In the beginning God created...
By glancing at these five
words we may not grasp the thought that God goes from glory to glory.
However, we declare unto you that the opening notes of God's creation
were glorious and the final note shall climax with a much greater glory
that if it were told most people would not believe it. Indeed, God goes
from glory to glory and everything in between is just scaffolding for
the next unveiling of His awesome workmanship. Oh, how it would stir
our hearts to see that darkness is the perfect back drop for His
beautiful paintings. It is a beauty that will swallow up all traces of
darkness in a glorious consummation. Nevertheless, we are not at the
point of that final consummation. We are in a time of transition. In
this hour there is a need for recovery and restoration.
By the sovereign moving of God in Christ and through His people we
shall see restoration. We by no means even hope to hint of a
restoration motivated by man to build up religious institutions. The
thought we hope to convey concerning restoration can be found in type
and shadow in Ezra 1:1 and 2. Now in the first year of Cyrus king
of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be
fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that
he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in
writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of
heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged
me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
"The Lord
God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth." Does this
not sound like a declaration of the Son of God? The name Cyrus means
"the sun." These significant people in the Old Testament point to the
coming of Christ in different stages. Without the dictates and counsel
of others, God spoke a word through His prophet Jeremiah. All the words
He spoke through holy men of old give us a small glimpse of the
illuminating, life changing glory that was made manifest when The
Word became flesh! (John 1:14).
We do not have to read much further into the first chapter before
God speaks, in type, of working through a royal priesthood that
operates under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Then rose up the chief
of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites,
with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build
the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem
(Ezra 1:5). In
Ephesians 2:1-6 we read of something much greater than a priesthood and
government of the Old Covenant being raised up to rebuild a natural
city. We read of those once dead raised up into heavenly
places. We read of a people who have been given the privilege of not
only partaking in building the city of God, but becoming that city
themselves! And my dear friend, if you have been quickened by the
Spirit of God then you are among those people! What an awesome calling!
In Ezra, we do not read of all of God's people leaving Babylon, the place of their captivity. History shows that only a minority returned. "In general, it is of the greatest importance to remember in regard to this Eastern dispersion, that only a minority of the Jews, consisting in all of about 50,000, originally returned from Babylon, first under Zerubbabel and afterwards under Ezra" (The Life and Times of The Messiah, Alfred Edersheim, p.6). This is very significant since we find in Revelation 18:4 that the Lord exhorts His people to come out of Mystery Babylon. Beloved, we have a Cyrus who is calling us out of anything thing that would hold us captive and keep us from executing His will! The only thing a son of God has any business being held captive to is the Lordship of Jesus Christ and His indwelling cross! We can be locked up in a literal prison, but if we are abiding in Christ we will find that we are only prisoners to Him. A more literal reading of the Greek in the New Testament calls such captives slaves (Tit. 1:1, James 1:1, Jude 1 and Rev. 1:1, Concordant Literal New Testament).
We have heard many people boast of their leaving what they now call Babylon. We know God is not into pumping up systems based on the religious ideas of man. As we consider the compromise in man-made religious settings, we can understand the relief of those who feel they have left a system that they call Babylon. Even so, it is still possible to intellectually know all about Sonship and the Kingdom and still remain in the spiritual realm of Mystery Babylon. To be content in simply knowing something, no matter how true it may be, is a form of Gnosticism. To camp around a revelation and make that piece of information the whole truth is idolatry, no matter how true it may be. If we really knew what Mystery Babylon was, then we would realize that we do not even have to leave our house to be held captive in her bonds.
