"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God..."
FROM THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE
Part 138
THE WOMAN AND THE MANCHILD
(continued)
And she brought forth a
man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her
child was caught up unto God, and to His throne” (Rev.
12:5).
As we read
these words of truth, surely we must realize that the woman
No matter
what we encounter in life — work, science, medicine, economics — everyone deals
with these things at some level. For
example, economics — you have to pay your bills. You
have to earn money. That’s
economics. Big
corporations and the government do it on a much higher level, but you do it on a
daily level. You don’t
use complex economic formulas to figure out your economic structures, because
you don’t work with that level of the knowledge. What
about science? You know
enough about science to know that if you take a plug and stick it into the
receptacle in the wall, there will be electricity there; but you don’t
necessarily know all the science that was necessary to bring that current there. Why? Because
you’re not working with that science at a high level, you are dealing with that
science at its lowest level of daily application — you just plug it in! But
someone else works that science at a higher level and creates the systems that
generate the electricity and bring it to the plug-in.
What about
medicine? Have you ever
taken an aspirin? You
take an aspirin based upon a certain level of medical knowledge. You
know that if you take that medicine — according to what you’ve been told by a
higher authority — it will relieve your headache. And
you know enough about medicine to do that. You
wouldn’t go and purchase many drugs that are on the market without gaining a
higher knowledge of them, nor would you try to perform surgery on someone. So
you see — you can work with knowledge at many
levels. The church
world today is working with the knowledge of God at the “plug” level and the
“aspirin” level! They
know enough to take the plug and plug it into the receptacle on the wall and get
a little bit of power. They
know enough to take the word of God and relieve some of the pains of daily
living. But God is
raising up a people that is not content to work at the plug level or the aspirin
level — they are motivated by the Holy Spirit to work with the knowledge of God
at higher levels, even at the governmental
level and at the creative
level!
God is
calling a people to know and experience Him in higher dimensions, to enter into
the mysteries of the
Jesus was
the first son to be made in the likeness of God, to be perfected in the image of
God, then to ascend, to be lifted up and exalted to sit on the throne of God,
and given dominion, as a man, over all the works of His hands. It
was not God who was so exalted; it was the man Christ
Jesus! God has highly
exalted Him, placed Him at His own right hand, and put all things under His
feet. He
has been given the dominion God made man to have! In
Him, through Him, and by Him we shall all ascend until we are also seated on the
throne and receive the dominion God’s “man” has been created for. Jesus
has led the way! On
that blessed resurrection morning Jesus was transformed from mortal to immortal,
from physical to spiritual, and it was done in a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye. Is it too
incredible to believe that the very Spirit of God who has quickened and
transformed us in our souls will also, at His appointed time, change our vile
body that it may be fashioned like unto His body of glory? And
now He has ascended, He is seated on the throne of God: and because He is there,
it is our blessed assurance that we also will be there, for did He not pray, “Father,
I would that they be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory…and the
glory Thou hast given me I have given unto them, that they may be one in us.”
Sonship is
the hope of creation! Rather
than getting all involved in superficial, carnal, worldly methods of trying to
solve the world’s problems, let us cry out mightily to God to work His mighty
work in us! Now since
such awesome responsibility and power are in store for the sons of God, can any
man longer question why our all-wise heavenly Father should take such pains to
bring His sons to perfection? None knows better than He exactly
what is needed to transform His sons from corrupt and carnal creatures of
the dust to beings of divine understanding and heavenly glory and dominion. I
have often said that I have strong confidence in the ability of my heavenly
Father to bring me to perfection and maturity as a son of God. My
Father is a great son-raiser. He
was a phenomenal success with His firstborn! Anyone
who can raise a son like Jesus knows exactly what he is doing and can surely
handle you and me, my precious brother and sister. “…we
see Jesus, who was made a little
lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honor; that He by
the grace of God should taste death for every man. For
it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in
bringing many sons unto glory, to
make the Captain of their
salvation perfect through
sufferings…wherefore God also hath highly
exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and
things under the earth” (Heb.
2:9-10; Phil. 2:9-10).
