FROM THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE
Part
140
THE DRAGON, THE WOMAN,
AND THE MANCHILD
(continued)
And there
appeared another wonder in heaven; and, behold a great
red dragon
and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them
to the earth (Rev. 12:3-4).
This isnt
some literal fire-breathing monster roaming the streets of New York City! The dragon is a spiritual reality a
negative, corrupted, spiritual dimension. Now
let us notice something very peculiar about this dragon.
His tail draws a third part of the stars of heaven and
casts them down to the earth. What does the
dragon-tail symbolize? In the time of Isaiah
the tail was declared to be the false prophet
and his teachings by which the Lords people were led astray, and destroyed. Isaiah said, The
prophet that teaches lies, he is the tail (Isa. 9:14-16).
From the very
beginning of history this tail has grown stronger, longer, and larger, until today he can
lash that tail backward and forward over the whole face of the globe, and then even sweep
the starry heavens above with it. Yes, this
vision says, that by his tail he sweeps the very heaven where the sun-clad woman is in
travail and where the manchild is birthed! He
drags down the shining stars therefrom, that they should cease to give their light in the
high places of God, but shine dimly in the polluted atmosphere of earth. Stars are heavenly bodies, and signify both divine
truths and realities as well as those heavenly ones who walk in the light of those truths
and proclaim and express them. Their being
dragged down signifies the perversion of the truth and apostasy of those who
walked in that truth. Satan by his tail of
spiritual distortion changes the truth of God into a lie and accomplishes the downfall of
those in whom that truth shone.
The dragon uses
his tail, the false prophet, the tongue of the religious spirit in man, to cast down a
third part of the stars of heaven, the heavenly spiritual truths, casting them down unto
the earth causing the Lords people to perceive them carnally and not spiritually! The dragon always wants to drag down the high and
holy truths of God into a carnal form of mans wisdom, totally refusing to hear the
word of God in the spirit and by the spirit. The
head controls the tail, revealing the truth that the lies of the false prophets, whether
the outward false prophets in our midst or the false religious spirit within each of us,
are spoken by the authority of the dragon and carry and impose the dragons authority
over men. Out of carnal understanding men
proclaim as divine truth that which is mere superstition, legend, myth, folklore, and
fairy tales of a carnal interpretation of the word of God.
Consider
what I now say with all diligence and prayer. Any
teaching that is on a lower level than the heaven where the manchild dwells will rob you
of your walk in sonship! Even among the Lords
elect some are watering down the revelation of sonship, proclaiming that there will be no
super-sonship ministry with mighty signs and wonders that will empty the hospitals, raise
the dead, bring down the kingdoms of men, convert the masses, and restore all creation
into God again. Some are saying that manifest
sonship is just Christ living out His life through you day by day and we are not to
look for a super-duper ministry that will strike the world with such force
that it will change everything. Others try to
make manifest sonship function on the church level through mature saints with gifts of the
Spirit and through the five-fold ministry. I
have no hesitation in telling you that all such are representations of the tail of the
dragon and if you heed them they will sweep you down out of your appointed destiny and
cast you into a carnal religious earth-realm where you will serve the Lord on a lower
level but can never be the instrument to deliver
creation from the bondage of corruption! Just
because we are of the manchild company doesnt mean that we dont have any
conflict with the dragon. Oh, yes! It is here in the high places of the spirit we
encounter the sweeping power of the dragons tail!
Will you be swept away by his lies?
Heaven
and earth in the book of Revelation signify dimensions of nature, being, reality, and
activity. They are spiritual and they are
natural or soulical. Heaven bespeaks the
spiritual things and realm of God, whereas earth bespeaks the natural and soulish things
and realm of man. Men are living souls
dwelling on the earth, God is a spirit dwelling in the heavens the realm of the
spirit. Now we find that the dragon is in
heaven and surprisingly enough the woman and the dragon have been dwelling together in
heaven! There need be no doubt in the mind of
any saint who is seated with Christ in the heavenly places that we have had in our midst
the dragon. The dragon has been as close to us
as the air we breathe, as close to us as the blood coursing through our veins. The dragon has shown up in all our gatherings and
has appeared in every experience we have had with God and every word we have received from
God. The dragon is that psychic, religious,
soulish spirit that takes the bright truths (stars) of God and casts them down from the
true order of God into a carnal realm. The
doctrines of men, the traditions of the elders, carnal, literalistic, and legalistic
interpretations of the spiritual truths of God, static creeds, lifeless rituals, empty
ceremonies, carnal means and methods, flesh-appealing programs these and a hundred
more things are all the work of the great red dragon!
