KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES
"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God..."
FROM
THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE
Part
72
THE
FOUR LIVING CREATURES AND THE TWENTY-FOUR ELDERS
(continued)
“And round about the throne were four and twenty
seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders
sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads
crowns of gold…and in the midst of the throne, and round
about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before
and behind” (Rev. 4:4-6).
The word “beasts” is an unfortunate translation, being necessarily
associated in our minds with the brute creation and that which is
typified thereby. Beasts in this passage is translated from the
Greek word zoon which signifies simply a “living creature”.
It comes from the root zao from which also is derived the
word zoe which is used always in reference to divine life
or the life of the ages. All of these words denote that
which is alive or is lively! How significant, then, that these four
creatures of life are found “in the midst of the
throne” and “round about the throne,” occupying the
central position in the throne while emanating in glory and power
out from the throne!
In the midst of the throne! The four “Living Creatures” are, then,
four manifestations of LIFE — the LIFE OF THE GOD OF THE THRONE!
They are four representations of NATURE — the NATURE OF THE GOD OF
THE THRONE! The four Living Creatures are four expressions of THE
POWER AND DOMINION OF THE THRONE! Not only do they represent the
life and nature of the God of the throne; not only do they express
within themselves the character of the dominion of the throne — they
likewise reveal the very life, nature, character, and dominion of
A-L-L WHO SHARE THE THRONE! The throne means kingship!
The One on the throne REIGNS! This is the glory of
the sons of God who reign with Christ!
The twenty-four Elders in the book of Revelation bear a
special signification. These Elders occupy a unique position
described as “round about” the throne — yet UPON THRONES! In order
to fully appreciate the scenery here drawn by the Spirit, we need to
go back and examine the order established among the people of Israel
after they came up out of the land of Egypt. The Camp of Israel as
it was established in Sinai formed a hollow square. In the center
of the hollow was the tabernacle of Moses. Around the tabernacle
Israel was divided into four camps: one camp of three tribes on the
east side, another camp of three tribes on the south side, another
camp of three tribes on the west side, and the last camp of three
tribes on the north side. Then — in the open area between
the camp of the tribes of Israel and the tabernacle was camped the
tribe of Levi with its priesthood — “round about” the tabernacle.
In order to go to the tabernacle from any of the tribes of Israel it
was necessary to pass through the camp of the priests! This
great truth reveals that God placed the camp of the priests directly
between Himself and the people of Israel. It should
be clear to any thinking mind that the priesthood camped “round
about” the tabernacle corresponds precisely to the scene of the
twenty-four Elders seated “round about” the throne of God! For you
see, the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place of the
tabernacle constituted the throne of Yahweh in the midst of
His people! And “round about” that throne was His priesthood!
Further confirmation that the twenty-four Elders
represent the ministry of priesthood lies in the fact that in I
Chronicles chapter twenty-four we read of how, under king David, in
preparation for their future ministry in the temple, the Levitical
priesthood was divided into TWENTY-FOUR COURSES under the headship
of TWENTY-FOUR ELDERS! The priesthood had become so numerous that
all of those priests could not go into the house of the Lord at one
time, so they were divided into courses and assigned to work shifts,
each “course” of priests and Levites came on duty for a week at a
time. It took all twenty-four courses to MAKE
UP THE ENTIRE PRIESTHOOD OF GOD! The twenty-four Elders
represent the whole priesthood of God, of which Jesus is the Head,
our great High Priest!
Let us then stand assured of this marvelous truth: the
four Living Creatures represent the ministry of kingship, for
they dwell in the midst of the throne. The twenty-four
Elders reveal within themselves the ministry of priesthood,
for they are round about the throne, standing between
the God of the throne and the vast multitude “before” the throne.
These are not two separate companies; these are rather
two aspects of ministry that have their source and
power in the throne. This is the KING-PRIEST MINISTRY OF THE
MANIFEST SONS OF GOD! These are all sons of God in the power and
outflow of life, glory, and power from the throne. God is raising
up within each of His called and chosen elect the spirit and
nature of sonship, the spirit and nature of kingship, and
the spirit and nature of priesthood. These are the heavenly
realities John beheld in the throne room! Isn’t it wonderful!
The four Living Creatures — KINGS! The twenty-four
Elders — PRIESTS! Together they bow low before the great King of
kings and the High Priest over the house of priests, intoning this
new song — “Thou hast made us unto our
God kings and priests: and we shall reign
over the earth!” (Rev. 5:9-10). Ah, beloved, these are not mere
words. God’s meaning of a “song” is “message; revelation;
experience.” All songs are meant to convey a message! Man calls
anything a song, any weird beat, any unnatural accents, any
harmonic dissonance, any melodic discord, the ba-ba-bu of the
jungle, the raucous racket of rock music, the monotonous drone of
hip-hop is merchandised as a song. A “new song” in spiritual
language means a NEW REVELATION, a NEW MESSAGE, a NEW EXPERIENCE in
God! A new song is born when men experience the inworking of a new
message, the message and the messenger so becoming one until the
messenger becomes the message. I am reminded of
Cartwright, the backwoods preacher of a past century, who used to
sing a hymn as he went through the woods:
“No foot
of land do I possess,
No
cottage in the wilderness;”
and one day a man presented Cartwright with a cottage and a piece
of ground, and he went on his way singing:
“No foot
of land do I possess,
No
cottage in the wilderness;”
and he stopped and said, “Joseph Cartwright, that is a lie; you have
got a cottage and land; you cannot sing that hymn!” Every
time the Spirit of God unfolds new dimensions of truth to our
hearts, effecting further transformations into His image, bringing
us into a new place in God and a further appropriating of our
inheritance in Christ, a new song is born. The old
song was good and true for its time, but we can sing the old song no
more, for a new day has dawned, a new glory has arisen, a new
reality is birthed within, praise His name! While this is not all
it means, yet it is true that many songs we sang in church when I
was a boy growing up I cannot sing today because they no longer
express what God is doing in my life, or the reality, word, and
purpose He is bringing forth. Some of them are so far from the
truth as I now know it, that I cannot bear even to listen to
them, much less sing them!