Beholding
the glory of Jesus Christ we can understand why the Lord takes such infinite
care to bring all His sons to perfection. Would
you dare to imagine that any of the presidents, prime ministers, senators, or
parliamentarians of this present world system would be found fit candidates to
straighten out the mess this world is in, bringing an end to crime, poverty,
ignorance, immorality, fear, deceit, greed, war, broken homes and hearts,
sickness, pain, and death, restoring all into the purity and love of God again? Ah
— the ages to come will be given into the hands of God’s choicest sons — saints
fully developed, perfected through suffering, matured through trial, proven
through testing, transformed in mind, heart, and nature, far beyond the reach of
corruption and decay, far above the realm of greed and selfishness, or any such
thing.
The manchild
is caught up unto God, and to His throne. God
is not a limited physical being that can sit on a tangible throne in one
restricted locality out beyond the blue. God
is spirit and God is everywhere and thus His throne is a spiritual throne and is
everywhere! The one
great truth that all theologians agree on is that God is omnipresent
spirit who not only created, but upholds and fills the
whole universe and all things! You
cannot put a God who is that great and everywhere present and bottle Him up on a
physical throne in one confined spot. Oh,
no! He is everywhere
and His throne is everywhere. The
throne of the God who is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent spirit is
not a material one but bespeaks the REALM OF HIS SUPREME AND UNIVERSAL AUTHORITY
AND RULERSHIP; and our Lord Jesus Christ, the firstborn
son of God, has been exalted to
the glory of that rulership. The
throne of God is a sphere of power and authority, a position of eminence, a
condition and state of being. The
reign of God’s Christ is the assumption of the almighty power and universal
dominion of the Father. It
is the dispensing of HIS POSITIVE ENERGY FORCE into His creation in specific
ways.
If heaven
were a “place” out beyond the galaxies somewhere, can you imagine how long it
would take for God to hear a prayer, how long it would take to get to
heaven were we to travel there, how long it would have taken Jesus to get from
heaven to earth when He descended to dwell among us? Why,
bless your heart, after two thousand years Jesus would still be on His way up to
the throne even if He traveled at the speed of light! And
He would need billions of more years to get there! The
angel Gabriel was dispatched from heaven while
Daniel was praying and was able
to reach the prophet Daniel while
he was yet in his prayer (Dan.
9:20-23). Real distance
is measured not in miles or light years, but rather in time required to reach a
destination. Heaven,
therefore, is not far away!
There is no
need to go anywhere physically to relate to God’s throne. The
journey is a spiritual one! The
throne is all around you, within you, and present equally everywhere within the
realm of Spirit in which God exists and dwells. You
can either experience or ascend that throne within yourself through union with
Christ and the release of His power. “All
authority in heaven and in earth is given unto me,” Jesus said. The
ascension of Jesus was the supreme event of world history. He
ascended not to a place, but disappeared into the spirit realm that is all about
us and was caught up into an office in and by the Spirit. He
departed from the arena of humiliation and limitation to enter into His glory. He,
in one instant, vaulted from the status of despised Galilean teacher to the
cosmic King of the universe, rising over the heads of Pilate, Herod, and Caesar
Augustus. The ascension
catapulted Jesus to the right hand of God where He was enthroned as King of
kings and Lord of lords. The
implication of this event for every son of God and for the world is staggering. He
has invited us to share that throne! He
has beckoned all who have received the call to sonship to ascend in Him to that
place in the Spirit where all authority and power are accessed. That
is the destiny of every manifest son of God! That
authority is present everywhere by His Spirit! But
it must become appropriated, embodied, and expressed through a people who attain
to the FULLNESS OF
CHRIST!
The Greek
word thronos means
“the place and seat of authority” and refers to all executive authority that is
committed into the hands of God’s Christ, Head and body. Understand
that the throne is here now; here is infinity; here is eternity; here is
omnipotence, waiting for you to enter into your heritage in God! Again
and again in the Psalms and in the Prophets David and others make this beautiful
and significant assertion: “The
Lord reigneth…” The
Lord reigneth over the heathen, the Lord reigneth over the nations, the Lord
reigneth in
The Hebrew
word translated “reigneth” is malak and
means to reign, that is, to ascend
the throne, to
What does it
mean when the manchild is “caught up unto God, and to His throne”? The
fact that a people is raised up to His throne signifies an expanded
manifestation and administration of His dominion. God
is ready to deal in a brand new way with things not dealt with before! It
Oh, how
blessed the prospect! Truly
we have come to that time! May
the Holy Spirit reveal to all His elect the power and authority of His kingdom
that is now to be revealed through the sons of God! May all God’s
called ones understand that God now determines to change things in the earth! As
we hear His call to come up into the throne
zone, we know that He is coming
to reign in our lives to redeem us fully and completely in spirit, soul, and body. And
He shall reign in us until His throne is fully established in us, and then we
shall subdue all things unto Him until the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
covers the earth as the waters cover the sea!