These, one and all, take the high and heavenly and life-giving realities of
God in the spirit and cast them down into an outward form of religiosity.
Some years ago
Bob Torango shared the following word in one of his messages which is just as fresh and
relative today as it was the day he delivered it. We are in
the midst of a religious age and a message of kingdom that has become religious. Now
dont mistake me when I say religious people look at the dragon and say,
Thats the Catholic Church, thats Rome. Our country right now is fighting a war that my son
and my grandson have been involved in. They
have been sent over to Iraq to do a job for this country, to protect the freedom of this
nation. I know we have high moral motives
behind this war. But if you want to know where
the real dragon sits you can look at the Middle East and see it. This is a religious war that will not be won by
bombs or planes or bullets. It will not be won
by the changing of a government. It is the
very seat of religion! So when I say religion
I am talking about Rome, yes; but Im also talking about Baghdad, Im talking
about Teheran, and Im talking about Jerusalem. Ill
go beyond that. Im talking about Salt Lake
City, and Im talking about Springfield, Missouri.
Im talking about Cleveland, Tennessee and Nashville, Tennessee. Im talking about every seat of religious
minds that try to portray God as a man, according to the thinking of a religious mind,
bringing Him down out of His holiness, lowering Him to a realm where flesh can relate to
Him. Every major religion, and every
religious-minded person, has a concept of God and truth that has been imparted to them out
of the mind of the great red dragon. The
manchild is destined to come forth to set things right!
end quote.
The Spirit of
the Lord is calling upon every member of Gods called and chosen elect to search this
out within ourselves so that the dragon in us may himself be cast down to the earth where
he can no more distort, twist, pervert, corrupt, misinterpret, carnalize, embellish, or
tamper with the pure word, revelation, purpose, and working of God in our lives. Elwin Roach once shared this word of wisdom:
I wish I could tell everyone to listen to us and others who might be able to reveal
who the tail of the dragon is, so we all could be safe from deception; but truthfully
speaking, no one can take the place of what each individual is responsible for. The only way any of us can escape that sweeping
tail is to have an authentic attitude of wanting to know the truth, and to continually
walk in those ways of truth when they come, regardless of what it is or what it does to
our personal life and theological ideas. Jesus
said, If a man will (is determined to) do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God
(Jn. 8:31-32). We will then come to
the place of having discernment of spirits and proving them to see if they are of God.
Stars speak of
messengers and the message they bear. The
dragon takes a third of the messengers and the truth they proclaim and casts them down to
the earth. Out of the earth-realm I am always
hearing the voices of these cast-down messengers! There
are multitudes of messengers involved with a message that is carnal, soulish, sentimental,
natural, and literalistic. Their message is
always woe, woe, woe! Its always about
sin, how the nation and the world is going to hell, legislating righteousness, judgments,
the Jews, rebuilt temples in Jerusalem, a superman antichrist, tribulation, wars, world
events and world leaders, plagues, sorrow, trouble, pain, death, hell, and eternal
damnation. Its always the bad news! Do you understand, my brother, my sister, that bad
news is not the gospel? Gospel means good news! There
is no good news from the messengers who speak out of the earth-realm! They are of the earth, earthy, for they mind earthly things.
They read Newsweek magazine on Saturday night and now they have a message
for you on Sunday morning. They are just full
and running over with bad news. Every world
crisis is the big one, were coming down to
the wire, and the doom and gloom of the end-times is upon us. Every tyrant thrust into international prominence
is the great antichrist getting ready to inflict unspeakable horrors on mankind. It is always woe, woe, woe!
The spirit of wisdom
and revelation from the Lord is moving us from that earth-bound mentality of woe, woe,
woe, to a heavenly consciousness of Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole
earth is full of His glory! There are
a lot of messengers that have been drawn by the tail of the dragon. They are the prophets that teach lies. But as stars that abide in the heavens let us
understand what is going on in the heavens! Let
us be crowned with the twelve stars of a divine kingdom revelation! Weve been preached to all our lives by the
tail of the dragon, telling us what is going on in the earth, and whether it was a message
of sin, youre just human, youre a sinner saved by grace, nobody can be perfect
in this world, everybody has to be sick and die, God is angry at the world and getting
ready to zap it with the seven last plagues, God (or the devil) is out to get you, one
little sin and youll miss the rapture, judgment day, wrath and vengeance
soon to be poured out, eternal damnation and torture in hell-fire awaits every sinner, and
a thousand other heresies that deny the truth of God, impugn the wisdom of God, defame the
character of God, slander the love of God, and discredit the purpose and power of God it has all been woe, woe, woe!
