A Prophetic Word Challenging Canada to Recognize Our Hour of Visitation and Enter Into Our End-time Destiny
by David Demian
LORD, FIND A RESTING PLACE IN CANADA!
During the years I travelled with Pastor Bob Birch, a well-known spiritual father from Vancouver, my heart was deeply stirred to care for the church and for Canada. The question he constantly asked was, "What is the Spirit saying to the churches?" This question and hearing Pastor Bob, as he spent countless hours on his face crying to the Lord that He might move in Canada, is always before me.
It was with this cry on our hearts that, together with Pastor Bob and other spiritual fathers, we called for a series of Gatherings of caring believers and intercessors to come together in His presence to seek His face. Without agenda or focusing on famous speakers, we gathered to see if He would reveal to us what was on His heart concerning Canada. These Gatherings took place over two years, in 1995 and 1996, in Whistler, Harrison, and Victoria, BC. Each time our burden, our cry and our approach was the same, "Lord, we want to prepare this nation as a resting place for You, O God."
We did not deliberately set out to try to bring reconciliation between the natives or reconciliation between generations. When these experiences occurred they were the Lord's response to our cry, "Lord, we want Your Shekinah glory to come back to Your church."
Our whole approach was like that of David in Psalms 132:4,5
I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.
The object of the journey of the nation of Israel was not just to bring them out of Egypt. This was merely a first step. It was not just to make them victorious, to feed them and show them signs and wonders. It was not only to take them through the Jordan and to let them defeat the tribes in the Promised Land. Rather, the whole journey was about going out of Egypt to Zion, the dwelling place of the Lord. The goal of the journey was Zion, a place of harmony and unity, where the Lord commands His blessing and where the presence of the Lord prevails. (Ps.133)
King David realized that even though worship was going on in the temple, the presence of the Lord was not there. So the cry of his heart was to bring the ark of His Presence to Zion.
Again, our whole approach at the Gatherings was, "Lord, we want this nation to be a place where You can dwell and rest." But we also realize that for the Lord to come and rest, He must expose and deal with all the things that hinder Him from coming and resting. In the first Gathering, He dealt with the pain of the native people in Canada. We were very close to missing it! We did not anticipate or initiate it. We didn't even know what we were coming into. But God in His sovereignty, to fulfil the destiny of the Gathering, snatched it out of the mouth of the enemy.
Those who were at Victoria saw how we almost missed the Lord's heart for the reconciliation between generations. Here again, the Lord snatched this matter out of the mouth of the enemy. It was after 10:30pm on the final night. But, for God's purpose, He decided that reconciliation between children and fathers had to be a prophetic statement at that Gathering. Eventually, hundreds of embracing parents and children saw dividing walls crumble. (Mal.4:6)
After this Gathering, we began to ask the Lord, "What is the next step for our nation in order to prepare a resting place for You?" We cried out to the Lord; we wanted to hear from God, but there seemed to be no response.
A CALL TO BLOW THE TRUMPET
In October, 1996 I was on a flight from Vancouver to Ottawa. When they turned on the movie and dimmed the lights I began to pray. I didn't realize what my spirit was getting into. I was praying for my nation of Canada, and asking the Lord what it would take for this nation to become a resting place for Him. At that moment, the word "Israel" was impressed on my mind. So I began to pray for Israel, and suddenly the power of the Holy Spirit came on me and I began sobbing and travailing on the plane.
For one solid hour I was moaning and groaning, trying to understand why my spirit was crying. In my mind I recalled the time when Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44). The Bible says He wept because they did not know the hour of their visitation. From this I felt that the destiny of our nation must somehow be related to Israel. At this time I could not figure out how it related nor could I find a way to understand or express it.
Jesus wept …because they did not know the hour of their visitation. (Luke 19:41-44)
Then a voice in my spirit said, "Blow the trumpet, blow the shofar!" But how can I explain, and what will I say when I blow the trumpet or the shofar? I returned to Vancouver, waited on the Lord and then shared my experience with the fathers. They all confirmed that there is something regarding Canada related to Israel that the Lord wants to reveal, but there was no revelation.
At that time the leaders felt that if I would go to Israel, maybe the Lord would reveal what is on His heart. I went to Israel in April, 1997, and it was a divine appointment, but there was no clear word to accompany the blowing of the shofar. I have learned that unless the Lord speaks, I can't express or explain a vision, because I do not want to initiate anything. My spirit was full. There was something on the Lord's heart, but I could not clearly perceive or express it.
ABSOLUTE OBEDIENCE
This dilemma continued until September, 1997. At that time I was going to go to Switzerland with John Dawson and some Messianic rabbis. This trip was also related to Israel. The night before I was supposed to leave, my wife Ruth, who was due to deliver our child in two weeks, approached me and said, "I no longer feel the movements of the baby today as I have up to now."