Jesus has
promised us to sit down with Him in His throne. Not
another little throne beside His throne! Just
as there are saints who are stones in the wall of the heavenly temple, or
pillars in the temple, so there are those who become a throne
people. As we
ascend in spirit to that heavenly realm of throneship we then realize this is
where we really belong. The
yearning deep within our hearts by the Holy Spirit, to bless the world, right
the wrongs, heal the wounds, assuage the suffering, abolish evil, and set
creation free from its long night of bondage to sin, sorrow, limitation, and
death, is the divine indication that we are destined for throneship. Others
are praying for revival, or hoping to get whisked away to a mansion in the sky. But
not the sons! Everything
in the realm of the Spirit makes us feel at home with God and His Christ. As
we consciously ascend higher and higher into the realm of the Spirit we see that
One who is all glorious, arrayed in the Light that no
SHEPHERDING THE NATIONS
“And she
brought forth a man child who was to rule
all nations with a rod of iron” (Rev.
12:5).
In a mystery
novel the author leaves clues for the careful observer. These
clues allow a pattern to emerge, and the reader begins to catch on to the
meaning of what has happened in the story and often can predict the outcome. In
a somewhat similar way, God announced certain clues which were to be
In like
manner the Lord has given us clues as to the identity of the manchild! Not
least among these clues is the fact that this manchild ascends
up to sit upon the throne of the Lord. Now
we know that Jesus Christ sits upon the throne. Yet
— Jesus is the Head of the body of Christ, of which we are members in
particular. Would you
not agree that where the Head is, there the body must be also? Is
not this exactly the first clue given us in the Revelation concerning the
identity of the manchild? “To
him that overcometh will
I grant to sit with me in my
throne, even as I also overcame,
and am set down with my Father in His throne” (Rev.
3:21). Of whom does the
Lord Jesus speak when He says, “He
that overcometh, and
keepeth my works unto the end, to
him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of
iron” (Rev. 2:26-27). Ah,
the overcomer out
of the church realm “rules all nations with a rod of iron,” and so does the
manchild! The overcomer sits
with Christ upon His throne, and so does the manchild! These
“clues” provide the evidence that those out of the church age who are called
“overcomers” are
The
prophet Daniel has provided us with another clue concerning the identity of this
manchild who is caught up to the throne of God. “And
I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like
the Son of man came with the
clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near
before Him. And there
was given him dominion, and glory,
and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him: his
dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom
that which shall not be destroyed. And
I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against
them; until the
Ancient of days came, and judgment
was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints
possessed the kingdom. And
the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole
heaven, shall be GIVEN TO THE PEOPLE (OUT OF) THE SAINTS OF THE MOST HIGH, whose
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him. Hitherto
is the end of the matter…” (Dan.
7:13-14, 21-22, 27-28). Pay
close attention to the wording of the latter part of the above passage and you
will see that it is a people out
of a people that
is given the kingdom and the dominion. It
is not given to all saints, but to “the people of the
saints,” that is, a company out
of the saints of the most
High. TRULY THIS IS THE
MANCHILD BIRTHED OUT OF THE WOMAN! The
clues are there if you can read them!
The entire
scene of the book of Revelation through chapter twelve concerns the work of God wthin
His elect. It is
all an internal work designed ultimately to consummate with the birth of the
manchild. This manchild is caught up unto God, and to His throne,
and rules all nations with
a rod of iron! Every
word of God is freighted with significance. I
would draw your attention to the term “all nations.” From
this point forward the work of God is no longer restricted to His internal
These
“nations” are not limited to the nations of unregenerate people represented at
the United Nation Organization in
Long
millenniums ago the anointed Psalmist penned these prophetic words: “Yet
have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion…ask of me, and I will give thee the
nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy
possession. Thou
shalt BREAK them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a
potter’s vessel” (Ps. 2:6-9). This
particular verse is quoted three times
in the New Testament, and all three are in the book of Revelation! Of
the overcomer it says, “And he
shall RULE them
(the nations) with a rod of iron; as
the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of
my Father” (Rev. 2:27). And
of the manchild it is written, “And
she brought forth a man child, who was to RULE all
nations with a rod of iron”(Rev.
