34. We Are Seized into God

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And she brought forth a son, a boy who is about to shepherd all the ethnic families with a rod of iron, and her child was seized into God and into His throne. This is the deepest, fiercest, and most intimate picture God gives us of the ministry of Christ through us to His Church. “Brought forth” is the Greek word “tikto,” which corresponds with our English word “born.” This is the coming out of the womb into the full light of day.

Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child. – For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you (Isaiah 66:7 & 62:5).

THEY Shall Nourish Her. Then the woman escaped into a desolate place where she found a place that had been prepared for her by God, where THEY shall nourish her for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

God may go DEEP, but He is always utterly practical. “THEY shall nourish her” is the most profound outward and visible demonstration of God in human history. Every prior demonstration of God in the Bible and in history is but a road-sign pointing to this time now upon us. We have an entire lesson on “THEY shall nourish her.” For that reason, this lesson is primarily verse 5, and we will point to this practical outcome in the conclusion.

A Beginning Layout. This Jesus Secret page for Revelation 12:5 has now been expanded to include three lessons. First, we want to focus on five things (among others) in this lesson and the next. We want to know more deeply the meaning of “brought forth” and the travail it includes. Second, we need to know the relationship between the “manchild” and the woman. Third we will look at the rod of iron and the “ethnic families.” Fourth, we must know the reciprocal meaning of “seized into God.” Then, fifth, we want to know more deeply what being seized into His throne really means. Only after that can we venture a simple expression of the essence and meaning of “a son, a boy” in itself.

The Father, First. Yet we cannot start there, for we cannot know these five parts of this verse and we cannot arrive at the meaning of this “son,” without knowing God, the Father, first.

~ This is age-unfolding LIFE, to know You, the one True God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. ~ “And she brought forth LIFE; she brought forth John 17:3.” The purpose of the vision of Revelation 12:5 is to make the Gospel of John 17:3 to be HUGE; bigger and more vast than we have ever allowed. The Gospel is about the Father being made known; everything else serves only that one purpose.

A White-Hot Fire. Let us be together a white-hot FIRE. We are well-able to give our entire lives, every moment and circumstance to the Father for Him to use for His own desire, everything good, bad, or indifferent, every painful agony, every joyous wonder, and every mediocre drudgery, that He might cause us to be His own travail over His Word, that His Word might be established as absolutely TRUE.

And as we are connected through faith “with the fires and torrents of His divine being,” we burn away, as it were, all that does not treat the Father personally and as a Person, all that accuses Him of knowing evil, and all that mocks His Word with “well, you believe that, but I believe this.”

God Must Prove. I was just bullied by such a person on Facebook again, one who treats “God” as a spiritual commodity for our use, who finds great sufficiency in self, and who treats with God’s Word, not as one who falls upon the ground with “Be it unto me,” but as one caught in the hades of “what do I think these ‘unimportant’ Bible things mean?”

The point is not such individuals. The point is God. It’s not about us; it’s about the Father. It is God who is being “born” into creation, that He might be known. It is God, who, in His own white-hot FIRE, MUST prove in the face of all opposition and through utter human inability that Jesus is TRUE as every Word God speaks.

The Travail. Of truth, we have just established the meaning of the travail found in the little phrase, “and she brought forth.” HOWEVER, Isaiah said that this is not, actually, her travail, for the travail of the larger Church comes after the birthing. This is a travail for her sake.

Yet there again we have a paradox, for this travail “for her sake” is NOT for her, it is for God our Father. God cannot come through, cannot prove His Word faithful and true, cannot be known inside of creation apart from such a Church. God needs her. Therefore, we are for her sake, for Father’s sake.

A Tiny and Vast Room. I know no sufficiency in myself ONLY because I put myself, with all my failure and folly, utterly into God. Yet that’s not really what I do. Rather, I allow Jesus, in spite of my sheer inability even to say, “Yes, Lord,” to carry me, in all my failure and folly, into God. “Jesus, You must carry me in.” – The real meaning of Hebrews 10:19-20.