It
only proves where these folks are living. The
message of woe is the devils message to
carnal, earth-bound Christians! John heard
a loud voice from heaven declaring this very plainly: Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and sea!
for the devil has come down unto you, having
great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time (Rev. 12:12). The
message of wrath is the devils message and he keeps the earth-dwellers occupied with
that message because he knows his days are numbered and THE TRUTH IS GOING TO COME OUT! Oh, yes! If
you are dwelling in the earth thats the message you will hear and proclaim today
woe, woe, woe!
Turn on your radio or television and listen to those preachers and
they will tell you how bad it is on earth, how pathetic and hopeless everything is, how
imminent and ominous is the one world government conspiracy, what a low-life
you are, how big the devil is, the names of all the demons that are roaming the earth and
possessing the people, even the saints of God are full of them; they know all about
principalities and powers of darkness, yet they have
not a clue as to what GOD IS DOING IN THE HEAVENS OF HIS SPIRIT IN THIS HOUR OR ABOUT WHAT
GOD IS DOING BY HIS SPIRIT IN THOSE WHO DWELL IN THE HEAVENS IN THIS DAY OF THE LORD! But, my, can they tell you about sin, darkness, and
devils! They have a real relationship with the
devil and all his little imps woe, woe, woe, the devil is everywhere tempting,
tormenting, and trying to derail the will and purpose of God in your life these
earth-bound ministers of the devils message talk more about the devil and his works
than they do about the Lord Jesus Christ! Indeed,
they are devil worshippers, whether they
realize it or not. Have you considered the
truth that lies hidden in these inspired words: Neither
give place to the devil. All the woe in the Revelation is pronounced
upon the earth-dwellers and it is the devil who pronounces it! I refuse to give a place to the devil, therefore I
do not preach doom and gloom. I preach the gospel, the GOOD
NEWS! And my soul is raptured as I hear
the loud voice out of heaven saying, Therefore
rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them!
What a day of unspeakable glory this is, this is the day that the Lord hath made, and we will
rejoice in it and be glad!
THE DRAGON STANDING BEFORE THE WOMAN
And the
dragon stood before the woman which was ready to
be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as
it was born (Rev. 12:4).
In this scene we
see that the birth of the manchild is resisted by the great red dragon. The dragon-spirit, or the resisting agent, appears
throughout the Bible under various names. The
prophets of the Old Testament called it crocodile, Behemoth, Leviathan, and always
pictured these horrible animals as coming up out of the sea, or out of the fleshly mind
and passions of men. The dragon-spirit stands
for resistance to the apprehension of truth, life, and the fullness of God under whatever
guise it rears its head, for the dragon-spirit knows that if the manchild gains
sovereignty, his own regime is ended! Ah, yes,
the dragon, the religious spirit of the carnal mind, the spirit of the world and all
negative forces, knows what will happen if the manchild is birthed and allowed to live!
The Old
Testament type is the fear that motivated the Pharaoh of Egypt at the time of the birth of
the child Moses.
Beholding the growth of the children of Israel in the midst of the land, and
moved by the fear of their increasing numbers and strength, he ordered the Hebrew
midwives, When ye do the office of a midwife
to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she
shall live (Ex. 1:16). The Pharaohs
consuming fear was that if these sons were permitted to come to maturity they would become
a threat against the dominion of the Egyptian spirit and kingdom and would rise up in
force to overthrow it and seize power. But God
in His wisdom ruled and over-ruled in Egypt, Israel
multiplied greatly, and the chosen deliverer was born, matured, trained, and fully
prepared to birth Israel out of Egypt!
This is the same
fear that motivated king Herod at Jesus birth to seek to destroy the firstborn Son
of God! When Jesus was born in the city of David
the old dragon was there crouching at the gate, ready to spring and destroy the Christ
child. You remember the story of the wise men
who came from the east, following the star, and seeking him who was to be the king of Israel. As soon as they were in Judea , they supposed that
everyone would know all about the king. But no
one of whom they asked had ever seen this king or had heard of him! The news of their coming was sent to Herod, the
king, who was now a very old man. When he
heard of someone born to be the king, he feared that he might lose his own dynasty. He called the priests and scribes and inquired of
them about this Christ for whom the people were looking.
He said, Can you tell me where Christ, the King of Israel, is to be
born? They showed him the scripture
which stated that He would be born in Bethlehem of Judea.
