of the breakthrough. Every believer filled with the Spirit has access to God's breaker anointing. We can move forward, therefore, with faith, confidence, and bold, courageous action. He is waiting for us to step out and change our lives, cities, and nations. God the Breaker goes before us--and where he goes, nothing can hold us back.

1
My Introduction to the Breaker

In 1970, I moved from Wisconsin to Detroit, Michigan, to do graduate work at Wayne State University. When I arrived, a friend of mine invited me to go with her to her church, Bethesda Missionary Temple. I ended up in what was, for me, a very unusual church service. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced in my days of growing up in traditional evangelical churches.

Several things about this service amazed me and captured my complete, though skeptical, attention. I had never before seen such intense singing; people were totally engaged in worship. But their hand clapping looked childish to me, as if they were trivializing the awesomeness of God. Sometimes they raised their hands, which seemed like an over-the-top thing to do. I had almost decided to slip out when something happened.

People began to spontaneously sing praises to the Lord independently of each other. Nobody was leading, and it sounded divine, as if angels were present in that place and singing with them. I had never before heard anything like it. Suddenly I experienced the profound presence of the Lord Himself, something that I had not experienced since the night of my conversion one year before.

Instead of leaving the service, I stayed. And I returned, week after week, even though I did not understand what was happening. Something had broken through my hard intellectual shell.

Bethesda Missionary Temple was led by eighty-year-old Pastor Myrtle D. Beall, who had founded the church of 3,500 people. She was an amazing woman. Every Sunday morning, someone rolled her wheelchair up to the podium so that she could speak to the congregation. Through her inspired speaking, many things were imparted to my spirit that I did not fully understand with my mind.

Some Sundays, a notable, unpredictable event took place. As the service would begin, the congregation could sense that something was not quite right. We could feel a tangible tightness, heaviness or oppression in the service. It was hard to explain in words. The service had some kind of a lid on it. We were stuck.

I will never forget the first time I experienced one of those “heavy” Sundays. Suddenly, someone rolled Pastor Beall’s wheelchair to the podium. I wondered what was happening since it was not yet time for her to preach. There seemed to be an unusual fire and determination in her eyes and body posture. She stretched out her right arm toward the congregation and let out a loud, authoritative declaration that went something like this: “Haar-roosh!” I just about jumped out of my seat. Then a hush settled over the congregation. Without any further effort, I could tell that the unspecified heaviness was now completely gone. People began to sing or break out in spontaneous worship.

I had just experienced the “breaker anointing” for the first time. It had opened up the spiritual atmosphere, bringing a tangible release. And any time that heaviness returned during a service, Pastor Beall would release one of those powerful “Haar-roosh!” declarations and the atmosphere would instantly change for the better.

Back in the ’70s, we did not know about the breaker anointing. We were familiar with a verse from the prophet Isaiah, which led us to believe that “the anointing” broke every “yoke”: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing” (Isaiah 10:27 KJV).

Consequently, we deduced that Pastor Beall’s declarations came out of the same anointing, because they broke whatever had bridled us in a worship setting.

Recognizing the Breaker

Such occurrences are manifestations of the yoke-breaking anointing, but it is more than that. Specifically, this is God manifesting Himself as the Breaker, coming into the midst of congregational worship to bring the breaker anointing. God the Breaker, as it turns out, is one of His names, as the prophet Micah expresses it: “The breaker goes up before them; they break out, pass through the gate and go out by it. So their king goes on before them, and the LORD at their head” (Micah 2:13 NASB).

The breaker anointing is a specific kind of anointing that comes in the presence of God the Breaker.

I grew up spiritually in an environment in which the manifestation of God the Breaker was frequent. I saw many kinds of yokes and bondages broken. For instance, some 450 to 500 alcoholics were set free under Pastor Beall’s ministry. When people who wanted to change came to Bethesda, they experienced the power of God; they were able to break out of old habit patterns and bondages into freedom. Under the tutelage of Pastor Beall in those remarkable days, we went from freedom to greater freedom both individually and corporately.

At Bethesda, the love of God was demonstrated in power through Jesus Christ as He set captives free. People who had been broken down by devastating life experiences and locked into emotional, mental and spiritual captivity were changed and released from prisons of fear. This is what Jesus was talking about when He read from the book of Isaiah in the synagogue:

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”

Luke 4:18

This was a type of breaker anointing.

In Detroit, Pastor Beall introduced me to the power of the Breaker as He came into the midst of the church both to individuals and to the corporate body. I learned that not only is the breaker anointing for the benefit of individuals and churches, but it can also come for community and territorial freedom.

In his book Informed Intercession, George Otis Jr. writes about the territorial aspect of the breaker anointing. He calls it “breakthrough,” and he identifies it as the second phase of revival. First, a beachhead is established, and then breakthrough occurs, identified by the fact that a powerful, ruling evil presence over a territory has been broken. Such breakthroughs remove hindrances to people’s receptivity to the Gospel and result in conversion. No longer do churches remain small and without influence. When the ruling power is broken in a territory, people start streaming into churches throughout the region. The churches begin to experience influence and respect.1

The Breaker as Change Agent

This book is about the Breaker and the breaker anointing, an anointing that strongly affects individuals, churches and cities. When the breaker anointing comes, it results in changes in individuals, churches and the sociopolitical structure and belief systems of the city.

What started out in my life as a seemingly isolated and localized spiritual phenomenon turned out to be a spiritual dynamic that should be the norm wherever the apostolic Church is found. In fact, individuals, churches and cities cannot change for the better without the breaker anointing; it must be an integral part of true transformation. The Breaker must come and bring His transformative Kingdom to bear on any area in which we expect to see real change.

