This chapter deals with the appearing of Messiah when He came the first time, to found the kingdom of God in the earth. In these pages, Father clearly delineates the events in history which led up to Messiah's first appearing, and the careful divine preparation that was given to help the people to recognize Him when He came. Father also sets forth here in detail, the specific things in history which prevented the people who had been divinely cultivated and prepared, from recognizing the One Anointed for their deliverance, and to reject Him as simply a man, when He did come. If the reader will be observant, there will be seen the correlation between the first coming of Messiah to found the kingdom of God, and His return the second time, to consummate in the soul the Messianic salvation that was founded in the soul by Jesus of Nazareth. You will see clearly why the manner in which Messiah appeared again, to consummate the kingdom of God in the earth, was as unexpected to us, as it was to those at His first appearing.
When the divine pillar of cloud arose and floated over to the wilderness "Tent of Meeting," dedicating it with the Presence of God, as It descended upon it and embraced it, the people saw clearly that it was the actual Presence of God coming to dwell in His sanctuary, which alone gave that moveable tent its true meaning and significance. Thereafter, the people were to continually witness this special manifestation of God's Presence over the wilderness sanctuary, as It responded visibly and reciprocally to the cloud of incense when it was refreshed at the morning and evening sacrifice, and when Moses would draw near to commune with God.
After the children of Israel entered into the land that God had given them, the visible Presence of God continued to be revealed at the "Tent of Meeting," which was pitched at Shiloh. Though the people were no longer camped in tents around this sanctuary, but were living in houses throughout the land, the visible cloud of light could still be seen above the "Tent of Meeting" when they came to Shiloh.
When Solomon built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, that same visible cloud of the Presence dedicated the temple which had been built for Him.
Thus, all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished...And the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, to the sanctuary of the house, into the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim... Then Solomon said...Now, O my God, I beseech You, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this temple. So now arise, O Lord God, and come into Your resting-place, You and the ark of Your strength and power...When Solomon had finished praying, the fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. The priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house. 2 Chron. 5:1,7,11-14; 6:1,40,41; 7:1,2 Amplified.
From the beginning of this earth, a dark force has been present, continually working to undermine Father's tender designs for the recovery of the lost, whom He was seeking to draw back to Himself. The satanic power that had become an adversary in heaven, came to this earth. He schemed and worked untiringly to intercept the communion that God was patiently working to establish. He could not stop what God was doing, but he worked to cause the people to see in a distorted light what God was doing, and to misinterpret His movings in their behalf.
Through Moses, God's purpose to send His Son as the Redeemer of the fallen race, was kept before Israel. On one occasion, shortly before his death, Moses declared, "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken." Plainly had Moses been instructed for Israel concerning the work of the Messiah to come. "I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee," was the word of Jehovah to His servant; "and will put My words in His mouth; and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him." Deuteronomy 18:15, 18.
In patriarchal times the sacrificial offerings connected with divine worship constituted a perpetual reminder of the coming of a Saviour, and thus it was with the entire ritual of the sanctuary services throughout Israel's history. In the ministration of the tabernacle, and of the temple that afterward took its place, the people were taught each day, by means of types and shadows, the great truths relative to the advent of Christ as Redeemer, Priest, and King; and once each year their minds were carried forward to the closing events of the great controversy between Christ and Satan, the final purification of the universe from sin and sinners. The sacrifices and offerings of the Mosaic ritual were ever pointing toward a better service...
When Adam and his sons began to offer the ceremonial sacrifices ordained by God as a type of the coming Redeemer, Satan discerned in these a symbol of communion between earth and heaven. During the long centuries that have followed, it has been his constant effort to intercept this communion. Untiringly has he sought to misrepresent God and to misinterpret the rites pointing to the Saviour...
When God's written word was given through the Hebrew prophets, Satan studied with diligence the messages concerning the Messiah. Carefully he traced the words that outlined with unmistakable clearness Christ's work among men as a suffering sacrifice and as a conquering king. In the parchment rolls of the Old Testament Scriptures he read that the One who was to appear was to be "brought as a lamb to the slaughter," "His visage...so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men." Isaiah 53:7; 52:14. The promised Saviour of humanity was to be "despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;...smitten of God, and afflicted;" yet He was also to exercise His mighty power in order to "judge the poor of the people." He was to "save the children of the needy," and "break in pieces the oppressor." Isaiah 53:3, 4; Psalm 72:4. These prophecies caused Satan to fear and tremble; yet he relinquished not his purpose to thwart, if possible, the merciful provisions of Jehovah for the redemption of the lost race. He determined to blind the eyes of the people, so far as might be possible, to the real significance of the Messianic prophecies, in order to prepare the way for the rejection of Christ at His coming. Not without the most determined opposition was the divine purpose carried out...[This effort to blind the eyes of the people beforehand was also exercised at the time of Christ's second coming.]
From time to time divinely appointed messengers of truth were to be raised up to call attention to the meaning of the sacrificial ceremonies, and especially to the promise of Jehovah concerning the advent of the One toward whom all the ordinances of the sacrificial system pointed. PK 684-689.