Then Herod sent
for the wise men from the east, and met them alone, and he found out from them at what
time the star was first seen. Then he said to
them, Go to Bethlehem, and there search carefully for the little child; and when you
have found him, bring me word again, so that I also may come and worship him. Then the wise men went on their way and the star
appeared again and led them to the very house where the little child was. That night God sent a dream to the wise men,
telling them not to go back to Herod, but to go home at once to their own land by an
alternate route. They obeyed the word of the
Lord and departed at once. When Herod received
the news he was exceedingly angry! He
dispatched his soldiers to Bethlehem. They
came, and by the cruel kings command, seized all the little children of Bethlehem
who were two years old or younger, and killed them all.
What a cry went up to God from the mothers of Bethlehem as their children
were torn from their arms and slain before their eyes!
But all this time the child Jesus, whom they were seeking, was safe with His
mother in the land of Egypt where they had fled at the warning of the Lord. Oh, yes, the dragon stood before the woman to
devour her child as soon as he was born. The
dragon knew what would happen if the manchild were permitted to live!
Four thousand
years ago it was Pharaoh after Moses. Two
thousand years (two days) ago it was Herod after Jesus.
And now its time again in the earth for a son to be born. And the great red dragon, that ferocious religious
spirit that motivates and empowers all religious systems, is after that seed! This dragon hates the very possibility of a people
birthed in the earth in all the maturity, glory, wisdom, power, and majesty of the
firstborn Son of God! They know in their heart
of hearts that it will mean their eternal ruin. Thats
what Pharaoh was afraid of! Thats what
Herod was afraid of! And thats what the
great red dragon of religion fears today! They
fear a usurper of their throne, a contender for their influence and power over the lives
of men and nations. So the dragon stands
before the woman defiling the atmosphere with fiery breath.
The dragon,
among other things, bespeaks a religious order the religious spirit within each of
us and the religious order formed in the earth as the outward expression of that religious
spirit. Herod was king of the Jews he
represented a religious order, the order of the house of Judah. He occupied a realm of authority and dominion that
ultimately would be usurped by our Lord Jesus
Christ, the firstborn of the manchild company. Herod
sat upon the throne of the Lords people and Jesus has now been caught up, exalted to the throne of the Lord! Herod and his forces were the personification of
the dragon in that day, and Jesus is the prototype of the birth of the manchild company! Johns vision reveals that this manchild, the
completed body of the firstborn Son, also shall come to full term and be birthed, rising
up to prevail over all the religious and fleshly spirits and kingdoms of this world. What the dragon fears shall surely come to pass! Isnt it wonderful!
I have been
blessed by the following testimony of brother Bill Cook.
My first encounter with the dragons
breath took place in the early 1950s. I
was attending a regular Pentecostal Church. A
couple of the elders took it upon themselves to warn me against a certain group in the
city who had a special teaching regarding manchild, and their very
articulation of the word was a phenomena in itself. It
was evident that the dragon had corrupted that expression manchild in their
mind so that it was no longer a true Bible term, but was somewhat of a swear word. And they were quick to try to give me the
impression that many terrible, obscene things were taking place among the members of this
group. Furthermore, they informed me that the
manchild teaching of this group had to be way-off, for Revelation 12 simply deals with the
birth of Jesus! Ahem-m-m, I had been fully
warned! If I were to get into any strange
doctrine or go over the deep end, well, they had done their part to keep me out of such a
dire predicament. (In truth, the book of
Revelation was given forth by the resurrected, ascended Christ in regard to future events; in no way does it deal with events
of His birth or childhood).
Many of
the books written in the various denominations take sides with the dragon, attempting to
harm the manchild. One Constance Cumbey has
researched the occultic New Age Movement in some detail and has written
several books on the subject. She formerly had
a law practice in New York State. In one of
her books she stated that a certain one must be in the New Age Movement, as he kept
speaking of a new age forthcoming. (This kind
of reasoning from one who is a lawyer!) She
made further derogatory remarks about other kingdom ministries, making a play on their
words to accuse them. But the point is that
the dragon is using all the smear tactics that he can dig up for those of us who see the
New Day. He is drumming up these things in a
most frenzied manner, for he knows his time is short!
A sister we met on our recent trip had read some of these accusations, and a
fear rose in her heart, What if this is true, and I am walking in deception and
error? After the initial fear subsided,
she spoke to her soul and comforted herself with the thought that the Spirit of the Lord
had led her this way. It was not something
that man had persuaded; it was that which the living Christ had taught her, and she had to
believe that it was true, no matter what was said about the men who taught kingdom truths. Then she had peace again, but she had felt the
dragons breath blow hard upon her, and it was a very uncomfortable feeling!
