11.3 As the Waters Cover the Sea

The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together (Isaiah 40:5). – For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:15).

Inside of the Age of Tabernacles, inside of the Kingdom come, you will find humans, the same as today, in fact, many now alive, along with the same ethnic families. You will find the same rocks and trees, rivers and mountains and farmland. Everything will be exactly the same as now – except one thing. That one thing is the acknowledgment of God – for all shall be aware of Me. And there is one cause of such a singular difference, that cause is Christians, you and me, knowing God, that He speaks the Truth, that He answers us.

The Sabbath Rest. We do not want to speculate overly much about the future. What we want to do is to set forth a framework for understanding human life on this earth through the Age of Tabernacles, out from the Ruling Verses of the Gospel. And that framework can be only the Father’s Purpose. What is God’s purpose in experiencing with us this wondrous age of rest inside the present heaven-earth? The Age of Tabernacles is the Sabbath Rest and the Year of Jubilee.

Every Word in the Bible is spoken by God into the hearing of humans upon this earth. Every Word in the Bible must find its full expression, as God intends, out from humans on this earth. The Age of Tabernacles is that period of time when the full meaning of every Word comes into full human experience.

Our View of the Future. “Heaven” as popularly imagined, is a place faraway from earth and “all of it’s problems” as the thinking goes. There is no such thing as earth without heaven or heaven without earth. Heaven is earth’s spirit, breathed upon it by God. That’s why earth is a living planet. We are fully of earth and fully of heaven right now all the time and will be so forever. If, as James indicated, death is the splitting-apart of heaven and earth, then LIFE is that union fully restored.

The typical “Christian” view of the future, “after we die” or “after Jesus comes back,” is riddled with fantasies, some from misunderstood Bible verses, some not Biblical at all, and some downright pagan. Since we have not yet experienced the redemption of our bodies that begins it all, we must reset our view of the future to the Gospel fulfilled.

The Absence of Demons. One of the most striking features of life through the Age of Tabernacles is the complete absence of demons from the human experience and with the absence of demons, the absence of all levels of human psychopathy. No human alive knows what it means to live without the whispering lies and twisted feelings coming from false spirits. Yet humans are always in charge; “possession” is what the human does to angelic slaves. Thus even in the absence of demonic voices, humans still choose to receive or to refuse God.

What is remarkable, then, is no confusion in human society, no misunderstandings in relationships, no accusation whispering to divide. Humans will still be different from each other, but harmony will be free and abundance will overflow.

Under A Shadow. Yet God has left a shadow upon all our days through the Age of Tabernacles. We will shepherd the ethnic families; we will know and love people and they will know and love us. We will experience the lives and cultures of everyone on earth inside the abundance of goodness poured out from the heavens and arising from the earth.

Yet through it all, we are aware that a day will come when millions upon millions of people, in whose homes we have visited, and with whom we have shared bread, will turn their backs on Jesus and receive once again the imagination of fakery offered by demons (Revelation 20). When that happens, we will offer all the work of a thousand years back to the Father, and we will then carry all into a new heavens and a new earth, the Father revealed.

The Influencers. Such a shadow will not darken anything, however, because of the incredible presence of Resurrected sons of God inside all human affairs, including millions from the history of Israel and the Church, now alive again upon the earth. That quality of Resurrection Life that carries others through all costliness will only increase in depth and meaning out from our physical bodies being swallowed up by Life.

The number of the Resurrected sons could be a tenth of a tenth, but they will fully replace all influencers both throughout the heavens and among the peoples. Think of a world in which all the influencers, (governors and celebrities, philosophers and spiritual powers) are Resurrected sons known by name and gladly received by all.

Among the Peoples. Yet it is the New Jerusalem wherein dwells the glory of God, Christian Communities all across the earth, scattered among all the peoples. Resurrected sons will be living among them and influencing the world through those Communities.

Just for perspective, let’s continue with the tithe unto God. Among a billion people there would be a million Christ Communities averaging a hundred people each, inside of which will dwell on average, ten resurrected sons of God in full fellowship together. – For out of Zion [resurrected sons] shall go forth the law [of Life], and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem [Christ Community] (Isaiah 2:3). God is Personal and practical. “As the waters cover the sea” is personal and practical across the whole earth.

Hospitality. Here is the ruling idea in the minds of all people on earth. “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths” (Isaiah 2:3).

Local Christian communities among the peoples all across the earth will be known first as places of hospitality. “Going on pilgrimage” will become visiting the communities, except people will not be seeking to know God in outward signs, but rather, to know a God of Fellowship, a God of loving one another with pure hearts fervently. Young people will come to finish school, the sick will come for healing, and the weary will come for times of great refreshing. And all will return home rejoicing, for God is in our midst.

The Glory of the Church. Till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth (Isaiah 62:7). – The city, devoted Jerusalem, coming… out from God, possessing the glory of God (Revelation 21:10-11).

For there He commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. (Psalm 133). Bring all the tithes [the firstfruits of Christ] into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house [Christ Community], and …I will open the windows of heaven and pour [you out] as such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it (Malachi 3:10).

That He might show forth and prove in the coming ages the surpassing riches and abundance of His grace, in goodness upon us inside of Christ Jesus. – That now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might be known (Ephesians 2:7 & 3:10).

All Word Fulfilled. Isaiah suggests that non-resurrected people will be living alongside of resurrected people through the Tabernacles Age. The fulfillment of all Gospel Word comes only through faith; it is not automatic, but must be given and received. Thus, it is through the Christian Communities found among all the peoples that God will demonstrate His wisdom as every Word that is Jesus, on full display in all fulfillment.

Come and see (Jesus, in John 1). – This that you see is that which is spoken (Peter, in Acts 2). The Age of Tabernacles is an age of teaching and learning. What God actually says, the ruling verses of the Gospel, is what we teach, and all Word fulfilled is what the people learn.

All Spirit Out-Poured. “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28). – God does not limit the giving of His Spirit (John 3:33).

The fulfillment of all Word becomes known by all ethnic families through the rivers of Spirit flowing always out from the interlaced web of Christian Communities among all the peoples, out from the hearts and the fellowship of each. This is the demonstration of the Spirit with power and out from authority, the staff of firmness shepherding the ethnic families coming out from brokenness. I know well the authority of the Spirit in demonstration of power, and I know the silence of wonder that it brings to every heart.

– In just the same way that I received from My Father.

An Ocean of Father Known. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. – For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

The thing about water is that it is thicker than air. We pay little attention to living in air all the time, but swimming underwater is very definite. God is thick, and knowing God affects everything. Yet this knowledge is personal and real. It cannot be automatic, it must be imparted. The joy of imparting the knowledge of God, out from each of our hearts, and out from our togetherness is our glory forever. It is the meaning of Grace, of sharing life with God.