The Raising Of The Priestly Kings, 21
Reading:
Job 1:
5 And it was so, when the days of
their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up
early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of
them all, for Job said, it may be that my sons have cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job
continually.
Revelation 1:
6 And hath made us kings and
priests unto God and His Father…
Our meditation is yet on the 5th verse
of Job’s first chapter. This verse speaks of this man sending to sanctify and
offering burnt sacrifices for his children after they had had feasts for seven
days, fearing that they might have cursed God in their hearts. We considered him a kind of priest in
his own order before the institution of the Mosaic law.
A priest is a stand-in one between God
and man. He clearly has the capacity to reorder chaotic situations. More than
that, he has the nature of God which makes him worthy of that awesome presence.
It is so because he is one with God and has God as his inheritance and he, in
turn has been inherited of God. Therefore he is considered as a saviour and
life-giver to others of the human race. By his special elevated relationship
with the Father, he can teach man, by pattern and examples, the ways of God.
Because he has always been with God he can point him out in a crowd, even if he
appears as one of the human race. To some extents, that described Job. Priests
are sons.
Jasper: The precious gem-character of
Benjamin
We have been drawn by the Holy
Spirit to have a look at the priestly garments of the high priest in the
wilderness. We now consider the last character or precious stone in the
breastplate.
And the fourth row a
beryl, and onyx, and jasper…(Exodus 28: 20). The
last stone represented Benjamin.
The faith of Rachel reached out to
God for a “adding me a son” after the birth of Joseph. Many events interposed
between the birth of Joseph and that of Benjamin. Jacob had been informed that
it was time he left Laban for Bethel.
There was also the event of bargaining with his father-in-law about his wages;
and also that the sons Laban were displeased with him. Thereafter was the
stealing-away and the inevitable meeting with his alienated brother, Esau. Then
Jacob settled in Shalem in Shekem where Dinah was defiled and where also the
two brethren, Levi and Simeon wilely destroyed the men of the place in revenge.
There was a subsequent migration to
Bethel. Then they journeyed more and at Ephrathah, Rachel travailed in
childbirth and it was with hard labour. Genesis 35: 18, And it came to pass when her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name
Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin.
Ben-oni means son of my sorrow;
Benjamin means son of my righthand. Benjamin or Benoni was the God-adding son
faith-claimed. Though for this life, another life was offered to death. Ben-oni
therefore knew a measure of death and resurrection as Jacob died because of his
heart-throb that departed in a whirlwind – and that, so suddenly. It was a
matter of exchange of lives: one was given life and another was taken. Ben-oni
was an expression of Him that would later arrive the scene in days to come and
would be acquainted with sorrow.
Benjamin who was also Benoni,
represented with jasper in the breastplate, means the son of my right hand. It
was a prophetic name. The One that in every way was acquainted with
sorrow was also the One that would be made to sit at the right hand of God.
In my clime, Rachel would be
described as a bad-head woman. Even today, brethren had a field day yarn-spinning of the woman being punished for her stealing her father’s house-hold
gods. These stories are fast turning to cast-iron laws of psychology: do good,
be well behaved and you will be blessed; if not God will sanction you and you
may die. When a man fails to see the purpose of life other than to have
children and live a comfortable life and be called a mother or father of
someone, he needs to be pitied. But we keep to our meditations here.
The name Benjamin stuck and that of
Benoni faded away. The same way the life of the Lord proved to be. He was a man
acquainted with sorrow but is today the son of my right hand to His Father.
What is the right hand of God? It goes beyond using as a compass to to describe
a direction with respect to God. It represents the glorious power of God. The right hand of God is become glorious in
power (Exodus 15: 6). Hereafter
shall ye see Son of man on the right hand of the power of God (Luke 22:
69). It is expedient to know that the the nature of the right hand is full of
righteousness. The kingly-priest of God is in this space. He is symbolically
seated at the right hand of God. It is a place of safety and overcoming
strength of God – and is exalted.
Man at the right hand of God.