This satanic counter-process began its attack on the sanctuary of God, not by destroying it, but by changing the way in which the people of God related to it, and the way in which they interpreted the symbolism of it. The adversary didn't destroy the temple building, but, instead, destroyed its meaning to the people. While the divine Presence had initially been the main object of attention at the wilderness sanctuary, as it hovered over and came down into the temple in response to the events transpiring within it, something changed. The "Tent of Meeting" became no longer the central object of focus and thought. Through the insidious working of the adversary, the people began relating to the visible Presence of God in their midst as a common thing. As the people settled down in their own homes throughout the land of their inheritance, they became occupied with the busyness of life. They ceased to cherish the gratitude and awe that they had felt when God first came down to dwell visibly among them. It was only several times a year that they traveled to the place where they saw the visible Presence of God manifested over His dwelling place. Out-of-sight, the visible Presence soon became out-of-mind. This most special gift and precious privilege was no longer cherished.
In addition, the people of God were not true to their divine instructions to completely subdue the land of its idolatrous influences. They now came to dwell under the dark influences which they had not been faithful to dismiss, and soon were no longer under the divine protection which comes through the following of God's will. Their attention was diverted from the One to Whom this symbol was pointing forward, and with commonness of regard, and lack of appreciation, came the apostasy which always follows this state.
The sacrifices, pointing forward to the death of Christ, were designed to preserve in the hearts of the people faith in the Redeemer to come; hence it was of the greatest importance that the Lord's directions concerning them should be strictly heeded...Irreverence on the part of the priests soon robbed the service of its holy and solemn significance...The great antitypical sacrifice to which they were to look forward was no longer recognized...God could not communicate with the high priest and his sons; their sins, like a thick cloud, had shut out the presence of His Holy Spirit. PP 576-582.
Through Jeremiah the prophet, God told His people that they would go into captivity to Babylon for seventy years. At the same time, God also told them, "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you and keep My good promise to you, causing you to return." Jer. 29:10 Amplified. True to God's word, Jerusalem was invaded by Babylon's army, the city and Solomon's temple were plundered and destroyed, and the people were taken to Babylon. This time of captivity, though a result of their apostasy, was designed by God to be turned into a blessing for His self-blinded people. It was to be a help to them as their hearts were drawn out to feel after their God, and to awaken in them appreciation for Him anew.
Daniel was one of those who was taken into captivity. At the end of the seventy years, God put it upon his heart to pray that He would release His captive people and bring them home.
I, Daniel, understood from the books the number of years which, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass by before the desolations which had been pronounced on Jerusalem should end; and it was seventy years. And I set my face to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes; and I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession. Dan. 9:1-4 Amplified.
At the conclusion of his prayer confessing the spiritual condition of God's people, which had caused them to go into captivity in the first place, he prayed:
Now therefore, O our God, listen to and heed the prayer of Your servant and his supplications, and for Your own sake cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary which is desolate...For we do not present our supplications before You for our own righteousness and justice, but for Your great mercy and loving-kindness. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, give heed and act! Do not delay, for Your own sake, O my God, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name. Dan. 9:17, 18 Amplified.
Daniel was not the only one who was aware of God's prophecy and the deliverance He had planned. Invisible, adversarial forces were also aware of God's purposes for the hour. At this very time they were exerting their utmost power of influence to keep the prince of Persia, the head of the nation who was now holding the people of God in captivity since its conquest of Babylon, under their power of influence. The adversary was attempting to thwart the deliverance of God which had been prophesied. But through the special interposition of the Son of God, (Who was Michael the archangel), the prince of Persia was released from the influence of the hostile spirit forces that were striving to dominate him, and he was enabled to freely cooperate in the purposes of God for His people.
Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind and heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come as a consequence of and in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief celestial princes, came to help me...There is no one who holds with me and strengthens himself against those hostile spirit forces except Michael, your prince. Dan. 10:13,21 Amplified.
As a result of Michael's prevailing divine strength, in driving back the hostile spirit forces, Cyrus' heart was allowed to continue under the divine influence that was moving upon him to release the captive people of God, and he wrote a decree freely and fully releasing God's people to return to their home in Jerusalem and rebuild the desolate sanctuary of God. Michael stood up to initiate the fulfillment of God's promise to His people, and to assure the rebuilding of the temple of God.
At this time, two visible witnesses were chosen to lead the people of God home from Babylon, and to rebuild the temple. The Bible describes these two as "the two sons of oil...Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the prince of Judah, who...led the return of the exiles from Babylon, and were undertaking the rebuilding of the temple...the two anointed ones who stand before the Lord of the whole earth as His anointed instruments." Zech. 4:7,14 Amplified.
In the rebuilding of the desolate temple, a very significant turn of events occurred. It was as if the symbolism of the next dispensation of light, which was to unfold with the coming of Messiah, began breaking through beforehand into this dispensation.
In the second year of their coming to God's house at Jerusalem in the second month, Zerubbabel...and Joshua made a beginning, with the rest of their brethren...And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord...all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid! But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house, Solomon's temple, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice, though many shouted aloud for joy. So the people could not distinguish the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far off. Ezra 3:8, 10-13 Amplified.
The old men who had watched, as the foundation of Solomon's temple was laid, were remembering the costly materials and the visible cloud of light which revealed God's Presence in that magnificent house, and they were judging the rebuilding of this temple through the eyes of human comparison. How could any glory be greater than the former house of God, with its magnificent array of riches, and the visible light of God's Presence hovering over it? Well, those who were used to the former way which God revealed His glory, didn't have any comprehension of how any glory could be greater than that. But through Haggai, God revealed to those returned exiles two specific, invisible realities which they could not see, about the temple that they were rebuilding.
Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remainder of the people, saying, Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? And how do you see it now? IS NOT THIS IN YOUR SIGHT AS NOTHING IN COMPARISON TO THAT? Yet now be strong, alert, and courageous...For I am with you, says the Lord of hosts.