It is one thing to experience the supernatural deliverance of salvation, which is foreshadowed in Israel being delivered from Egypt. Yet, it is another thing to discern the voice of the Lord calling us out of a religious form or mind set. That is where the need for a vision comes in! Those who are secure in their own religious movement may find it insulting to move onward into the reality we have in Christ. Yet, it is a humbling thing to have our eyes opened and see a very real spiritual need within the body of Christ and, specifically, in our own life. The heart of restoration beats with the capacity to see such spiritual needs. Self-interest in the guise of spirituality has blinded the eyes of many in our day from seeing spiritual needs. How clever of the spirit of the age to whisper such terms as "Christ-consciousness" and "God-consciousness" to a generation which hungers for some form of spirituality. In Mystery Babylon, self-interest is sustained when these terms are used without any practical application of the cross of Christ and mental ascent has replaced many things such as humility and holiness.
We cannot help but share the same sentiments found in a quote by David Wilkerson. "Be warned: It doesn't matter what anyone tells you about a great 'revival' or moving of the Spirit taking place; it doesn't matter how many multitudes are involved, or how loud their praises are; it doesn't matter how 'successful' a particular ministry may appear to be. If the cross of Jesus Christ is not the door through which people come, you can rest assured - it is not a work of God!"
Let us consider the last line of the quote again."If the cross of Jesus Christ is not the door through which people come, you can rest assured -it is not a move of God!" There are those who would have us believe Christ is already in every man. When we take this thought to its conclusion we will find no need for the cross. You cannot find the cross of Jesus Christ in Mystery Babylon! You cannot hear the heart beat of restoration in Mystery Babylon! Let us cast down these high things that keep us from seeing the true spiritual need in this generation!
We would like to take a look at the heart that dares to go up out
of Babylon with the intent
to restore Jerusalem. I make a decree that all of the people of
Israel and of their priests and Levites in my realm, who offer freely
to go up to Jerusalem, may go with you
(Ezra 7:13, Amp.) The decree
of the king is echoed in the New Testament through the servant of a
much more significant king who resides in a realm that is far above all
earthly realms of rulership. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service
(Rom.
12:1). Paul is not urging people who have not been called out of the
world to give their all and serve the living God. Such exhortation is
given to those after they have been born into the kingdom, not
before. With that in mind, we must take note that after we have been
born into the kingdom our desire should be to grow. Choices and the
laying down of our will is a part of our growth. The willingness to
join the will of the Father is a true mark of sonship! And he was
withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,
Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me:
nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done
(Luke 22:41 and 42).
It is very significant that the Levites are mentioned in Ezra 7:13
as well as other places in
Ezra that mention freewill offerings (See Ezra 1:4 and 5).
Everything said of the Levites and their
priesthood in Ezra points to a greater work through a more superior
priesthood. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were
written for our learning...
(Rom. 15:4). The name Levi means joined.
Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then
take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God
forbid. What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot
is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined
unto the Lord is one spirit
(1 Cor. 6:15-17). In the Hebrew and
Greek, the words Levi and joined in the above passages
have the same meaning: to cleave to, to be joined to. Although
we can easily lament the fact that many of those who come to know
Christ practice spiritual whoredom through what they join themselves
to, we would like to look at the joining to the Lord. Truly one of the
aspects of spiritual oneness that we cannot afford to overlook is the
joining together of our will and the Father's will. That type of
joining will produce a mature son. It is the mature sons who will join
the Lord in the priestly service after the order of Melchizedek. Thy
people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of
holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever
after the order of Melchizedek
(Ps. 110:3 and 4).
God will never cease from being omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. Yet, the people in whom He shall manifest His presence and through whom He shall minister are those who leave Mystery Babylon and freely go up to (New) Jerusalem (Ezra 7:13). We do not get to choose if we would like to be born, nor when we are to be born. That is in the choosing of God, both in the natural world and the spiritual world. However, as we begin to grow and begin to learn of our Father's ways, we will learn to discern His will. Making the right choice after we have discerned the will of God does not make us stronger beings than God, nor does it rob Him of His glory. He has chosen to deal with us in this fashion, because we are His children. The fact that He is in control and yet He gives us room to grow is an awesome thing for me to behold. I cannot present His dealings with us as nothing more than a cut and dry mechanical force because I know what it is like to go to my personal garden of Gethsemane. Sheer theological views about the will of God cannot bring us to such a place. When we come to such a place the issue of theology has been discarded in exchange for a desperate search of the Father's heart. There is no way to walk away from such a place without a greater degree of humility worked into our heart. Anyone who has been to such a place can rest assured that there is no way we can rob God of His power and glory, for waves of humility will pour through our being as we are gripped with the Lord's desire to be glorified through a willing priesthood.
