THE ROD
As stated earlier, all that you just learned was a product of Kyle Nixon bringing over the movie, Whale Rider. He did not bring it over for entertainment purposes (I do not watch movies for entertainment), but because of its prophetic significance. I saw this movie with some trepidation, for to think that Yahweh uses a movie to prophesy is farfetched to many. But I simply cannot deny what I have seen, and I think you will concur with its significance as you read this. Already He has used two movies to prophesy to me – first Awakenings, then Field of Dreams. Later when I began to see some of the things Kyle was pointing out in this movie, and other things as well, to be honest with you, it frustrated me. I was seeing things related to reproduction, and I was frustrated that it seemed foolish and useless to know these things. But then the question regarding Jacob and the rod was a product of these, and my heart soon thrilled to see that which you just read. And to have seen the things you will read now makes me realize all the more that Yahweh does indeed use the weak and the foolish to shame the strong and the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27), and once again He has used a secular movie to declare truth.
In like regard, I often ponder the scripture that Yahweh will call a people who are not His people, His people. It is intriguing that Yahweh will reach outside the box and do something that we do not expect, and to use a movie to prophesy is both reaching outside the box and, most certainly, using the foolish. But He is Yahweh God, and He can and will use all things to His pleasure and purpose. I just want to be used of Him; and frankly, I’m undoubtedly outside the box as well in the eyes of many, and willing to look foolish.
I will attempt to relate some of the scenes, events, and dramas in this movie so as to reveal the truth that is in it. When Kyle and I watched it together for the first time, I was naturally skeptical. Kyle pointed out where he saw me in the movie, and I could see what he was talking about. But to take the movie beyond that was suspect; that is, until he related something that was undeniably prophetic.
Any prophetic picture or testimony in the Scriptures must be consistent in its representation in order to be valid. The number 72 is one of those testimonies. In the Scriptures, this number consistently represents the Remnant. The number 70 consistently represents Christianity (the 70 years of Babylonian captivity), but 72 is the testimony of the Remnant. For example, when the 70 elders that Moses gathered together began to prophesy when some of the Spirit that was on Moses was taken off him and placed upon them, we read in Numbers 11:24-29 that there were two in the camp – Eldad and Medad – who prophesied and did not cease. Thus, prophetically the Spirit that was on Moses was not placed upon just 70, but 70 and 2, or 72. This is Yahweh’s way of hiding truth, even as the Remnant Bride is a hidden work.
Another example of this hidden truth is found in second Remnant Luke 10:1-20 where the supposedly 70 were sent out by Yahshua. Here we have the testimony of the Remnant Bride once again, but why is it 70? The answer once again is hidden or concealed. If you look into this, you find that the older manuscripts do not say 70, but 72. This is the hidden Remnant.
Knowing this unique testimony regarding 72, I was somewhat ho-hum about this movie until Kyle pointed out to me that the main character, Pai, a twelve year old girl, wore a shirt at its beginning with the number 72 on it (she was being pumped on a bicycle by her grandfather and holding onto a whale’s tooth which hung from around his neck); but more significantly, she wore that shirt one other time when she plunged into the sea and retrieved the same tooth when the first-born males in the community failed to do so. The tooth was the sign of rightful tribal leadership, and her grandfather, Koro, was the tribal chief, and was purposing to pass that leadership along to another first-born male. Thus, it was quite significant that Pai retrieved the whale’s tooth; and again, while wearing the 72! More on this whale’s tooth shortly.
Obviously, this, as well as other information here, will not make as much sense to you if you do not watch the movie. But when Kyle pointed out that she was wearing the number 72 at that significant moment, the clear number of the Remnant, I knew then that there was a prophetic message here; and I soon found out that there was far more here than I could have ever anticipated.
I will not go into all the amazing prophetic messages in this movie, but it is so very clearly prophetic; and, it was used to open the door to the wonderful truths about which you read in the first section, and you will now see affords far more.
The storyline of the movie is the relationship between the grandfather chief, Koro, and his granddaughter, Pai, whom he was raising. It takes place in New Zealand among the Maori tribe, who by tradition got to New Zealand by a man named Paikea, who was saved by a whale and brought there on its back, thus in part the name Whale Rider. The tribe, like the kingdom, the church, was drifting more and more toward the world, leaving the established roots of their Ancients. This troubled the grandfather, and he longed for one thing – the promise that a “prophet” would arise and deliver his wayward people out of their darkness and bring them into the light, just as the church so desperately needs.
The grandfather’s own son, the next in line to be the chief, rejected this calling and left to live his life in the world. But before he left, his wife died in childbirth, attempting to deliver twins – a boy and a girl. The grandfather’s hope for this needed prophet had been dashed in his son, and then he hoped that it would be fulfilled in this first-born grandson. But, the grandson died along with the wife, leaving only the granddaughter. The mother’s dying words named this child – Pai, the name of the whale rider who brought them to this land and prophesied of one who would come later to restore the people.
Koro rejected Pai, blaming her for breaking the line of chiefs going all the way back to Paikea. This is the conflict that erupts in the movie, and reveals the prophetic testimony between the law, the grandfather, and Pai, the little Remnant Bride who is chosen of Yahweh and must deliver the people out of their darkness.