And the glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former. Haggai 2:2-4 Amplified; 2:9 KJV.
God was clearly telling them: I AM with you; and, the glory of My rebuilt house will be greater than the first building of it. The two anointed instruments of God and all of the people who had followed them back from Babylon, had to literally take God at His word, and look at things through His eyes, on both of these accounts, because they certainly couldn't go by what they saw with their own human eyes.
In this rebuilt temple, God's Presence was not going to be manifested in the visible way in which they were accustomed. There would be no bright pillar of glory revealing the divine Presence to their senses, like there had been in the wilderness "Tent of Meeting", and in the house of God which Solomon had built. Now, they were required to take God's word at face value when He said, "I AM with you," for their senses could see no outward evidence of it. At least, not the outward evidence that they were used to. The first coming of Christ was accompanied by many visible miracles and certain divine manifestations. That coming was glorious. The second coming has none of these things visibly seen, yet it is more glorious than the first. The people hear the voice of the Father only, declaring the coming of His Son. The people hear that voice and respond, not simply because they saw a visible miracle, but because they heard the Father speak. There is no greater glory to the soul than this, and no greater miracle. Truly, the second coming has with it many miracles, but they are not seen as before, and people are not converted because of them.
In this rebuilt temple, the people were being given a divine premonition of the real glory of the living temple to come. For it was prefiguring in a special manner, the change which would be occurring in the way that the glory of God's Presence was going to be revealed in the next unfolding of light. It was God's desire to prepare the people to recognize the living Temple of God, when His Son would be born among them in His "tent of flesh." It was not by physical proofs to their natural senses that they were going to recognize the Presence of God in Him. In Messiah's life there would be no visible cloud of light continually hovering over His head. The light of God's continual Presence would be revealed in another way. On Messiah's face, in the very expression of His countenance, the light of intimately knowing God would shine forth. It would be written of Messiah's life:
For God Who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts so as to beam forth the Light for the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God [the illumination of knowing what the glory of God is] as it is manifest in the Person and is revealed in the face of Christ, the Messiah. 2 Cor. 4:6 Amplified.
It is interesting to note here in history, a striking prefigurement to the time of the end, in which we are now currently living, and to see how aptly history has repeated itself with the arising of Michael at this present time. In the historical rebuilding of the temple, and the specific figures, and their anointed work, are prefigured the events which have unfolded at the return of Messiah at this time. Father brought these parallels to light.
In the twelfth chapter of Daniel, Michael is revealed arising at the time of the end, the angelic Prince who defends and has charge of God's people. Daniel sees this archangel Prince again, as the "Man clothed in linen," with "two others, the one on the brink of the river on this side and the other on the brink of the river on that side." They are communing in regard to the "end of these wonders," the wonders of Michael arising and bringing timely deliverance to His people, and the awakening of some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Michael held up His hands toward the Father and "swore by Him Who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half time, or three and one-half years; and when they [Michael and these "two others"] have made an end of shattering and crushing the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished." Dan. 12:6,7 Amplified.
In history, "two anointed instruments" led the exiles from Babylon back to Jerusalem. In vision, God showed His prophet, Zechariah, that these "two anointed ones" were standing "before the Lord of the whole earth as His anointed instruments." Zech. 4:14 Amplified. They historically foreshadowed the "two witnesses" in Revelation, who were anointed to lead the exiled people of God from "confusion" back to peace, to rebuild the true spiritual temple of Messiah. This time, God showed His prophet, John, in vision, that these "two witnesses are the two olive trees and two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth...for 1,260 days, three and one-half years." Rev. 11:3,4 Amplified.
In history, Michael stood up to deliver the people of God from their captivity in Babylon. The involvement of Michael, Who initiated the release of the captive people of God, and the two anointed instruments who led out in the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, was a living parable in history of the current work of Michael the archangel. Now, at the end of time, Michael appeared visibly in human flesh, standing up to release His people from the invisible hostile forces that had kept them in confusion. Michael stood up to assure that the rebuilding of the temple of Christ would take place, that the marriage of the Lamb would be consummated.
Michael shall arise, the great angelic prince who defends and has charge of your people...Michael and his angels...battled with the dragon...and the dragon and his angels fought, and they were defeated...and no room was found for them in heaven any longer...And the sanctuary in heaven is thrown open...and measured...and those who worship there are numbered...and the two witnesses stand before the Lord of the earth. (From Dan. 12; Rev.11,12).
In history, two anointed instruments were chosen to lead the captive people of God from Babylon to Jerusalem. Now, once again, two witnesses stand before the Lord of the whole earth, and lead the captive people of God out of their confusion and into the peace of the consummated Messianic kingdom of God. Michael's arising made it possible for the two witnesses to lead the people who had been held captive by their confusion, back to peace, for the rebuilding of the true and living temple of Messiah. Messiah built this temple when He appeared in humanity the first time. Thus, the initial building of the temple in Jerusalem, foreshadowed the building of the temple of the "bride of Christ," and the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem after their captivity, typified beforehand that the temple of the "bride of Christ," would need to be rebuilt at the second appearing of Messiah in humanity.
In history, "when Christ, the Anointed One, came into visibility in this world, He said to the Father, A body You have prepared Me." Now, once again, the Anointing appears in the body His Father prepared for Him. Now, not just appearing in one single human body, but in many, who are invisibly bonded together by the Father and the Son into one living organism, one marriage.
