A Time of Breakthrough

In March, prophet Shawn Bolz told FOX News that God had given him a prophetic word that “the tide is turning now” regarding the coronavirus (also referred to as COVID-19), and the disease would soon come to an end.

Since that time, the infection rate has risen by over 3,000% worldwide and more than 150,000 people have died. But Bolz still insists the tide is turning—and that God has shielded the world from the worst-case prognostications of experts.

“When it really started amping up in February, when the coronavirus was hitting, I heard God say, I’m going to send help, and this thing is going to be like a turning tide. People like the world health experts are going to announce 60 million people or more will die in one generation. But that’s not my story for this generation. My story is that I’m actually going to keep this in a minimal death count. It won’t be 60 million,” Bolz says. “Even in America, they were saying up to 20 million [would die] at that time. … It’s not His story for us to have a global health crisis that ends in 60 million deaths.

“So I began to prophesy and proclaim that in [publications] like The Washington Post and Fox News. I put segments of that out there. Some people are mad because it didn’t turn fast enough for them—because we’re still in the middle of it. But they’re not seeing that the original report was that 60 million people would die.”

Experts do not agree about likely world death toll numbers, but during an April 20 press conference, U.S. President Donald Trump projected 50,000 to 60,000 total deaths in the United States from the coronavirus. That represents a substantial reduction from March, when Dr. Anthony Fauci projected more than 100,000 U.S. deaths from COVID-19. Johns Hopkins University reports that more than 44,000 Americans have already died.

“I have … utter sadness for how hard it’s been for so many,” Bolz says. “We’ve had friends who have lost parents and friends who have lost their brothers and sisters to COVID. I’ve had so many friends lose their jobs or lose their businesses or churches that have shut down—that I’ve loved for 20 years or more in ministry—because they [couldn’t] sustain themselves. So I have that place of compassion and prayer and the reality of that, but I also have this hope against hope, like, ‘Man, God, you’re shaking everything that can be shaken, and there’s about to be an amazing turnaround of this.’ … Romans 8:28 says God will use all this for our good. Those who are walking with God, you must have great anticipation because I feel like we’re being set up like never before. There’s no business as usual. Things are shifting.”

Time of Breakthrough

Bolz says that at the same time God began prophetically imparting these words to him, He also laid the word “breakthrough” on his heart. Bolz says that, for many, it’s a buzzword that’s lost its meaning and power. But he began studying the roots of the word “breakthrough” in Scripture.

“One of the first places that it appeared—not the first place but one of the first places—is in 2 Samuel, where David goes to the valley of the Philistine giants where he’s crowned as king,” Bolz says. “He has his greatest victory he’s ever had there, because God led him there. And he says, ‘Your gods who were giants were made to look small by my God, who is Baal Perazim, or the God who breaks through.’ He uses their name of Baal, saying, ‘My Baal is bigger than all of your giant Baals put together,’ and he made their Baals look small. When I read that, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, You’re going to bring historic wins to Christians, where we’re going to see the things that look like big giants—finances and health and these kinds of things—You’re going to commission us outside of the grounds of just church as usual, and we’re going to [receive] power in these areas.'”

Bolz says breakthrough is more than just answered prayers; breakthrough entails total societal change and reform.

“I feel like something huge is going to happen,” Bolz says. “When I think of breakthrough, I don’t think, ‘My aunt needs to go to the hospital’—which is important. I think of the greater thing, of the transformation of the kingdom of God, where He wants to bring … changes in society and in our individual lives.”

Bolz’s most recent book, Breakthrough: Prophecies, Prayers and Declarations, is about that very subject, and he wrote it less than a week after reading about David in 2 Samuel. Released with little fanfare, the book became a surprise hit.

“I had my iPad with the little keyboard out and I wrote it down,” Bolz says. “It just came to me: Twelve prophecies about breakthrough that were general, that anybody could read. This was really interesting, because I’ve never written a generic prophecy before. That isn’t part of what I do. As a matter of fact, usually when I read generic prophecies, I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s cute.’ I almost patronize it, which is the wrong attitude. … I knew that people need tools, and this book is just a simple tool. But I had no idea that this many people needed this tool. This thing came to me in like four days, and I was excited about it, but I’ve written some things that were my No. 1 passion projects that didn’t sell in their entire lifetime what this sold in the first month.”

After the Virus

Bolz says he has seen a number of significant developments in recent weeks that he hopes will carry on after the global pandemic ends.

“God has taken a social media thing which started to abuse us—because we were using it in abusive ways to just live our best lives, which weren’t real and weren’t really connected—and all of a sudden, we have virtual real estate together, where we’re having to connect and we’re having to do life,” Bolz says. “We’re decluttering a lot of complicated things, where [previously we said] ‘I can’t see you this week, because I can’t drive 30 minutes to see you’ or ‘I’m too busy.’ We’re all of a sudden having to connect virtually. And it’s causing a different level of life to happen for what the internet’s for in the first place.

“Pornography was the No. 1 thing on the internet before COVID again, and now I think pornography’s No. 2 or 3, and [the top spots belong] to like TikTok and YouTube and these social media formats where people are engaging differently, which I think is really significant. We’re using the internet as a tool versus just being used by the internet.”

In this way, Bolz believes God is rewiring a generation and equipping them to carry out the Great Commission digitally. He also believes God is reordering the church’s priorities, demonstrating that things like fancy buildings are unnecessary and restoring focus on what truly matters. He says that will move affluent American believers to generosity.

“We’re about to have a move of compassion,” Bolz says. “When you think of the underground church or you think of the persecuted church, you think of the extreme poverty. When we come out of this, that [ministry] that runs $170 billion or more a year is going to think about what they just went through and realize there’s people who are dealing with this every day in Congo—the rape capital of the world. We’re going to start to see strategic alliances between people who have finances, whether it’s the homeschool mom who just has an extra 10% or a billionaire. There’s going to be such a great move of compassion, that I think it’s going to really touch the heart of God. And I think it’s going to really set us up for an outpouring.”

Bolz also prophesies that God will disrupt industries and businesses with new ideas and inventions—which may be uncomfortable for those who have grown used to having power.

“I think God has inventions for us that are going to simplify life and cause a greater impact of living and save us time,” Bolz says. “And that’s who God is. He creates the simple out of complicated, and I think God wants to bring in an infrastructure over the next four or five years for whole new waves of technology, where we do things virtually. Where transportation changes. Where the food system will come under a great scrutiny. Big Agriculture [and Big Pharma] are going to go through hell in the next four or five years, because the world’s coming against them. The world is seeing what’s happening. I think everything that could be disrupted is about to be disrupted. We just went through the greatest disruption of any generation. It’s just a tipping point for what’s going to be disrupted.”

Bolz believes the post-COVID world will look very different, but he also believes the future is bright for those who follow God.

“We’re about to have hyper jumps, and … I think God setting people up for that,” Bolz says. “I think He’s setting up strategic alliances between investors, inventors and even lawyers and the whole backbone. I think some people are working on their dream projects right now because God’s ordering it. God’s assigning it.” {eoa}

Taylor Berglund is the associate editor of Charisma magazine and host of several podcasts on the Charisma Podcast Network.