The Raising 0f The Priestly Kings (19)
From the contemplations on the priesthood of Job 1, verse 5, the Spirit
of God takes us a little into what He is doing today: He has been raising a
kingdom of priests – the original thought of His that engendered the raising up
of the nation, Israel. He raised them that they may be a kingdom of priests. It
will not be too much of a digression to share a knowledge I stumbled upon on
the internet some years ago. In an Asian nation, there exists a a priestly
town, strictly for the priests of a religion ;it is called the town of the
priests; any other person that does not belong to that caste is an abhorrence
and cannot live in that community. God has been raising His own kingdom of
priests all through the ages, all over the earth. Though made of different
languages, peoples, tribes and nations, it is a kingdom, nevertheless. He is
gathering them to one.
Today, there is so much noise about Israel and Palestine. One attacks
the other; the other swiftly reprises. In this human show of hatred, power and might, many of God’s people
are caught, taking sides. Well, we go into all this to remind us that God has
people in all nations and races – modern or ancient; technologically advanced
or non-starters; economically sound or poor. God is the Lord of all; Christ is
the Lord over all. Romans 11, verse16: For
if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy so
are the branches. Jesus Christ is the Vine. Israel, the first fruit and
other nations are the branches thereof. Now, that is not accurate enough: the
fact is that any one from the nation of Israel can be a branch; any from
Palestine or any other nations can be a branch. The point: And if some branches be broken off, and thou being a wild olive tree,
wert grafted in among them partakes of the root and the fatness of the olive
tree (verse 17). God is grafting in all, including the original branch,
Israel. This is the raising of His kingdom on earth; it is all embracing, sweeping
all mankind into it. Revelation 5, verse 10: And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on
the earth. This is the present ministry of the Lord Jesus.
In this discuss, we examine the
10th son of Jacob to see what the Lord has for us, as we probe
further into the governmental qualities of the priests of God. Exodus 28, verse
20 : And
the forth row a beryl, and an
onyx, and jasper…
Zebulon: the beryl gem.
Zebulon was the sixth
biological son of Leah for Jacob. She was a woman who was acquainted with
sorrow; a type the Yorubas would designate as not having good head for a good
husband. In other words, she was in this definition an unfortunate woman. She
was a woman who could not have helped herself; no woman could for she was not
responsible for her non-delectable looks; she did not create herself, nor did
she have the power to or else she could have made herself an outstanding beau
like her sister, Rachel. Her problem was that the physical attraction for Jacob
was not there; the man was not ravished with her like that of Rachel. This
speaks of the human conditions under the power of sin and that of the Law. Man
could not recreate or save himself. Hear Paul in his representation of man: O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? (Romans 7: 24)
Genesis 30, verse19: And Leah
conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son. verse 20: And Leah said, God
hath endued me with good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me… and she
called his name Zebulon. Zebulon means dwelling. For a husband to stay put
with his wife, she must have caused him good dowry. This had always been the
yearning of her heart, but she had never ‘seen of found the face of her husband
on the ground.’ That means that the husband was not on common ground with her.
Nor is God on common ground with man. For
all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3: 23). But,
like Leah, God, who is not only in love with man but strongly covets his
(man’s) love must do everything to win his love, including dying on the cross
and being made sin for him so that man may become the righteousness of God –
the basis or the platform of His indwelling in man.
Closely associated with the Leah’s cry in Zebulon is the idea of the
Lord in providing for us to be separated from our husband and be joined to him.
It is matter of dwelling. It is called redemption. One of the Greek words translated redemption
is lutroo. It mean, according to Vine, to release on receipt of ransom. He
redeemed us so that he could dwell in us. Of course, we were in bondage or were
taken hostages to an abductor. We were married off to self-will, unrighteousness,
traditions and philosophy of life and all earthly points of views. We live in
the realm of death for all of the earthy is death, it is of the dust. We were
in married to all of these and more because we had been taken hostages by the
prince of this world. When the Lord Jesus was about to go back, he said to his
disciples, The prince of this world
commeth, and hath nothing in me. The Amplified Version renders it thus: For the prince (evil genius, ruler) of this
world is coming. And he has no claim on Me [he has nothing in common with Me;
there in nothing in Me that belongs to him, and he has no power over Me.]
John 14: 30
Of course, no man can say that. Every person born of woman is under the
sway of this power. To different degrees, we have something in common with him.
That intellectual hauteur is; that craze for fashion is; that love and worship
of new inventions is; that anxiety to be accomplished is; that mild or
explosive anger is; that acquisitive tendency is; that thrill you feel when
acknowledged and praised is; that worship you give to the mundane is; that my
craving to build the super-mega church that has a sitting capacity for a
billion people at a time is; that my kindling warmness that suffuses my soul
when I achieve a goal is. We can go on ad infinitum. Let us get this clear. The
prince, this evil genius, yeah, this ruler is present in and is a part of what
we have to do on earth. We hasten to add this that these things are not evils;
we only state the obvious that in everything we have to handle on earth, this
prince is intricately interwoven with it. Only the Lord Jesus has been able to
chart a course of life through these things without being tainted by the evil
genius.
