Feb 05, 2015

As this new prophetic year emerges, there are many things that are yet unclear because they are still developing. The details are not yet clear, but the overall picture is coming into view. The repair of the breach, as pictured in Nehemiah 6:15, took 52 days, and this 52-day cycle figured prominently in 2012 in our wall-building revelation.

In fact, in that year we saw two cycles of 52 days, each beginning on the 8^th day of Tabernacles. The first began on July 22, or 7/22, which is the type of the 8^th of Tabernacles. The second began on October 8, the actual 8^th day of Tabernacles.

July 22 to September 12 is 52 days, and it ended with the revelation of the two “stones” (i.e., laws of God) that were to be placed in the wall of the New Jerusalem to complete the repair of the breach in the wall. This took place on our trip to Bemidji.

October 8 to November 29 is 52 days, and it ended with a gathering of seven men and women in Dallas, who had come to a scheduled conference. We prophetically established the repair of the breach by decree. Within the next few days (at the actual conference) the objections to these stones (laws) were set forth, especially the law of impartiality. From that point on, the attacks began as certain ones set forth their case claiming that God was indeed partial in His ways.

This was to be expected, of course. In all of the major decrees that we have been led to issue on behalf of the divine court, we have seen objections and petitions for the divine court to nullify those decrees. So we were not taken by surprise in that sense. We are only surprised when we see who lodged the objections and how.

We believe that we won our case before the divine court, but of course not everyone agrees. Nonetheless, time will prove all things.

I noticed that the combined score at the Super Bowl this year was 52 points (28-24). The Father had told me to watch the score, as it would reveal something. In order to do that, our Father had to cause the Seahawks to screw up at the end so that they would not score another touchdown. He asked me to convey His apologies to Seahawk fans. Ok, maybe that’s just me trying to do damage control on His behalf.

The Scope of Redemption

One of the big breaches that Jesus repaired at the cross—as seen in the book of Luke—was that between Israel and the world. The law of impartiality was foundational to this work. There are some who teach that God redeemed Israel only, when in fact He redeemed the whole world.

Redemption implies prior ownership of something that has been lost through debt. It is true that Israel was redeemed at the cross, and for this reason Christ came of the seed of Abraham (Hebrews 2:16). However, Jesus also came in the form of flesh and blood in order to identify Himself as a kinsman-redeemer of all humanity (Hebrews 2:14).

Adam’s sin resulted in a debt that he could not pay, and so the divine court commanded that his entire estate should be sold. He had been given authority over the whole of creation, so all of it was sold. That is why Paul tells us in Romans 8:22 that “the whole creation groans and suffers” and is awaiting the day that it is “set free from its slavery to corruption” (Romans 8:21).

Matthew 18:25 sets forth this legal principle as well:

²⁵ But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.

Normally, before the debtor is sold into bondage, the bank account is emptied and the estate is sold. Only if the debtor lacks the assets to pay the debt is he and his family sold into slavery (as a last resort). Adam’s estate, then, was “all creation,” which includes not only all men and women on earth, but even the earth itself.

Jesus died on the cross to pay the full debt incurred by the sin of Adam. That is a redemption. It goes far beyond Israel, because the debt began long before Israel was even a nation. The redemption of Israel was only a portion of the redemption of the earth.

Jesus paid the entire price for all that was lost in Adam, and He will not be satisfied until He reclaims all that was lost. As a kinsman-redeemer, He has the right of redemption. He is not forced by the justice of His own law to leave most of it behind, as many teach. In fact, this court case is between the Judge, the Debtor, and the Redeemer. The slaves do not participate in this court case, for it is above their heads. Once the Redeemer has bought back what He owned prior to the original estate sale, then He begins a secondary task of turning the hearts of the slaves back to Himself.

In the big picture, the breach between heaven and earth is being repaired. This brings unity to heaven and earth. It is pictured in Scripture as a marriage and is based upon the laws of marriage. The first phase of the divine plan involved an Old Covenant marriage, which failed and ended in divorce (Jeremiah 3:8). The second marriage is based on the New Covenant with all that this entails.

