Obedient Sons Build The Kingdom of Yahweh
“Again proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
“My cities shall again spread out
through prosperity;
Yahweh will again comfort Zion,
And will again choose Jerusalem.””
Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were four horns. And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” So he answered me “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” Then Yahweh showed me four craftsmen. And I said, “What are these coming to do?” So he said, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one could lift up his head; but the craftsmen are coming to terrify them, to cast out the horns of the nations that lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.”
– Zechariah 1:17-21
Several years ago I became extremely dissatisfied with the popular teachings in Charismatic circles concerning spiritual warfare. It is not that I doubt the veracity of the present existence of two spiritual kingdoms, nor do I have a problem believing that these kingdoms are diametrically opposed, indeed at war. I certainly believe in the reality of an evil being called the devil, and understand that he has demonic spirits in alignment with him and against Yahweh, Yahshua, and us. The shift in my thinking, however, revolves around the way this warfare is waged, and to what activities our attention should be focused.
Let me explain.
There was a time when I became aware that some of the services that I was leading were giving an inordinate amount of time to singing out against the devil, speaking out against this or that ruling spirit and of course just sort of “binding” a lot of bad things in general. Probably my favorite song at the time was “Stand back you spirits of darkness, stay out of this dwelling place, we will war against all evil with praise.” No doubt there are many bad things to bind, and as Paul wrote, we do not war “after the flesh”, but, truthfully, one will not find what I was doing anywhere in the life of Yahshua. One day, Holy Spirit spoke to me as I was singing the above song and asked, “Why are you singing to them?”…Good question!
Yahshua gives an interesting directive to the “seventy” of His followers who had received victory and authority over demonic spirits in Luke Ch. 10, verse 20. In the middle of their astonishment and “in your face, devils” gloating, Yahshua cautions them not to rejoice so much in their power over demons, but instead in the reality that their “names are written in heaven!” The wonderful thing to Yahshua was access to the Father. Amen!
To understand that statement is to understand Yahshua’s purpose. His goal was to bring many sons to glory—to bring a people to a place of forgiveness and relationship by the Spirit with Himself and especially His Father. The climax, to me, of the gospel according to John the Apostle, is when the post-resurrection Christ speaks to Mary Magdalene and directs, “Go to my brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’” With His entire life, death, and resurrection, and then those few words, Yahshua brought us to a place of brotherhood with Him and sonship with His Dad.
To say that we have access to the Father we must recognize that we also are saying that He has access to us. That in fact is my point. Yahshua constantly attributed His success to one fact—He did and said what he saw and heard from His Father. In so doing, He put “shoe-leather” to His prayer, “Father, Your Kingdom come…Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven!”
Yahweh wants sons loosed into the earth to bring about His will on it—sons who will become both builders and building blocks of His temple!
Over and over again in the scriptures the theme of building and rebuilding and possessing the land is visited, and yet the church in recent years has been more concerned with escaping and living some ethereal angel-wing wearing, harp-playing existence in the sweet by and by that is only rarely and then vaguely spoken about in the Bible. Let me remind you that the “New Jerusalem” written about in Revelation comes down from heaven, and I believe is already coming down to the hearts and minds of those who will receive it!
Those “who will receive” then become the hearing and obeying manifesters of Yahweh’s Kingdom here in the earth, “builders” according to Yahweh’s specifications. Remember how Moses was instructed to build the tabernacle “according to the pattern”? That was because the tabernacle pictured Yahshua, and His true church, the present and yet coming Kingdom.
It is no wonder, then, as Zechariah writes, that the presence of craftsmen (builders) terrifies the enemies of Israel (the church). Those enemies are the trespassers in Yahweh’s chosen territory and need to be dispossessed. Not by political nor military activity, but by the “Righteous” living simple and holy lives and walking under Yahweh’s spoken authority here in the earth. His desire is to demonstrate, bless, and prosper us until His greatness is recognized by all as either a drawing or intimidating reality.
That is spiritual warfare!
No doubt as we move more and more into this reality the church will go from being mocked to being persecuted. Yet that is only further evidence of the fear that Yahweh’s enemies will experience when faced with His visage and presence in the church. As we saw in the life of Yahshua, His enemies, both natural and spiritual , in blind rage and ignorance actually helped bring about the purpose of Yahweh in the crucifixion. Their intimidation and fear and total cluelessness as to Yahweh’s intentions helped bring about His ultimate goal—through the one seed, the harvest of many.
I look forward to our times together, fellow-builders and fellow-craftsmen!
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