Patriotism is not a sin, but have you noticed the excess of the American
pride in their nation even when they are preachers of the gospel? There used to be an American jingoist-preacher
who told us that it was bad for his country not to use her nuclear power over
Vietnam; he told us that the British should not have left Angola to the ‘savages,’
and by this, he meant Africans. To me this has nothing to do with directing the
hearts of people to the blessed hope of the believers who may be whites or
blacks. In any case, only God can define savages. We are talking of the hiding
places of the prince of this world; we are saying that he is hidden in all
spheres of life including yours and my political and racial and cultural leanings.
These things and more show that we are still earth-bound, we are still subjected
to racial, intellectual and tribal views which may be right or wrong; it
becomes nauseating when we take this to be the gospel.
Why did God redeem us? To reconcile us to Him. For if, reads Romans 5, verse 10, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his
Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Colosians 1:
20: And having made peace through the
blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself… This blood
of the cross is the paid ransom. To what purpose was this reconciliation? That
God may dwell in and with us. This thought was behind the creation of man, and
by extension, the earth. And this is the song that will close the age as
Revelation 21, verses 3 and 4 put it: And
I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is
with man, and he will dwell with them, and be their God. And be their God and
he will dwell with them.
Zebulon means dwelling and is
represented by the precious stone called beryl. This character in spiritual
ascendancy is one who knows the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive…but ye know for he dwelleth with you, and
shall be in you (John 14: 17). This dwelling is two pronged: He the
Spirit dwells with us; He also dwells in us. This makes us the perpetual
carriers of God of the universe; we log Him about in us Who has chosen to dwell not in the heaven of heavens which cannot
contain Him, but in man. This is the replication of the life of God in us by
His Christ through His Spirit. In this ascendancy of this gem, man wil be able
to truly say that the evil genius has no place in him; the church will be able
to say that the prince of this world has come and has nothing in common with
me; there is nothing in me that belongs to him. This is so because there is the
indwelling of God in His house, this Troop, this company that He birthed. This is
beryl-gem character.
Zebulon is beryl. Beryl is said to have a deep-sea colour. This means that this
character is a man of deep depth for only the deep calleth to the deep (Psalm
42:7). Sea in scriptures means people(s), multitudes or nations. But this
character is a part of accompany before God of the whole earth which is as
clear as crystal. In this one, there is no iota of stain, or wrinkle or blemish;
he is clearly transparent. There is absolutely no fault to hide any more. It
speaks of perfect people. Revelation 4:6: And before the throne, there was a
sea of glass like unto crystal.. the sea of glass of the Old Testament, placed
besides the altar of brass was used by the high priests and the Levites to wash
before entering the Holy Place. This is the washing of regeneration and the
renewing of the Holy Spirit or as the Amplified puts it, by [the] cleansing
[bath] of the new birth (regeneration) and renewing of the Holy Spirit (Titus
3: 5); the very starting point of the priestly walk.
Zebulon is beryl. Beryl has the colour of sea-deep. It therefore types out for us
the company of the over-comers. Revelation 15:2: And I see as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that
hath gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark,
and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harp of
God. This sea is mingled with fire. It speaks of the purity that is obtained
through trying by fire. This is the company of them that have been tried and
have been faithful to death like their King who was faithful even unto the
death of the cross; it a company of over-comers that have been purified by fire. They overcame him, the beast, by the blood
of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony and by not loving their life to the
end.
There has been so much noise in the recent time made about the number
666, the number of the name of the beast, and of certain medical-technological
implant in the right arm or the forehead. The US went wild with speculations
that the beast has arrived through Obama, the president of America. Who
was or is or shall be the Anti-Christ? There have been vigorous debates and
analysis to prove or disprove this technology as the appearance of the 666. The
beryl-fem character may not have time to waste on this; he is not trying to
know the day before he behaves right; he is always right with his Father
and Lord. This character knows that prophecy will be fulfilled as and at when
due. In fact, prophecies are being fulfilled everyday; it is not one event-fulfillment. Right now, some prophecies are being and have been fulfilled
precisely according to the counsels of God in His church. In 1978, someone
zeroed the end of the earth to year 2000 because, according to him, every
president of the US elected in a year ending in zero was always assassinated
and this had some bearings on the prediction of the end of the earth. Almost
two decades into the year 2000, the world is still growing old.