God is even now preparing a people, a royal priesthood, a kingdom of
priests, sons of the Most High; and while the church world continues
on with its time-honored traditions and childish delusions, singing
about flying away to cabins in the corner of gloryland or to
mansions over the hill-top, a people is arising in the earth with a
new and wonderful vision — to become kings and priests unto God —
their hearts vibrating with the melodious strains of a new
song, the song of a people with a purpose, a company
gathered out of the generations, grown up into the fullness of
Christ, conquering every enemy within and without, which in due time
shall be led forth to be the manifest expression of His image,
character, and nature, the revelation of His glory, power, and
dominion, with an outflow of life and light and love sufficient to
change the course of history, transform the nations, and restore all
men and all things back into the life of God. What a song!
For these manifest sons the whole creation groans, and they are in
the process of preparation, being made, in the skillful hands
of the Great Potter, a KINGDOM OF PRIESTS. God knows every detail
of His plan for His kings and priests, and precisely the work to be
wrought upon each one to conform them unto His own priestly heart.
Ah, those who receive this call, those who behold this
vision, those who cherish this hope, indeed sing a
new song which can be learned by none but those apprehended,
the firstfruits of His redemption. This is the ineffable,
preeminent Song; ineffable because it strikes a chord, the vibration
of which cannot be discerned by the carnal man; preeminent because
it is the Song of the Lamb who stands in the midst of the throne,
the King of kings and the High Priest of our profession, who
in all things has preeminence!
PARTAKERS OF THE HEAVENLY CALLING
HE THAT HATH AN EAR, LET HIM HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT SAYS! Across the
land and around the world the Spirit is saying today that He is
preparing a people, He is preparing a body, He is preparing sons who
shall be conformed to the image of the Son, partakers of the
divine nature, who shall have the mind of Christ, who shall be
brought to glory and who then shall become the very express image of
the Father, the very brightness of the Father’s glory and the
outraying of the Father’s person. Even as the first Son, who went
into the ground and died as a grain of wheat to produce other sons
in His likeness — He was the brightness of the Father’s glory and
the express image of the Father’s person — and God sent Him to be
the Saviour of the world. God is now preparing sons, God is now
preparing a body for that first Son, we are the body of the first
Son, the body of the Christ, the body of the King of glory, the body
of the great High Priest in the heavens after the order of
Melchizedek. We are the body of the Christ, and in and through
these sons, when all have been brought to His fullness, His
salvation shall be manifested, exhibited, and demonstrated unto the
ends of the earth. All peoples and all nations shall at last see
what God is like in the fullness of His love, glory, wisdom, and
power! The Lord is saying to His people in this day, “For this
cause I have raised thee up and sent thee to be a light unto the
nations and thou shalt BE MY SALVATION to the ends of the earth”
(Isa. 9:6; Acts 13:47).
“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly
calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession,
Christ Jesus” (Heb. 3:1). The subject in the book of Hebrews is
Christ’s priesthood and the writer says that we, the holy brethren
of Christ Jesus, seeing how true it is that the Christ came into
man’s world and fully shared his weaknesses and sorrow; seeing how
true it is that the Christ is now exalted as the High Priest to the
right hand of the Majesty in the heavens — as partakers with
Him in this heavenly calling of priesthood after the order of
Melchizedek, let us consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of
this order of priesthood to which we are called. If you
would know the meaning and the glory and the power of that to which
you are called — CONSIDER HIM! Don’t consider Him any longer merely
as Saviour, Healer, Blesser, and Baptizer — consider Him as the
Apostle and High Priest of the order of priesthood to which you are
called!
An apostle is the first advocate and
initiator of a new order. A high priest is the head
and chief of an order of priesthood. Jesus is the apostle
of that order to which we are called. He is the sign Son,
the first-begotten Son, the pattern Son for all who
are called to be sons of God. He is the apostle and the
High Priest of the Melchizedekian Order of Priesthood! All who
are called to sonship and priesthood through the age shall come into
that same wonderful image and fullness of Jesus Christ. It is time
now, above all times, for us to mightily stress these truths. I see
no possibility of any long delay until the hour of the
manifestation of the sons of God becomes a reality. One does
not attain the realities of sonship by thumb twiddling or
presumption. Sonship appears as a great vision before our
understanding by the quickening of the spirit of revelation and we
attain it through surmounting faith, patience, endurance, testing,
proving, obedience, and growth into His fullness through eternal
vigilance. Men in the church order may have other men as their
apostles, but when it comes to sonship, kingship, and priesthood,
the apostle of this realm is only Jesus! This realm has only one
Apostle even as it has only one High Priest. As our
Apostle Jesus Christ proclaims and opens up the way before us,
and as our High Priest He reconciles us fully to God that we
may walk in the calling ordained for us.