Then I find, here in this tiny and vast room into which Jesus has brought me, that I can place my entire life, past, present, and future, my intelligence and my stupidity, my joy and my grief, my abilities and my limitations, my exuberance and my angst, all of it here in the Father, that He might call it His TRAVAIL for the sake of His Church.

An Incapable Dragon. Yet there is more, and here we are talking about the “brought forth” part, before we come to a distinction between the woman and her son. In my early years in this word, we were quite concerned about the dragon’s desire to devour this child as soon as it is born. That is a valid concern, inside the in-part Church. But it is not a concern for us. Notice that this gruesome “meal” is found in desire only. It cannot be actualized.

Why? Why is the dragon incapable of harming this child? Why is the dragon incapable of touching the revelation of God? Why do we walk with a rod of iron?

Sharing the Father’s Pain. Here are the first words spoken against me on FB – “This is your understanding and statement to gain popularity.” Instantly I was hit with all the ripped-apart awfulness of a lifetime of being defined wrongfully because of autism. Twenty-four hours later I was laughing about it inside with no memory of the awfulness. HOW? WHY? – Two reasons.

Yes, I did place all of it into Father with me, sharing the agony of His own hurt with me, for I have been dealt with falsely only a little bit, but God by all for 6000 years. But that is what I always do, placing the brother into God inside of me. My response was, “Be blessed inside of Jesus.”

A Job to Do. This time, Jesus took me further than ever before in two specific ways, CRITICAL for the present hour.

First, I am a very trusting person, always believing whatever people tell me, that they are sincere. This time, Jesus in me said, “I am done with that.” And I kicked the manipulator out of my life right then and there. You see, I have a job to do, a critical task. And I have neither one moment of time nor one calorie of energy to waste on those who are not committed with me in accomplishing this task. – Prove to me that Jesus is Lord to you, or stay away from me. (I then blocked the man on FB.)

For Father’s Sake. But then there was an inward response of Jesus in me to the Father that was also a first for me.

I realized that, in the going forth of the Word I carry, I will be hit with endless wrongful judgments against me. It was as the Father asking me, “Daniel, are you willing to give Me six more years of intense autistic agony, that I might be known inside of creation?” My answer – “Sure, why not. I have lived in this pain for sixty years; what’s six more. It’s all Yours, my Father.”

“The prince of this world finds nothing in Me” means two things, no sufficiency in self and all for Father’s sake.

Travail That Brings Forth. And again just now, I was “corrected” by someone this time who lied about God and the Bible, claiming something about both that is reprehensible and false, yet something many will “agree with” because they do not treat the Father as a Person or His Word as Lord.

Nothing evokes more anguish inside of me than lying about God and the Bible to a Christian audience. This time, in spite of the extreme level of pain, I was able to call it, if only briefly, pain for the sake of the Church. After about 12 hours and a nap, the pain was replaced by a further white-hot fire and a clarity from God that must go into this study of Revelation 12:5.

And She Brought Forth. God has given to the Church the ability to bring forth His knowledge into creation, that all might know Him. For that reason, the entirety of her travail is for the Father, for His sake. Yet she does not enter into her own travail until after her child is brought forth. Until that moment, we are her travail. We give ourselves utterly to the Father that every moment of our lives would be a travail shared with Him for the sake of all who believe into Jesus.

Not Something Outward. Now we want to mark the distinctions between the woman, her husband, and her son. But first, of what or of whom are we speaking? What is “the manchild” in outward appearance inside heaven-earth?

We have already established that the ministry of Christ in this hour is whosoever will, those who place Father first and the Church second, above themselves. And John’s vision has already talked about numbers of people, and about seven stars and twelve stars. But when we get to “the manchild,” I find an unwillingness inside to turn this into something outward.

The Deepest Inward Quality. The “manchild,” then, is the deepest inward quality of Christ Jesus inside of us towards the Father and towards His people in all heaven-earth, but especially those now caught in their hour of greatest trial. The purpose of this study is somehow to give shape in our understanding of that deepest inward quality of giving. Indeed, we are giving God, the Father, to our brethren.

This inward quality is first that which has “come out from” the Church, out from the gathering together of believers in Jesus over time. Even if the Church is “in-part,” she is still our mother.