What are some of the action-words
associated with the right hand of God? It saves. Oh that savest by thy right hand (Psalm 17: 7). Other words
beside are: upholds, strengthens, fights, battles and, by terrible acts,
teaches. When a man is within this space called the right hand of God, he has
come to rest, to the apogee of exalted experiences, indescribable. This is the
most glorious space of God’s presence and essence that defies words. No one can
paint it on canvass or can word-paint it. It is an awesome experience. Paul was
not permitted to say or paint the picture of some things he saw in the third
heaven. But we here speak of the right hand of God where sits our Fore-runner,
the Lord Jesus Christ; we speak of the right hand of the Majesty on High. Here,
the man sits until all his enemies are made his footstool, until victory is
attained – and without him lifting a finger to fight for himself. This is the
place of perfection of strength.
The major enemy of life is the self,
the habitation of the flesh. It is a stronghold. Then there is the enemy called
death which is the last enemy to overcome. The character in this priestly
position has ceased from struggling with the flesh and has learned the secret
of allowing the Lord to fight his battles against sin, self, death and decay;
he has finally come under the poignant influence of another who is more
powerful, called the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
has set us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8: 3).
The writers of the Psalms speak
frequently of being saved by the right hand of God. The significance of this is
that the right hand of God is salvation. The right hand saves from both
spiritual and physical death and destruction, from threatening poverty, destitution, oppression, difficulties and Satan-induced challenges of
life.
God
at the right hand of man
The presence of the Lord at the right hand of
man on the other hand protects and strengthens. The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
God at our right hands implies His favour, the shines of his face; it speaks of
the help of his hand, his mercy and grace. Psalm 91: 7, A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand…
Why should ten thousand fall at right hand and just mere one thousand at the
left hand? Because that is the place of saving strength, a place of divine
position in the battles against the enemies; it is the place where the sword is
most fiercely wielded. A Psalmist writes:
Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou
madest strong for thyself. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand.
This is the prayer of the priestly king of the character gem of jasper.
Faith Appropriation
Benjamin means son of my right
hand. One that has become the son of the right hand of God is also the one to
whose right hand God has come. It is a matter of priestly attainment; it is
about mercy, favour and grace continually ministered to us from the throne. But
there must be a pressing into this mercy, this favour and this grace; there
must be a conscious appropriation by faith for the just shall live by faith.
Lord we receive this grace and divine favour until our enemies are become our
footstools and as we occupy for you in this space of life. Thank you Lord.
Tried Seven Times
Benjamin is represented with jasper.
Vine states that jasper is a translucent stone that has various colours,
especially that of fire. A translucent substance permits you to see the
streaming of light, but you may not see the source of light. Now, light
illuminates. Light of whatever colour comes from electromagnetic wave or radiation.
The light given off by fire is also a radiation that effects certain processes
including melting, burning, illuminating and so on. This little statement is
significant in this thought. A soul is not illuminated just by reading
scriptures or hearing messages, though these two processes are most essential.
However the purest gold comes from refining, tried seven times. When you have read and heard the words of the
scriptures, you are just being prepared for a time of testing. Until the time came; the word of Lord tried
him[Joseph] (Psalm 105: 19). The word that tries and refines us is fire;
the trying of faith that brings illumination is experimental and empirical. We
go through the process as an individual because we have different levels of
self-and-death-life to deal with. No one will vicariously do it for us. We are
so appointed to suffer with him so that we may reign with him. Again, Paul says
that our light affliction, which is but
for a moment, worketh for us a far exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2
Corinthians 4: 17).
Gaining Christ is the attribute
of Jasper-gem character
We
sometimes wonder at the innumerable mountains of prayers that dot the
landscapes of our cities. Jasper is a translucent object. Light from a source
can pass through it. The one whose view is intercepted by the translucent
object may not see the source of light. Most times, when we suffer or pass
through the refining fire of challenges and perplexities, we quickly go after
witches, wizards, enchanters, diviners, ancestral spirits and curses calling
their bluff in the name of Jesus Christ and ‘by fire by force’ of the Holy
Spirit. These are activities we mostly preoccupy ourselves with on these
mountains. Is our view very clear; can we truly see the problem? Well, we have
been brought up to see this and that as the reason why we got born again or
became a Christian. Here, life is going and we have not coasted to ‘glory.’