The “heavenly calling” is the calling unto the priesthood of
Christ. Hebrews is very clear about this! “Now the main point of
what we have to say is this: We have such a High Priest,
One who is seated at the right hand of the majestic God in
heaven, an officiating priest, a
minister in the holy places and in the true tabernacle which
is erected not by man but by the Lord” (Heb. 8:1-2, Amplified).
Hear it, O ye sons of God — Christ is the great High Priest of
the heavens and we are called to be partakers with Him
in that heavenly calling!
THE HIGH PRIEST AND THE PRIESTS
The notion, held by the vast majority of evangelical Christians,
that the priesthood of the Christ is an individual, singular
priesthood exercised by Himself alone in some far-off heaven, is
an absurdity. The term “high priest” is a relative term, “high”
being translated from the Greek word archiereus, meaning
“chief” in order or rank. It is the same word translated “chief
priest” or “chief priests” in numerous passages. It is a title
denoting the CHIEF OR HEAD OF AN ORDER such as the terms “Chairman
of the Board,” “Archangel,” “Chief of Police,” “Speaker of the
House,” “King of Kings,” etc. It should be clear to every thinking
mind that you cannot have a High Priest without a priesthood any
more than you can have a Chairman of the Board without a board for
the Chairman of the Board to be chairman over. You cannot have a
High Priest without a priesthood any more than you can have an
Arch-angel without an order of angels for the Arch-angel to be
leader of. You cannot have a High Priest without a priesthood any
more than you can have a Chief of Police without a police force for
the Chief of Police to be chief of. You cannot have a High Priest
without a priesthood any more than you can have a Speaker of the
House of Representatives without a House of Representatives for the
Speaker of the House to be speaker for. You cannot have a High
Priest without a priesthood any more than you can have Jesus as King
of Kings and Lord of Lords without any kings or any lords for Him to
be King and Lord over.
High Priest! The High Priest in the heavenlies! Ah,
yes, we are holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,
receiving the vision to become one in Him, to share in
this heavenly priesthood, and as we follow on to know Him in all His
glorious fullness we shall see a ministry unfold before us which
leads to deliverance and restoration for all God’s creation. Our
task will not be left undone, for we shall have the ages before us
to carry it through to victory, praise His name!
The priesthood of Aaron foreshadows that of Christ in a
very striking way. The honor of being a High Priest is not open to
man’s ambition. No man can claim it for himself (Heb. 5:4). The
High Priest ministers in such high and holy matters that only God
can appoint him! Thus it was that Aaron was called of God to this
task. He did not take it to himself; nor did Moses make him High
Priest. God called him to do this work, and no one else could have
done so. In the same way, “Christ glorified not Himself to be made
an High Priest” (Heb. 5:5). He is High Priest because God made Him
so! He was “called of God” (Heb. 5:10) to this office.
It is inspiring to meditate upon the thought given us in
Exodus 28:1 wherein we read, “And take thou unto thee Aaron thy
brother, and his sons with him from among the children of
Israel, that HE may minister unto me in the priest’s office, even
Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.” God
chose five men, Aaron and his four sons, and then referred to them
in the singular pronoun, “That HE may minister.” The ministries of
these five men were inseparably wrapped up in each other, so that
God saw them as one. Aaron did not minister without the priests
(except on the day of Atonement), and the priests could not minister
apart from the High Priest. This is all very wonderful, for Christ
does not minister alone! God has called us to be priests that we
might share in the ministry of reconciliation. We, too, like the
priests of old, cannot minister apart from our great High Priest
upon whom we depend at all times. We have understood what
priesthood is only in a very limited way and have fulfilled this
ministry feebly in a measure. But these are days of restoration!
God is about to bring forth the full power and glory of Christ’s
priesthood after the order of Melchizedek in this earth so that all
creation may be delivered from the bondage of corruption and set
free to know and serve the Lord!
The Father has called us unto sonship that we
might stand with Him and cry, “Our very own Father!” He is
apprehending a people for the authority of kingship that He might be
“King of kings,” a many-membered kingship. He is raising up a
people to be priests after the order of Melchizedek that He and they
may stand in one ministry unto the Father — satisfying
the heart of the Father for the fellowship of sons, the rulership of
kings, and the outflow of priests through whom He may reveal His
person unto the whole creation. And even now, all creation is
standing on tiptoe to behold the glorious sight of God’s sons, God’s
kings, and God’s priests coming into their own! Because of
the wise and gracious council of God from eternity, Christ now has
no identity apart from us, the fullness of Him that filleth
all in all. The Father looks at His Son and His sons, His King and
His kings, His High Priest and His priests, and says, “That HE may
minister unto me!”
In my meditations upon the order of Melchizedek, I find
it impossible to separate between the High Priest and the priests.