12:5). Then, finally, “And
out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite
the nations; and he shall rule
them with a rod of iron” (Rev.
19:15).
Dispensational
premillennialists understand this to mean that in the future world power
Words are
helpless, hopeless, and inadequate when we are drawn to explain the deep truths
of God in the Spirit. What
is this “
One would
ask the question, Why not translate this Greek word “feed” in these three
Revelation passages, since that is its meaning and it is so translated elsewhere
in the New Testament? The
answer is that it would not make sense to translate it “feed them with a rod of
iron,” so the translators reached the conclusion that the word “rule” would
serve the purpose. Thayer’s
Lexicon gives the meaning of this particular Greek word “to
feed, to tend a flock, to keep sheep.” W.
E. Vine, a militant dispensationalist in his volume Expository
Dictionary of New Testament Words, gives
the meaning of this word: “to act
as a shepherd, tend flock.” Jamison,
Fausset and Brown Commentary, a dispensationalist commentary, translates the
three passages in the Revelation thus: “to
rule as a shepherd” (Rev. 2:27);
and in both Revelation 12:5 and 19:15, “tend
as a Shepherd.” Hence,
the true meaning of the word “
“He shall
SHEPHERD the nations” — what a
wonderful and sublime thought!
The
following words by brother
“What does
it mean to rule and to reign in the kingdom? All
who are called to this high calling will shepherd the
people into the
The nature and
power of this “shepherd’s rod” is uniquely revealed in the experience of Moses
at the burning bush. Moses
was hesitant and anxious about going to
In 1775 the
It is our
heavenly Father who selects the “few good men” of that elect company. “You
have not chosen me, I have chosen you, and ordained you…” I
didn’t pick my father. I
didn’t pick my mother. I
didn’t pick my country. I
didn’t pick my community where I was raised. I
didn’t pick my classmates.. I
didn’t pick my teacher. I
didn’t even choose my wife! God
gave her to me. I
noticed her. I loved her. I
asked her to marry me. But
the whole arrangement was supernaturally orchestrated and was the ordering of
the Lord! You say, “Why
would God choose me?” God’s
word to you today is the same word that it is to me, “I’ve chosen
you. I picked
you.” It is not
an accident that the word of the kingdom came to you! It’s
not an accident that God brought precious brethren across your path! It’s
not even an accident that you are reading this very message! There
is a destiny. There
came a time when God looked down on this spinning planet with its sea of sin,
crime, corruption, hate, sickness, sorrow, and death and He said, “Enough is
enough! I shall redeem
the world! I will raise
up a light for all mankind! I
will reveal my love! I
will
Robert
Schuler told the story of the Chinese Emperor. He
was a very insecure man. Insecure
people will almost always develop a superiority complex, or become very
narcissistic. In this
case, he did both. He
had a meditation gazebo in the garden. He
hung a mirror. Every
day he would rise in the morning, go to the gazebo, look in the mirror, primp
and admire himself, and tell himself how handsome he was. He
said, I don’t want anybody to disturb me with bad news.” Unscrupulous,
duplicitous colleagues took advantage of the weak ruler and robbed the treasury. They
stopped giving the food to the poor and they plundered the country. One
loyal subject felt this could not go on. One
night, the loyal subject took the mirror out of the frame and replaced it with
clear glass. The next
morning the Emperor got up and went through his usual narcissistic ritual. He
approached the mirror to primp and admire himself. This
time, however, when he looked out, instead of seeing himself, he saw the people
in the streets — huddled masses, hungry, famine-starved. He
was distraught. He
called his colleague and said, “What is happening to my people?” The
colleague told him. The
Emperor righted the matter and became a saviour to his people.
I do not
hesitate to tell you that there are no armchair sons standing upon mount Zion! There
are no Country Club elite sons of God! There
are no playboy sons! There
are no honorary sons! There
are no theoretical, self-styled sons! We
have not been called to glory in our selection as members of the manchild
company, to exult in how great and beautiful and select and special we are! We
have not been chosen to flit about polishing our halos and adjusting our crowns;
we are called and chosen and ordained to be saviours unto
all mankind! Sonship is
compassion. Sonship is
sacrifice. Sonship
is blessing. Sonship is love, divine love. Sonship
is reconciliation. Sonship
is healing. Sonship is restoration. Sonship is tenderness, sympathy, concern,
and the power of HIS LIFE to change things!