A writer
from the evangelical churches in Calgary, Alberta, has written a booklet warning people
against associating with any who speak of the kingdom of God, kingdom principles, the New
Day, etc. They gave a formidable list of terms
and warned people to avoid those who use any of them, for they were in a cult. Even the Feast of Tabernacles was a
bad word. But there is no use
hassling with them; they are merely regurgitating the words of the dragon! For those who are bound under such teachings
(against the truth), the future looks bleak. Yet,
God is God! As He drew a great throng out of
the denominations in 1906 1908, and again in 1948 1951, and again in the
1970s, so at this late hour He will winnow many more end quote.
Now let us
consider further the attitude of the dragon towards the woman and his intention to devour
her child as soon as it is born. The woman
stands in her glory, but also in her helplessness, and the dragon stands before her. The dragon doesnt just appear on the scene
he is already there standing in his place. And
the dragon stood before the woman
He is watching her and barring her way of escape. Intently the dragon observes the woman and studies
her every movement. It is not really the woman
he is after, but the child she is about to bring forth.
If only that woman did not expect to bring forth that manchild, he would pay
little attention to her and her glory! Well he
knows that in two thousand years the church has never overcome him or broken his power in
the earth! The church of our day is little
threat to him, including the little virgin church which is pregnant with the manchild, so
for the most part he leaves them alone. Oh, yes, they do blame a lot of things on him,
they are always railing against him and fighting him and suppose that he is always on
their case. But the truth is that he is
actually in charge of most of the organizations
and activities which they suppose he is opposing!
It is my
conviction that our thoughts and comments about Satan should always be tempered with the
wonderful truth that he has absolutely no power over
a saint of God who dwells in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus!
Therefore, as we discuss Satan, we recognize this truth above any other
regarding Satan. Furthermore, although we use
the pronouns him or he when referring to Satan, we know he
is not a singular person running around the universe, but is the evil spirit that works in and through the carnal minds
of the children of Adam. It is not our purpose
to magnify Satan or to give him undue recognition. Yet,
we who are pregnant with the manchild are not unaware of that monster standing before the
woman with the intent to devour her child as soon as it is born! And we who are in Christ should know that we are
engaged in spiritual warfare! The birth of the
manchild does not bring a Sunday School picnic it brings war in heaven!
It is our Fathers purpose, through the mighty, conquering power of
Christ in His body, to defeat every enemy, entity, and power in all realms of man, the
earth, and the unbounded heavens. Christ is
bruising Satan under our feet! (Rom. 16:20).
Satan is one of the enemies, along with sin and death, that is being
defeated, first in the lives of Gods elect, and ultimately in all of creation.
To the church in
Pergamos the Lord Jesus said, I know thy
works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satans
seat is
(Rev. 2:13). The
typical and symbolic church at Pergamos was dwelling where
Satans throne was located. The Greek
word is clearly throne, but the translators of the King James Bible softened
it down to seat. Let us not be
afraid of the phrase. It is Satans throne! A
throne in the book of Revelation occurs frequently as the symbol of dominion, as the
center whence the authority of a king emanates throughout his entire kingdom. In the typical
and symbolic church of Pergamos, Satans throne was situated in the city of Pergamos
which means strongly united, elevated, height, citadel. Spiritually, Satans throne is in the high places of the carnal mind even the religious mind!
I know where thou dwellest,
even where Satans seat is. I know
where you dwell, where you are comfortable in your religious system, where you are
satisfied to settle down and comfortably remain on your present level of experience in
God. I know that you love the pageantry, the
beauty, the forms, the sacraments, the rituals, the programs, the activities, the
meetings, the praise, the preaching, the gifts, and the glory where you are. But that place where you dwell is Satans throne!
The firstborn
Son of God understood this very clearly by the mind of the Father! He never condemned the prostitute, the fornicator,
the tax-gatherer, the thieves or murderers. He
never demonstrated holy anger against the Romans, the world, or the wicked. It was the religious
leaders that He scathingly denounced! His
anger was focused on the hypocrisy of the so-called carriers of Gods word! He condemned those who prided themselves on their
outward cleanliness, but inside were full of greed and wickedness! Those who paid tithes and fasted and prayed and
loved the seats on the platform I mean the best seats in the synagogue to be
seen of men, He rebuked! Those who distorted
the word of God, who turned the truth of God into a lie, who misrepresented the nature of
His Father, and loaded people down with religious burdens and obligations, He called a
generation of vipers a brood of snakes!
Let us
UNDERSTAND! We blame war, drunkenness,
pornography, geed, crime, immorality, drugs, and a thousand other evils on Satan
yet the clear testimony of scripture is these are all the lusts of the flesh
and the works of the flesh. They
are flesh! On
the other hand, Satans activity is primarily in a religious realm, in a spiritual dimension!