The tabernacle was made up of offerings given from a willing heart. Speak
unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every
man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my
offering... And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and
every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord's
offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all
his service, and for the holy garment
(Exo. 25:2 and 35:21). In the
book of Ezra we see the same kind of requirements for the offerings
(Ezra 1:6 and 3:5). What glory would it bring God to construct a
tabernacle out of offerings given from a grudging heart? Why should we
think the living temple of God will be made up of anything less than a
willing heart?
If the willingness we possess is nothing but self-ambition, then we may make a name for ourselves and do seemingly great things and revivals may abound; however, without the king's proclamation and decree initiating the work of the ministry, restoration will be out of reach (Ezra 1:1 and 7:13). What we are witnessing in the ecclesiastical world today is the offspring of men more concerned about their own will than the Lord's will. Many have turned a deaf ear to the voice of the Lord only to pattern themselves after the systems of the world. These things are the result of the wrong type of willingness or at best a very small measure of willingness to the Lord! Today we see many Christians with enough willingness to go out and do their own thing for Christ, but not enough willingness to hearken to the voice of the Lord and do His thing! Far too often we ask God to bless our plans rather than inquire of His plan. It is not unlike the Lord to humble us so we will seek His face and move on His leading.
Let us build. Now we need to have a revival to fill our building. On and on the cycle goes. We need to remember that Ezra did not move out on his own. The very thing Ezra moved on is found at the beginning of Ezra and again in chapter 7 and that is the king's decree (Ezra 1:1 and 7:13). As far as present truth for the body of Christ goes, the proclamation and decree represent a word from the throne carrying the intents of our heavenly King's heart! It is the power of our King's decree that will produce a willing heart free of self-interest. Ezra and Nehemiah were sent to restore in contrast with those who set out to build their own kingdoms.
Ezra did not just usher in some revival. He was used mightily to
reform his own people. This
speaks volumes to those who have ears to hear. You see, we can have
times of refreshing and after
such a time ends it is business as usual again. This is not what Ezra
and Nehemiah have to say to this
generation nor any other generation that God apprehends! When there has
been a Spirit-led
reformation things can never be the same. It is like a recovered truth.
The humbled heart involved
cannot go back to business as usual again. The Holy Spirit has a way of
nagging us with the truth.
This is called conviction! We are not talking about men simply mouthing
off true doctrinal points.
We are talking about the Lord piercing the heart with a living word
that utterly shakes up everything
in this temporal realm to which we seem to cling. Who wants to hold on
to a lie or an error when
truth has been recovered? Only proud men who have found security in
their traditions-- fearful souls
who cannot let go of the familiar and step out on faith. Now the
just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have
no pleasure in him
(Heb. 10:38).
When the Lord brings a word that moves us out of our comfort zone there is a very real conflict that arises within us. There are real consequences for drawing back from a recovered truth. This brings to mind something T. Austin Sparks said in one of his many edifying messages.
"I have known many dear, dear men, whom God had used, who came to a crisis like this, a crisis which required a changed position, and they have said, 'No.'-- Gone away sorrowfully because they had great possessions.
I remember one such man with a very honored name. You would know the name perhaps because he was greatly used of the Lord. He was occupying a position of influence in the Anglican Church, and he got hold of a little book of mine, The Centrality and Universality of The Cross. He read it, and he said to me, 'I want to talk to you.' So we went to lunch and coffee. He said, 'I read your book. I know you are right. I know that it represents a tremendous challenge to my position. It involves everything for me.' In the course of the meeting, he said, 'I cannot. I cannot. I have found a good place to preach out of, and I think that I had better stay there.' What happened? -- the name faded out, the position faded out - he just went on: he lost so much. Oh, what a tremendous thing he might have had, not by coming to accept this book, but by coming to accept the challenge of God. God came his way and gave a challenge to change position: the man refused, and God moved on and left him there." (Called Unto The Fellowship Of His Son, p.27)
The Hebrew word used for proclamation
in Ezra 1:1 is translated several times as voice,
noise, and thunderings. This speaks of the first stage
of any true God-initiated move of restoration.