In history, it was prophesied that the glory of the rebuilt temple would be greater than the glory of the temple at its building. Now, once again, the glory of the rebuilding of the body of Christ at the reappearing of the Anointing in humanity, is greater than the initial building of it. This time, the glory of the Anointing is reappearing in many. The Anointing of Messiah has now come "to be glorified in His saints...made more glorious in His consecrated people, and He will be marveled at and admired in His glory reflected in all who have believed, who have adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Him, because our witnessing among you was confidently accepted and believed and confirmed in your lives." 2 Thess. 1:10 Amplified.
Most of God's people didn't make the transfer with the change in how God was going to manifest His glory in the rebuilt temple. Since they could no longer see the visible Presence of God, their focus began to shift to the physical building itself. In the time that lapsed between the rebuilding of the temple and the coming of the One to Whom it pointed, the house of God itself became their object of worship and regard, and this divine symbol became a graven image to them. Because they could no longer see God's Presence in a visible way, their focus turned to what they could see, the building. This is precisely what the professed Christians did with Jesus. When the power of the church left, because of its fallen state, the people began to worship the man Jesus. They made a graven image of what they thought His body looked like and put that imagined body on crosses and in stained glass windows. They worshipped not the divine Presence, but the picture they made of Him. They hired good artists to make Jesus look just as their human nature pictured Him. They worshipped a "good man" but not the Spirit of Messiah in that man. The Spirit of Messiah, they crucified as before, as their focus turned to what they could see, the body of a man.
Thus it was, when the fulness of time came for the living "Tent of Meeting with God" to appear, the people of God were not in a state to recognize His way of appearing among them. The temple was not a symbol to them of Messiah's life. It had become an object of worship, the source of their pride, and its services were used to buy God's favor, instead of receiving the revelation of His heart to them, and the divine provision that He had opened up for their communion with Him.
Before Christ's first advent the world seemed indeed to have become the grave for all piety. It was Satan's seat; man was in the power of the great apostate, helplessly receiving his lies of God and of Christ, as truth. The heavenly angels looked upon the world polluted by sin under the inhabitants thereof, and thought how much easier it would be to exterminate it than to reform it. But the Son of God himself came to work a reformation.
Heaven's councils decided that Christ, the great Teacher, must himself come to the world. God has spoken through nature, through types and symbols, through patriarchs and prophets. Lessons must be given to humanity in the language of humanity. The messenger of the covenant, the Sun of Righteousness, must rise upon the world. His voice must be heard in his own temple. Christ must come to utter words which would be clearly and definitely understood. He, the Author of truth, must separate truth from the chaff of man's utterance, which had made it of none effect. The principles of God's moral government, and the plan of redemption, must be clearly defined. The lessons of the Old Testament must be fully set before men.
"When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son." Man's terrible necessity demanded help without delay. Who met this necessity? --An illustrious teacher, the Son of God. The eternal Word came to our world to win the confidence of humanity. The prophet that had been revealed to Moses, like unto his brethren, whom they should hear in all things, came as man's Redeemer. Hear, O heavens, and be astonished, O earth; for the appointed instructor of man was no less a personage than the Son of God! ST 4-15-97.
And the Word, Christ, became flesh, human, incarnate, and tabernacled, fixed His tent of flesh, among us; and we actually saw His glory, such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 Amplified.
The moveable "Tent of Meeting" in the wilderness, which was covered with skin and filled with the visible glory of God, had long pointed forward with such encrypted accuracy to the revelation of this moving, living "tent of flesh," filled and anointed with the glory of God Himself. Yet when the Spirit of Messiah came in Jesus of Nazareth, no one knew or had any conception of what Messiah's life would be like, what His purpose was, or the nature of the work that was before Him.
When Jesus came into our world, the Jewish nation was not ready to receive Him. "The world knew Him not." "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." They had lost sight of the character that He would reveal, and the manner of His coming, although these were plainly delineated in the Word. As a nation, they had become estranged from the pure spirituality attained through obedience to God's law. And so, when the Lord Jesus came to the world, His chosen people did not recognize their Deliverer; and they continued to teach for doctrine the commandments of men. SpTB09 10.
Only a few souls were in a spiritual condition to understand the communications of the Spirit to their own heart, and recognize the Completor of the entire temple system, and the Fulfiller of all of the prophecies, when He came. Two of the souls who were intuitive to the invisible things of the Spirit were Simeon and Anna, who each bore witness to the Presence of Messiah at the very beginning of His earthly life.
Spiritual things are spiritually discerned. In the temple the Son of God was dedicated to the work He had come to do [when He was 40 days old]. The priest looked upon Him as he would upon any other child. But though he neither saw nor felt anything unusual, God's act in giving His Son to the world was acknowledged. This occasion did not pass without some recognition of Christ. "There was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ."
As Simeon enters the temple, he sees a family presenting their first-born son before the priest. Their appearance bespeaks poverty; but Simeon understands the warnings of the Spirit, and he is deeply impressed that the infant being presented to the Lord is the Consolation of Israel, the One he has longed to see...Anna also, a prophetess, came in and confirmed Simeon's testimony concerning Christ. As Simeon spoke, her face lighted up with the glory of God, and she poured out her heartfelt thanks that she had been permitted to behold Christ the Lord.
These humble worshipers had not studied the prophecies in vain. But those who held positions as rulers and priests in Israel, though they too had before them the precious utterances of prophecy, were not walking in the way of the Lord, and their eyes were not open to behold the Light of life.
