It had been eight long weeks from the time that Father began intimating to Michael that the "marriage of the Lamb" would be a literal, physical event sometime in August of 2000, until the day that Michael announced His Father's confirmation of His purpose September 30th, Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the year of rest. That Sabbath morning, when Michael announced to the entire congregation the consummation which His Father had decreed to occur, He clearly delineated the physical nature of the consummation which His Father was asking of Him. We take a brief excerpt from Chapter Seven, where the notes of that meeting were given:
Two thousand years ago when the Son of God was sent by the Father to be the Lamb of God, He wasn't a pretend sacrifice. He died on a literal, physical cross with real wood and real nails. Now, at the consummation of all things, "the marriage of the Lamb" is to be consummated not only spiritually and symbolically, but literally and physically. Michael
It wasn't until a few days before this Sabbath meeting, that Father's Final Word, had come to Michael, clearly settling the issue of whether the consummation and marriage of the Lamb would unfold only spiritually, or physically as well. Up until that time, there had still been the distinct possibility that Father was just testing His Son's willingness to do whatever He asked of Him, as God had tested Abraham's willingness. But the day Father told Michael that the literal, physical consummation which He had been intimating, would occur, He also unfolded a time line for the sequence of events which would be coming to pass in their order, during our wilderness time together. Father had ordained it to be a mirror image of the years of Messiah's earthly life at His first coming, occurring in the new land in Michael's life, in the reverse order in which they had occurred in the life of Jesus.
Father clearly defined the pattern of this Messianic time line, unfolding to Michael the specific events which were included in it, and their specific sequence of occurrence. The span of time being mirrored in reverse, included the four specified periods of time in the life of Jesus of Nazareth:
3 1/2 years of Jesus' public ministry
Three days and three nights in which Jesus was in the heart of the earth
Forty days between Jesus' resurrection and ascension
Ten days from the ascension of Jesus until Pentecost, the day when those who had believed in Him, received the promised outpouring of the same Spirit Who had lived in Jesus
Jesus' baptism marked the beginning of His 3 1/2 years of public ministry, and ended when He went into the heart of the earth for three days and three nights."For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Matt. 12:40.
Jesus entered the recesses of the earth, following the last Supper, and He remained there throughout Gethsemane, His trial, crucifixion, and burial. During this period, the Son of God was required to follow His Father's instructions, while personally viewing His divine life and sacrifice, from the human context and perspective of the unbelieving people of His day. This was truly the heart of the earth for Him. To the disbelieving Jews, Jesus wouldn't be making an atoning sacrifice at all. He would be a blasphemous fool, judged as an impostor, and hung on a cross of crucifixion. This was their "earth view" of the human life of the Son of God, and it was based on their limited human perspective, their religious misjudgment of the human life of God's Son. Jesus Himself was required to look through their incredulous, disbelieving eyes, and remain in the heart of this viewpoint for three days and three nights. To Him, during this time, the whole picture of His mission and sacrifice looked black, like what He was doing to save mankind was totally in vain, and for nothing. He felt during this time, like His humanity wouldn't be able to hold up under the excruciation of this "earth view" which was pressing upon Him with such strong forcefulness. This "earth view" was so out of character with the divine perspective with which He had viewed His mission during the whole period of His entire earthly life. "And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." Matt. 26:39.
Throughout His life on earth Jesus had walked in the light of God's presence. When in conflict with men who were inspired by the very spirit of Satan, He could say, "He that sent Me is with Me: the Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him." John 8:29. But now He seemed to be shut out from the light of God's sustaining presence. The guilt of fallen humanity He must bear.
[This is what Michael, the Son of God was feeling so keenly as He bore the soul of His bride upon Himself. He was bearing the feeling of her guilt. Collectively she was guilty of adultery to God, of serving her own interests and pursuing her earthly desires, instead of living with faithful singleness of purpose. Michael, the Son of God was not guilty of anything. In His human form, He was following His Father's explicit instructions, and the "earth view" that He was being required to bear wasn't from self will. Michael was being required to view the consummation and the peculiar details that surrounded it, from the laws of the God-given earthly order of the previous dispensation. Michael was given to face and bear the total and radical change from the old order to the new order. He had to look at and bear the consummation, and the effects of all of its peculiar details and circumstances, through the eyes and with the feelings of one who has been faithful and conscientious to what was God-given in the old order, what God had said in the past was His will, but which was being changed by Father's decree. Because Michael's instructions from Father seemed to go against the law of God, the feelings of guilt which come from the breech of law, were being pressed strongly upon the Son of Man.]