The first time the word is ever used is in Genesis 3:8. In that verse
it is translated as voice. Even
more significant is that the first time this word is ever used we find
restoration in the same context!
And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in
the cool of the day: and Adam
and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst
the trees of the garden.
The context in Genesis may seem very gloomy. Adam and Eve are
confronted after their act of
disobedience. From that point on sin will be conveyed upon the entire
human race. However, along
with the curses that are pronounced in this chapter we find a promise!
We find a word of restoration!
We find a prophetic word speaking of a greater glory yet to come! And
I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise
thy head, and thou shalt
bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy
sorrow and thy conception; in
sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be
to thy husband, and he shall rule over
thee
(Gen. 3:15 and 16). We can read of Christ in the New
Testament and consider His victory over
the serpent (Col. 2:15). However, we often overlook another glorious
phase of God's plan. You see,
the word for desire in 3:16 is translated as restoration
in the Concordant Version. And to the
woman He says, 'Multiplying, yea, multiplying am I your grief and the
groaning of your
pregnancy. In grief shall you bear sons. Yet by your husband is your
restoration, and he shall
rule over you.'
Eve foreshadows the Church, which is the New
Jerusalem. Throughout Ezra and Nehemiah
we find the theme of building and rebuilding with the intent to
restore. Interestingly enough, one of
two Hebrew words that are used several times in Ezra and Nehemiah as build,
building, builders, and so on, is also translated in Genesis 2:22
as And... made he. And the rib, which the Lord God had
taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
The
marginal rendering for made is builded. It is the exact
same word found in the proclamation of Cyrus in Ezra 1:3, as well as
other places in Ezra.
We find a greater proclamation in Matthew 16:17 and 18 with the
intent of a much greater
restoration. For those who can hear it, the Lord is building Himself a
woman. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou,
Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but
my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art
Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it.
It is interesting here to
note that the Lord calls Peter Simon, which means hearing.
The present truth concerning this much greater proclamation will remain
unknown to those who are not hearing in this hour. Without the
capacity to hear the Spirit we can easily mistake the voice of the Lord
for thunder. We can mistake the proclamation of our Cyrus, the Lord,
and those He speaks through as wishful thinkers with great
expectations. It takes a revelation of who Christ is to see anything
beyond this cosmos that would vex us daily with defeat, doubt, and
unbelief.
It is not enough to simply hear the proclamation from the throne in this hour. If we read on in Ezra we find a decree made for the building of the Lord's house (Ezra 5:13). We have yet another interesting word that we would do well to consider. The Hebrew word for decree in Ezra can be traced to a primitive root word meaning to taste, figuratively to perceive. For further investigation see #2942 in the Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary of Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. We have shared in this series that we live in an age of information. It is very easy to feel that we are fully operating in the spiritual realm due to the information we have mentally retained. We are only fooling ourselves when we think we obtain maturity in Christ through mental ascent. If this were true, creation would have been delivered long ago.
In light of simply having information about sonship, consider this quote by George Hawtin:
"We are living in very, very important times. We are continually hearing wonderful things. But I warn you that the heights of sonship, the kingdom, and all the fullness of God are not attained by merely hearing about them. They must be our heart-absorbing, soul-consuming quest. Otherwise we will be like those who have heard the pipe but have not danced, and those who have heard the voice of mourning and have not wept. It has always been a vicious trait of man to hear but not to do. Thousands love to hear and read new things and listen to spiritual revelation, but never raise a finger to attain. Don't waste time telling me we that we need do nothing about it. Don't try to persuade me that all we need do is believe. I would rather far listen to Paul who knew what he was talking about when he said, 'Forgetting the things which are behind and reaching forth unto the things that are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.'" (God's Great Family of Sons, Treasures of Truth, Vol. 1, p. 18)
We must let the King's decree sink into the very depths of our
being and hide it in our hearts.
