“And the times of this ignorance God winked at;
but now commandeth all men every where to repent…” Acts 17:30

Reading the Bible without an understanding of Creational and Covenant structures is like watching test cricket without knowing the rules. It’s not unusual for even the best commentators to be distracted by something as inconsequential as a lost seagull. But every moment is part of a bigger picture. Isaiah can seem tedious at times, but it’s a long game. Let’s look at Isaiah 4:2-6, which relates the purging of exiled Israel to the jealous inspection in Numbers 5. In this case, she comes up trumps.

Sabbath – Genesis
In that day the Branch of the LORD
shall be beautiful and glorious;

…..Passover – Exodus – Exodus
…..And the fruit of the [Land] shall be excellent and appealing
…..For those of Israel who have escaped.

……….Firstfruits – Leviticus
……….And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion
……….and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy –
……….everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem.

……………Pentecost – Numbers
……………When the Lord
………………..has washed away the filth
…………………….of the daughters of Zion,
…………………………and purged the blood of Jerusalem
…………………….from her midst,
………………..by the spirit of judgment
……………and by the spirit of burning,

……….Trumpets – Deuteronomy
……….then the LORD will create above every dwelling
……….place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies,

…..Atonement (Day of Coverings) – Joshua
…..a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night.
…..For over all the glory there will be a covering.

Booths (Tabernacles) – Judges
And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat,
for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.

Firstly, notice a few things about this passage that identification of the Feasts pattern brings out:

1. It begins with the Branch, grown from the stump of the old tree that was axed, and it ends with Israel as an entirely new tree, moving from Bridgegroom to Bride.
2. The Restoration era prefigured the New Covenant’s priesthood of all believers.
3. Notice that the names are recorded at firstfruits. In Revelation, that is when the firstfruits saints are sealed, or Numbered.
4. The jealous inspection occurs at the centre (remember what was observed regarding the Ten Words? [1])
5. Zion is mentioned three times, at Ascension (flesh), Testing (fire) and Maturity (smoke), all the action on the Altar. (These three points are combined as Ethics to make the process a five-point treaty). But here it is not Sinai but Zion; not death but resurrection.
6. The smoke by day and fire by night occur at the same point in the passage as the smoking firepot and blazing torch in Genesis 15: head and body. The Ark-Light holds up the water walls, opens the Veil, and allows the Incense-army through the Veil into the Heavenly Land. [2]

My focus is on the central point, Pentecost. The “Levitical” Covenant Head receives the Law as Firstfruits, and opens the Law to purify the Covenant body. Yes, this entire process of “Restoration” was repeated in the first century. When the bride is handed the cup, she becomes a blessing or a curse. She herself is “poured out” as rivers of offspring from the mountain of God at Tabernacles, beginning a new cycle. Being poured out enables Covenant succession.

The cross was Passover, which led to resurrection and Ascension. Christ was enthroned (Revelation 5) and Satan was expelled from his role in God’s courtroom as accuser, thrown down to the Land to make Judaism ripe for judgment. The blood went up and the Spirit came down. Testing. So the Holy Spirit was not the only spirit that fell like lightning. Saul received an evil spirit when David received the Holy Spirit. It was a jealous inspection. The succession was taken from the family of Saul and given to the family of David. In the first century, the kingdom, the future, was taken from the Herods and the Pharisees, the “kings of the earth” (rulers of the Land) and given to a new nation, a new bride.

After Pentecost, like Saul, Judaism became demonic, filled with a strong delusion, spiritual swine cast out and heading for a cliff. Pentecost flames were also prefigured in the battle of Midian. Gideon’s men exposed the flames and God sent the spirit of confusion amongst His enemies. They destroyed each other. In the first century, the Herods sleazed with Rome. Eventually, the Romans besieged Jerusalem and set it alight. Inside the city, even the Jewish zealots were slaying each other. Christians are not taught this history for some reason.

In some comments on Daniel 7, James Jordan speaks about the Word awakening the Monsters from the Id. The Jews were scattered as seed, and beastly empires arose. Plato read Moses and it changed the world. [3] The light comes and men are made conscious of their beastly nature. The gospel wakes the dead, but they are beasts, not men. Initially, it brings out the worst in us. We suddenly see ourselves as we are, and as Paul states, knowledge of the Law can actually cause us to sin more. The Spirit of God gives men the ability to judge, but there is still a choice. Men perceive the fragrance as life or death, and respond accordingly.