What a cunning deception has been foisted upon mankind as Satan has
concealed his true identity in the dark shroud of religion! Oh, yes, Satan is religious! He spends far more time in church than he does at
the bar. The ultimate test for Gods sons
will be right there! There is a realm, a realm
high in the spirit, a realm reserved for the sons of God and before any of us step
out from under the open heaven where the voice of the Father witnesses to our sonship: These are my beloved sons, in whom I am well
pleased, to appear as a manifest son in the earth, we will meet Satan there in that high realm of the spirit. It is in the heavens of Gods Spirit that
the manchild encounters the great dragon!
That is what the
temptation of Jesus was all about in His wilderness experience. He wasnt being tempted to lie, cheat, steal,
cuss, chew tobacco, or run around with women. Oh,
no! If Thou be the Son of God do
thus and thus. To Eve he said, Hath God
said? Why, God doth know
your eyes will
be opened, and you will be as God! It
wasnt about sex or drinking or smoking, it was all about A HIGH REVELATION IN A HIGH
REALM OF THE SPIRIT. That is what Adams
fall was about! Adam did not fall from grace,
he fell from SONSHIP! And it was a supposed HIGH REVELATION IN A HIGH REALM OF THE
SPIRIT that caused the fall. Eve was deceived! There
is a very fine line between the highest truth
and the darkest error, between divine sonship to God and our own self-godhood as presented
by the serpent to Eve and by the devil to Jesus in the wilderness of temptation!
The firstborn
Son of God met Satan, not the Satan wearing a red suit, with horns and a pitchfork, but
the Satan that spoke out of His innermost thoughts and aspirations concerning His sonship,
If I am the Son of God why dont I just turn these stones into bread! Im hungry, Im needy, and Ive got
the power! I can do anything I want, any time
I want! Im the Son of God! There was only one thing wrong with that thought. The purpose of a son is not to do anything he
wants, but to do always and only the will of the
Father. That is where Jesus was tested in
His sonship before ever His ministry of power and glory began! The question was just this what would He do
with the power? Would He use it for His own
gratification, His own purposes and designs, His own aggrandizement and glory, or would He
do only those things that glorified His Father?
Thank
God, where Adam flunked this same test in the garden,
Jesus passed the test in the wilderness! It
is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that is proceeding out of
the mouth of God! Ah, there was the
secret. A son comes only to speak what he
hears from his Father and to do only what he sees His Father do. The voice Jesus was hearing was the wrong voice He could not turn the stones
into bread just to satisfy His hunger. Only if
He heard the voice of His Father commanding Him to do so, would He turn the stones into bread! He recognized that as the Son of God He could live
only by every word that was proceeding out of the mouth of His Father! Then came the suggestion, If I am the Son of
God I can get the attention of all the people of Jerusalem by casting myself from the
pinnacle of the temple. They will see my power
and will have to acknowledge who I am when God sends His angels to escort me to a soft
landing on the ground! What a witness that will be! Jesus overcame that wily devil in that high realm of the spirit within Himself as
He answered, Thou shalt not tempt the
Lord thy God! Sons dont do things
just to prove their sonship. When people
requested a sign from Jesus as proof of His sonship He refused every time. Only then could He come up out of the wilderness in the power
of the Spirit. He had passed the test,
He had regained the sonship Adam forfeited, He was qualified to be a manifest Son of
God! When finally He came to the cross
He was able to say, The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. That, my beloved, is sonship! That
is THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST!
It is here
before the church-woman that the dragon stands because another son of God, a corporate
son, a manchild is about to be delivered into the world.
This woman is a beautiful and glorious woman, not the deformed image of the
church systems of man. She is the true church,
the overcoming church, clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of
twelve stars upon her head. In spite of the
womans glory he still has no fear of her. In spite of her gifts and apostles and prophets
and prayers and worship and miracles and witnessing and revelation she stands before the
dragon helpless, but his concern is not with her for he knows perfectly that gifts and
graces and anointings alone cannot overcome him.
But that manchild that is ready to be born is of extreme concern to
him! And therefore he watches the woman, in
order that as soon as the child sees the light of day he may devour him not destroy him, mind you, but take him into himself
and assimilate him into his own being, into the very dragon-spirit of religion, thus to dragonize him, making
him just another movement, another organization, another system and denomination like all
the others the dragon controls! Can you not
see the mystery?
