19.2 A Kingdom Order
© 2017 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3).
I am now going to assume much of you, dear reader, that you will hold in your understanding all that you have learned through these Kingdom and Symmorphy courses up until now. “Out of Zion shall go forth the law” has no connection to any top-down hierarchy of command and control ruling by compulsion, regardless of ANY Bible phrases used. “Out of Zion shall go forth the law” means one thing only, the arising of Christ from within the heart of each one, and yet as seen through the example of God’s elect, and we also – laying down our lives for each one.
Grand Assumptions
Let us make a couple of grand assumptions. Let us assume that God’s elect at the beginning of the Age of Tabernacles number 144,000 and that the population of humans still alive on this earth number just over a billion.
We are not following David in his foolish exercise of attempting to number God’s people. Rather, what we want is a picture through which we can proceed in understanding. For that reason, both of those “numbers” as numbers are without meaning for us. But what we do have is the picture of around 7000 living people for each one of God’s elect. And it is in that picture that we can begin to understand God’s Kingdom order.
The Covenant Fulfilled
We are speaking entirely of the time FOLLOWING the resurrection of God’s firstfruits into incorruptibility. In them the Covenant of God is fulfilled in all fullness. And now, when we use the terms “elect” and “firstfruits,” we are referring entirely to those who are Father revealed in all outward appearance.
We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). Jesus IS a human being, eternal in and out from Father, existing in the form of God, that is all here now and Personal in us, yet less than the Father, for Jesus is only where Father is being known; Jesus is the becoming known of Father.
Just Like Jesus
You and I, then are not as Jesus in His form, that is, existing as “all here now and personal IN everyone.” Rather, you and I are just like Jesus in His humanity, the outward appearance of God to creation. And we are just like Jesus as Father revealed because we see Jesus as the One who fills us with His glory, who lives as us, and who connects us as one Pperson together with our Father.
Yet there is a massive difference in ourselves between now and then. Then we ourselves are incorruptible. That difference is huge, on the one hand, yet how we walk by faith at present, on the other hand. Yet both “hands” are true Symmorphy. We will be overwhelmed, but not surprised.
Expression and Being
And thus to know ourselves as we are, we look to Jesus before His resurrection in His expression, an expression coming entirely out from His faith in the Love of God. AND we look to Jesus after His resurrection in His being.
I am convinced that the form of Jesus after the resurrection did not remain as an isolated form, but became your flesh and mine, literally, as we eat of Him, the real transubstantiation. And so, when we look at Jesus after His resurrection, we are not seeing Him as the all here now Personal One who lives in, as, and through us, but rather, we see ourselves as we are in our resurrection. That “Jesus” is what we ourselves are.
Only One Way
There will never be an occasion in all the ages to come when a human being will enter into the knowledge of God by any other path than the path we ourselves are entering into the knowledge of God. – There is only one Way. More than that, the vast majority of human beings will not enter all the way into the revelation of Father’s heart. Rather, God has a place for them, made just for them and them for it, that is a “lesser” place. Yet God’s elect, revealing Father’s heart, will always place themselves beneath of all others, otherwise called Zion.
To understand a Kingdom order, then, we must understand four levels of knowing God among humans on this earth.
Continuing in Speculation
We will not refer to humans remaining in the heavens, whether Christians of little faith remaining dead in Christ or lost souls wandering in hades. The outer form of the knowledge of God will be a full awareness of the reality of God. The majority of humans on earth will be living in this awareness. You see, there is no symmorphy of angels giving energy to humans. Yet the majority will not necessarily be “born again,” even though their spirit energy will be the Holy Spirit.
(I continue both in speculation, attempting to place things as God says in front of our eyes, and as a prophetic word myself, that is, a calling forth of Christ.)
Levels in the One Way
According to Isaiah and others, including John, sin and death among humans continue through the Age of Tabernacles.
We have already looked at the smallest in number of these four “levels” of humans, those who are Father revealed, Zion. And thus we see two levels of humans in-between the majority and the elect. These two levels are pictured for us by “Jerusalem” and “the land of Israel.
In actuality three of these levels exist right now in outward reality, and the fourth by faith in substance. And you – (1) Zion – shall be witnesses of Me in (2) Jerusalem, in (3) Judea and Samaria, and to (4) the ends of the earth.
The People
The mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it (Isaiah 2:2).
“Gentiles” is a poor choice of words to translate the Greek word ethnos into. It is a word that must vanish from our vocabulary as well as, I believe, the word, “J-w.” These two terms exist only out from prejudice and hostility. The words “nations” in Isaiah 2:2 and ethnos in the New Testament are better translated “people.” Whenever you go into the languages of indigenous tribes, you find that their word for themselves is always best translated into English as “the people,” meaning “we humans.”