I took it rather lightly and replied, "Well, all of our children were like that, there was little movement near the end of their term, and everything was fine." But she said to me, "You know, the Lord has warned me that because of this trip, the enemy wants to kill this child!"
My spirit was alerted and she went to the hospital. Sure enough, when the doctor examined her, he decided to do a Caesarean section immediately in order to rescue the baby. Ruth phoned me at home and said, "David, it looks serious, please come quickly!"
By the time I arrived at the hospital she was prepared for a Caesarean. This was about four or five in the afternoon and I was supposed to leave for Switzerland at nine that evening. My emotions were stretched! I couldn't understand what was happening. This was our fifth child and all of Ruth's earlier deliveries were simple and natural. Now they are rushing her in for a Caesarean, and the doctor says he has to rescue the baby –what is going on here?
So we went into the operating room and when the baby came out he was in distress. The surgeon leaned over to me and said, "David, half an hour later and you would have a different story concerning your baby."
I was sitting there with my emotions stretched to the max, trying to understand what I was going through, when the Lord said to me, "Because of your wife's obedience, I saved the baby. I warned her. If she had not obeyed, you would have a dead baby. Yes, I would have still been with you and given you grace, yet you would have a dead baby."
"From this moment on, whatever I say to you, your response is no longer a matter of delay; it is a matter of life and death!"
Then the Lord spoke to me again and said, "From this moment on, whatever I say to you, your response is no longer a matter of delay; it is a matter of life and death!" The fear of the Lord came upon me and I knew there was something related to this trip that the enemy wanted to disrupt. Yet my emotions were so stretched I couldn't begin to consider going on the trip.
However, after consulting with Pastor Gideon and May Chiu and my wife Ruth, it became clear I had to go. I left on Monday, arriving on Tuesday when the conference began. The content of the conference was deep and spiritually significant, but a matter to be dealt with elsewhere.
Through the conference, however, the Spirit began to speak to my spirit, "David, here lies the root issue which is hindering my fulfilling the destiny of Canada. It has to deal with Israel and the anti-Semitism of Canadians toward Israel. This must be addressed for the nation to fulfil its destiny. Even the internal conflict between French and English is not going to be resolved until a national repentance toward the Jews takes place in Canada."
HISTORIC INJUSTICE
Then the Lord began to bring to my awareness some facts I had not known before. In 1939 there was a ship called the St. Louis, carrying over 900 people, Jews fleeing from the Nazi regime. Having been stripped of their homes and possessions, their desperate hope was to find refuge in Cuba for which they had secured visas. But when they arrived in Havana, on May 30, the Cuban government would not allow them entrance claiming that the documents they had secured were not valid papers. The passengers were not allowed to disembark even when they threatened mass suicide.
Meanwhile, Jewish organizations knowing that these passengers would face death if they returned to Germany sent letters to Latin American countries requesting admission. They implored each country, "Please receive these Jews." Yet, every country refused to accept them!
In desperation they set sail for North America. Letters were sent to President Roosevelt, saying, "Please, accept us in the United States." There was no answer so they sent a letter to Mrs. Roosevelt saying, "Please if you don't take us, at least take the children." There was no reply, except to send gunboats to shadow the St. Louis as it made its way north. Their final hope was to turn to Canada, the last nation that could save them.
As they approached Canada, Quebec federal cabinet minister Earnest Lapointe flatly stated that he was "emphatically opposed" to receive these Jews into Canada.
At the same time, the chief administrator of the Department of Immigration, Frederick Blair, a respected elder in an Ottawa church and a recognized anti-Semite, maintained that these Jews did not qualify under immigration laws and should not be admitted to Canada. Mackenzie King, the Prime Minister of Canada, more concerned with public ratings and reelection chances, simply washed his hands of the matter, claiming that this was not a Canadian problem.
History records that in order to maintain unity between English and French, Mackenzie King denied the Jews entrance to Canada. This took place while Canada was open to immigration from all over the world. The issue was not a matter of immigration; it was specifically an attitude toward Jews.
One of the root issues in Canada has to do with anti-Semitism. Therefore, a national repentance should take place.
Meanwhile, the world community tried to put pressure on Europe to receive them, because to return to Germany was to face death. Returning to Germany and just two days before landing, Britain, Holland, France, and Belgium opened their doors to these passengers. But shortly after Holland, Belgium and France were invaded and most of these people were taken by the Nazis and put to death.
In their book, None Is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe 1933-1948 (Lester Publishing. 1983), Canadian historians Irving Abella and Harold Troper document the above and many other details of Canadian anti-Semitism. They report of numerous cases where Canada could have saved Jews from certain death but callously turned them away. In a most heartbreaking case, 1,000 Jewish children in a camp in unoccupied France were facing imminent extermination. The world community put pressure on Canada to receive them. And while Mr. Blair could not refuse outright, he said that there was no established procedure for processing them and it would take considerable time. During these months of delay, the Nazis finally rounded up these children and transported them to Eastern Europe for liquidation.
