I have been quickened of late to the number 42 and particularly to the words of the Apostle John regarding the 42 month time period that the 'Church of the Wilderness' will go through that is found in the 12th chapter of the Book of Revelation. I have seen this number everywhere recently and I feel it is as though the Holy Spirit is wanting to reveal that this 42 month period is fast approaching for this woman that has birthed the Manchild and is now being led to a place of refuge from the dragon. " And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he went in pursuit of the woman who had given birth to the male Child. But the woman was supplied with the two wings of a giant eagle, so that she might fly from the presence of the serpent into the desert (wilderness), to the retreat where she is to be kept safe and fed for a time, and times, and half a time (three and one-half years, or 1,260 days). Then out of his mouth the serpent spouted forth water like a flood after the woman, that she might be carried off with the torrent. But the earth came to the rescue of the woman, and the ground opened its mouth and swallowed up the stream of water which the dragon had spouted from his mouth. So then the dragon was furious (enraged) at the woman, and he went away to wage war on the remainder of her descendants--[on those] who obey God's commandments and who have the testimony of Jesus Christ [and adhere to it and bear witness to Him]." (Rev. 12: 13-17 Amplified)."I am not an expert in eschatology (for I hardly understand the word at all) and yet I do know that I have been given an understanding and an unction of anointing that is like an alarm clock that has started to RING WITHIN that it is TIME for the unfolding of these things in the natural realm. I am one to believe with all my heart that the Kingdom of God is within and so for many of us we have experienced these 42 months over a period of time in our own private lives....for some these 42 months have lasted only a brief period and for others it seems as if the years just drag on in this state of being provided for and protected and even pursued. I also am very aware that as these mysteries are being unfolded within they also at the appointed hour have a place in time where they will be lived out outwardly for all those that have not had the understanding of the work of regeneration and the true NEW BIRTH that must take place within every believer's life. This glorious new birth is brought forth by the work of the cross. It is only after the cross has done it's work that THE CHRIST within will declare "It is finished" and this is when the birth of the new creation man will come forth. This is when one can truly declare..." I have been born again, I am of the second adam, the Lord from Heaven, I am from above and not from below." This cross is experienced through the various circumstances that Father brings into ones life. It is only by His grace that one can even begin to yield to His workmanship and embrace the cross that has been given. For many in this day and hour the cross has come to them in various forms such as being laid off of their job, a home that has now come into foreclosure, a death of a loved one, an illness or medical condition that is slowly eating away all hope and finances of a person's life, and many other situations. All these are the CROSS....and all these when embraced and surrendered to will bring forth the very FRUIT of the TREE OF LIFE for the cross is that tree. It is in dying to old adam within that we are given the resurrection life of Christ....CHRIST in you the hope of glory. It is in the sharing of His sufferings that we will be given the honor and reward to share in His glory.
Why the cross? Why does one have to endure the cross if Jesus already endured it for them? Ah, that is the question and a good one. He was not your substitute but He did atone FOR YOU....He was and is the forerunner of your faith and has made the way so that you now can come all the way His way into the very Holy of Holies.
I love what Ray Prinzing writes about substitutionism...."there has been a very insidious weaving of deception in a doctrine of substitutionism, and because men were taught that Christ became their substitute, then they always look for a "substitute" so that they might escape everything that comes their way, which they feel might cause some distress to the flesh. The very teaching that the preacher sowed, he is reaping, and it is killing him. They preach a total substitution, Christ paying our debt, His cross did it all, and we ought to be free from all suffering, etc. And so rather than the congregation learning to bear their load, and becoming an OVERCOMER IN CHRIST, they all cast on their preacher their load, while he has to bail them out of trouble, pray them out of all their distresses, and he ends up with a nervous breakdown. God did not call men to become substitutes for their congregation, to absolve people from being developed and processed by all these circumstances which He sends to them.
Always we want somebody to "bear it for us", but the promise is given this way, "When THOU passest THROUGH the waters, I will be with thee; and THROUGH the rivers, they shall not overflow thee..," [Isaiah 43 :2]. No escape but to GO THROUGH, and to find that HE is with us all the way, to give us grace and bring us into the fullness of His victory.
"IN ALL THESE THINGS we are more than conquerors through (by the means of) Him that loved us," [Romans 8:37]. Not "out of" them, but IN all of these things. In all of what things ? The previous verses list them like this-tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and the sword, until "for Thy sake we are killed all the day long we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." We thought we were to pray, "Lord, take me out of all these things," but we discover that we really need to pray, "LORD, BRING ME THROUGH ALL OF THESE THINGS, and accomplish all of your purpose, and then make me an overcomer.