The Resurrection Body

All of this also involves the process of death and resurrection. This is a separate theme, but it is part of the overall picture. Paul says that the natural body (which we got from Adam) is “sown in corruption,” but that the resurrected body is “raised in incorruption.” Paul makes it clear in 1 Corinthians 15:44 that the resurrected body is spiritual, not “natural” (i.e., psukikos, or “soulish”).

The resurrected body is not a restoration of the soulish body, but is something new and different. What the two bodies have in common is the spirit with its conscious mind. At the present time, our natural bodies house our spirit, just as the temple housed the Most Holy Place. But in the resurrection, that spirit is released from its old house and may appear in whatever form it wishes.

In the big picture, the New Jerusalem (the spiritual city) comes down to unite with the earth (Revelation 21:2). The divine plan is to bring about this merger, so that the result is some sort of “spiritual flesh.” This spiritual flesh is pictured in Jesus’ post-resurrection body. The goal of the divine plan is not to separate the two, but to unite the two in one.

In one sense our spirit is already united with our body, for we are one temple having spirit, soul, and body. But this unity is like an Old Covenant unity, where sin has caused certain limitations upon the spirit. The day is coming when we will experience a New Covenant unity, where the spirit will not be subject to the bondage of fleshly limitations. Just as Jesus could come and go, moving easily from heaven to earth and back again at will, so also will our spirit be able to do the same as easily as changing clothes.

In other words, the marriage between heaven and earth will be based in freedom and liberty, not in bondage. Heaven and earth will be in agreement. Obedience under the Old Covenant arrangement will be swallowed up by agreement. Where there is agreement, there is true liberty, for neither party must subject its will to the other or compromise. Both parties will be able to do as they wish, because everything they wish to do is fully supported by the will of the spouse.

The earth is not slated for destruction, but for marriage. In its present condition, the earth is not yet ready for marriage, of course, but we have not yet reached the end of the story.

Our View of Creation

Our view of the fate of creation depends largely upon whether we have a Greek or a Hebrew outlook. The Greeks believed that the devil (“demiurge”) created all matter, and that it was inherently evil. They believed that only spirit was good. They believed that the original sin was when the two became mixed together, and that the purpose of history was to separate the two.

The Hebrew view is that God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was not created inherently evil, but was pronounced “very good” (Genesis 1:31). There can hardly be a greater contrast between the Hebrew view and the Greek view. The purpose of history is not separation, but unity. It is not divorce but marriage. The entrance of sin was a temporary detour toward this goal, because God is powerful enough to succeed and wise enough to know how to do so without violating His laws and His sense of justice.

All of this recent revelation about repairing the breach is ultimately about repairing the breach between heaven and earth that was brought about by Adam’s sin. Just as our resurrected bodies are no longer the same as our natural bodies, so also will the earth itself be different. Right now the earth is unfit for marriage, but the earth was created for the purpose of marriage—not divorce—and it will fulfill its destiny.

As individuals, made of the dust of the ground, we are microcosms of the earth. What we are becoming, the earth itself is becoming. The glory of the Lord will cover the earth, not in spite of its sinful condition, but because Jesus has redeemed the earth, and as its Owner, He has the right to transform the earth into a Bride fit for Him to marry.

This does not happen all at once, for then there would be no need for Time. There is a process and a progression of events that leads to an inevitable climax. In each generation there are only a few who make themselves ready for this marriage. At the end of the Pentecostal Age, the few will be joined together into a single body by means of the first resurrection and the feast of Tabernacles, so that they can be married fully to Christ.

But this is not the end of the story. As I showed in my book, The Purpose of Resurrection, there will be a second resurrection at the end of the thousand years, which will include all men. At that time, as Jesus said in John 5:28, 29, the unbelievers from past generations will be brought into judgment, while the rest of the believers will be given immortality. Those believers, then, will become part of the Bride. Think of it as the Bride gaining weight. She will be larger than before.

At the end of the time of judgment, the Jubilee will be declared, and the rest of creation will finally be ready to join the Bride and be married to Christ. At that point, the purpose of creation will be fulfilled, and the original purpose for creation will be fully manifested.