The number 666 speaks of the anointed and crowned man in his full
stature as a fiercely independent person from God. This man is a man of awesome
intellectual power and spiritual strength; he is fully independent of God; he
calls himself master of his own fate. When an individual buys into the thought
of this self-glorified man, then the number of his name is said to have been
written or inscribed on the forehead or the right arm of the person. Forehead
speaks of the mind. It means that our mind has been taken over by the
philosophy of this anti-God man and his teachings. We work or handle things
with our right hands and working according to the teachings of this man or
individual or system is to have had his number inscribed in our hands. Of
course, these teachings are against the righteousness of God. We are a product
of what we are taught; whatever the teaching of this godless man, it is
anti-righteousness and yet so cleverly presented that it is accepted world
wide. Only the discerning will see through the shenanigan. Working and living
in line with this life means that we have received the number or the name of
the beast; it is the number of man in his absoluteness of glory, spurning the
thought of God.
It is not too long time ago when
a behemoth of a country of nations introduced and lived this life; it was a
foretaste of what this future and present thing hold. People were taught in
that country to despise the things of God. They said something of man
being a material in motion, an advanced
animal and that was all. Children were taught this from childhood. Man, the
philosophy taught, is the master of his life; death is the end of man and is
quickly followed by decomposition. Ther was no soul or spirit or any of those
things that relate to a sovereign God – religion, all. Again, they opined that
religion is the opium of the people and people felt superior to the idea
of a god or gods and righteousness and holiness and all those divine attributes
of God. All these were ridiculous to independent thinkers and brilliant people;
they were embarrassing to his intelligence, this thing about God. In less than
two decades, this country had caught up in scientific and technological
developments with the West; and while still at this, they sent man to space.
There then started the race for the space. This was a type of the society of
the 666 ruler for, as Pastor James (PJ), my friend, said, this individual is a
polymath and will certainly be sound in economics and all those head-churning
disciples to effectively solve the problems of the world and install peace. Oh,
sorry we have digressed far from our meditation.
Sealing of the elects is not
something in the future; it is an on-going thing. Saints are passing through
purifying fire each day and are being sealed. When a saint refuses the
unrighteous ways of his nation and sticks to the way of his Lord, he is
probably going to find life difficult and unpleasant. When a saint does not
bend the rule to get on in life, he will perhaps be unable to achieve his goals
as easy as any others not bothered by the truth of the gospel. For example have
you noticed that there a subtle teaching and assault of the national psyche
today in many nations of Africa that the public embezzlers prosper while those
restrained by religion suffer? Have you noticed that in these countries, if a
civil servant does not accept bribe, he is ostracised and ridiculed in the
society? Yes these individuals who have accepted this way of life is on the
path of 666, the number of the anti-God man; and when the fullness of the man
is come, these will easily blend. Today, the demarcating line between life of
God and that of the righteousness of man has been blurred and not many
Christians are on the side of eternal life for this, called the life of God, is
able to disengage self from the ways of the evil genius, the prince of this
world.
Beryl stands for Zebulon. It is the colour of deep-sea. One other thing associated with the
sea is its waves that sweep here and there; in each wave are quanta of energy that,
passing through a narrow space on the water, can result to a tsunamis. In
navigating through the water-waves of life, one needs the wisdom of God; this
is called faith. Now, the nations are full of waves of wild and restless and
fearful conditions in addition to the whims and wisdom of their rulers. Unless
held by faith that assures of His dwelling in and with us, we will be easily
swept off.
In Revelation 15, the over-comers came
to be what they were because they were indwelt. Zebulon is dwelling. Someone
indwelt these over-comers who taught them the strategies and tactics that result
in victory. They easily remain a-top of the waves. There is an inner
illumination of hearts; they do not stumble. They cannot forget the costly
dowry, the ransom. Even when they blunder in despair and wonder whether they can continue,
there is always enough welling-up energy in their illuminated hearts to keep them
going.
Zebulon means dwelling. This
character knows the secret of spiritual ascendancy. Psalm 24: 3-4: Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who shall stand in his holy place? He
that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted his soul unto
vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. Ascending to the hill of the Lord is to
abide or stand in his holy place. Abide is to dwell. Psalm 15: 1: Lord who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who
shall dwell in thy holy hill? The beryl-gem character is he. Again Psalm
91: 1 He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Here
is a secret spiritual passage to the heavens, to dwelling in the secret place
of the the Most High. Verse 14: Because,
he hath set his love upon me… This speaks of the Lord Jesus who set his
love on his Father. This is reciprocal: God dwelt in His son because the son
set his love on him; we set our love on him and so He dwells in us. John 14:
23: Jesus answered and said to him, if a
man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will
come unto him, and make our abode with him. The word abode means dwelling.
“He will keep my words.” This is an art of constantly standing by faith on what
God reveals in the word of God in our hearts.
Father as one indwelt by You, we pray for more of you and more of your
Spirit. Keep us going Lord until we are filled with and full of you. We pray
that we may know [practically through personal experience the love of Christ,
which far surpasses mere head or mental sense knowledge]. We pray that we may be
thoroughly filled unto all your fullness – that we may have the richest measure
of your divine presence and cause to be wholly filled and flooded with you.
Thank you, our Father.
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