From Digging Wells to Reigning: The Paradigm Shift of the Ekklesia
Why the Church Must Move From Revival Cycles to Governmental Authority
By Henry Hastings | SMC Tribe I 12.16.25
Something is shifting in the Spirit—and it’s not subtle. Over the past months, the Lord has been speaking with increasing clarity that the Church is undergoing a historic paradigm shift. The word I received recently summarizes it perfectly:
“The Church is moving from digging wells to reigning as a governing body. What is coming—and has already begun—is a revolution toward ekklesia, governmental authority, and territorial responsibility. This is not anti-revival. It is post-revival maturity.”
This is more than a new emphasis. It is a course correction for the Body of Christ. For decades we have lived in a revival paradigm—crying out for God to “come down,” digging spiritual wells, and waiting for the next outpouring. Revival is real, and we honor every movement of God—but revival was never meant to be the ceiling of the Church’s identity. It was meant to awaken us into governance.
Let’s unpack the shift.
How We Got Here: The “Well” Paradigm
The language of digging wells goes back to Genesis, when Isaac re-dug the wells of Abraham.
And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them. Genesis 26:18
In the mid-20th century, the Latter Rain Movement, followed by the Prophetic and Apostolic Movements of the 1980–90s, along with Toronto and Brownsville in the 1990’s popularized this as a spiritual metaphor:
Wells = access points of God’s presence
Digging = repentance, fasting, prayer, worship
Water = the Holy Spirit, power encounters, revival
Stoppage = sin, unbelief, religious control (suppressing the Spirit)
This became the normative charismatic cycle:
Dig → Outpouring → Decline → Repeat
Over time this became formulaic and formulas bypass dependence on God. Digging wells became a standard operating procedure. Revival became the destination instead of the launchpad for exercising Kingdom reign as God’s representatives on earth.
The result? A church stuck in a cycle of dependence on visitation instead of walking in her authority and advancing the Kingdom on earth.
Jesus Didn’t Promise a Well—He Promised an Ekklesia
In Matthew 16:18, Jesus makes one of the most explosive statements in the New Testament:
“I will build My ekklesia (ἐκκλησία), and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”
We often read this as “I will build my church” when the English word “church” falls far short of what Jesus intended. I prefer to use the word in its original form, ekklesia, because ‘church’ carries layers of historical, religious, and cultural baggage that often obscure Jesus’ original intent. To understand the significance of this word we will look at the context in which Jesus makes this declaration and its origin.
In Matthew 8:28 Jesus comes to the country of the Geresenes (aka Gadarenes) which is adjacent to Bashan on the northeastern side of the Jordan River. This gentile region was a stronghold of spiritual evil. Og, King of Bashan and the descendants of the Nephilim hybrids lived there (Deut. 3:1-11; Johsua 12:4-5). When Jesus steps foot in this territory, he is confronted by two demononized men. The demons ask, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”
Two realities surface in the demons’ question: 1). The demons know Jesus identity from behind the veil (in another realm) as the eternal and unique Son of God. In fact, he forbids the demons from revealing his identity in other encounters (Mk. 3:11-12; 4:41). 2). The demons are aware of their ultimate destiny in final judgment. This judgement is revealed in Matthew 25:41 when Jesus says, “‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels”.
Jesus stepping into this territory is analogous to the allied invasion of France on the beaches of Normandy. They faced stiff resistance on that beachhead, but then they pressed on to the capitol, Berlin. When Jesus arrives in Bashan, he has arrived at the gates to the capitol of Hades. He is at the foot of Mount Hermon in Caesarea-Philippi. This was ground zero where 200 watcher angels descended and made a covenant together to corrupt the seed of the woman by creating a hybrid race (Gen. 3:15; 6:1-7 cf. 1 Enoch 6-7). Jesus is the seed of the woman and here He is prophesying that His ekklesia which hadn’t even been born yet would victoriously breach the gates of Hades. This was a declaration of war to the principalities, powers and rulers mentioned in Ephesians 6:12. Now let’s see what ekklesia means.
The word is a compound noun from the preposition ek and the verb kaleo. The preposition denotes motion out of or from while kaleo is the verb to call or summon. Therefore, in its simplest form ekklesiameans “called or summoned out of” and refers to those who have been called out. When we compare later revelation we understand this is a reference to those who would be called out of the world into the Kingdom of God’s beloved Son (1 Cor. 1:9 cf. Col. 1:13).
The word ekklesia also carries an implied mission or purpose. This is revealed in the writings of the classical Greek works of Aristotle, Herodotus, and Thucydides. They used ekklesia to refer to the official governing assembly of citizens called or summoned to:
establish public policy
vote on laws
execute military decisions
legal rulings and judgments[i]
It was not a building. Not a worship service.
It was a legislative, governmental body entrusted with the authority of the Greek city state.
Jesus intentionally used a governmental term, not a religious one. Perhaps the ekklesia is called to be God’s representatives of his Kingdom government on earth?
Let’s look at how the “gates of Hades” impact our understanding. When Jesus says the “gates of Hades” will not prevail, He is indicating Hades is protected by a fortified defensive system. In the ancient world “gates” were part of a city’s defensive system. They were integrated with the walls, towers, and ramparts to protect everything within the gates. Understanding this is key because the gates of Hades are Satan’s defensive system to protect what he has behind them.