Under the Aaronic order the HIGH PRIEST was the one, and the only
one, who went into the Holy of holies. He passed through the veil
and entered into the place of God’s blazing fullness unseen by all
others. The PRIESTHOOD did not do this. But, precious friend of
mine, if you think that Jesus is keeping all the glory of that realm
to Himself, then you just haven’t read these inspired words: “Which
hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and
which entereth into that within the veil; whither the
forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made
an High Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek” (Heb.
6:19-20). Let me repeat — the only person permitted an entrance
beyond the veil was the High Priest!
While manifested on this earth plane, Jesus Christ left
us His personal example that we might follow in His footsteps. It
is a way that leads beyond the veil into the glories
of the Father. It was necessary that He tread all the course that
we might be able to follow all the way into divine fullness. HE IS
THE WAY unto the Father, and in our union with Him we find it is
first a way of humiliation before it becomes a way of exaltation.
Thus we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, assured that
in due time HE will lift us up, and we shall live in His sight.
A forerunner is one who goes ahead of
others. He goes ahead as a sample of those who are to follow.
Jesus is our forerunner, which clearly indicates that
others are expected to follow on into the same realms of glory.
Christ, a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, is our
forerunner, He went first, and where He went, we are to
go. The Forerunner blazed the trail all the way, and we rejoice in
this fact, but then He also came back, in and by the Spirit, to
escort us all the way into the glory beyond the veil, the glory of a
PRIESTHOOD FOREVER AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK. Full well He
knows the route, for He has traveled it all the way through to
victory, and now is able to guide us down the same path into the
glorious victory which He obtained. It is HIS daily enabling that
gives us strength to carry on until the consummation is reached.
WE HAVE A HOPE! That hope is the anchor of the soul.
Our hope in the Christ is the anchor of that life both sure and
firm, and it has entered into the veil, taken there by our
forerunner, even Jesus. He ran ahead of, or before us!
Thus it is evident that WE ARE GOING TO RUN ALSO! What He entered
into we also will come into. He simply has opened the way for us
and He is the anchor or the hope of that life which is behind the
veil.
Let us remember — in the Old Testament order it was only
the High Priest who could enter into the Most Holy Place. None else
could enter, and even the High Priest would enter in with fear and
trembling and only after much preparation and vested with special
garments. But how glorious the word that now comes to us! “And
having an High Priest over the house of God, let us
draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with
pure water” (Heb. 10:21-22). And then we read, “Having therefore
brethren boldness to enter into the Holiest by the
blood of Jesus.” We, the Royal Priesthood, do have boldness
to enter in! We do not wait, and we do not have to go to
some far-off heaven somewhere. This thing is taking place
within us right at this time, blessed be the name of the
Lord!
For those who understand with a spiritual mind it is a
glorious privilege to enter in because Jesus Christ, our High Priest
and Forerunner, has opened the way and bids us enter. Christians
have generally entertained the idea that entering in beyond the veil
means simply that every believer now has access to enter into the
presence of God and offer up his prayers with no human mediator in
between. It is much more than that! Multitudes know Jesus as their
Saviour, Baptizer, Healer, Sanctifier, and Blesser, but do you know
Jesus as your forerunner? Do you know Him as the
forerunner of the MELCHIZEDEKIAN PRIESTHOOD? Do you know what it
means to be a priest after the order of Melchizedek?
Now we hear the word of the Lord to us and it is that we are to come
in with boldness. Come right in to the Holy of holies! Come
right in to the presence of God! Come right in to the full glory of
God! Come right into that high and holy realm that only HIGH
PRIESTS enter! We need not be afraid that we can enter as a priest
after the order of Melchizedek, for we have a High Priest of that
order who is now appearing in the blazing fullness of God’s glory
for us, not in our place, but on our behalf, for
that is the true sense of the words “for us.” This wonderful High
Priest abides in the power of His priesthood and we
are to come right in to reign as priests!
You may stand without. Many believers today dwell in
the Outer Court of salvation while others tarry in the Holy Place of
the baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit. How obvious it should be
that all believers, while children of God, are not part of
the elect company of the Melchizedek Priesthood. All the tribes of
Israel, while God’s people, we not priests! And not all
priests had access to the Holy of Holies! True, the veil has been
rent, but also true to the type, the vast majority of believers
throughout the church age have dwelt and do now dwell in the
Outer Court of spiritual experience. In spite of all their
noisy profession, and constant flurry of religious activities, they
inhabit that realm where the natural man understandeth not the
things of the Spirit of God. They never plumb the depths of Jesus
Christ! Deep spiritual things are foolishness unto them; neither
can they know them, for they are spiritually discerned. These are
comfortably at home with the lifeless forms, static creeds, empty
ceremonies, entertaining programs, and repetitious works of Outer
Court religion, and have not the foggiest notion of what the
Royal Priesthood is about! The harlot system has sapped and
sucked away their spiritual life and left them in spiritual poverty,
void of understanding of the high and holy purposes of God, and like
little children they wait expectantly for the thrills that await
them in that far-away Disney World in the sky with its golden
streets, mansions, harps, and wings!
God has a people today who are not ordinary people.