We must learn more about the breaker anointing so that we can approach difficult situations with expectation—and welcome the Breaker when He comes.

2
God the Breaker

The term breaker is foreign to most Christians. However, Barnes’ Notes says that “Breaker-through” is one of the titles given to Christ in Micah 2:13.1 He is a Breaker-through because He is the only One who can overcome certain barriers. When something immovable is in the way, God the Breaker crashes a gate in order to move people into an open place, a place where they are no longer confined.

The people used to be barred from entering into freedom and victory, but now, because of the Breaker, they are in the place they could only imagine before. This image of the Breaker is also found in Isaiah 43:6, when God speaks through Isaiah, “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back’” (NASB). In other words, there is no way that is impenetrable to God. He will break open any way or route that He has ordained for us to go through, even if it seems blocked. God the Breaker goes up before His people. This is no ordinary person on our side. It is the King Himself, and He will pass through ahead of us, breaking open the way.

In Old Testament times, invading forces used battering rams to break through gates (see, for example, Ezekiel 21:22). Breakthrough puts God the Breaker at the head, up front. He Himself is the battering ram who breaks open the way.

Breakthrough is something that we cannot achieve on our own; it requires divine intervention. God has given His people territories to take and adversities to overcome, but because this assignment is supernatural, it requires supernatural power. We need God to break through for us. God led Moses and many other leaders to get His people out of every kind of captivity. By the strength of His mighty arm, the Breaker broke through for them. The same Breaker is here with us in the Church today.

Scriptural Examples of Breakthrough

The whole story of the exodus is God saying to Moses, “I will do it.” At the same time, God meant that Moses was to go ahead and take action. Though God said He would do it, Moses had to believe God and initiate bold action. He had to go before Pharaoh and confront him. Yet God is the One who broke through on behalf of the Israelites. Moses’ faith, expressed through his action, released God to act. At the right time, God released His intervention and power. A mighty breakthrough occurred when, through Moses, God visibly led Israel out of Egypt. “I will do it”—He also is saying that to us.

Depart! Depart! Go out from there, touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her, be clean, you who bear the vessels of the LORD. For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight; for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Isaiah 52:11–12

Hosea spoke of another breakthrough for Israel: “Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and appoint for themselves one head; and they shall come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel!” (Hosea 1:11).

This passage speaks of Israel’s breaking out of captivity into a free, open place—the land God had promised to give them. Jezreel means “God sows.” Simultaneous with their breakthrough, God began to plant for them a great harvest.

Breakthrough also occurred when Israel was released from captivity in Babylon and returned home with Nehemiah to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem and reestablish their land (see the book of Nehemiah and Isaiah 48:20). They had to break through obstructive forces represented by people such as Sanballat and Tobiah, who did not want them to repossess what was rightfully theirs.

Israel was redeemed more than once. Walls and gates, both real ones and symbolic ones, had to be broken through in order for the Israelites to find freedom and obtain their inheritance. While they were still in captivity, that inheritance had been locked up and access to it had been denied, but when the Breaker went before Israel, working through a human leader who responded to God’s direction, the people broke through walls, marched through the gate and out of prison.

These three actions—breaking through, marching through and going out—describe an advancement that could not be stopped by any human power. King Jehovah was at their head, although they could see only their human leaders.

In another passage in Isaiah, we can see the spiritual meaning of deliverance from prison: freedom brought about through the work of our coming redeemer, Christ.

“I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house.”

Isaiah 42:6–7

This same thought is also expressed in a later passage, the one Jesus read aloud in the synagogue at the beginning of His ministry: “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me . . . to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound” (Isaiah 61:1).

Characteristics of Christ’s Leadership

We can trust Jesus’ leadership because of two specific characteristics:

1. The Breaker: King with Kingdom Authority

The Breaker is both King and Lord, and He rules over everything, seen or unseen.

All kings reign or rule. They have sovereign power over a designated kingdom. From the beginning of time, all things in heaven and on earth have originated from God, including all other authorities and kingdoms. Colossians 1:16 says, “By Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”

The Breaker has all authority to enter into every other kingdom and nation, to begin to break us out from under the rule of those kingdoms and to bring us into a place of freedom and liberty, life and inheritance. He not only breaks us out of the imprisoning kingdom, but He also establishes a new Kingdom in its place. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.

2. The Breaker: Covenant-Maker and Covenant-Keeper

God is Jehovah in Hebrew, which means “covenant-keeper.” The One we know as Lord and Breaker goes before us because He is in charge. He reigns over the kingdoms of heaven and earth, and He makes a covenant with the people He has made.

Deuteronomy 28 is the classic covenant chapter in the Old Testament in which God outlines what He has covenanted to do for those who will listen to Him, obey His Word and believe with faith. In the Bible we have the Old and New Testaments, and another word for “testament” is covenant. Therefore, the Bible can also be referred to as the Old and New Covenan...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Endorsements
• Epigraph
• Contents
• Foreword
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• 1. My Introduction to the Breaker
• 2. God the Breaker
• 3. Thrones
• 4. Breaking Through and Breaking Out
• 5. Breakthrough at the Gates
• 6. Escape from the Narrow Place
• 7. Rebooting the Church
• 8. What Does Breakthrough Look Like?
• 9. Scriptural Principles That Release Breakthrough
• 10. Awaken the Breaker Forerunners
• For Group Study
• Notes
• About the Author
• Back Ad
• Back Cover