The dragon isnt
trying to do anything to the woman. He knows
that the woman is no threat to his empire. The
woman and the dragon co-exist in a heavenly realm. She
is aware of the dragon, but she is not at war with the dragon. The dragon is concerned about the child she is
carrying. He sees something in the woman that
if it is permitted to come to maturity and step forth into the world, will end his reign. The dragon sees something in the woman that isnt
woman! It is the Son of God
being formed in the womb of the woman. It is man! Its not church its manchild! Jesus has reproduced Himself! The firstborn Son of God is raising up within the
woman, the virgin church, His many brethren! This
manchild ministry is not the five-fold ministry of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors,
and teachers it is a king-priest ministry after the order of Melchizedek! This manchild is not one that can be
deceived, discouraged, troubled, turned aside, influenced, used, manipulated, corrupted,
or defiled in any way.
Oh, yes! The dragon is concerned about this manchild. This is not a little baby. This is a mature, fully developed, full grown
manchild. In the Greek it is huios a mature son. Now let us consider the scene! This great big, bad, fire-breathing dragon stands
before this woman saying, When this little baby is born, Im going to chew him
up and swallow him down! The dragon is
about to get the shock of his life, because this woman is not going to have a little baby!
She will give birth to a mature son. He
thinks he is going to grab the little fellow and devour him.
No wonder this woman is in such travail to deliver this child its
not an eight pound baby! She brings forth a
manchild who is to rule all nations with a rod
of iron, and when he does come forth he is caught up immediately unto God and to His throne. He is born ready
to rule!
It
is significant to note the progression in chapter two of the Revelation the
overcomer was promised power over the nations.
I have been deeply impressed that the nations in that case indicated
the seven nations that occupied the land of Canaan, for those were the nations that the
Lords people were given to overcome in order to possess their promised inheritance. These seven nations are found spiritually within
each one of us and must be overcome within ourselves as we possess the fullness of our
land which is CHRIST! But now in
chapter twelve the authority is expanded to the shepherding of ALL NATIONS. The same order may be observed in the Psalms and Prophets,
Israel was first commissioned to conquer the seven nations, and to inhabit and possess all
the land, their very own promised land! But
later the prophets foresaw and prophesied of a day when Gods people would rule over
all the nations of the world.
O clap
your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. For the Lord most high is terrible, He is a great
King over all the earth. He shall subdue the people under us, and the
nations under our feet (Ps. 47:1-3). God be merciful unto us and bless us; and cause
His face to shine upon us; that Thy way may be known upon earth, Thy saving health among all nations (Ps. 67:1-3). Behold,
thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations
that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel;
for He hath glorified thee (Isa.
55:5). But
in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall
be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall
come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain
of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and
we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord
from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among many
people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into
plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: and nation shall not lift up sword against
nation, neither shall they learn war any more (Mic. 4:10-3). Sing
and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee,
saith the Lord. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and
shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee (Zech. 2:10-11). True to the pattern of the promises,
can it not be clearly seen that first we must conquer the nations within us
and fully possess our own land before we can
ascend the throne of our Father with authority
and power over all things.
This manchild,
first of all, brings a great change in the heavens. He
makes a swift and powerful preemptive strike against the dragon! There is a great error in the doctrines of the
church systems of man. They harp on and on
about some completely imaginary rebellion of the archangel Lucifer against God and how
Lucifer gathered an army of one-third of the angels and tried to defeat the Almighty and
take over heaven. Yet there is not one verse
of scripture in the whole Bible that even infers that Lucifer is the devil, or that
Lucifer was ever the name of an archangel. Not
one! Furthermore, the scene of this great
drama of the dragon and the manchild depicts nothing about Satan rebelling against God or
the dragon initiating any attack against the throne of God.
As with so many of the doctrines of the church systems the truth is just the opposite! Satan is not leading a rebellion against the
Almighty, but he is standing before the woman
to devour her child as soon as it is born. His
intended action is against the manchild before he
reaches the throne. In the story the
preachers tell about Lucifers rebellion there
is no manchild in the picture. Clearly,
this scene John beholds in spirit has nothing whatever to do with the Lucifer story!
Furthermore,
Satan does not attack the throne of God, in fact, he doesnt even get to attack the
manchild Michael and His angels attack the dragon!
The wily old dragon, like a sly fox, is standing there in readiness to
devour the manchild when suddenly, without warning, war breaks out in heaven! The battle begins with Gods swift, powerful,
preemptive strike. And there was war in heaven: Michael and his
angels fought against the dragon (Rev. 12:7).
Only after the opening foray does the dragon respond to defend himself, but
his standing in the heavens is doomed from the first round.