This conflict was brought to a head when the grandfather brought together into a school all the first-born boys for the purpose of training a new chief. The grandfather was consumed with the absolute necessity of this new leader, and did all he could to see the fulfillment. The problem though was that none of those boys were in the linage of the chief, and the chosen one was actually this twelve year old girl, Pai.
As the story unfolds, Pai slowly began to realize within herself who she was, and this awareness, which was even beyond her own understanding, drove her toward her purpose. The most outstanding quality of this little girl was her unceasing love for and devotion to her grieving grandfather and her people. All the boys in the school were eventually disqualified from being chief. Koro’s whale’s tooth that Pai had grasped at the opening of the movie, was thrown into the sea to be retrieved as a test for the boys. But none of them were able to retrieve it. The failure of a chief to come forth left Koro in a pit of paralyzing despair with no hope, reducing him to blank-stared solace on his bed. He had failed!
But Pai was the chosen one, and out of Koro’s failure, out of coming to his own end, her choice and restoring work were revealed.
One fateful night, a pod of whales beached themselves just outside the grandfather’s house, setting up the drama that would open the eyes of everyone. The grandfather was drawn to the largest whale which was set apart from the others, even as he was set apart. He and this whale were one. He knew that if they could turn this lead whale back to the sea, the others would follow. Left on the beach, they would all die. But even with the best of their efforts, they failed to turn him! In the movie, Pai made a comment here about the large whale, but in truth it was not the whale of which she spoke, but of her tired grandfather. When the whale rejected being turned back, Pai said – “He wanted to die; there wasn’t a reason to live anymore.” Oh the unbearable pain of this dejected grandfather chief!
Pai’s undaunted love for her grandfather and her people was passionately demonstrated when she came into personal contact with this large whale. While all the people walked away from it to try another day, Pai alone returned and demonstrated to it her inward affection. Touching it with tenderness and passion, she then went to its head and exchanged the tribe’s sign of affection and respect – the nose press. Then, like the one from whom she was named, she climbed upon the great whale’s back, the very whale that had carried Paikea, stroked it with affection, and as if it were a great steed, kicked it in the side and urged it to go. What the grandfather and all the people had failed to accomplish with force, Pai accomplished with love and devotion and calling. The great whale then stirred and turned, taking little Pai with him.
It was here that the eyes of the struggling grandfather were finally opened. Pai was the chosen one who would fulfill the prophecy and turn the hearts of the people back to their roots, and through her love and devotion did so. It was here that he learned that Pai had later retrieved the lost whale’s tooth, diving into the sea while wearing her number 72 shirt, giving her the right to be chief.
Prophetically, Pai is the little Remnant Bride, who must equally lead Yahweh’s people out of darkness and cause them to return to that which they have left, to return to their first love (Revelation 2:1-5).
That is the movie in a nutshell, but there is so much more attested here, such that it would almost take a writing the size of a book to include it all. And while some of the prophetic testimonies were intentional or like messages on the part of the director, the truths revealed here go far beyond what she intended.
I have had the privilege of communicating directly with the Writer and Director of Whale Rider, Niki Caro of New Zealand, regarding her intentions in this movie, what she was attempting to say and the meaning of its frequent symbolisms. But there are some things Kyle and I saw which she did not intend. So what does this mean? It means that while we may have plans and actions and even works according to our own understanding, Yahweh is Lord and He effects things through us which we do not even understand ourselves. This movie is highly prophetic, affording messages that go far beyond, and even different from, what those who produced it intended. Did Caiaphas know what he was saying when he spoke – “You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish”? No, for we read that “this he did not say on his own initiative;” but even so his words prophesied. This is true with not only this movie, but with Awakenings and Field of Dreams, and others I am certain. All creation reveals Yahweh, even the worldly parts. Let us consider some of these specific truths revealed from this movie.
We have stated that Pai is prophetic of the Remnant Bride. Pai is twelve years old, the number of the Remnant, the twelve disciples, the number of government. She is a young girl, even the Bride who comes into puberty and can bring forth offspring. She is equally chosen, and no one expects her to fulfill her vital place. She is a new thing – “a woman will encompass a man” (Jeremiah 31:22), even as she mounted/encompassed the whale.
Pai is actually the picture of the second Remnant, her twin brother who died at birth being the first Remnant (the Thomas Didymus twins). Everyone expected the first Remnant to reign with Yahshua and occupy the position of ruling and reigning – “you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28) – but the first Remnant, like Pai’s twin brother, had to die prematurely. A reminder of this death is seen when the whales beached and a young male died, and the camera next showed Pai standing in her father’s uncompleted Waka, or war canoe. It was not until after a breach of time, rejection, and difficulty that Pai was born-again into her rightful place, represented by her latter post-whale-ride return trip to the hospital (the movie opens in the hospital with her birth), and her grandfather, now in contrast, at her bedside, repenting of his folly and confessing his need to learn. Thus the breach was repaired!
The vital outcome of these events was that the hearts of the people were restored to the ways of their Ancients, even as the hearts of the people today need to be restored to the Father, and the Father to His children, or the Elijah work (Malachi 4:6).