So it is still. Events upon which the attention of all heaven is centered are undiscerned, their very occurrence is unnoticed, by religious leaders, and worshipers in the house of God. Men acknowledge Christ in history, while they turn away from the living Christ (Michael). DA 55,56.
The intimate, personal reality of what the wilderness "Tent of Meeting" had actually symbolized, was now about to unfold throughout the life of Father's Messiah. The life of the Anointed One would reveal the specific divine purpose toward which the Father had been so patiently and steadily drawing His people.
In this chapter, Father is desiring to clearly unveil vivid, physical symbols, which He encrypted in the life of Messiah at His first coming. Father also gave His Son several living parables to act out during His earthly life, which would reveal broad and far-reaching spiritual realities, but which have been hidden from sight until now.
To bring us to a full appreciation and understanding of the Anointing Who lived within Jesus of Nazareth 2000 years ago, Father gave us a little parable at the very beginning of the founding of the Atonement in the earth. Encrypted in the names of the people and places connected with Messiah's conception and birth in human flesh, are the details of a parable which reveal how every human soul conceives and gives birth to Father's Anointed One. Allow yourself to patiently and attentively look with me into the details of this parable, and you will be blessed with the precious significance of what Father desires to reveal to you personally.
Now, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee named Nazareth, to a girl never having been married, and a virgin, engaged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, Hail, O favored one, endued with grace! The Lord is with you!...You will become pregnant and will give birth to a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, eminent, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His forefather David...and of His reign there will be no end. Luke 1:26-28 Amplified.
To get down to the basics of reality, in order for any conception to take place, there are two indispensable parts that must be fully present together - the female and the male. This is where Father's symbolism began, when the Anointing was first conceived in a human being, and everyone understands the imagery. From all of nature, to plumbing parts and electrical fittings, the female part is the receptacle part, and the male part is the entering part, the part that fits within. Each one has to be present, and functioning in the capacity for which it was designed. The dictionary defines female as "designed with a hollow, into which a corresponding male part fits." Father designed this visible, physical representation of the female to the male, to be a symbol for the invisible spiritual reality of the human to the divine. It is like a key into a keyhole that the divine was to go into a human.
"From the beginning of the creation God made them male and female." Mark 10:6. These two parts were originally created by Father to reveal the spiritual reality that, just as within the female is a hollow part into which the male part fits, so within the human being is an invisible hollow, into which the corresponding invisible divine Being fits. This "hollow" that God designed in human beings is the soul; and its corresponding counterpart, is the divine Being, the Anointing, Who was made to "fit" in the soul. The human lives out the female representation, and the divine lives out the male representation. This event 2000 years ago was going to be a living parable to every human soul, of how God comes into its "hollow place" and is conceived there, and how God is born out of that hollow place. Michael has said, "Every man must be Mary;" now, Father shows us how that is.
In Father's living parable of the conception and birth of the Anointed One, Mary was the chosen human, and prepared to be the mother of the Anointing. The word mother comes from "matrix, or womb; the cavity (hollow) in which a new life is formed and nourished till its birth." In several languages, the word mother also conveys the meaning, "bed or channel of a river," representing again, the human as the "resting place" or "channel" for the divine life. Thus the human mother of the Anointed One was symbolic of the female part - the part designed with a hollow, the womb of the soul - into which her male counterpart, the divine Seed of the Anointing, is to enter.
Originally, the human soul was formed in the image of God, and was the exclusive place that God had chosen to reproduce His divine fulness of life. But the name of Jesus' human mother betrays the natural, hostile nature of the human soul since humanity fell in Eden, and separated itself from God. Mary comes from the Hebrew word Miriam, and literally means, "their rebellion; to be contentious, disobedient towards father, towards God." A more vivid and accurate name couldn't have been used to symbolize and describe the natural human nature into which the Seed of the Anointing of God was to be conceived. The name that the mother of Jesus was given symbolizes what ALL natural, human nature is, of itself. Contentious means, "exhibiting an often perverse and wearisome tendency to quarrels and disputes." To dispute is literally, "to discuss, from dis- + putare to think; to call into question." Mary's name reveals that human nature thinks differently than the divine nature, and is naturally rebellious to it. The name Mary personifies what the Scriptures say of the natural human nature:
Now the mind of the flesh [human nature], which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit, is death...That is because the mind of the flesh, with its carnal thoughts and purposes, is hostile [rebellious] to God, for it does not submit itself to God's Law; indeed it cannot. Rom. 8:6,7 Amplified.
Yet, this living parable reveals that something took place which enabled this naturally unfit, human nature to be prepared to receive the Seed of the Anointing into itself. Mary was betrothed to marry Joseph. In Hebrew, Joseph means "Jehovah has added," and from Greek it is translated, "let Him add." This parable reveals that something could be "added" to rebellious humanity to make it ready to conceive God within the womb of the soul, and nurture Him to His birth. The angel whom Father sent to Mary to communicate His desire for her to bear His Child, revealed this secret: "And he came to her and said, Hail, O favored one, endued with grace!" Luke 1:28 Amplified. This human soul's naturally rebellious nature had been endued with grace! The word endued is translated from French - to bring in, introduce, and from Latin - to lead; to move by persuasion or influence.
Michael has spoken of this grace that "Jehovah has added" to us, which gives us this unhuman ability to respond to Him. "You have been given the power to lay down." You have been given everything you need to let God do whatever He wants to, with you. "Father has added" to you the power of letting.