They are not people of this earth, earthly minded, but citizens of
the Celestial Kingdom. They are God’s dwelling place and they dwell
in God. The great High Priest of that Heavenly Kingdom, the One
after the order of Melchizedek, HAS ENTERED THE HOLY PLACE NOT MADE
WITH HANDS. He reigns there as a priest! The great invitation to
God’s elect now is, “COME ON IN.” After such an awesome revelation
as this we find it impossible to return to the old way. The
old-order church systems and methods, the old preaching of man-made
creeds and petty religious traditions has become a stifling
boredom. We can have nothing to do with such things. The ways of
Babylon are the ways of death to us. WE HAVE A HIGH PRIEST OVER THE
HOUSE OF GOD! HE IS EXALTED IN THE HEAVENS! THERE IS STILL ROOM
UPON THE TWENTY-FOUR THRONES AROUND THE THRONE! THE VOICE SAYS,
“COME UP HITHER!” WE HASTEN TO ENTER IN, TO BECOME ALL THAT
GOD HAS APPREHENDED US TO BE!
CROWNS OF GOLD
“And round about the throne were four and twenty seats:
and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting,
clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of
gold” (Rev. 4:4)
It is instructive to notice the characteristics of the twenty-four
Elders. Throughout the scriptures only men are “elders.”
Only men sit on thrones. Only men wear white raiment.
And only men wear crowns! This is fitting because the Greek
word means a “victorious crown” won in an athletic contest or on the
field of battle. It bespeaks of one who has gone through the battle
of life on earth, in obedience to the will of the heavenly Father,
with all the testings, trials, tribulations, provings, and triumphs
in order to earn the victor’s crown! In Bible days it was men
who won and wore such crowns.
We are not, however, speaking naturally, but
spiritually! “Men” represent spiritually those persons who,
irrespective of their gender in the flesh, have developed within
themselves the spiritually masculine qualities of divine life
— strength, authority, discernment, wisdom, dominion, and power!
These are mature ones! There are many different spiritual
states of being, planes of development and levels of growth,
revealed in the Word of God. Some are called “babes” in Christ,
others “little children,” others “young men,” others “mature men,”
others “women,” some are called “sons of God,” others “daughters of
God,” and there is a class identified as “the bride” of Christ.
Children are children. Children are not “sons” in the
scriptural sense, for the word for a child is the Greek word
teknon, whereas the word for a grown son is huios. When
the scripture speaks of the manifestation of the sons of God
it refers to those who spiritually have grown up into the nature,
stature, and authority of the Father! On the other hand, a girl, as
long as she is a child, is neither prepared for, nor capable of,
fulfilling the role of a wife. In order to enter into
marriage a young girl must pass through years of physical, mental,
and emotional development. Finally, upon becoming mature in these
areas, she is fitted for marriage and her role as a wife. And so is
it in God’s Family! The term “child” describes the believer in his
walk of immaturity in God. But as one begins to grow up into
spiritual maturity, it is then that the truly feminine and
masculine aspects of divine life take form and become manifest.
“Vive la difference!” someone once said. And starting from early
childhood we all begin to notice there is indeed a difference! We
become increasingly aware of it as we grow up. It is only as fully
developed adults that the real power, potential, and purpose of the
feminine and masculine attributes find their fulfillment.
The following words by Ray Prinzing are freighted with
spiritual wisdom and godly instruction. “There are many
relationships that are spoken of in the scriptures, and for years
all we heard taught was on ‘the bride of Christ.’ Then came the
unfolding of the precious truths of sonship. And soon the one was
pitted against the other with emphasis on the position to be
obtained, this greater than that, etc. But we are coming to see
that all these relationships are allegorical — we can draw from them
all some needed instruction, but we must not reduce them to
physical, carnal realms, and hold them there. All these allegories
serve to bring out the characteristics desired. ONENESS WITH CHRIST
in its full reality goes beyond being a bride, or a son, or male, or
female.. So regardless of the symbol at which we are looking, it is
the deeper meaning and truth which we desire, and may the Lord
quicken to us this vital instruction for our up-building in Him. To
be perfect in Christ, complete, mature, one in Him, this sums
up all the facets used to illustrate our growth and development,
characteristics, attributes, etc. Dare we settle for anything
less? Can any parabolic example reveal such glory? Each part
reveals something unique and wonderful, but they all fall far short
of expressing the whole which is summed up in Christ.
He is ALL IN ALL, the fullness that filleth everything with
Himself” — end quote.
As God becomes so many things to us, even Mother, so
must we become many things to Him. When God created man male and
female in His image, He revealed that He is Himself male and female
within the attributes of His nature. In spiritual maturity we enter
into relationship with God in all the facets of His nature. We may
truly become the bride of Christ and the sons of the Father and many
other things as well! The bride relationship bears the feminine
nature whereas the sonship relationship bears the characteristics of
the masculine nature. Aggressiveness, boldness, strength, valor,
authority, power, and dominion are among the dominant traits of the
masculine sex. Hence, the Lord says to the overcomer, “He that
overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he
shall be my son. To him will I give power over the
nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. 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.”
Modesty, gentleness, tenderness, love, sensitiveness,
nurturing, and dependence are attributes of the feminine sex. Can
we not see by this that brideship bespeaks of the spiritually
feminine relationship of intimate love and reverent submission to
Christ, whereas sonship embodies the spiritually masculine
characteristics of strength and dominion to rule over all things.