We must ponder the word of the Lord. We must let the very nature of the
revelation pierce every
fleshly desire that would have us hold knowledge like a trophy and
never let it take root in our soul! ...receive with meekness the
ingrafted word, which is able to save your souls
(Jas. 1:21). We
must cultivate it. We must take it into the everyday mundane routines
of our lives and right into the most adverse times of conflict. Hearing
the word by the Spirit is just the beginning of sonship. Becoming the
word is the consummation of sonship. And saviours shall come up on
mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the
Lord's
(Oba. 21). Notice that it said, saviours will come
up on mount Zion, not informers or hearers.
If we are not feeding on our King's
decree, a word of restoration, we should not expect to administer
restoration in the body of Christ,
nor should we plan on delivering creation any time soon, much less in
some distant eon.
When we absorb the word into our being it has an outworking in our life that declares Christ! The whole purpose of receiving a revelation that may taste as sweet as honey is letting it have its outworking in our life no matter how bitter it may sit with us internally (Rev. 10:9 and 10). The Hebrew word for decree is also translated as commandment. By the indwelling of Christ we have the capacity to become His commandments. What we are speaking of is an obedience that naturally comes from a willing heart. We are talking about a complete change of nature, in which we leave the arena of simply doing things as a ritual. For example, we don't sing praises because it is expected of us to do so. We sing as an outward flow of what has been welling up in our heart. Our actions are no different. They are the natural out workings of what we feed on internally. What we do by nature is a testimony of what is written in our hearts. We see a natural outward flow of obedience in the life of Jesus. This life is within the reach of every child of God that has a hunger to grow in the Spirit. Willingness, which is a true sign of humility, will be the result of assimilating our heavenly King's decree.
We must keep in mind that it is not only important to feed on the decree, but we must be mindful of the way we feed on the decree. In other words, what shape is our heart in when we hear the word of the Lord? You see, we can taste the sweetness of a revelation with a proud, stubborn, and unbroken heart and find ourselves in rebellion to the revelation we have received. Rebellion is just another word for being unwilling. However, if our hearts have been pricked, the conviction of the Spirit will begin to break up the uncultivated soil of our hardened hearts. The Lord is more than able to bring each heart around according to His purpose, for the hardness of man's heart does not hinder God, it only hinders man.
Ezra had prepared himself for the decree. He typified those who
have prepared their hearts
for the Lord. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of
the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments
(Ezra 7:10). Ezra foreshadows
those who feed on the word with
the right heart. Multitudes of Christians will mistake mere bible
reading as eating the word of God.
This is why there is such a strong Pharisaical spirit in the body of
Christ. Truth mixed with no
spiritual understanding and a hard heart is an administration of death.
There may be a willingness
in the sense of religious zeal, but it will always come short of the
glory of God.
While most of God's people were going through the motions of an
administration that was
being phased out, Jesus was partaking of meat that was unknown to all
of Jerusalem, including His
own disciples. We do not doubt for a second that all through the silent
and obscure years of the
Lord's life, He too had prepared His heart like Ezra. In the mean
while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto
them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore said the
disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus
saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to
finish his work
(John 4:31-34).
We must take note of the context of John chapter 4. Just as He did
with His disciples, He
revealed something foreign to the mind of a Samaritan woman. ...an
hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the
Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His
worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in
spirit and truth
(John 4:23 and 24, NASB). The Lord never desired
lip
service. It never pleased Him to have
a mere outward show of religious service. Jesus Christ was the
fulfillment of all the outward
symbolism that we find in the bible. If the Spirit reveals this to us
in a new and living way, we must
let it take hold of our hearts. We must digest that which is always
there, but is not always revealed.