This grace that we "let Jehovah add" to our natural human natures, means much more to us than we ever thought, much more than we had ever known by personal experience. The dictionary definition of grace is "unmerited divine assistance given humans; a virtue coming from God." The way that the word grace is translated from several languages brings precious nuances of meaning into its definition. From the Welsh grace is translated, "a blessing, a gratuity". Blessing means "a present; a gift; the means of increasing happiness," and gratuity is "a free gift; a present; a donation; that which is given without compensation or equivalent." The dictionary continues with this insightful thought about the word donation, revealing the reciprocal and interactive nature of Father's grace with our human nature. "To be valid, a donation supposes capacity both in the donor to give, and donee to take, and requires consent, acceptance and delivery." The translation of grace from French means "to agree, be congruous (come together in harmony), and ready. The primary sense of gratus (grace) is free, ready, quick, willing, prompt." Webster 1828. This reveals the true heart of Father in His gift of grace to us.
When I looked up the word unmerited, from the definition for grace - "unmerited divine assistance," I was quite poignantly amused at what that choice word really means, for it unveils the precise process through which we - naturally rebellious and super righteous human beings - are prepared to receive God into us. The prefix un means "deprive of; remove (a specified thing from) [in this case, OUR "OWN MERIT"], i.e. undress, unfrock." Merit means "to deserve; the qualities or actions that constitute the basis of one's fitness or suitability for some just compensation." In other words, the grace that God gives humans is the divine assistance which unfrocks us of our own rightness, our own merit that makes us feel "worthy" to "deserve" His help. All of our own sincere, earnest efforts to be worthy, fit and suitable for God, keep us unworthy, unfit, and unsuitable to the Father. They are a most integral part of our rebellious nature, which simply cannot "let" Father be faithful to His own word, and makes us feel driven to personally do the "adding" instead of "letting" Him add grace to us.
It takes a lot of hard work for Father to bring a human being to a meritless state of being, but it is only when His divine assistance has brought one's human nature to that state, that it is able to "let" His Anointing be conceived within it. The hollow was all filled up before. We naturally have no idea how full of merit we unconsciously perceive ourselves to be. When Father's divine grace begins to gently unfrock us of some of our merit, we hold onto it with all of our spiritual and physical might. We desperately justify our merit, and the reasons why it is so sincere and "right." We defend it, thereby giving it reason to continue; but all the while, unfrocked of it we must become, if the Seed of God is to impregnate that place that has been so full of our own merit.
In the living parable, Mary was betrothed, or committed, to Joseph. Just so, our rebellious human nature is drawn to the place where it is committed to "let Jehovah add" His grace. Our human nature has to be engaged to Father, committed to "let Father add" His divine assistance. If we are not betrothed to Father, the actual process of being unfrocked of our meritorious self, and the excruciation of becoming naked to ourselves, becomes too much for our human nature to bear. If we will consent to be betrothed to Father, He will bring us to the state where His grace is truly unmerited to us. When the choice is already fixed, before one goes into this defrocking, Father's process can be patiently yielded to. This terrible excruciation in having one's merit overthrown, and having one's kingdom dissolved before his eyes, is impossible to bear without a very special and precise assistance instilled by the Anointing.
One can know that this commitment to "let Father add" His grace to us, costs something --- everything.
It is a union of utter dependence, to be entered into by a proud being. All who form this union must feel their need of the atoning blood [divine life] of Christ [the Anointing]. They must have a change of heart. They must submit their own will to the will of God. There will be a struggle with outward and internal obstacles. There must be a painful work of detachment, as well as a work of attachment. Pride, selfishness, vanity, worldliness--sin in all its forms--must be overcome, if we would enter into a union with Christ. The reason why many find the Christian life so deplorably hard, why they are so fickle, so variable, is, they try to attach themselves to Christ without first detaching themselves from [letting themselves be unfrocked of] these cherished idols. RH 12-13-87.
Christ can do nothing for the recovery of man [the Anointing can do nothing for the recovery of the soul] until, convinced of his own weakness and stripped [unfrocked] of all self-sufficiency and pride, he puts himself [lets himself be] under the control of God. Then and then only, can he be a true subject of God. No confidence can be placed in human greatness, human intellect, or human plans. We must place ourselves under the guidance of an infinite mind, acknowledging that without Jesus [the Anointing personified in us] we can do nothing. "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." "Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble [He gives unmerited divine assistance to those whom He has caused to lose their own merit]." Christ taught that his church is a spiritual kingdom. He, himself, "the Prince of peace," is the head of his church. In his person, humanity inhabited by divinity, was represented to the world. RH 8-18-96.
So thoroughly did the grace "Jehovah added" espouse Mary, so completely did Mary "let Him add" His "divine assistance" to the natural, rebellious disbelief of the human nature - that when the angel said to her, "You will become pregnant and will give birth to a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus...The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, like a shining cloud; and so the pure, sinless Thing, (Offspring) which shall be born of you will be called the Son of God," - Mary could quietly answer, "Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be done to me according to what you have said." Luke 1:31-38 Amplified.
Just so, when our naturally "rebellious, contentious, disobedient" nature has "let Jehovah add" His grace to us; when we have let His "divine assistance" unfrock us of everything in us that we think would "endear us to Him," by removing all of our sincere and "right" efforts -- which are really disbelief (intentional discrediting) that Father will be faithful to His word to us -- then, we too, say with the mother of Jesus, "Let it be done to me according to what You have said." For we have been made ready for the Holy Spirit to come upon us, and the power of the Most High to overshadow us; so the holy, pure, sinless Thing, Offspring, which is born of us, is called the Son of God [the Anointing].