The Church as Our Mother. There is no question to me that this quality requires us to give an account of our lives inside the presence of God, and to place every circumstance and every person into God inside our hearts. If there is any complaint or animosity, bitterness or curse inside our hearts towards anyone in our past or present, we will not know the Church as our mother.

Notice that this woman does not have a visible husband and that Isaiah said that “her sons will marry her.” God is done with the previous “husbands,” those ministries who want to rule over God’s people by the curse.

Honoring the Church. Only those who KNOW that Jesus lives as every member of His Church, through every generation and in every place, will see Jesus as the Husband and Lord inside His Church. Everyone else sees a harlot. And we honor that word that is Jesus that has come to us through others over many years, receiving even that which was of the human in all foolish stumbling, and allowing that which was not of God to pass on out.

Mary received into her heart every single word she heard Jesus speak, that is, her Son had become her “husband.” Yet Jesus honored her as His mother even in dying for her.

Love Your Wives. As you read this whole passage, see this Jesus as the deepest quality of Love inside our hearts towards all fellow believers, especially our local group, that is, as our “wife.”

Husbands, love your wives in just the same way that Christ also loved the church and traded Himself for her, for her sake, that He might make her holy, having already cleansed her by the washing of water in word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious and fulfilled Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be devoted and blameless. So husbands also ought to love their wives as their own bodies, for one who loves his wife loves himself.

Fallen in Love with the Church. Indeed, no one at any time hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, in just the same way also that Christ nourishes and cherishes the Church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. “Because of this, a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined with his wife and into one flesh the two will be.” This is a great mystery, but I speak of Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:25-32).

“The manchild” speaks of those who have fallen in love with the Church, especially their local gathering together, a Love that comes only out from the Father, who nourish and cherish her, and who give their lives for her sake.

Loving the Church. The manchild is the deepest quality of Christ Jesus inside of us towards the Father and towards His people in all heaven-earth, but especially those now caught in their hour of greatest trial. We know the Church because we have come out from her; we receive and honor her as the Lord Jesus. We love our brethren with the deepest Love that is God, especially those of our local fellowship. Having fallen in Love with the Church, we give our lives for her sake.

So I Send You. Who is about to shepherd all the ethnic families with a rod of iron. – I will declare the decree: the Lord has said to Me, “You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Psalm 2:7-9).

Remember that in the third overcoming, Jesus transfers this quality and this task into us, His strength – and His Sending (as the Father sent Me, so I send you) – made perfect inside of our human weakness.

The Rod of Iron. The “rod of iron” is the Rule of Love. It is an inflexible rule, yet it is also a rule that places itself beneath and does for others what they cannot do for themselves.

People like to shout about “ruling and reigning with Christ,” but they have no idea what it means. Some might be less interested when they discover it means living for others for Father forever. Yet those who place themselves as the revelation of the Father’s Love find their true humanity and are, in fact, the most satisfied, and even “self-actualized” of all created beings. They are what God made them to be.

Ethnic Families. The Greek word, ethnos – ethnic groups, is not referencing the modern conception of nations. A modern nation is a political construct marking the limit of the monopoly of violence held by a particular official “gang of thieves.”

The Greek word means human families; that is, a family of people descended from one father; though it can include people who have attached themselves to a family and become part of them over time. Thus we have “the children of Israel,” a family that then included Rachel and Ruth and their children. We deal with ethnic families, not with modern political entities. This is not “racism,” but how we are made.

Those Who Follow. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel. In the JSV, I placed this brokenness upon those who rule out from Love. Human reality proves this to be true. Humans become like those whom they follow. If you force people to be broken, they will become people of force, not brokenness, for they will become like you.

These are those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. It’s easy to tell a Christian who follows the Lamb; that person is filled with joy and compassion. It’s also easy to tell those Christians who actually follow something else.

A Gentle Authority. This rod of iron, this Rule of Love is now, for now is come the Kingdom. And the authority of this Rule is the authority of the Spirit, of Rivers of influence directing the reality of spirit in which each human lives and walks. Outwardly, it is the authority to meet people’s needs, as in, “They shall nourish her there.”