This is why it is so important to stay balanced on how we view reading
the bible. We do not throw
our bibles away, but we should pray for God to remove the veil on our
heart.
When we see how Christ fulfilled all that the Law and Prophets pointed to, we will see that the real function of all scripture is to reveal Christ. We should not look down on the women at the well and the Jews for missing this principle of scripture. It is still being missed today among those who claim the name of Christ. It is missed by all of those who mistake their outward show for the will of God.
One of the first things that is mentioned concerning restoration in
Ezra is the altar. Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his
brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his
brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt
offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God
(Ezra 3:2). We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat
which serve the tabernacle
(Heb. 13:10). The building of the altar
in Ezra
speaks of the altar that is being restored today. In a sense, this
altar has always been present in the
realm of the Spirit. It is an altar that is only made known to those
who offer themselves to God with
a willing heart. It is an altar in which those who go through the
motions of religion and only serve
for the sake of outward show have no right to eat, for they are still
content in their own camp. They
will have the right when Christ becomes their central focus of worship.
Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own
blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him
without the camp, bearing his reproach
(Heb. 13:12 and 13).
The book of Hebrews does speak loud and clear about those who would like to hold on to the Old Covenant system. It can certainly be applied to the religious organizations of man. We must also take note of the Neo-Gnostic flavor of the so-called "kingdom message," for this is the subtle thing that easily slips by. In one breath you hear the name of Christ along with concepts that do away with the need for the blood and the suffering of Christ. If we really want to make use of the sanctification and the setting apart by His blood, we will avoid mixing the Gospel with teachings that do away with the need of the blood! If the Gospel is nothing more than a wake up call to remind us that Christ has always been in us, then He shed His blood for no reason. All of His suffering would have been in vain. If this were so, its would mean mankind never really needed a Saviour; at best they only needed a reminder.
The altar speaks of worship. According to Strong's Exhaustive
Concordance, the Hebrew
word for altar comes from a word that means "to slaughter an animal
(usually in sacrifice):-kill,
offer, (do) sacrifice, slay." The visible altar in the temple was a
place where the dead sacrifice was
offered. In the New Covenant the offering is a living sacrifice and the
altar is located in a temple not
made with hands. Nevertheless, both offerings, the slain animals and
the living sacrifice, speak of
a death that has taken place. One offering looks toward the cross and
the other looks back at the
cross. Both of them speak of worship. With all of that in mind, the
very thing that we have touched
on in Ezra thus far is summed up in the following passage of scripture.
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be
glory for ever. Amen. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies
of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service
(Rom.11:36
and 12:1). The
leading of the Spirit, the proclamation,
the decree, and all of the provision are all from the Lord. The
response to all of this is a willing heart,
which is the offering God has been after all along.
What we find in Ezra concerning the altar is not a restoration of worship in the sense of going into a building we call church and having a hallelujah good time. Ezra did not go up to Jerusalem to have a praise and worship workshop. He did not conduct a seminar on worship. Furthermore, our mention of holiness, humility, and willingness are not the steps of a formula we have concocted in hopes of restoration. What all of this speaks of is God moving forward in his plan. If we are moving with Him, then we go from glory to glory. That is not to be confused with going from conference to conference, or convention to convention.
We can experience many things in the Spirit while the walls of our spiritual city are broken down and the need of restoration remains. However, that is not God's agenda. You see Ezra did not pick out a date in which they would hold a revival in Jerusalem. He simply aligned himself with the will of God. In the days of the Apostle Paul, those who conducted the outward service of the temple that was left desolate were not aligning themselves with the will of God. The altar that they had was not a place of the worship which was done in spirit and truth (John 4:24).