The Tabernacle Way
Again, every individual human being both now and forever will find only one pathway into any measure of the knowledge of God. That pathway is, of course, Christ, but is pictured best for us by the tabernacle of Moses.
The four levels begin with those outside the tabernacle court, where all the “people” are to be found. There everyone is aware of God in their midst, but do not necessarily enter in. Entering through the gate of Christ into the outer court, we find the mixture of Christian expression, all out from human reasoning. Those who have entered, then, through the Door of Christ into full immersion of the Holy Spirit we now call “Jerusalem.”
Knowing God
Now, we must keep this absolute fully in mind. God NEVER forces the knowledge of Himself on anyone. God accepts fully the level of knowing God that is most comfortable to the individual person. Yes, all will know Him, from the least to the greatest, but fully at the level in which each individual wishes to know Him.
Look around. God fills all things and all things exist only in God. Where and when do you find God forcing that knowledge on anyone? He never does and He never will. Any level of knowing God is dependent entirely upon the wishes of each individual person, entering into that level of knowing God entirely by their own measurement of faith, that is, of desire.
Zion in the Midst
And God is absolutely fine with that. The majority of humans will wish to live only in the blessings of God inside this heaven/earth. And there, God will bless them forever. Yet Zion is in the midst of all, Father revealed through us as His delight in laying down His life for the sake of each individual person, bearing all for all.
Let’s look at a prophetic Scripture that must rule our thinking. But before this Scripture can be of any use to us, we must move it into Paul’s thinking and his use of such Scriptures. …Everyone who is left of all the nations… shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16).
Three Feasts Continue
Read the whole passage of Zechariah 14:16-21. But as we do, we must extract the meaning of Christ out from the outward discussion of the temporal things of a past age.
Here is the ONLY conclusion to which we can come. The Feast of Passover, entering into Christ as Savior, is always open for all, yet not all enter in, yet any can enter into that outer court at any time. The Feast of Pentecost, entering into Christ as Lord, is always open for all, yet not all enter in, yet any can enter into that Holy Place at any time. The Feast of Tabernacles, entering into Christ as LIFE, is always open for all, yet not all enter in, yet any can enter into that Holiest of All at any time.
Keeping Tabernacles
The first two, Passover and Pentecost, are true and fully available right now for all to enter whenever they wish. The third, entering into Tabernacles, though we do so by faith, yet the actual outworking of God filling His house, and of the physical body being swallowed up by life, that reality is not available for anyone who desires until the Age of Tabernacles.
And thus, as we interpret Zechariah’s prophecy through Christ and by Paul’s approach, we see that anyone at any time through the Age of Tabernacles can enter into the Holiest, as we have done, can turn around upon the Mercy Seat, as we have done, can experience their bodies being swallowed up by life, as we are about to, and can then participate in the flow of rivers of living water setting all creation free.
A Sense of Reality
Yet here is the reality out from which we must understand the Age of Tabernacles. Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the peoples … to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city (Revelation 20:7-9).
Please understand, I am careful in any use of Scriptures such as this. We are not attempting to create any “literal” understanding of things we cannot now understand. What we are after is a sense of reality.
Choosing the Lie Again
And here is that reality out from which we must understand our role among humans through the Age of Tabernacles. After one thousand years of the rule of Zion on this planet, life laid down and love poured out – Father’s heart revealed, the vast majority of humans will conclude that lies and murder are the better choice after all. And they will seek to destroy all who live in two arenas, “the camp of the saints,” that is, Zion, and “the beloved city,” that is Jerusalem. And thus we conclude that again, the outer court is left out, those who will accept a limited knowledge of Jesus as Savior, having, in the end as now, sided with lies and murder.
And We Also
Now, before we get the wrong idea, we do not see this end of God’s day of Sabbath rest for humanity as a “bad” thing. We see all things through the purposes of God as we know His purposes. And thus we see that again, before God releases us as His Sons into all the ages to come, we will offer back to Him all that we have accomplished through the Age of Tabernacles, just as Abraham did and just as Jesus did. “Because you have done this thing” will be Father speaking of us as well – and we also.
I see that I must lengthen this session beyond the limit and compensate with a shorter next session, again a third time. We must know our immediate destination.
Normal Humans
Let us put ourselves into a right perspective. Even when we are incorruptible and immortal, we are still fully human. In fact, only then are we truly and fully human.
I see God’s set time for human life as a full day, that is, 1000 years. We understand that Adam did die inside the day in which he rebelled, at 930 years of age. Right now we are in the womb of the Church; our birthing into the full light of day we call the resurrection. Yet, as normal human beings, at last, we are infants. After all, no one except Jesus has been a real human. It is a simple thing then, to just remove a zero from our years.
An Absence of “Government”
Think of this odd statement. For the child shall die one hundred years old (Isaiah 65:20). At 100 years, we are today’s “10,” just having started school. And all the years of our lives through the Age of Tabernacles will be our preparation time for all the ages to come.