But that outward authority comes only out from the inward authority, that, leading by example, compels all to honesty, to engagement with God, and to loving one another. This is the AUTHORITY of gentle kindness and encouragement. And it is the authority that prevails.

Intercession. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. – Ask of Me and I will give you – this is the central profound reality of the Kingdom of God.

A sister wrote to me sharing how God had placed in her heart a deep intercession for the African people. Another brother on Facebook asked for prayer for the Christians in Pakistan being persecuted by their Muslim neighbors. I want to, just briefly, focus and qualify those prayers for the purposes of God inside this LIFE He is bringing forth out from Himself, that we might be effective for God and not for our own human notions.

Do Not Pray for the World. First – I do not pray for the world, but for those whom You have given Me [out from the world], for they are Yours (John 17). This focus of Jesus is MOST critical. The world is lying to us – about everything. For instance, the primary cause of African suffering and poverty is their own political establishments, that is, the local beast, with only a little help from outside of Africa.

Second, “shotgun” prayers are less effective than knowing people. It is ethnic families for whom we ask. For instance, Bayila Dalaky, who has shared his songs with us, is of the Waja people of northeast Nigeria. Reading about his “extended family” makes things personal and real.

True Salvation. The Father… out from Whom every family inside the heavens upon earth is named (Ephesians 3:15). If God shows His thoughts and Person through my life, coming out from my family and culture, then He does the same through all unique human families.

But third, if Salvation is NOT people “going to” heaven after they die, then what is it alone that will bring the knowledge of God into any people group or region of the planet? Only one thing – Christians walking together, loving one another with pure hearts fervently, separated from Nicene thinking, and being God-through-them into their world as nothing other than their ongoing reciprocal love.

Ask of Me, and I Will Give You. The rod of iron which we hold is the gentle Rule of Love. Our love rules all inflexibly even as we place ourselves beneath of each and do for others what they cannot do for themselves. Those who follow this Love become just like us, just like Jesus. When we look upon our brethren in this world, we see them personally, in the context of their extended family and culture. We see the Salvation of God as local Communities of Christ interacting together in the midst of every ethnic family on earth.

Seized into God. God is a reciprocal Being. He exists by giving of Himself and then receiving the same in return. He then relates in this same way with all who would know Him. God gives Himself first. He said to Abraham, “I am your exceedingly great reward.” Being “seized into God” is the gift of God Himself returning back to God, carrying us with Him.

In other words, it is those who acknowledge being filled with all the fulness of God, whatever God means that to be, who then come to know what living only inside the Father really is and means. It means sharing Hheart with God.

Reading for Next Time. We have come to the end of this lesson, but not to the end of what we must draw out from Revelation 12:5. We must insert another lesson (two more actually), though we are continuing on the same Jesus Secret page.

The next lesson is now, “And into His Throne.” It is of overwhelming importance to God and to us that we KNOW all that He intends out from this deepest meaning of Christ Jesus inside of us. And she brought forth a son, a boy who is about to shepherd all the ethnic families with a rod of iron, and her child was seized into God and into His throne. 

Let’s Pray Together. “God, our Father, we would know You; we would be the revelation of Your Love towards Your Church. Father, we know that You have shared Your Heart with us because Your Heart is Jesus who dwells inside of our hearts. Father, we share Hheart with You.

“It is this shared Hheart with You, Oh God, that You have called “the manchild,” that we would show Your people that You have already come into union with them even as You have already come into union with us. Yet it is You, Father, who is entering into the knowledge of all. We are seized into You; we are part of You.

“God, our Father, we place ourselves as Your travail for the sake of Your Church, even as we have come out from her and are part of her. Let our travail be hers; let our every moment be for the sake of Your people all across the earth. Let a wall of protection go forth from us together around all of our fellow Christians. Let mighty provision flow out from the heavens now wide open, that Your people might be nourished and cared for.

“Father, we love Your Church; we love our brothers and sisters inside of Jesus. Father, we nourish and cherish them, we give our lives to You for their sakes. It is even as we ask, Oh God, for You have answered us.”