This indicates the ekklesia is meant to be on the offensive. Hell is the one that should be under siege by the ekklesia. Jesus prophesied the gates will not prevail against the ekklesia from breaching the gates and taking back what the enemy has stolen.
The Enemy Has Stolen Territory—And We Are Called to Take It Back
Scripture exposes how Satan has stolen territory on the earth:
“You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
16 “By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones. (Ezekiel 28:14-16, emphasis mine)
The “abundance of your trading” is the Hebrew phrase berob rekulateka (בְּרֹ֣ב רְכֻלָּתְךָ֗) translated in the following ways:
· “the abundance of your commerce” (AMPC)
· “your trade, your oppressive business practices” (CEB)
· “the multitude of thy merchandise” (KJV)
The Hebrew rekullah (רְכֻלָּה) means trafficking, exploitation, merchandising, or trading. I believe “the abundance of your trading” best captures Satan’s modus operandi because the heart of trading is exchanging one thing for another. It is a transfer of ownership from one party to another.
Jesus clearly described Satan’s modus operandi “The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10). It is through the abundance of trading that Satan gained territory that was given to mankind. The enemy trades and traffics human lives, souls, bodies, destinies, territories, and nations. The abundance of his trading resulted in his ownership of the kingdoms of the world he offered to Jesus (Matt. 4:8-9). The deeds for these kingdoms or territories are protected by the gates of Hades along with lives, souls, bodies, and destinies. The good news is the gates of Hades cannot withstand the advance of the ekklesia.
This is why we must wake up. If we remain in the well-digging mindset, we will wait for God to do what He has already commissioned us to advance. To come up with the notion that we are hostages stuck on earth with Satan and need to rescued is one of the lies that has disarmed the ekklesia and turned her into a church. This has been a Disarmament Psychological Operation (PSYOP) by Satan’s forces. Two other lies have immobilized the ekklesia from operating in its fullness and authority: cessationism- the belief that the supernatural gifts of the Spirit are not for today and “God is in control”.
The Chronology of Our Mandate (Operation Footstool)
Satan seized territories/kingdoms through his trading and offered them to Jesus
Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. (Matthew 4:8-11)
Once the humanity of Christ was resurrected and ascended into the third heaven he was seated with all authority and power in heaven and on earth until his enemies are made his footstool.
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool” (Matthew 22:44)
Operation Footstool is the ekklesia’s mandate until the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of God.
Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Rev. 11:15)
The above passages reveal a progression of advancing the Kingdom of God on the earth. The ekklesia is designed to partner with God in this operation.
1. The earth belongs to God (Psalm 24:1)
2. Satan was cast down to earth (Rev. 12:7-9; Lk. 10:18; Isa. 14:12)
3. Man was given the dominion mandate to steward and rule on earth (Genesis 1:26–28)
4. The dominion mandate continued after the fall (Ps. 115:16).
5. Jesus, the eternal and unique Son of God who created all things stepped across the threshold from eternity into time and began enforcing God’s government on earth with an Isaiah 61 mandate (Matthew 4:17; Col. 1:15-18).
6. Jesus reclaimed territory through deliverance, healing, liberating captives and enforcing God’s government on earth by destroying the works of the devil (Acts 10:38; John 3:8)
7. Jesus victory on the cross permanently disarmed principalities and powers (Colossians 2:15).
8. With all authority in heaven and on earth Jesus deployed the ekklesia with a governmental assignment to disciple all nations (Matthew 28:18–20).
9. The ekklesia was born and empowered through position in Christ to legislate from heaven’s courtroom on earth as citizens and ambassadors heaven (Acts 2; Eph. 2:6; Php. 3:20; 2 Cor. 5:20)
9. Christ in the ekklesia is the administration of Kingdom glory across the earth (Col. 1:27; Hab. 2:14).
How do the kingdoms of this world become the Kingdom of our Lord?
Through the ekklesia.
Through men and women who understand authority.
Through believers who enforce heaven’s government on earth.
Through Kingdom citizens who refuse to live reactively and choose to reign actively as kings and priests.
The Paradigm Shift: From Revival Cycles to Reigning
Revival awakens the Church.
Reigning is what the awakened Church does.
The Lord is shifting us:
from visitation to habitation
from wells to government
from waiting for God to move to moving with the authority He already gave
from defensive Christianity to offensive Kingdom occupation
This is revolution, not revival.
Application: Preparing for the Revolution
The Book of Acts is a blueprint for governing the earth with heaven’s authority.
Questions to ask:
Where is the enemy trafficking in my region?
What gates am I called to confront?
How is God calling me to enforce Kingdom order?
Where have I defaulted to “digging” instead of “reigning”?
What territory is my household or my Tribe responsible for?
This is the moment for the ekklesia to wake up, take responsibility, and operate in the authority of Christ.
This is Operation Footstool.
Heavenly Father, we adore you and praise you! The knowledge of your glory will cover the earth and all the nations will worship your mighty name. We thank you for making us kings and priests to advance your kingdom on earth. We ask that your Spirit give us a revelation of righteousness, identity, power, and authority to walk out by faith what you have written in the scroll of the book about us as the ekklesia. We decree an awakening for the bride, now, to ready herself for this revolution to reign. In the name and for the glory of the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen!
[i] Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, trans. Richard Crawley (London: J. M. Dent, 1910), 1.87; 2.22. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Thuc.+1.87