This is the experience that brought Michael into His consummation. The excruciation of this totally unexpected emptying was manifest in the appearing of Christ in the flesh again. This birthing of the Son of God in the soul is further explained.
Two other mothers received grace into their human nature to give birth to a child of promise, revealing in their own lives the place to which Father's unmerited divine assistance had brought them. Elizabeth testified:
Blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance* of those things which were told her from the Lord. Luke 1:45. *There shall be "a completing, a perfecting, a fulfillment, an accomplishment; the event which verifies the promise." Strong's Concordance.
It is written of the elderly Sarah that she conceived and bore a child when she was "past age." That means, when Father had brought her past her own ability, the only time the Child of promise can ever be conceived.
Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Heb. 11:11.
Because of faith also Sarah herself received physical power to conceive a child, even when she was long past the age for it, because she considered God Who had given her the promise, to be reliable and trustworthy and true to His word. Heb. 11:11 Amplified.
Lots of grace had been added to Sarah's human nature in order for it to be said of her that "she judged Him faithful Who had promised." She first laughed when the Lord said that she would bear a son in her old age.
The Lord said [to Abraham], I will surely return to you when the season comes round, and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son. And Sarah was listening and heard it at the tent door which was behind Him...Therefore Sarah laughed to herself...And the Lord asked Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I really bear a child when I am so old? Is anything too hard or too wonderful for the Lord? At the appointed time, when the season comes around, I will return to you and Sarah shall have borne a son. Then Sarah denied it, saying, I did not laugh; for she was afraid. And He said, No, but you did laugh. Gen. 18:9-15 Amplified.
Father's divine assistance had patiently drawn Sarah from the state of laughing in utter disbelief at His word - and, purposely discrediting it, because she couldn't humanly see how what God said could possibly be true for her - to "judging Him faithful" and true to His word.
In this living parable that took place 2000 years ago, there is yet another symbol. The divine conception of the Anointing took place in Nazareth, which means "the guarded one." Even though the human nature within us is naturally rebellious and contentious and disobedient, yet it is guarded tenderly by our heavenly Father, as He solicitously prepares us for His Seed to be conceived in us, and to be borne out of our own endued human nature, in His divine image. Strong's definition of grace is, "the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ [the Anointing], keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith [in the Anointing's faith], knowledge, and affection; and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian [Anointing's] virtues." Have you felt Father upon you, guarding you from your own natural self, with His grace?
It is also true that "the guarded one" refers to the soul guarding itself from being invaded by a foreign Being. Disbelief is its major weapon against the reception of the Seed of the Anointing into itself. The excruciation is the war now being fought in the soul. It is the "mourning" sickness, and the complete change of the body, while carrying this Child. Disbelief is the natural fallen "immune response" to the new Spirit, the new Seed introduced into it. "The immune system [of the natural human nature] is a network of interacting cellular and soluble components. Its function is to distinguish entities within the body as "self" or "nonself" and to eliminate those that are nonself." Merck Manual. This natural fallen immune system is to keep anything unfamiliar out of the soul.
The angel told Joseph, regarding the one who had been "endued with grace", "She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins -- that is, prevent them from failing and missing the true end and scope of life, which is God [in them]." Matt. 1:21 Amplified. And so it came to pass, that the divine Anointing was conceived in a human being, the Son of the divine Father - a separate entity, living and growing within its human dwelling place, and which, in the fulness of time, was born into visibility. The name Jesus comes from the Hebrew word Joshua, which means, "Jehovah is salvation," or "The Existing One is deliverance." Existing means, "to have real being." So it is again. These two things are true. When God is the One Who is existing and having His full Being in you, it IS deliverance. And, your deliverance does not come from somewhere external, but is born out from within you, to appear to you, in the fulness of time.
Thus it is written of this little parable of Jesus' conception, Father's own living symbol, which He has now brought to light:
"Tis finished!" that which heav'n foretold
By prophets in the days of old;
And truths are opened to our view
That kings and prophets never knew
Immediately, when Jesus was born, the life which began flowing out of Him started unfolding the meaning and light from the sanctuary, and the atoning operations which had occurred within it. The physical body of Messiah met the type of the wilderness structure itself. And, in His inner, spiritual life, the divine Presence Who had hovered over and filled the "Tent of Meeting,", began being revealed in Him as well.
Jesus' consciousness of the divine Presence Who was within Him, and the direct connection of this divine Presence with the heavenly Source from Whom it had proceeded, revealed itself first as a dawning awareness when He was but a child.
At the age of twelve, Jesus accompanied Joseph and Mary to Jerusalem to attend the Passover. Here, for the first time during His child-life, He looked upon the temple. He saw the white-robed priests performing their solemn ministry, and witnessed the impressive rites of the paschal service [Passover lamb]. Day by day He saw their meaning more clearly. Every act seemed to be bound up with His own life. New impulses were awakening within Him. Silent and absorbed, He seemed to be studying out a great problem. The mystery of His mission was opening to the Saviour. The work that He was to accomplish for the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the appointed heirs of the promises of the covenant, began to dawn upon His mind.
When the services of the Passover were ended, Jesus lingered in the temple courts; and when the worshipers departed from Jerusalem, He was left behind. It was then that He found the learned rabbis, and plied them with questions regarding the coming of the Messiah. He presented Himself before them in the attitude of a humble learner, and yet the doctors of the law were astonished at His questions. They could not always answer Him. In reality He revealed perfection of character, and although He had not been taught by the rabbis, He was more learned than they.