Ah, beloved, let us not become so over-balanced in our zeal to
become sons of God that we circumvent the marvelous reality
of brideship! The simple yet sublime truth is that THE WAY
TO SONSHIP IS BRIDESHIP! This is why the Spirit has given us in
Revelation chapter twelve the beautiful example of a glorious
sun-clad woman giving birth to a remarkable man-child who is to rule
all nations with a rod of iron. It is the inworking of brideship
that births the realm of sonship! Jesus said, “I am the
way…no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” Our
relationship to Christ as a bride foreruns our relationship to the
Father as a son! Brideship is the harbinger of sonship! It is
through the intense love, intimacy of fellowship, and vital union
with Christ, made one in Him in love, that we are initiated
into that illustrious glory of strength and dominion over all things
as sons of God. The manchild comes out of the woman. These are
both realities within each of us! Until one falls madly in
love with Christ, and submits to Him in all things as the Head of
the body, he will never go on to become a son of the Father. That
is the mystery!
The twenty-four “elders” are mature men, those
who have grown up into Christ, putting on His wonderful mind,
strengthened with His might, filled with His wisdom, knowledge, and
understanding, equipped and enabled to minister the blessings and
benefits and powers of the kingdom of God! These are the sons of
God who are the kings and priests of the Most High! The twenty-four
Elders are clothed in white raiment, which means they have glorified
bodies made pure by His indwelling Spirit and the righteousness of
Christ, and on their heads are crowns of gold which
means they have divine authority to rule and reign with Christ as
priests because they have faithfully followed the leading of the
Spirit and have overcome all things.
The crowns of gold are upon their heads. Though
this appears a very natural statement, yet it is freighted with deep
significance! The Greek word for “head” is kephale which
comes from the root kapto meaning “to seize.” Is it not the
head, the mind, that the adversary most wants to captivate and take
hold of? The mind is the gateway to the whole being! It is in the
mind of man that he is alienated from the life that is in God
(Eph. 4:18), and it is by the renewing of the mind that we
are transformed into the image of Christ! It is the head or mind
that the Spirit of God is today “seizing” or “laying hold” upon in
every one who has received the call to sonship, that HE may be fully
manifest therein. What a battle has been waged by the
serpent-inspired philosophies of men, political ideologies,
educational agendas, advertising, entertainment, and religion to
keep the mind in subjection to the bondage and darkness and
ignorance of the world system. But contrariwise, there is
also a battle whereby liberty comes to the mind to bring it
enlightenment and renewal. It is thus upon a renewed mind
that the crown of gold rests!
It is also interesting to note that the Greek word
kephale is in the feminine gender! Although the ones crowned
are men (spiritually), yet the head upon which the crown rests
possesses the spiritually feminine qualities of gentleness,
kindness, mercy, love, goodness, grace, nurturing, sensitiveness,
compassion, etc. These are, one and all, necessary characteristics
in the nature of a PRIEST! Kings rule, but from a priestly heart
flows forth love, mercy, kindness, grace, gentleness, forgiveness —
the very spirit and word of RECONCILIATION! What a beautiful
blending of the masculine-feminine nature of God!
These crowns are not the coronets worn by the sovereigns
of this present world. The feeble kings and rulers of this dark
world system represent in their weakness the transient glory of
earth’s passing kingdoms, but the golden crowns on the heads of
God’s Royal Priesthood are not like one of these. The most common
term rendered “crown” in the New Testament is the Greek word
stephanos. This crown was usually a laurel wreath woven of
fragrant branches, or the like. It was granted to winners in the
Panhellenic games and also as a token of public honor for
distinguished service — especially of military leaders who had been
victorious over their enemies on the battlefield. It was also given
at marriage feasts, especially in royal families, to celebrate the
joy of the bridegroom in having “won” the maiden for his bride.
This crown always denotes a VICTOR’S CROWN — the crown of an
OVERCOMER!
How appropriate that we should read of the Royal
Priesthood: “And round about the throne were…four and twenty elders
sitting…and they had on their heads crowns (stephanos) of
gold.” Golden Stephanos! Golden Victor’s Crowns! Gold is
a symbol for the divine nature. And how true that we are only able
to fully overcome by being made partakers of His divine nature!
To be “crowned” means to be given kingly authority. As the kingly
authority and dominion of God’s divine nature now ascends the throne
of our lives to rule within us — we are CROWNED, RULED OVER by our
Father, but more than this, made rulers, not after the carnal
concepts of the flesh, but in the love, justice, and glory of God’s
own character!
Of course the crowns of fragrant branches won by the
Greeks in their athletic contests were short lived, for they soon
wilted and became dead and brittle. In contrast to this, our
stephanos are incorruptible crowns which will never fade away —
for the Royal Priesthood is of the Melchizedekian Order — after the
power of an endless life! In the Theater of Ephesus there was
found an inscription which read: “He fought three bouts, and was
crowned two times.” In like manner the sons of God will soon be
rewarded for their bouts with the flesh, the world, and the
principalities and powers which have their rule in the darkness of
the carnal mind. God is even now bringing forth an incorruptible
people, overcomers, who are overcoming all things. And of them,
finally, it shall be said: “They fought many, many bouts, and were
crowned every time!” No more weakness and failure.