Then it is time to do battle with the ancestral spirits that say we must not
realise ‘the glory I was born to attain.’
And the glory? Fame. Position and enviable high offices. Titled names. Acquisition of highbrow
skills. Wealth. Societal honour and respect. Children. Possessing
properties and cars – the costlier the more glory. What glories really! If we
fail to achieve this after we have prayed, we subtly begin to insinuate evil
to God. He is a bad God for not allowing us the lee way to our heart desires.
Some have been known to pick quarrel with God for failing to marry the woman he
felt would be glorious to live with. Such trite! We tend to believe that every
hitch in our life’s expectations is Satan. How we have exalted and elevated the
father of lies above the Lord! It speaks of the translucent problem of locating
and fixing the source of the light we receive from the other side of the
object. Whatever we presume as the source of light coming from the other side
is what we see. Brother A believes that an ancestral spirit is behind his
problem, so he goes for the jugular of the spirit. Brother B, having the same
problem as A, believes that the devil is behind this but he exalts the Lord as
absolute and able to deliver, so he remains calm and collected; he does not
spin a yarn of ancestral curses. He is simply after the gaining of Christ above
all things with or without achieving his desires. We have seen people who
literally lost all ‘clamourable’ and therefore ‘claimable by faith’ things
which the world put values on. Yet these individuals breathe the desire of
gaining more of God – more of Christ until they are able to locate the source
of life and lights who is called the Father of lights. This is jasper-gem of
character. All what men spend their entire life praying for today are what Paul
says he regards as but dung for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ…that
I may gain Christ. This is the character of jasper priestly king. The world
with its glamour has lost it grips on this soul. He has learned to see God
behind every offensives of the wicked one and is not bothered a wee about
himself. In fact he does not know that he is loosing any thing since he has no
value or respect for these man-designated glories.
We need to come clear in this
thought. We do not say that Satan does not cause problems for man, but what is
that – is that not his life and purpose? Who cares? – to the man who seeks more
of Christ at the expense of his natural life. The jasper-gem character, through the processes
of fire and light, come to discover the true glory: eternal life. To them who by patient continuance in
well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life (Romans
2: 7). In the church of the Lord today, we only seek, by patient continuance in
well doing just for the fleshy porridge of this temporal, palpable glories of
this earth. We have completely lost sight of the true source of life and glory.
One with the one that sat
Jasper
is Benjamin. It is a simile used to paint God, the Father who sat upon the
throne. Revelation 4:3 And he that sat was to look upon like a
jasper and a sadine stone…This speaks of the eternal-life seeker who has
been consistently gazing after the heavenly; the one that is entranced by the
true glory. But we all, with open
face, beholding as in a glass the glory
of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by
the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3: 18). He that sat was to look upon
as like jasper. He is a split beam-image of the same and is become one with the
‘’One that sat.’ [upon the throne].
Jasper is the first foundation of
the jasper-walls of the New Jerusalem. A foundation signifies the structure upon which an entire
edifice stands or rest for stability; it is about stability. So is this
jasper-gem of a man. In this passage, foundations speak of the governing life
of the city; they are the thoughts or laws or principles that run the land,
upon which the entire city rests. We tend to perceive from the outside world - the
seen - to the inside. But the Lord’s man
perceives from the inside world - the spirit world - to the outside. It will
enhance our understanding if we so perceive from the inside to the outside the wall
and the foundations of this city. Revelation 21:19 . . . the first foundation was
jasper; the second, sapphire. . . The jasper foundation is not for keen gaze
and the feeding of our eyes. It is not about sight-seeing that the scriptures
speak when they mention precious stones and gold with respect to the
heavenly. These precious stones and
metals are far too invaluable symbols with respect to gaining Christ and His
Father; the gain of the Eternal life is more glorious than gazing admiringly at
precious stone-foundations and walking or sliding never so more beautiful on gold-paved streets in heaven.
We come out of our digression.
Jasper is Benjamin. Jasper is the first foundation
of the city. Abraham looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder
and maker is God (Hebrew 11: 10). God constitutes the foundations of this city.