Of the thrilling outcome we read,
and
the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed
not; neither was their place found any more in heaven (Rev. 12:7-8). It is indeed wonderful! We must conclude, then, that all religious mixture will be thoroughly purged from
the heavens where the manchild reigns! The
manchild is not an ecumenicist! The manchild
does not believe that truth is relative! The
manchild does not hold to the notion that all religious paths lead to God!
This order of
the manchild comes to cleanse the heavens where we dwell and establish absolute truth and the divine order of the kingdom of God. It has nothing to do with persuading us about
anything, for it comes not in the wisdom of mans words, but in power and
demonstration of the Holy Ghost! This order is
rising up in the life of every man and woman called to sonship. It will have its way!
Its coming to us and will not
ask us if we like it, or dont like it, or whether we agree, or disagree. This order is rising up to do the Fathers
business! Its all about causing the
Fathers will to be done in us. As soon
as the manchild is caught up to the throne war breaks out!
The manchild isnt about peace hes about war! I know we want to love everybody and just get along
and forgive everyone and be merciful, but the manchild is about tough love! The
weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but are mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God! This is spiritual warfare!
And its not about exorcising a hundred pesky little demons out
of some precious saint, but it is about wrestling with the very principalities and powers
that rule in the heavenly realms, the religious
spirits that dominate every people everywhere and deceives all nations.
The battle
begins in us, the elect of the Lord! Our own heavens must be cleansed, all things that
offend, pollute, deceive, and destroy in Gods holy mountain must be gathered out of
His kingdom, consumed by the fiery glory of Gods holiness. All the hang-over residual errors of religious Babylon,
all the perversions of the New Age delusion, all the self-centeredness and ego of pride,
all the spirit of judgment and condemnation, all desire to make a name, to build a
kingdom, to gain a following, to manipulate and control mens lives, all the
money-raising gimmickry, all the merchandizing in the temple selling of books, tapes, CDs and DVDs,
all the fleshly means and methods that have invaded even the ranks of the very elect
it is there the battle commences! That is the first battle field! The war begins in the very midst of the sons of
God! The war will quickly spread to every
nation, to every religious system of man until there is a new heaven and a new
earth in which dwelleth righteousness. But dont
think, my beloved brethren, that you are going out to set things straight in the kingdoms
of Babylon until the heavens where the manchild reigns have been thoroughly cleansed! Individually this signifies the heavens of our own
minds, thoughts, attitudes, and intents. Corporately
it is the ways we function as the people of God. What
the manchild is all about is kicking the enemy out of Gods house! It is delivering each of us from every vestige of a
religious mind, and bringing us fully into the mind of Christ!
When the
ministry of the sons of God has finished its work every religious mouth will have been
stopped and all the ends of the earth will behold the unveiled majesty of the Lord of
glory! All will understand and know that He is
the only true and living God and that Jesus Christ is His Son and the Saviour of the
world! All will know that Gods glorious
Christ, Head and body, is the government of God out of the heavens of the Spirit of the
Lord! Every knee will bow in humble adoration
and every tongue shall confess with joy and gladness that Jesus Christ is Lord to the
glory of God the Father!
Oh, the miracle
of what God is doing in this new kingdom day ravishes my heart. I am enthralled beyond measure at the prospect of
what He has prepared for those that love Him and
walk in His purpose. In spirit I can see the
beauty of the peace, the harmony, the health, the prosperity, the joy, the righteousness,
and the blessedness that will cover the earth and the faces of all men in that day when Babylon
has fallen to rise no more. The religion of
Islam will have disappeared from off the earth, not by guns or bombs or nuclear warfare,
nor yet by the effectual expertise of missionary efforts, but by the surpassing glory and
power of the revelation of Christ in sons. The
halls of the Vatican will no longer echo the footsteps of
pope or cardinals or multiplied thousands of pilgrims and Catholicism will
no longer exert an influence on world events nor even exist as an institution in any land
on earth. The Buddhist temples will every one
be closed, their priesthood dissolved, nor will there any longer be men on earth calling
themselves Hindus, Shintoist, New Age, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, or
any other religion. What a day!
Here is the
scene. The manchild will be born. The manchild will ascend the throne. The manchild will cleanse the heavens. The manchild will rule all nations with a rod of
iron. NOTHING CAN OR WILL PREVENT THIS! John beholds in spirit that the child is born and
immediately caught away, caught up unto God and to His throne. The child, therefore, escapes the devouring. The devil cannot reach his purpose of preventing
the manchild from reaching the throne. He
fails. And then he himself is completely and
forever deposed from his place in the heavens! Oh,
the wonder of it!
To be continued
J. PRESTON EBY