Upon Him who knew no sin must be laid the iniquity of us all. So dreadful does sin appear to Him, so great is the weight of guilt which He must bear, that He is tempted to fear it will shut Him out forever from His Father's love. Every step that He now took was with labored effort. He groaned aloud, as if suffering under the pressure of a terrible burden. Twice His companions supported Him, or He would have fallen to the earth. He felt that by sin He was being separated from His Father. The gulf was so broad, so black, so deep, that His spirit shuddered before it. This agony He must not exert His divine power to escape.
[This is no different than the decision that every soul faces in going forward in Father's incomprehensible instructions to their own soul. They see clearly that they don't have to. They are not being forced. They can get out from under the pressure with a simple decision. This divine power of choice is what brought Jesus to His cross, and Michael to His consummation. And this same divine power of choice is what keeps us in the pathway of the footsteps of the Son of God, rather than saving our natural selves from its death.]
And what was to be gained by this sacrifice? How hopeless appeared the guilt and ingratitude of men! In its hardest features Satan pressed the situation upon the Redeemer: The people who claim to be above all others in temporal and spiritual advantages have rejected You. They are seeking to destroy You, the foundation, the center and seal of the promises made to them as a peculiar people. One of Your own disciples, who has listened to Your instruction, and has been among the foremost in church activities, will betray You. One of Your most zealous followers will deny You. All will forsake You. Christ's whole being abhorred the thought. That those whom He had undertaken to save, those whom He loved so much, should unite in the plots of Satan, this pierced His soul. The conflict was terrible. From His pale lips comes the bitter cry, "O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me." Yet even now He adds, "Nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt."
Some have limited views of the atonement. They suppose that Jesus had, through all his painful sufferings, the evidence of his Father's love and acceptance, and that the portals of the tomb before him were illuminated with bright hope. Here is a great mistake. Christ's keenest anguish was ... His mental agony ... of such intensity that man can have but faint conception of it. He was oppressed by the powers of darkness. He had not one ray of light to brighten the future. And he was struggling with the power of Satan, who was declaring that Christ was in his hands, and that he was superior in strength to the Son of God, that God had disowned his Son, and that he was no longer in the favor of God any more than himself. If he was indeed still in favor with God, why need he die? God could save him from death. Christ yielded not in the least degree to the torturing foe, even in his bitterest anguish. Legions of evil angels were all about the Son of God, yet the holy angels were bidden not to break their ranks and engage in conflict with the taunting, reviling foe. Heavenly angels were not permitted to minister unto the anguished spirit of the Son of God. Christ could not see through the portals of the tomb. Bright hope did not present to Him his coming forth from the grave [consummation] a triumphant conqueror, or tell Him of the Father's acceptance of his sacrifice. All He could realize during this time of amazing darkness was the heinousness of sin [the "earth view"] that was laid upon Him, and the horror of its penalty, death. He feared that sin was so offensive in the sight of his Father that their separation was eternal. It was in this terrible hour of darkness, the face of his Father hidden, legions of evil angels enshrouding him, the sins [and accusations] of the world upon him, that the words were wrenched from his lips, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Condensed from DA 685-687; RH 2-15-83; BEcho 9-15-92.
This was the excruciation of the "earth view" which Jesus bore during the three days and nights in the heart of the earth. Jesus was accused of being a blasphemer, a law breaker, an invader of holy places and above all, a seditionist. This is how the earth viewed Him and this is what He was forced to see and to feel and bear in Himself. Now again, the Son of God was again being forced to bear the full weight of earthly accusations against what appeared adulterous and unjust, in the consummation and its peculiar details which His Father had arranged in it. Both at His first coming and at His second, the people carry no such weight, for the entire responsibility is on Messiah. He carries the weight and responsibility for the people. Faith in the Father's leading alone, is His victory. He is not permitted to see the end result of His actions. There is a bright light behind, but He can see nothing ahead.
Following Jesus' three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, He spent forty days after His resurrection with His disciples and those who believed on Him, drawing them close to Him and confirming His relationship of love to them.
To whom he also showed himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing unto them by the space of forty days, and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God: and, being assembled together with them, he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, said he, ye heard from me: 'ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence, and ye shall be my witnesses'. And when he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight." Acts 2:3-9 ASV.
The forty day period was followed by a period of ten days, at which time the promised baptism of the Spirit came upon them.
Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is nigh unto Jerusalem...And when they were come in, they went up into the upper chamber, where they were abiding...These all with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer...And when the day of Pentecost was now come , they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting...And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:10-26;3:1-4.
The descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost finalized the four distinct periods of time that marked the first appearing of the Son of God in human form. Now, at the return of the Son of God in human form, the Father revealed that those same four time sequences 3 1/2 years, 3 days and three nights, 40 days, and 10 days would be occurring in reverse order, forming a mirror image to these sequences of time at His first coming.