Jasper is the first of the governmental control symbolised in the number
twelve. The denizens of this city are those who are built upon the foundations of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus
Christ himself being the chief corner-stone
(Ephesians 2: 20). Here it is evident that the spiritual perception of
the foundations constitutes the words and the teachings of the apostles and
prophets, all headed in Christ Jesus. The jasper-gem person has been grown into
the Head by the dealings of the Holy Spirit through the Ascended gifts of
Christ. This character has been transformed into the resting-structure of the
heavenly city of God. He is tried, tested and approved to be a confident
foundation-stone which is adequate to carry the weight of all else. It speaks
of approximating, at least, to the measure of the fullness of Christ. This
shows us that the Chief Corner-stone expects us to also come to the place of
approval.
Jasper is Benjamin, the son of my
right hand. Again, we find that the walls of the New Jerusalem is built with
jasper (Revelation 21: 19). We say again that these jasper walls are not for
the purpose of tourist attraction to garner revenue for the city. No. Not at
all; revenue generation is not a
business there. Walls are distinct structures that define boundaries. Think
about the ancient great wall of China
that ran through all sort of topography to demarcate the Mongol kingdom or
empire. In the New Jerusalem, only those that ‘do his commandments’ have the
right to the tree of life and, may – note this – enter in through the gates
into the city. The walls cut off the unapproved; the walls sieve away the
unwanted. And there shall in no wise
enter into it anything that defileth…but they which are written in the Lamb’s
book of life. Yes, walls define government. These walls are jasper in
nature: tried, tested and approved. They form the walls. They are like him who
sat and was ‘to look upon like jasper…’ Any other nature other than this is
sieved out or excluded or repelled. In nature, like nature repels; unlike
nature attracts. In the spirit, unlike nature repels and like nature attracts.
It is Jasper like God that attracts the jasper-man.
Jasper is Benjamin, the son of my
right hand. The New Jerusalem has so much of the nature of jasper which speaks
of the great ascendance in the spirit. Jasper speaks of yet unknown glory – the
glory of God; the glory which is God. Blessed is the jasper-gem man who has
ascended far. This is the hope of the church – the hope of the glory of God.
This present world with its technological marvels and allurements is glorious;
its men and women of amazing talents and wisdom and intelligence are glorious.
Even, the men and women with unusual anointing along with their built monuments
and empires are glorious. Nevertheless, no glory that then was, now is and then shall be can compare to this
glory; all other glories will pale into insignificance. It is like a
mathematical prodigy who was thrilled with tinkering with numerals entering
into the greater cerebral thrills at his encounters, at adulthood, with
advanced calculus or some of those head-churning branches. We talk of the
word-defiant description of the glory of God.
Jasper is Benjamin. It is the
material with which the city of God is built which also symbolises the
nature of God. The city has the glory of God, and to help our sight in the
natural, is compared to a precious stone, even jasper.: … and her light was like
unto a stone, even like a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear
as crystal. In spiritual reckoning, this is most precious; it is that
character that has come to the preciousness of God; it is that character that assayed the
zenith of the spirit;s reach far above principality, power, dominion, authority
and every name that is named not in the present age but also in the world to
come. This jasper of the light of the city, God, is clear as crystal. Clear as
crystal is about the pure character of the city and the inhabitants. Further reading
down, we come across those who live within and without the walls of the city.
There is difference.
Jasper-gem character, most precious –
as to the priestly breastplate – complete governmental control of all things;
this character of the priest God is making is most unusual in its reach and
ascending power. It is pointing to the fact of the Father transforming and
strengthening his people to take over.
Lord, life is all about
possessing You, the Eternal and the author of life. Christ said, For as the
Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given the Son to have life in Himself. This
is the glory we are called into; this is what should constitute the
life-pursuit of man. But we and our forebears have received another value and
definitions of life. Thank You Father for the re-orientation being given us
today in Christ Jesus. We keep returning to the throne of mercy that we may not
run dry in the redeeming grace to come to this fulfillment. We receive this in
the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.
