As riots continue to erupt across the city of Los Angeles, prophetic voice Joseph Z issued a sobering warning: what’s unfolding in California is only the beginning of a broader spiritual battle threatening the nation.
“This is a preview to a movie we don’t want to watch,” Z said in a recent broadcast. “This is the first wave.”
Speaking from the Colorado mountains during a time of intercessory prayer, Z described the current unrest as more than political instability—it is, in his view, the spiritual manifestation of a deeper, darker agenda.
“I saw boots on the ground that would begin to manifest,” he said. “This is a sampling of a greater level that wants to bring chaos and darkness to the land through fires, through capability with weaponry, through trying to crash grids and all that stuff.”
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Z connected the rising violence to prophetic warnings he shared previously about “10 cities burning,” which he links to what he calls the “spirit of Decapolis.” He believes these coordinated events are aimed at igniting fear and disorder ahead of a divine breakthrough.
“It’s a cultural spirit of Antichrist that’s trying to rise up and take this narrative in the wrong direction,” he said.
Despite the chaos, Z emphasized that believers are not to fear, but to take their stand spiritually.
“The Lord is not nervous,” he said. “God in no way is sitting there looking at this going, ‘What are we going to do guys? What are we going to do?’”
Z repeatedly called Christians to rise up as the “ekklesia”—the body of believers called to resist evil through prayer, truth, and unity.
“We are restraining the full fury of wickedness in this land,” he said. “The full fury of wickedness doesn’t stand a chance against what Matthew 16 calls the gates of hell standing against the ekklesia—the church of Jesus Christ, the red church, the blood-bought believers.”
He encouraged vigilance and discernment, noting that mainstream media narratives may distract from more significant developments happening quietly in the background.
“When you see big news and it’s dominating news, remember to watch the small news,” he said. “Because in the small news there’s things happening.”
Z warned of other growing threats, including foreign infiltration at U.S. borders and developments in artificial intelligence, which he views as part of a rising “beast system.”
“There’s only so much you can do in the natural right now,” he said. “So we’ve got to stand. We got to bring the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
On California specifically, Z urged believers not to give up hope, asserting that God’s heart is still for revival in the state.
“God has such a desire for California,” he said. “Such a desire to see His goodness reign in California, that I believe the spirit of Jezebel, the spirit of Antichrist—this wicked nonsense—is trying to manifest in that state before we can get to where we need to be to maybe flip the script.”
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Z said the nation is at a tipping point between revival and ruin, and the outcome depends on whether believers will unite in spiritual action.
“If the church lays back and continues fighting and squabbling with one another, we’re going to give way to evil in the land more and more,” he said. “If we can overcome all the nonsense and unite as a united front against wickedness, spiritual forces in high places, we will stop it in its tracks.”
Ultimately, Z remains confident in the power of God and the role of the church to confront and overcome darkness.
“Righteousness will prevail,” he said. “It might get worse before it gets better, but righteousness will prevail.”
James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