The Spirit enlightens (as the Lampstand, the governing lights on Day 4) and makes rulers, but enlightenment forces a decision, a “judgment” call. The choice itself brings either enlightenment or a greater love of darkness. King Saul turned into a monster, despite continual challenges. But when David was challenged by Nathan, the Law was a light to his path. The Lampstand showed Belshazzar the writing on the wall. [4]

Revelation shows the Day of Pentecost as coals from the Altar tipped out upon the Land. A coal was taken from the Altar to set ablaze enemy cities under the ban (devoted, or accursed). The coals purged the lips of the Apostles, as it did with Isaiah, and the fiery words they spoke put the entire city on the Altar. Pentecost put the Old Jerusalem under the ban. The Spirit was the fire that Jesus wished was kindled already (Luke 12:49).

“…thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head,
and the LORD shall reward thee.” Proverbs 25:22

Our culture has seen itself in the light of the Gospel, but current generations have decided to defiantly remain “content” with beastliness, to “fill up” our sin in the face of God’s revelation. The greatest despots in history are always men who take Covenant wisdom and use it for evil, apostate sons of the Church. [5]

“And for this reason God will send them strong delusion,
that they should believe the lie…” 2 Thess 2:11

When the Gospel comes, God’s Lampstand can no longer “overlook,” watch over, our sin. The stars can no longer wink or twinkle. They come crashing down as burning coals on our heads. Once exposed, our sin is not a wandering astray, but high handed. This is what blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is: the Word comes to you and you BACK-CHAT. Instead of being filled with the Seven Spirits of God, the watching “eyes” of the heavenly Lampstand, you are filled with seven devils, darkened eyes devoid of judgment. The sin of the rulers corrupted the entire first century generation, the Old Covenant “body.”

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good,
your whole body will be full of light.” Matthew 6:22

This blasphemy is unforgivable because it is a rejection of mercy. It is inherently Cainite. It is high-handed, sin with full knowledge of the Law. In Leviticus, the only atonement for high-handed sin was the blood of the person who committed it, hence the so-called problem verses in Hebrews, written to first century Jews who saw the Day approaching:

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. Hebrews 6:4-8

“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins…” Hebrews 10:26

The sin of the Israelite who brazenly fornicated with a Moabite woman was a high-handed sin. Jesus returned in AD70, and like Phinehas, put a spear through the harlot and the beast, Herodian worship and the Roman state. As in Numbers, they were speared through the point of contact, the reproductive organs (“bellies” is a euphemism).

The Gospel is daylight. To Israel, it brought the end of the Old Testament shadows, and the false additions the Pharisees had burdened men with. [6] The age of angels and animals was over. Only by following this wake up call with obedience can we become true men. The gospel brings a sword to a sleeping but stagnant world and wakes the monsters. The Lord disturbs us from our moral slumber to purge us and then bring us true rest. It makes us better or worse. We choose enlightenment or delusion. We open like flowers or scuttle like cockroaches who call on the rocks and hills. Neutrality is impossible.

Interestingly, the early chapters of John follow a similar pattern to the early chapters of Daniel. Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath incited the unbelieving Jews. Like the captive Jews, Jesus ‘stirred the water’ and raised up a man — and monstrous Pharisees. [7]

We drink the strong drink, the goblet of fire, every week. It judges us to make us judges. It doesn’t make us perfect. God’s intent is to bring us wisdom. The Spirit opens our eyes and makes our sin apparent. Sometimes we feel we are going backwards. The continued application of the Law makes us exceedingly sinful in our own eyes. That can be discouraging. But is your sin becoming more detestable to you, more worthy of death (mortification) or more justifiable? That is the question. The mercy of God is a withholding of judgment, sins laid upon the Temple of Christ. It is an anointing for greater service or an opportunity to fill up our sin, a reason to draw nearer to God in humility or to pull away in pride. The cup is a sacramental dose of death, [8] shalom for the wise and strong delusion for the unwise, who drink it to the dregs.

This is why people continually exposed to the gospel without obedience to it become “immunised.” They have hardened their hearts, like Pharaoh, like the first century Jews. God eventually gives them up to the outer darkness they loved.

“…enlightenment wasn’t the diamond. Enlightenment was the choice.”