THE NEED FOR NATIONAL REPENTANCE
Although the St. Louis ship was the point of contact, the issue is something deeper. The incident of the St. Louis allowed God to reveal what was in men's hearts. The book, None Is Too Many, which won an award for Canadian history, documents that anti-Semitism was prevalent even before the St. Louis. It tells how in the history of Canada, from the foundation of this nation, there has always been an anti-Semitic root. Even in Ontario and Quebec there were riots and signs saying, "No dogs or Jews allowed here."
Eventually, the Lord spoke to me that for the destiny of this nation, for the full purpose of God to be realized, and for a solid unity between the French and English, a national repentance towards Israel has to take place. This must happen not only in the church, it must involve the nation. I am talking about the Prime Minister, the Opposition party and the Parliament. Canada owns a transgression which only a national repentance can remove. I believe it will happen.
Why do I believe it will happen? Because there have been many prophetic words concerning the end-time purposes of this nation. I remember when Korean Pastor David Yonggi Cho prophesied over Canada. The Lord had told him that He would show him the nations He would use for His end-time purpose. When he visited Kelowna, BC, on October 31, 1975, he declared there that the Lord has an end-time purpose for this nation. This has been confirmed by others as well.
This repentance must not be directed merely to the Jews, it must be directed to God Himself:
"Against You, You only have I sinned…"
There is a great destiny for this nation but I believe Canada must come into a national repentance, and some of us must take the lead in repenting. This repentance must not be directed merely to the Jews, it must be directed to God Himself. After David had sinned with Bathsheba, he came not only to recognize the problem of Bathsheba, but he wept and declared,
Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are proved right when You speak and justified when You judge." Ps 51:4
When Canada comes into a national repentance the whole world will ask, "Why is Canada repenting?"
When they learn that it is concerning the Jews, anti-Semitism and the St. Louis ship, scarcely any of the other nations will be able to wash their hands of it. The St. Louis touched all of Latin and North America, as well as Europe. This will place a plumb line before the world. It will cause everyone to ask, "Where do we stand concerning the Jews?"
What is happening here reaches far beyond Canada. It will bring Canada into its end-time purpose. It will allow us to be a "sheep" nation and not a "goat" nation. (see Matt. 25: 31ff.)
In October, 1997, I read the article, Crazy Like a Fox, published by the Saturday Night Magazine which reported the following about Prime Minister MacKenzie King, "His most appalling compromise was his treatment of Jewish refugees who fled the Nazi regime in Germany. King refused to allow them to come to Canada, condemning them, in many cases, to certain death in Europe." When I saw this, the Lord spoke to me: "If you don't cry out, the stones will cry out. I am even beginning to speak through secular media to reveal what is on My heart in these days."
We are on the verge of a crucial time in which the Lord will test our nation. Our response will determine our future.
As to the destiny of our nation in these end-times, I believe we are on the verge of a crucial time in which the Lord will test our nation. Our response will determine our future.
By doing research on the Internet, we were able to locate one of the survivors of the St. Louis in Miami, Florida. I travelled there and four of us met with him. When I shared this vision with him he asked, "Where was God when my mother and father and my sister were killed after getting off that ship?" He asked again and again, "Where was God?" I couldn't answer him.
He told us that all the children over sixteen years of age were taken to the gas chamber and asked us, "Do you know why I am alive today? I was one week under sixteen when they took the others away."
I looked at him and said, "I want to ask you some questions. Why would the Lord put it into the heart of an Egyptian to take up this cause? Why would the enemy want to kill my son because of this cause? Do you realize the cost of this vision for me?"
All of a sudden we could sense a deep softening of his heart, and eventually, with soft and gentle eyes, he looked at me. He said, "David, I will do whatever I can to help."
I said to him, "Some day we will call you and other survivors of the St. Louis to come to Canada. There we will receive you and make a face to face repentance."
CANADA'S DESTINY IN THE BALANCE
Now the time has come for us to begin to lift up our voices to God and say, "Oh God, do not pass us by!" Jesus wept over Jerusalem because they did not recognize the time of their visitation. My heart is that we would know the hour of visitation for our Nation of Canada.
My commission at this time is to first alert the church to this matter, and second, to call intercessors to lay hold of God. We need Rees Howells' kind of intercessors. This nation can and will move into God's purposes as the prayers of the saints are lifted before Him. There will also come a time when the Lord will open the door for the church to address the political leaders and the nation of Canada as a whole.
NOTE: The face to face repentance referred to in this article took place in Ottawa on November 5, 2000 at the Friends of the St. Louis Reception and Dinner. View Early History Timeline | View “Declaration to the Survivors“ Article