Although there are no animal sacrifices abounding in Christendom
today, the rebuilding of
the altar still applies. It applies in a dimension of the Spirit. It is
only in this dimension that holiness,
humility, and willingness are recovered. Not by might, nor by
power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts
(Zech. 4:6). The
Lord spoke these words through
Zechariah, a prophet who, along
with Haggai, were with Ezra in the restoration process (Ezra 5:1). Now
to say that this is done by
the Spirit, does not mean restoration is an idea we realize and then
speak into being. No, that is not
the case at all. I'm afraid we easily forget that the Lord has a desire
yet to be fulfilled in the realm
of time. You see, in these inner workings of the heart, which have an
outworking in our way of
living, there is an intimacy going on. There is a fellowship. There is
a communion and a participation
going on between Creator and creature, between God and man. There is a
divine union yet to be
consummated in creation as we saw it consummated in Jesus. He became
that mediator between
heaven and earth. He became that place in which the spiritual and the
natural merged. He did not do
this just for the sake of appearing in history. He did this to open the
way for the rest of His many
membered body to merge into this union.
The way was opened on the ground of resurrection. In Ezra 3:2 we see that the authority in which Jeshua operated was pointing to resurrection life. "Then stood up Jeshua..." Jeshua is Hebrew for Jesus. Both names mean Jehovah is salvation. Our Lord stood up on the third day in resurrection life. This is what was preached in the book of Acts-- Jesus and the resurrection. "Then Jeshua stood up..." These four words are the essence of the Gospel. That is the good news the Apostles carried into the world.
The Hebrew word, koom, which is translated in
the King James as stood up in Ezra 3:2
means to arise. In Genesis 37:7, it is translated
as arose in the context of Joseph's dream. For,
behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose,
and also stood upright; and,
behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my
sheaf.
This is another picture
of Christ in the power of His resurrection, and, praise the Lord, we
too, have been made partakers
of His resurrection life. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his
great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised
us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus
(Eph. 2:4-6). He has raised us up together!
We cannot overlook the significance to this Hebrew word, koom, used in Ezra 3:2, for we know that the Spirit which inspired the Law and the Prophets has interwoven a divine pattern throughout the entire Old Testament that leads up to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and goes right on into the theme of bringing many sons unto glory who shall be used under the government of the Lord to restore all things! That is the good news folks! That is worthy of praise! That is the heart of the Father communicating love to all of His creation!
Jeshua stood up! He arose. This is the grounds on which we operate.
The Spirit that stirred
Cyrus to make the proclamation and inspired Ezra and the others to
return from captivity is working
in a people in this very hour. If we are not operating out of
resurrection life, our outward activity
means nothing. The outward manifestation of operating out of the inner
life of Christ is pictured in
the burnt offering upom the altar. As a matter of fact, the first
mention of the word altar in the
scriptures also mentions burnt offerings. And Noah builded an altar
unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl,
and offered burnt offerings on the altar
(Gen. 8:20). Here again,
special attention should be given to names. Noah's name means rest.
This brings to mind
the Sabbath. We make a mistake when we make the Sabbath out to be a day
of simply doing nothing.
Jesus made it a point to do a few things on the Sabbath (Matt. 12:10,
Mk. 3:2, Lk. 13:13, and John
9:14). And just what was He doing? The will of the Father! (John 5:30).
As Alfred Edersheim said
in his book, The Temple - Its Ministry and Services, "He
exhibited the true meaning and object of
the Sabbath. Never did the antagonism between the spirit and the letter
more clearly appear." If we
get off on the issue of the Sabbath simply being a day of the week, we
have absolutely lost what the
Lord has conveyed in the Gospel! Noah was a picture of those who abide
in the will of God. He
entered into the ark, which is another picture of Christ. Noah's labor
was simply the result of doing
the will of the Lord.
We have no problem with the physical man needing a day put aside for rest. Nevertheless, those who enter into the ark will find that the Sabbath is not a day. It is a person! How do we now keep the Sabbath? The same way Jesus did through obedience to the Father. How is it broken? It is broken by disobedience. Whether it be a blatant and obvious act like fornication, or a religious work outside of the will of God in which we try to improve ourselves, it is disobedience. Those who turn the grace of God into lasciviousness and those who frustrate the grace of God are both in the same lot (Jude 4 and Gal. 2:21). They are both breaking the Sabbath!