Have you
seen the cartoon? As I
recall it, two citizens of the heavenly kingdom are standing atop a cloud, harps
slung over their shoulders, newly won “angel wings” hanging at the ready. But
the two seem bored. As
they peer off into the limitless beyond that stretches before them, one
complains to the other, “I
God is
preparing a new order and it won’t be any order that we have been through. It
won’t be the order of Passover and it won’t be the order of Pentecost. It
won’t be the order of the outer court and it won’t be the order of the holy
place. Many years ago,
at the middle of the twentieth century, the Lord came to us as the rain, as the
Latter Rain upon the earth. It
was a glorious outpouring of Himself! The ascended Christ came to
us in power and gave gifts unto men, gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists,
I do not hesitate to tell you that God is preparing a new
order and it won’t be the order
we have known and cherished. It
won’t be any order we have ever heard of, witnessed, or experienced. Oh,
no! It won’t be the New
Testament order of the Former Rain, nor will it be the new order of the Latter
Rain. There is coming a
manifestation of God that will be both sovereign and spontaneous. This
will be the order of the MANCHILD! It
will be the expression, power, and glory of the
In the
former revival there were great
Today I tell
you by the word of the Lord that the thing God is after in the manifestation of
sons is to raise up in the midst of the earth a sonship
ministry that is not subject
to clocks, calendars, campaign managers, finance committees, organization,
tents, trucks, musicians, sound equipment, plans or promotions of any kind. God
is teaching us the ways of His kingdom and is preparing our hearts for true
sonship ministry. Ah,
my beloved, you can forget meetings as we have known them! The
order of the
With Jesus,
when the meeting broke up, He just walked on down the street and the meeting
followed Him! He
entered into a home and a meeting started. He
stepped into the courts of the temple and a meeting was generated. That’s kingdom
meetings! And
that is the spontaneous, unstructured, sovereign, divine order of the
As the
firstborn Son ministered, so will His many brethren. Only
this manifestation of sonship will be even greater, marked by the “greater
works” Jesus promised, because of the power of His resurrection. Walking
down the street, entering a home, flying on a plane, sitting in a restaurant,
walking into a store, a factory, a church, a school, or passing undetected into
the chambers of congress, the office of a president, prime minister, government
official, or a business tycoon — any place at any time, unannounced — the mighty
works of God will be manifest! The
secrets of men’s hearts will be revealed. When the glorified sons
of God appear even to one individual, be that individual a bag lady, street
drunk, store clerk, drug lord, college professor, corporate CEO, or the
president or prime minister of a nation, as the word is spoken to men —
I am
thoroughly convinced in my spirit, and I believe I have the Spirit of God, that
just as God saved Saul of
Mighty signs
and wonders will be wrought, sick healed, quaduiplegics walk, limbs grow out,
blind see, deaf hear, dead raised — even the dead in their caskets who have been
embalmed at the mortuary will arise and walk and be seen by the multitudes. Lives
will be spontaneously, sovereignly, and irreversibly transformed. The
There are no
precedents for the thing God is doing in this day. It
is God’s new thing, God’s new
day of His kingdom smiting the
image of human government and filling the whole earth. It
is the MANCHILD upon the throne! All
the “isms” will be smashed and demolished by the overflow of God’s invincible,
omnipotent word,
The sons of
God will not minister out of talent, natural ability, personality, charisma, nor
out of theological training or organizational skills, but out of the power of
resurrection life. This
sonship ministry will begin in the Spirit and it will end in the Spirit. It
will not parade across a stage with theatrics and showmanship. Flesh
can have no part in this Day! I
say to you by the word of the Lord — it’s coming, and it’s going to be powerful! There
shall be a glorious showdown, this sonship ministry will show forth the glory of
the living, exalted Christ in the face of every power on earth. The
sons of God will actually accomplish more for the
The
manifestation of the sons of God will
Ah, my
brother, my sister, do not sell creation short! Do
not settle for less than God’s best! All
creation is standing on tiptoe, waiting and counting on you. If
you love
THIS IS THE MANCHILD UPON THE THRONE!
J. PRESTON EBY
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J. Preston Eby
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