The doctrine of escapism produces a weak, impotent, selfish type of people who shrink from pressure and testing which is sent their way, They know nothing of OVER-COMING, and it is high time that this nonsense was stripped away, and people faced up to the process of being developed and growing up in Christ, No more to say, "how can I get out of this," but rather to affirm, "by the grace of God I can come through this thing, and not just somehow, but triumphantly," Amen!
There is a continuity in the work of the Lord, where we are not wavering and double minded in our understanding. We begin to realize that "If we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him," [2 Timothy 2 :11-12], God is bringing His remnant into that place of having a SINGLE EYE unto the Lord, and they are determined by His grace to GO THROUGH and gain the victory."
Whew....makes me want to stand up and shout "Preach it BROTHER!" What a glorious anointing our brother Ray sat under as he wrote that....I still feel the fire through his pen. To Father be praised!
Let us be reminded of these verses.....""That I might come to know Him in an experiential way, and to come to know experientially the power of His resurrection and a JOINT-PARTICIPATION in His sufferings, being brought to the place where my life will radiate a likeness to His death, if by any means I might arrive at the goal, namely, the out-resurrection from among those who are dead." [Philippians 3:10-11, Wuest Expanded Trans.]."And if we are His children, then we are His heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ-sharing His inheritance with Him; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory." [Romans 8:17 Amplified].
My beloved, if you are reading these lines right now I am one that is here to encourage you to set your face as flint and to cry out with all your heart for Father to give you grace to endure the cross and to let you know that HE IS FAITHFUL who has called you and He will bring it to pass. His grace is sufficient and you will BECOME a well watered garden in the midst of a dry and weary land. I bless you with PEACE even now in the innermost parts of your being. You are loved and you are seen. You are precious my beloved brother and sister.
As I mentioned above I have been quickened to the number 42. This number is a very unique number in the scriptures and it points prophetically towards the glorious work of regeneration that takes place within a believer's life. There were 42 generations from Abraham to Jesus Christ. Abraham was given the promise by Yahweh "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." (Gen. 12:2-3; 17:4-7) "As for Me, behold, My covenant (solemn pledge) is with you, and you shall be the father of many nations. Nor shall your name any longer be Abram [high, exalted father]; but your name shall be Abraham [father of a multitude], for I have made you the father of many nations. And I will make you exceedingly fruitful and I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting, solemn pledge, to be a God to you and to your posterity after you." We then see this promise fullfilled in Christ for Galatians 3:16 states "Now the promises (covenants, agreements) were decreed and made to Abraham and his Seed (his Offspring, his Heir). He [God] does not say, And to seeds (descendants, heirs), as if referring to many persons, but, And to your Seed (your Descendant, your Heir), obviously referring to one individual, Who is [none other than] Christ (the Messiah)." The glorious promise then permeates from the HEAD into the ENTIRE BODY for we see in verse 29 this statement..."And if you belong to Christ [are in Him Who is Abraham's Seed], then you are Abraham's offspring and [spiritual] heirs according to promise." HalleluYah!
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I write all of that to point to the prophetic symbolism of how we have seen the fullfillment of that promise take place within the 42 generations from Abraham to Jesus Christ. I now believe we are entering into that period of time where the fullfillment for the BODY OF CHRIST is taking place on the earth's stage. Those that belong to Christ. The firstfruits have been going through this process for some time already....and as our glorious brother John Hennessey loves to say ....'the elect are those who get to be dragged through the cactus patch backwards first'....lol.....the firstborn are called to bless the latter born....and it is with that understanding that all those that have come to share in His cross are now coming along side those who have just now been made aware of what price must be paid to come into the adoption as SONS. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" (John 1:12). The cross is what is used in the process of BECOMING a son. Many have received Christ but few have BECOME sons. Now is the time for the message of BECOMING...of true regeneration and NEW BIRTH to be understood and apprehended.
It is my hope to share with you what the Lord has quickened to me regarding the STAGES of the journeys that we all must go through in this process of regeneration as seen in the type/shadow of the children of Israel in the 33rd book of Numbers. This will be a on-going series .....examining all 42 names of the places that Israel camped before entering into the promised land. "Now these things befell them by way of a figure [as an example and warning to us]; they were written to admonish and fit us for right action by good instruction, we in whose days the ages have reached their climax (their consummation and concluding period)." (1 Cor. 10:11 Amplified).
Truly we are those in whose days the ages have reached their climax.
Shalom dear friends......to be continued.
Eliyah
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