This lesson is, however, about God’s Kingdom order through the Age of Tabernacles. This order includes the complete absence of all forms of human “government.” That means that violence is never an acceptable option in obtaining compliance. Every individual person is free to do as they wish when they wish and how they wish.
Governance
Order comes out from one source only – absolute freedom. Chaos is the only result that comes out from control.
There will, however, be governance. Governance, by definition, has no fallback onto violence. Governance has no “police” to force obedience, nor ever considers any such thing. Everyone is perfectly free either to heed the counsel of governance or to disregard the counsel of governance. And this governance is not limited in any way to God’s elect. Every individual is free to choose any governance they wish. And I can assure you of this. An absence of demons means an absence of psychopaths, yes, but NOT an absence of human foolishness and contention.
Example Only
“Laying down our lives for each” has no meaning in a “perfectly ordered” universe, with a command-and-control definition of the word “perfect.” If everyone simply did what they were told, there would be no exercise of love, no suffering of loss, no remarkable display of small acts of kindness, that is, no Father-revealed. We are talking about human beings here, not animals or angels, and certainly not robots or slaves.
The governance that is Zion is by example only. And example means the joy of suffering loss so that the other person, seen entirely as Christ, can have his or her way. Jesus loved Judas and gave him full place, even though He was fully aware of the scorpion’s sting.
Oh Jerusalem
“Do what I say so I won’t be bothered,” is the rule of evil. “Let me serve you even to my own loss,” is the rule of Zion.
In order to understand God’s Kingdom order through the Age of Tabernacles, however, it is Jerusalem upon which we must set our eyes. If I forget thee, oh Jerusalem, then let my right hand forget her cunning and let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I prefer thee not above my chief joy.
Jerusalem is not Zion, nor is it a physical geographized “place,” nor is it any outward form or way of living. Jerusalem is people, a very specific set of people, regardless of how or where they live.
The Altar of Incense
Jerusalem is the Beloved of the Lord Jesus, those whom He has set His heart fully upon to win utterly for Himself and for Father. Jerusalem is every individual person who, having entered into full immersion in the Holy Spirit, Jesus as Lord, have passed from an initial involvement with a living Word and anointed power, and have drawn near to the Holiest, desiring with all their hearts to enter in, yet not quite there.
Jerusalem is every individual person whose heart is found upon the altar of incense, who have placed their hearts there, as did Much Afraid in Hind’s Feet on High Places, hearts given to Jesus alone, in the midst of suffering and by the hand of sorrow.
Communities of Christ
The majority of Jerusalem will be living in Christian communities scattered across the whole earth through the entire Age of Tabernacles. Yet this context is as Jesus said, the order of the wineskin. What that means is that every individual person passes through seasons of life and is created by God for differing expressions.
Thus there will always be a fluidity of movement. Everyone living in Christian community will be fully free to come or go as they wish. There will even be those of Jerusalem who will continue among the people with only some involvement with the nearby communities of Christ.
Scattered Among the People
I envision in present terms about 10% of the human population living in Christian community through the Age of Tabernacles. These communities of Christ will be scattered across the whole earth living in proximity to the populations of the people. We will look more closely at how I see all that working in the next lesson.
Now, please understand. We are combining here so many different statements of God that must contribute to our understanding. Yet our present seeing of all those verses still retains much conflict. Part of that conflict is the distinction between Zion and Jerusalem, who is which and which is who.
An Unimportant Question
Right now, God has His elect above the storm giving their strength to lift up those of His Beloved caught under the storm. But in the opening of Tabernacles, many will rush in and be a part of the resurrection. – Here is one distinction.
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus… And they lived and reigned with Christ (Revelation 4:4). The first is Zion; the second is Jerusalem.
So, here’s the deal. There is nothing to be gained (and much to be lost) by trying to say who is one and who is another.
Those Who Know Father
Here is what I am after. At the core of every Christian community scattered across the whole earth will be those few who are examples to the rest, Father’s heart, life laid down and love poured out. These will know Father, maybe in a way that none entering into the full Feast of Tabernacles later on will ever know Him.
But those who know Father in that way never quibble over such a thing. For as Father, they always see others as better than themselves. They see every individual as Christ Himself. Those who would truly be like God are choosing to take the lowest place forever. And in that place they will know Father.
Father Just Being Himself
These are things I have pondered for some years and out from which come many of the things I have written. Yet this is the first time I have given this clarity of outward form to where it is we are headed.
God is utterly practical and real among mankind on this earth. God is not a trickster “god” who plays games with humans. God shows Himself as He is through us, faithful and true.
The nature of this God in Whom we live is first meek and lowly of heart out from which comes gentle acts of kindness. Not knowing anything about evil, this Kingdom that is Father carries all the sorrows and joys of all, turning everything wrong into the result of goodness. – Father just being Himself.