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[1] See Warp and Weft.
[2] See Pass-over and Pass-through.
[3] See Did Plato Read Moses?
[4] See The Finger of God.
[5] See How to be Really Evil.
[6] See The End of Shadows.
[7] See Stirring the Waters.
[8] See Sacramental Doses of Death.

“Now Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until the late rains poured on them from heaven. And she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night.” 2 Samuel 21:10

NOTE: THIS POST HAS BEEN REMIXED AND INCLUDED IN GOD’S KITCHEN.

At the heart of the Bible Matrix is Testing. Although all the major narratives follow the pattern, many of the minor ones do too. If Adam had not failed his initial “qualifying round,” he would have progressed to the next stage of dominion. We know this because we see others later in the Bible move beyond this first round to greater glory. For instance, Daniel’s first challenge mirrors Adam’s challenge exactly. He was offered kingdom food and refused it.

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[1] Notice that God’s purifying judgment upon King Nebuchadnezzar was to make him a kind of Covenant-curse-hybrid: both a beast and a bird. He was being transformed into a guardian for God’s people—a cherubim.
[2] In the Creation week, God formed the house over three days, then filled it over the next three. The filling begins at Day 4, feast 4, Pentecost, Testing.

The Bible tells us we were created for God’s glory. Glory means, in a very simple sense, to make one famous. Our job therefore is to make God famous. We do this by praising Him, bragging on Him, telling others of His glorious works in our lives and in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ, both now and in history. When others hear about the mighty works of God, they believe our words and put their trust in Him, and He is made more famous than He was before. He gets glory.

One of the impediments to our making God famous is when the words of our message don’t match our behaviour. It sends mixed signals to those who are hearing the story. But we believe God’s story is glorious, so why don’t our lives match our story? I believe it is a combination of two very simple things.

First, we become more Christlike when we spend time with Christ. It only makes sense. Love is efficacious, and when we spend time with the One who is love, our lives automatically become more lovely. Jesus said, the student becomes like his teacher. When we spend time with our Great Teacher, we become like Him. Why don’t we live like our Teacher, Saviour, Older Brother, Lord? Because we don’t spend enough time with Him.

Second, our lives don’t match our story because our lives are subject to a slippery slope related to the idea that our sinful actions really aren’t that bad. God tells us that when we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This means that after your sins are confessed and repented of, you are clean in Christ. You have a clean slate with regard to your walk with God. Then, as James said, you are tempted when your desires are enticed, and you sin when you indulge in those desires. But think about your sin for a moment. How often, when confronted with a particular temptation do you think, “This isn’t such a big deal. It is a sin but it’s of very little consequence. Hardly worth noticing at all.” But how many “hardly noticeable” sins can you string together before it is noticeable, at least by others? How often do you realise that you are sinning in really large ways and didn’t notice that you had stopped doing those inconsequential sins and had begun doing some humdingers. This is because sin blinds the sinner, and renders him unable to see his life the way God sees it. The slippery slope of little sins rapidly turns into very large sins without our even noticing it.

And this reminds us of our need to confess our sins, so please kneel as you are able.

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Land
The “son of man” (Christ’s body, the church) reclaimed Abel’s land and disarmed his Canaanite older brother in the Land by dying.

World
With the razing of Cain’s city, Jerusalem, the Christ’s Dominion expanded from Land to World, from brothers to children, from Abel to Seth. As the sons of God, we disarm the “daughters of men” culture around us by dying. We die to our predatory desires, and if necessary, we die physically as a witness. Kingdom expansion is always bought with blood. As with Job, our innocent suffering shames and disarms predatory powers and thus renews the world.

(See also Postmillennial Suffering)

A new Adam (High Priest) ruled the wild animals of the Gentile kingdoms, but without a king this rule would be truly priestly. Daniel prefigured the nature of this new kingdom: obedience would bring persecution, and suffering as witnesses before the Gentiles would be the means of Gentile conversion. A new Israel would be the initial fulfilment of the despised, suffering priestly servant of Isaiah 53. When the Lord scattered His people for their sin, He also spread them to the four winds as witnesses to the empire.

Their initial failure was epitomised by Mordecai’s instruction to Esther to hide her identity. This resulted in Haman being exalted to the right hand of the Power instead of a Jew. It was Esther’s witness that dethroned the serpent, and allowed Mordecai, as a new Daniel, to steer the empire for the benefit of the people of God. This was Israel’s job during the restoration era.