No more flunking two tests and winning one. Overcoming all
things! Oh, no, we have not always overcome all things, but
those who are called and chosen in this hour are being strengthened
by experience and by the power of the spirit of life within and are
becoming strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. God is
teaching us to reign in our lives and in every situation! He is
making us a Royal Priesthood! Priests reigning in the Father’s own
nature, love, and power! Reconciling the world. Subduing all
things. As kings these are seated in the throne; as
priests they sit around the throne. Their rule is
rooted in authority as kings, but as priests they become the bond
between the God of the throne and the creation so desperately
needing His life. Isn’t it wonderful!
THUNDERINGS, LIGHTNINGS, AND VOICES
“And out of the throne proceeded lightnings
and thunderings and voices…” (Rev. 4:5).
The scene is drawn from the time when God came down in
the midst of Israel to speak to His called and chosen
nation. The Hebrews had come up out of Egypt, and were standing in
front of mount Sinai. The mountain was full of fire and smoke.
Thunderings and voices were bursting from its mysterious awfulness.
Great trumpet-blasts came piercing through the frightened air.
Everything bore witness to the awesome presence of God! The Hebrews
were appalled and terrified. We can see them cowering and
trembling. They turn to Moses and beg him to stand between them and
God. “Speak thou with us, and we will hear,” said they, “but let
not God speak to us, lest we die.”
At first it seems as if their feeling were a strange
one. This is their God who is speaking to them, their God who by a
mighty hand brought them “out of the land of Egypt, out of the house
of bondage.” Would it not seem as if they would be glad to have Him
come to them directly, to have Him almost look on them with eyes
that they could see, and make unnecessary the interposition of His
servant Moses, bringing them messages from Him? Will they not feel
their whole history of rescue coming to its consummation when at
last they find themselves actually in the presence of the God who
has delivered them, and hear His voice?
Ah, they would not hear for themselves the words
of God, and they never did hear, for they rebelled in unbelief, they
broke His laws, they went after other gods, then they imprisoned,
stoned, and killed the prophets sent to them, and crucified the very
Lord of glory. They hid themselves from the glory of His presence
and refused to hear His voice! But now, praise God, He is speaking
again out of His throne in the midst of His people, out of our
innermost being, in and by the Spirit, and there is a people who
hear for themselves the word of the Lord! Many believers are
like the Hebrews in the wilderness, they have neither desire nor
capacity to hear from God themselves, so they seek an apostle, a
prophet, a pastor, a teacher, a church order, someone to hear from
God for them and communicate His message to them. God
certainly does use ministries and fellow members of the body of
Christ to confirm to us the revelation of the Spirit. Thank
God for it! But we who do know our God now hear His voice speaking
out from His throne right within our spirit, and out of those who
are one in Him. Oh, yes! He speaks in the power of thunder,
with flashes of light, sudden bursts of brilliant illumination as
of lightning, and with the clarity and manifoldness of the
many voices of a corporate unfolding. The ones who so hear His
voice are those who have become related to His throne, for only in
the throne-room does one see the lightnings and hear the thunderings
and voices. It is indeed wonderful!
THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD
“And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the
throne, which are the seven spirits of God” (Rev. 4:5).
For many years we did not know that God has seven
spirits! Although we were raised in church, and had read the Bible
through, we had never understood the mystery of the seven spirits.
We all knew that “there is one body, and one Spirit” (Eph.
4:4). We all thought that when we were baptized in the Holy Spirit,
receiving the one Spirit, that was the beginning and the finish of
it! We spoke in tongues and prophesied, did a few miracles, danced
in the Spirit and rejoiced with joy unspeakable and full of glory,
and that was it! That is all we knew God had for us this side of
heaven.
The question follows — are there seven spirits of God?
If you say that God has seven spirits, to some that makes you a
heretic! If, on the other hand, you say that the Spirit of God is
not seven spirits, you are disagreeing with the heavenly revelation
given to John! Is the Spirit of God, then, seven or one? If God
says there is one Spirit, then there is one Spirit; and if God says
there are seven spirits, then there are seven spirits. That is the
mystery of it!
One of the keys to this mystery is found in the passage
quoted above, “And there were seven lamps of fire burning
before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.” In
the Old Testament, the structure of the lampstand or candlestick was
quite unique: below was one lampstand, above there were seven
branches, and in each branch there was a lamp (Ex. 25:31-37). It
was one lampstand, yet it had seven lamps; there were seven lamps,
yet it was but one lampstand. The same picture is presented in
Zechariah 4:2. Therefore, it is correct to say that there is one
lampstand, yet it is not wrong to say there are seven lamps! So
also is the Spirit of God. Without question, He is one Spirit; but
He is also called “the seven spirits,” that is, the sevenfold,
intensified spirit of God!
Seven, in the scriptures, is the most sacred number of
the Hebrews. This number is used more often than all other numbers,
save the number one. It is the number denoting spiritual
perfection and completeness. In this connection it is
instructive to note that in the title “Holy Spirit” the word “holy,”
according to Webster, comes from a root meaning “whole.” Hence, the
Holy Spirit is the WHOLE SPIRIT! The seven spirits of God, seven
denoting spiritual perfection and completeness, are likewise a
figure of the “holy” or the “whole” or “complete” Spirit. When we
understand that the number seven conveys the idea of unity and
completeness, rather than diversity, then we can see with unclouded
vision that the seven Spirits of God are the sevenfold,
intensified Spirit of the Lord — the absolute FULLNESS
OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD!