At the first coming of the Son of God to live an earthly life, except for an occasional flash of light from Father, the disciples of Jesus had the common Jewish "earth view" of Messiah's life, with its false expectations and human judgment, during the entire 3 1/2 years of Jesus' ministry. They were basically in the dark, so to speak, as far as a correct vision of Messiah and His life work, and they couldn't bear to let even the thought of His death which He intimated to them on several occasions, into the realm of consideration. The three days and three nights that Jesus was in the heart of the earth, was effective in totally destroying the false expectations and earthly hopes of His followers. During the forty days following Jesus' resurrection, their understanding began to be opened as He showed them the direct overlay of His life and death, with the prophecies of Messiah's coming, which they had previously misinterpreted. But it wasn't until the tenth day after His ascension, on Pentecost, when the full light and fire of the Spirit of divine understanding came upon them, that they then fully received heaven's point of view regarding the earthly life of the Son of God, and the purpose of His death. They received heaven's view in exchange for their "earth view."
The believers in the new land had the full light and advantage of what occurred 2000 years ago in the life of Jesus. More was required now, to believe in Messiah. The Spirit of light and understanding which had come to the disciples after the fact, at the first coming of Messiah, now had to come before the fact. The Messianic time line was to begin with the ten day period of time, the outpouring of the Spirit of God equivalent to the day of Pentecost. This truly occurred when Michael, the Son of God, shared with the congregation the light and fire of His Father's words, and heaven's view of Michael's atoning death to Himself, in order to go forward in the literal consummation, came down upon the congregation.
The ten day period would begin that very Sabbath, Rosh Hashanah, September 30, 2000, and end on the Day of Atonement, October 10, 2000. Ten days had been given to understand the message regarding the consummation. During this ten day period, the congregation would be going to the Father personally to each receive His divine vision of this literal consummation that He had ordained for His Son. Personally receiving "heaven's view" of Michael's atoning sacrifice for the entire bride of Christ, would naturally bring a soul into the oneness of the Day of Atonement, and make each heart completely "at-one-with" Father's vision of Michael's consummation.
The next 40 day period, would be time of personally being settled into Father's vision and perspective, giving an inner preparation for Michael's consummation to be taken into the heart personally, and be received as one's very own consummation to Father.
Three days and three nights of testing would follow the 40 day period, and then the period of 3 1/2 years would unfold.
Michael ended the morning meeting on that eventful Sabbath, with an earnest invitation for the congregation to candidly and seriously consider what He had opened up to them from the Father.
If you have heard the Father witness to the things I have shared with you this morning, and you desire to lay hold of the consummation which is being provided, I invite you to partake with me. I told you before it happened, so that you might believe when it happens. This communion is My commitment to you. I mean by that, that I will faithfully carry out My instructions. I will not fail you. I am committed to your marriage with God and I give myself up in the process of its revelation. This cup of the consummation is the newest covenant. Melchizedek brings the new Way. Heaven is free and peaceful at all times, full of the presence of the Father at all times. No discordant note, ever. No one is into themselves, satisfying their desires. There is no self, except One. This is the marriage covenant. This is the last covenant promised. Michael (Emphasis supplied)
Between the morning meeting and our communion time in the afternoon, Father laid it on my heart to speak with my previous earthly husband. In the course of our conversation, I asked him if he knew what Michael meant when He announced His forthcoming "literal, physical consummation." He replied that Jesus had said, "You must eat My flesh and drink My blood," and He had really meant it, but not in the way it sounded. in the past Michael had used strong, vivid language to convey a spiritual truth, intending the effect of His words to send that particular truth home to the heart, because of its vivid imagery. He wasn't clear as to the extent of Michael's meaning.
He then asked me if I knew what Michael meant. I told him that I knew exactly what He meant Michael meant literal, physical intercourse. In a split second, the implications of the sacrifice which Father was asking, not only of Michael, but of him personally, as well, broke upon his mind. In one moment he saw the cost. Father was asking him for his wife. Father had brought our lives together in such a marked and providential way, and now Father was asking for that which He had given. Father was asking him to give me to His Son, for the physical carrying out of the divine consummation. Everything in his life would drastically change his earthly marriage would be no more, there would no longer be a wife in his family, and his own personal world would never be the same. I could see that the reality of Michael's consummation had become clear to him, and I asked him how he felt about it. His quiet response to the personal conviction which had just come upon him, was "The clay doesn't judge or question the Potter."
In the course of that Sabbath afternoon after communion, and the ensuing evening, it became apparent from various conversations which had taken place throughout the land, that Michael's clear announcement of His forthcoming "literal, physical consummation," was generally being taken, "spiritually speaking." There were many folks who were of the mind that Michael could not have meant exactly what He said, and in the literal way in which He had spoken it. This was a very significant phenomenon, for the Son of God had been very specific and clear. He was just as clear as He had been 2000 years before, when He announced to His followers then, that He was going to go up to Jerusalem to be killed. This announcement of Christ so went against all their previous religious ideas, that many couldn't allow it to enter their minds that He actually meant the words He was saying. He must be meaning something else, they reasoned.