By the time of Christ, their compromise with Greek philosophy and then Roman political power had rendered them slaves in Egypt. The new “Pharaoh” didn’t know Joseph (Mordecai). It took a new scattering of witnesses to complete the work of the Restoration era in the empire.

The gospels are four winds, four “living creatues” that carried the throne of God throughout the nations under Roman rule. Matthew presents Jesus as a new Moses, who flees Egypt, is baptized in the river, resists temptation in the wilderness for 40 days, and then preaches about the law from a mountain. Mark corresponds to the Davidic covenant. Mark shows Jesus as a man of action, a man on the move, a conquering king. Luke shows us Jesus in a more cosmopolitan setting, corresponding to the Restoration, when the Jews were scattered among the Gentiles and called to bear witness. John, the climax of the gospels, brought the church fully into the New Covenant. John shows us Jesus as the Son of God.1

“But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all [the] nations.” (Mark 13:9-10)

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole [ruled land] as a [witness] to all [the] nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:3-14)

As a “witness to all the nations” of the Oikoumene, the preaching of the gospel was the fulfilment of the Restoration Covenant, the high priesthood of Joshua.

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1 See Peter J. Leithart, BIBLICAL HORIZONS No. 72, Covenant Recapitulation in New Testament History

Good point. Once again I would use the book of Esther. The role of restored Israel was to be witnesses within the world empire, as Daniel had been. It seems Mordecai sought to be like Joseph or Daniel, but by compromising Esther’s witness, Haman ‘usurped’ his role at the right hand of the throne (a pattern begun in the Garden of Eden).

However, God used the situation for good, and Esther provides us with an historical blueprint for events in the first century:

In Esther, we have in type the wisdom of God that had Paul in awe as he wrote the letter to the Roman Christians: Sending the gospel to the Gentiles provoked the Jews to jealousy. When the new bride was persecuted, the Jews were forced to endorse either the New Covenant people or their attackers. In this process, “all Israel” was saved (Romans 11:26). Old Jerusalem was redeemed, purified, and transfigured. Because of Mordecai’s disobedience, Esther was able to obtain mercy (Romans 11:30-32). The process both disciplines God’s people and glorifies them (Hebrews 12:11).

Applying this to the secular west, are we curbing ‘Esther’s’ witness in the hope that ‘Mordecai’ will gain some political power? Only God can exalt His people. Perhaps again He will use the failure of His people to witness faithfully as an opportunity to unmask and destroy His enemies. These exalted Amalekites have a habit of being deposed overnight. They fall ‘like lightning’ (Luke 10:18).

After the exile, things were different. The role of the Jews was to be priests within the Gentile state. They no longer had the right to administer capital punishment. When they witnessed faithfully, there was a Jew at the emperor’s right hand, steering the empire for God’s people and their stand for the truth.

By the time of Christ, instead of a Joseph, Daniel or Mordecai, the Jews had a Haman, a Herod. Instead of being a nation of priests, they wanted a king like the Gentiles. This makes Herod even more culpable for his role in the death of Christ, standing (legally) at the right hand of the power.

I believe the church today is exactly the same. The church administers ‘inhouse’ justice through excommunication. When the church is faithful in disciplining itself, and thus witnesses faithfully, it stands side by side with the state in administering capital punishment. Our failure to witness has led to ‘life’ for murderers and death for the innocent.

The Bible is clear on the shedding of innocent blood. A murderer dies to atone for the blood he shed. It is judicial. Correlating capital punishment with abortion is a total misunderstanding of justice.

As in AD70, perhaps all the innocent blood shed in this gospel age will be atoned for by the final generation. The murderers are marked like Cain for now, but Abel’s blood will be atoned for.

“…since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us…” (Hebrews 12:1)

NOTE: THIS POST HAS BEEN REMIXED AND INCLUDED IN GOD’S KITCHEN.

To defeat Satan is to expose his lies to the truth – to unmask him. We see lots of unmaskings in the Bible. Many of these use the saints as bait. The true natures of Pharaoh, of Job’s accusers, and of Haman and the enemies of God in Esther were all exposed when God’s people became weak. A corpse always brings out the dirty birds (Matthew 24:28), the ‘Edomite’ false brothers waiting to loot a razed Jerusalem.

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