Great is the mystery and the wonder of it,
for there is one Spirit and yet there are seven spirits! This can
easily be understood from the natural creation. Have you drunk a
glass of water today? How many things is water? To us water is
one thing, one item, one substance. But no — water is actually two
things! Two parts of a gas called hydrogen and one part of a gas
called oxygen are fused, and they make water. But water is not
gas! When the two gases are mixed they produce an effect. You
have something new, something different, something of a another
quality — liquid. I didn’t get up this morning and tell
myself that I needed a glass of H2O.
It was unnecessary to bother with the chemical formula. I just knew
I needed a glass of water. If I never knew anything about hydrogen
or oxygen it would make no difference. Water is water! God knows
how He made it. Scientists discovered God’s formula, but God
invented it!
The almighty Creator has used that same principle of compounding to
make everything that appears in the material creation. In the whole
universe, the heaven, the earth, all the stars and suns and planets
and moons, there are exactly ninety-six different things which are
called elements. Everything we see everywhere is composed of
some combination of some of those ninety-six elements. We think of
salt as one thing. Yet salt is not one thing; salt is two things.
Somebody has taken a piece of metal called sodium and a piece of a
gas called chlorine, and mixed the two things together. The result
is what chemists call sodium chloride and we common folk call
it salt. How about air? Isn’t that one thing? Wrong
again! Air is always three things. Seventy-nine parts of a gas
called nitrogen mixed with twenty-one parts of a gas called oxygen,
and a tiny, tiny portion of carbonic acid gas, make up the simplest
kind of air. Air is not one thing. It might be as many as twelve
or fourteen things, depending on how close you live to a glue
factory or a garbage dump!
God has used that simple principle of compounding
to make everything that appears in the vast expanses of the
universe! And the physical creation is simply the mirror of the
spiritual world! In just this way it is no longer necessary to see
the Spirit of God as just one thing — for God Himself is not just
one thing. God is light. God is love. God is
life. God is spirit. Those are four things and we
haven’t even begun! In like manner, contained in the Spirit of God
are all the attributes, characteristics, faculties, and powers of
God that are spirit. It is the complete or whole
Spirit, the sevenfold intensified Spirit of the Lord!
The seven spirits are seen by John shining in the
brightness and light of the seven lamps of fire burning before the
throne, its glory radiating the sevenfold splendor as of a rainbow
which is seen in beauty like unto an emerald. These seven lamps of
fire represent THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF SONSHIP. All that is connected
to the throne reveals the mystery and the glory of sonship to
God, for it is the Son who has been exalted to the throne. God’s
sons are His kings and priests who reign over the earth! The Lord
Jesus Himself is the firstborn among many brethren, the
proto-type of what sonship is. Isaiah prophesied of this sevenfold
anointing of the spirit of sonship, saying, “And there shall come
forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of
his roots. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit
of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and
of the fear of the Lord. And shall make Him of quick
understanding in the fear of the Lord: and He shall not judge after
the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His
ears: but with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove
with equity for the meek of the earth: and He shall smite the earth
with the rod of His mouth…and righteousness shall be the girdle of
His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins” (Isa. 11:1-5).
This is the sevenfold sonship anointing that rested and
does rest upon the firstborn Son of God! And this mighty and
glorious anointing shall come also upon all the manifest sons of God
to enable God’s kings and priests to inaugurate the wonderful and
blessed age of the kingdom of God upon all the nations of mankind,
and shall endue them with power and all the attributes of Him who is
the Head of the body. They shall not judge after the sight of their
eyes, nor reprove after the hearing of their ears, but with
righteousness shall they judge the nations. This anointed company
of sons of God shall be girded with the righteousness of Christ and
the faithfulness of Him who loved them and lifted them from the pit
of sin, sorrow, and death, and exalted them to the glorious heights
of the throne. Then the wolf nature in the carnal man will be
tamed and will lie down with the nature of the lamb in the throne,
the fierce leopard nature shall lie down with the innocence of the
kid, the calf and the young lion together, with a little child (for
of such is the kingdom of heaven!) leading them. In that blessed
day of glory, “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy
mountain.” Oh, the wonder of it!
Think of it! A world governed by the sevenfold
intensified spirit of God! What a different spirit that is! It is
the spirit of love, grace, mercy, peace, joy, righteousness, pardon,
reconciliation and transformation! It is sometimes difficult for
those kings-and-priests-to-be who have come out of the church system
with a heavy hangover of condemnation and charging every man with
guilt and shame. It was a sin to do this, it was a sin to do that,
and we were so sin-conscious that we were not able to kindle any
consciousness of the awesome power of HIS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
How we have ranted and raved and stormed at men about
their sins and judgment! But it has been well said that there is no
difficulty that enough love will not conquer; no disease that enough
love will not heal; no door that enough love will not open; no gulf
that enough love will not bridge; no wall that enough love will not
throw down; no sin that enough love will not redeem. It makes no
difference how deeply seated may be the problem, how hopeless the
outlook, how muddled the tangles, how great the error or mistake —
love never fails — and God is about to bathe the world
in redemptive love through the government of the sons of God and by
the power of the sevenfold spirit of God radiating from His throne!
To be continued…
J. PRESTON EBY