The mother of Jesus, after a long search, found Him in the school of the rabbis. When He was alone with His parents, the mother said, in words that implied a rebuke, "Son, why hast Thou thus dealt with us? behold, Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing." "How is it that ye sought Me?" answered Jesus. "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?" And as they understood not His words, He pointed upward. In the answer to His mother, Jesus showed for the first time that He understood His relation to God. SpTB09 9-11.
The One within the boy, Jesus of Nazareth, Who knew Who He was, was Messiah. This was the Anointing, Who knew that He was the Son of God within the "tent of flesh" into which He had come. It was the Christ, within Jesus of Nazareth, Who had the knowing that He was the Anointed One. Filled with this divine Spirit, the human being, Jesus, was permeated and moved and led by this Anointing of God within Him. This is also how the Anointing knew Who He was in Michael.
Jesus of Nazareth knew that the Spirit of the Lord had anointed Him, and He knew it with continually increasing consciousness. When He became a young man, one Sabbath in Nazareth He was asked to read from the scroll of Isaiah. Going to Isaiah 61, He identified Himself with the Old Testament prophecy which foretold the Anointing of Messiah. He confessed its current reality of fulfillment, with the conviction of knowing, because as a Son He had simply received His Father's faith - His Father's own knowing. His Father was the Source of Messiah's conviction of reality.
Then Jesus, full of and controlled by the Holy Spirit...was led by the Holy Spirit...He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and He entered the synagogue, as was His custom on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read. And there was handed to Him the roll of the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it is written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me, the Anointed One, the Messiah, to preach the good news, the Gospel, to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the physical and spiritual captives, and the opening of the prison [of the mind] and the eyes [of the body], to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed, who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity, to proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord, the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound. Then He rolled up the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were gazing attentively at Him. And He began to speak to them: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled, while you are present and hearing. Luke 4:16-22; Isa. 61:1 Amplified.
There is a footnote in the Amplified Bible, for Eze. 34:24-31, which refers to this day when Jesus confessed His identity with the Messianic prophesy in Isaiah 61, and His knowing of its current reality.
When Jesus visited the synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4:16-21) He was handed the roll of the book of Isaiah to read aloud. He deliberately turned to Isaiah 61, which tells in its eleven verses what His coming to the world would mean. But Jesus read only a few lines of the chapter, stopping in the midst of a sentence, and said, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears:" (Luke 4:21 KJV). He had just read of His coming to preach the Gospel, to proclaim release to the captives of Satan, to give sight to the blind, to set at liberty the bruised, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. But He had to stop there, for the rest of the chapter could not be fulfilled until His second coming, of which Isaiah's prophecy tells. This section before us in Ezekiel (34:24-31) is telling of the same Messianic reign of which so many Scripture passages speak, the Messianic reign for which Jesus definitely promised to return to earth.
This incident in the life of Jesus reveals the way in which the Anointing recognizes intuitively what is true for Him, and current, and being presently fulfilled at the moment. The Anointing in Jesus of Nazareth knew that He was the first coming of Messiah, the Anointed One, and He also knew to omit the specific phrase that was referring ONLY to the return of Messiah, at His second coming. An earthly mind would judge that this man was merely picking and choosing what He wanted to believe about himself, but the Anointing is keenly sensitive to His Father, and hears and feels and identifies only with what is being given Him from His Father.
This is also how the Anointing recognizes, at the time, the difference between a prophetic vision which puts a human picture onto a spiritual event that can't be seen with the human eye and which will not be fulfilled literally, and a prophetic vision which will be fulfilled in exact, literal detail. For example, Messianic prophecies foretold that the Son of God would sit upon David's throne, and that their King would come to them riding a donkey.
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O Daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you. He is uncompromisingly just and having salvation, patient, meek, lowly, and riding on a donkey, upon a colt, the foal of a donkey... Behold, your salvation comes, in the person of the Lord. Zech. 9:9; Isa. 62:11 Amplified.
For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father of Eternities, Prince of Peace. And of the increase of His government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom. Isa. 9:6,7 Amplified.
Truly Messiah sat upon David's throne in the most real sense, yet not the literal, physical throne of an earthly government. Truly a divine Son was born, and He was the "Wonderful Counselor", the "Mighty God," the "Everlasting Father of Eternities" in person, and the "Prince of Peace" personified in human flesh; and yet, He was "called" by the name Jesus, instead of the names the prophecy had stated.
Then again, the King of God's people did come to them in person, just as had been prophesied, though He didn't dress like a king - at least the kind of king they were used to seeing; and He did ride into Jerusalem at the end of His earthly life on a literal, physical donkey, just as the prophecies had foretold.
Only the Father knows which details of prophetic vision will unfold literally and physically, and which details will portray a vivid description of invisible, spiritual realities without occurring in a literal, physical way. Religious reasoning or human conjecture and speculation cannot peer into the mysteries of prophesy and discern the future. It is only the Child Anointing within a human soul, Who can hear His Father's voice of identity with the prophecies which He Himself gave, and can see what His Father is seeing, and do what His Father is doing in the unfolding of the moment.
Through childhood, youth, and manhood, Jesus walked alone. In His purity and His faithfulness, He trod the wine-press alone, and of the people there was none with Him. He carried the awful weight of responsibility for the salvation of men. He knew that unless there was a decided change in the principles and purposes of the human race, all would be lost. This was the burden of His soul, and none could appreciate the weight that rested upon Him. Filled with intense purpose, He carried out the design of His life that He Himself should be the light of men. DA 92.
Chapter 10, page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