Before His crucifixion the Saviour explained to His disciples that He was to be put to death and to rise again from the tomb, and angels were present to impress His words on minds and hearts. But the disciples...could not tolerate the thought that He in whom all their hopes centered should suffer an ignominious death...and...the death of Jesus as fully destroyed their hopes as if He had not forewarned them.GC 594.
So it was again, at Messiah's return. Many of those whom Father had brought to the new land with Michael, reasoned that He couldn't REALLY be meaning what He had said. What was the truth encrypted in those strong words He had used???? He had to be "spiritually speaking." There were a few who took in the reality of this momentous, and completely life altering event, for which the Father had given His Son specific instruction.
The next day, Sunday, October 1, 2000, Michael again met with the congregation in the new land. In no uncertain terms He reiterated the event which was going to occur literally and physically. He understood the nature of the human mind, and how it can so easily shunt out those things which it does not want to face. This time, there were more who grasped the reality of the event which Father had decreed.
Late that evening, the conviction which had come upon Compassion (Jonathan) the day before that Father was asking him for his wife, for the purpose of the divine consummation became an unction, to personally speak with Michael about what he was feeling from Father. This visit was exactly 21 days after Father had shown me in a vision of the night, that this very transaction would take place. He wrote to me later describing Father's movings upon his heart for this visit:
The evening I was prompted to speak with Michael for the specific purpose of freeing Him to follow whatever course the Father might lay out for him with regard to my wife, I could offer no explanation as to why I was doing this thing giving my wife and the mother of our child to Messiah. I was simply following the Father's inexplicable inner promptings.
Looking back, I clearly see Father's hand minutely coordinating every detail for the fulfillment of His plan. Truly, "His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower."
I relate very much with the experience of Mary's blessed yielding to the Father's will in another "unthinkable" divine plan. "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee."
It was not Mary who was the active agent initiating her being overshadowed, she merely consented. In the same way, the divinely implanted inspiration that overshadowed my mind to gift my wife to Messiah, was the flowing of the divine Spirit for the accomplishment of His designs, quite apart from my personal inclinations.
The term overshadow is defined in the Greek lexicon as "the Holy Spirit exerting creative energy upon the womb of the virgin Mary and impregnating it." In the same way, the Father exerted His creative energy to impregnate me with the will to do His will.
An incident in the life of Mary Magdalene when she was led to anoint Jesus with oil at the feast at Simon's house, describes to me this divine outworking of the Spirit that I experienced.
Mary knew not the full significance of her deed. She could not explain why she had anointed Christ on this occasion. But the Holy Spirit had planned for her, and she had obeyed His promptings. Inspiration has no reasons to give. An unseen presence, it speaks to the mind and soul, and moves the heart to action. Thus many actions are performed by the power of the Holy Spirit. RH 8-7-1900, DA 560.
My dear One, you'll always be an unspeakably precious treasure from the Father to me. No matter how I am related to you here in this part of eternity, now as brother and friend, our relationship of love has been only greatly enhanced. The capacity to truly love you has been immeasurably increased. I sense His love for you flowing through me. I love His timeless, limitless, boundless, conditionless love surging through all of His channels.
I saw Father so clearly and beautifully as He flowed so unobstructedly through Michael yesterday. The truth of the song, "Channels Only" is clarifying as I express this. We are only the channel for Father or His adversary.
Andrew Murray was describing the eternal aspect of God. He said it is usually expressed in the negative as stating what it is not - no end nor beginning. But Andrew said a more descriptive representation states the eternal aspect as a glorious present now, without emphasis on past or future, just now. I am realizing what a secure, peaceful contented, satisfied, resting place we are in now, and it never changes.
"Be at rest, you are blessed, for your Father in Michael, gently watches over you and His love is strong and true." These are my thoughts and desires for you. I love you my dear one. Compassion (Jonathan)
Dearest Jonathan,
I desire to express my gratitude to you for your willing yielding to the Father's promptings, when He put it on your heart to gift me to Messiah for the Father's purposes. What especially touched me, was your regard for Messiah's feelings, and your thoughtfulness to free Him to receive me - unhindered and freely - as a wholehearted gift from you.
The Father led me to these verses to share with you:
God loves, He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon, a cheerful, joyous, "prompt to do it" giver, whose heart is in his giving. 2 Cor. 9:6,7 Amplified.
The Israelites brought a freewill offering to the Lord, all men and women whose hearts made them willing and moved them to bring anything for any of the work which the Lord had commanded to be done. Ex. 35:29 Amplified.
Together in Messiah, Michal (Anaiah)
Chapter 11, page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16