n Old
Testament times Israel was divided into two kingdoms: the northern kingdom of Israel,
sometimes called by the name of its major city, Samaria; and the southern kingdom of
Judah, which included the city of Jerusalem.
The northern kingdom, Israel, was given by God the name Aholah (Ezek.
23:4ff). She played the harlot to the point that God sent her into oblivion, never to be
restored--only a remnant was to return. Aholah means "(she has) her own tent."
This name might have to do with the fact that Israel under Jeroboam abandoned the worship
of Yahweh in Jerusalem and established his own justify of idol worship in Samaria (1 Kings
12:25-33).
The southern kingdom of Judah was called her sister and named Aholibah
(Ezek. 23:4ff) which means "my tent is in her." This name might have been given
to Judah to signify that the Temple was in Jerusalem as the true center of worship of
Yahweh. In spite of this fact and in spite of having seen what her treacherous sister did
and what happened to her, Judah committed the same atrocities against God. So she was
exiled to Babylon for seventy years (Jer. 25:11).
But the call of God went forth to the captives in Babylon: "My
people, go out of the midst of her..." (Jer. 51:45). We are to return to Zion,
the holy mountain of God (Jer. 31:6). Zion is that place where the tabernacle of David
rested, where Jesus is the only thing there is.
Northern Israel is likened unto those who are in the outer court,
institutional Christianity, those who are full of idolatry, those who are not to be
included when the measuring rod of God is put to the church.
Southern Judah is likened unto the Pentecostals and charismatics who
once saw the atrocities of their older sister, and came out of her to be led by the Spirit
to higher ground.
Soon, however, she became just as institutional, just as self-centered,
just as legalistic, just as idolatrous as her sister. The only difference perhaps is that
she took with her, in addition to her lamp, a vessel of oil--the oil of the Holy Spirit.
She made it in as an attendant to the bride but is not the bride (Matt. 25:1-13).
That's as far as she goes. The cry to go on to Zion is not in her
heart. Only a remnant returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Most of
the rest were content to stay in the comfort of their Babylonian cities.
The way was not easy for those who came out of Babylon to return to
Jerusalem. They had to constantly contend with the taunting, threatening enemy in the
land.
Repairing the Wall
Those who returned had two major tasks on their hands. One was to
rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. This is a type of the spiritual warfare that is being
accomplished through the prayer warriors whom God is raising up today. Thank God for that
army of faceless intercessors who are doing battle for the rest of the camp.
There have been many breaches in the wall around the church, many
places where the enemy has been able to enter and ravage the city of God. They are
breaches of disdain for one another, mean legalism, dogmatism, and sectarianism.
Those breaches are being repaired. Just as it was in the days of Ezra
and Nehemiah, so is it today. Every man must repair the wall where he lives. He is to hold
his tool in one hand and his weapon in another. I think agape (self-sacrificing
love) is the tool and prayer is the weapon.
Nothing is going to be accomplished for God in this hour unless it is
first accomplished in prayer.
Rebuilding the Temple
The other task at hand was to rebuild the temple that had been
destroyed.
This is exactly what God is doing today. He is bringing his body
together. There is only "one body, and one Spirit...one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you
all" (Eph. 4:4-6).
This is not being accomplished in the ecumenical movement of
institutional Christianity. It is accomplished only by this remnant who is willing to
answer the call of God to "come out of her, My people" (Rev. 18:4). "Come,
and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He
will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths..." (Isa. 2:3).
This remnant is the church without walls. The coming together of the
fivefold ministry to truly equip the saints for the work of service--a people who gather
only in the name of Jesus for strength and who go out in the power of the Spirit for
service.
The only wall around them is that wall of fire spoken of in Zechariah
2:5: "'For I,' says the Lord, 'will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and
will be the glory in the midst of her.'"
Returning to Zion
So, the bride is not the northern kingdom of Israel, institutional
Christianity, nor the southern kingdom left in Babylon, but those straggly few who dare to
take up the cause of God to return to Zion.
They are the Zion of God.
It is from them that the word goes forth. "...For out of Zion
shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem [the remnant]"
(Isa. 2:3).
Restoring the Prophetic Ministry
Were it not for the prophets of God in Zerubbabel's day who encouraged
them to keep on building and not be discouraged by the enemy, they may never have finished
their tasks (Ezra 5:1-2; 6:14).
There is a restoration of the prophetic ministry today. While many
prophets are handing out encouragements with personal prophecies, and many others are
accurately predicting situations, the true prophet is also going to be speaking the words
from God that call His people to repent, to come out of Babylon, to come to Zion, to
holiness. He will call forth the bride.
The prophetic ministry today is likened unto John the Baptist as one
crying in the wilderness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord" (Matt. 3:3).
The coming forth of the bride, the preparation of the bride for His
coming is the preparation of the way of the Lord.
For God is coming for His bride. That's what the whole story of the
Bible is about. If we lose sight of that, we miss the whole point of scripture and of the
purposes of God.
It is best that we devote our time and energies not so much in trying
to attain things from God, or in getting our doctrines in agreement with one another, or
in building large congregations and bigger buildings, but in seeking the face of our
Bridegroom.
She has made herself ready. Ah, that's the key. Yet, not I, but Christ
who lives in me.
As It Was in the Beginning
Now observe this final principle: as it was in the beginning so shall
it be in the end.
The first Adam was made at the hands of God. From his side came forth
his bride. Thus:
Out of the man came the woman.
Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. She was conceived by the Most High
God when the Holy Spirit came upon her (Luke 1:35).
Mary is a type of the mother-church. The Holy Spirit brought forth a
spiritual Son, the only begotten of the Father. Mary was chosen because she found favor
with God (Luke 1:30). Thus:
Out of the woman came a man.
Then Jesus died on the cross and shed His precious blood. From His side
flowed both the water and the blood and in so doing He gave birth to the church. Thus:
Out of the man came a woman.
Now in this last hour, God intends to repeat the cycle as the
mother-church, according to Revelation 12, travails in childbirth to bring forth the man
child.
Jesus was the Son of God. Now God is revealing many sons brought to
glory. Thus:
Out of the woman came a man child.
Then, in the final cycle, this man child will give birth to that
prepared bride who is without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
Thus:
Out of the man came a woman, the bride.
Out of the man came the woman: Eve
Out of the woman came the man: Jesus
Out of the man came the woman: Church
Out of the woman came the man: Man child--a many-membered son.
Out of the man came the woman: The bride.
As it was in the beginning so shall it be in the end.
From Passover to Pentecost to Tabernacles (Zion).
When, in the sight of God, a man is joined to his wife, they two become
one flesh. The bride of Christ is one with Christ, made ready before He comes. She becomes
Him, abiding in Him and He in her.
When God reproduces children, He reproduces children after His own
kind--seed of His seed.
The mother, therefore, being one with God, is bringing forth children
of the God-kind. So, God is coming for Himself. He will catch up unto Himself and unto His
throne those who bear His image, who are seed of His seed, sons of God: His crucified
ones.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.