And what is the burnt offering? It is that which brings a sweet
smelling savour to the Lord.
After Noah offered burnt offerings we read, And the Lord smelled
a sweet savour
(Gen. 8:21). The
marginal note reads, a savour of rest. Who shall offer burnt
offerings? Those who have entered into
His rest. In light of all of this, we must note that the
rebuilding of the altar in Ezra has more to say
to us than simply restoring the altar. It speaks of the very realm in
which we can enjoy the Sabbath.
It is our place in the heavens, which comes by way of resurrection
life. In that place we have an open
heaven to know the will of the Father. We must also note that this
resurrection life is not a concept
of some sort of higher self-life to which we awaken. You see, until
there was a death, there was no
hope for us to have resurrection life. The result of being seated with
Him in the heavens is having
the capacity to cast down everything that would lead us back into
practicing the Adamic nature (2
Cor. 10:5 and 4). In His death we are made partakers of His life,
which includes experiencing the
death of our life in Adam (Rom. 6:4-6). When Christ comes into our
hearts to make His abode, He
brings with Him the grace for us to pick up our cross and follow Him.
This is something we
experience, rather than just think about and make philosophies about.
We would like to make another significant mention of the Hebrew
word, koom, in Ezra 3:2.
It is translated as and I will perform in Psalm 119:106. I
have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy
righteous judgments.
Many know that the Psalms so
often prophesy of the Lord, but
they also prophesy of His desire to bring many sons unto glory. For He
has sworn! This is something
we can count on Him to perform. It does not matter how negative things
may be or how we may feel.
None of these things can stay the mighty hand of God. ...because he
could swear by no greater, he sware by himself... The Lord hath sworn,
and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of
Melchizedek
(Heb. 6:13 and Ps. 110:4).
There should be no questioning in God's ability to restore. The
question is whether or not we will press onward into our calling to be
a part of the priesthood that He shall use to minister
restoration. One thing to soberly acknowledge is that if we are not
edifying the body now, why
should we count on edifying all of humanity in the future? Who are
those that God is using to edify
the body? Those who yield themselves unto God as those that are
alive from the dead
(Rom. 6:13). Restoration begins on resurrection
ground. It is resurrection
life that edifies. It was on
resurrection ground that we find the altar rebuilt in Ezra. It is on
resurrection ground that we find our
own altar. The decree is sounding. Let the willing heart hear it. There
is an urgency in our heavenly
Cyrus's decree.
As our Cyrus begins to open the scroll of our heart, we will soon learn if we have really heard and understood the purpose of our calling. He has been calling a people out of every generation. Can we really hear the heart behind the exhortation of the Spirit? We trust that in due time the sound will become quite clear. In light of the urgency of the decree, let us close with yet another exhortation.
"Beloved, God has a people, who have heard a certain sound. While others have followed after curious noises in the wilderness, they have refused... and have not been willing to accept just anything anyone has had to say concerning sonship. Oh, yes, they, too, have heard those 'other sounds'. They have heard the notes which have, at first impression, sounded very attractive and appealing to the natural ear. But they have held out for the original message which they first received from the Lord, and will not accept a counterfeit. This unique company is counting all things but dung, that they might win Christ... and are steadliy pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high call of God, which is in Christ Jesus their Lord! Hallelujah! Press on, O ye saints of the Most High! We've come too far to turn back now!" ("Back to the Basics - On to Perfection," GoodSeed Publications, Terry and Tykie Crisp, p.19)
*** We would like to recommend the writings of Ricky and Karen Evans. They are currently sharing a very timely word in their series "Balanced and Established." If you would like to receive their writings, their address is: 8 Oakland Ridge, Petal, MS 39465.
*** We have recently made some new additions to our website
including more writings of T. Austin-Sparks and others. Visit us at http://pages.prodigy.net/travis.ogletree/
and then go to the Gems From Our Library link.