And He Gave Some Apostles
This is not an instruction manual on
how to become an Apostle, nor is this a five or twelve step
program on obtaining an “Apostolic Anointing” or how to use
“Christian Necromancy” or “Christian HooDoo” to try to call
down the mantle of some dead Apostle for yourself.
If you are seeking any of these, there
are ministries by the fistful that preach and teach this unscriptural
nonsense that would be more than happy to oblige you with
your selfish and self-serving fantasies as long as you place
yourself in submission under them and send in your tithes
and offerings.
I strenuously feel I am the wrong man for the
job in writing this article – Yet I feel compelled of God
to write this. I write not because I am someone or suppose
myself to be someone. Far from it, I am nothing, I wield
no authority either from God or men. I feel there are many
that are far better than I to speak these words. Both in a
standpoint of eloquence, and from a standpoint that because
these others are being already known that these words might
perhaps find greater acceptance if they were spoken by them
than me. But who am I to question the wisdom of God
in using that which is nothing and that which appears not
– to confound those which deem themselves as something before
men and which also do all to appear and manifest themselves
before men.
This article actually stems from some
frank discussions that were had with a particular ministry
over the course of a year between October 2004 – April 2005.
A situation had arisen involving several other nationally
renowned ministries that were at that time openly proclaiming
the head of this first ministry as “An Apostle” (In
large part due to a specific event that had occurred in the
life of this person some four and a half decades earlier.)
but there is a bit more to this because these self-serving
pernicious teachers preachers and self proclaimed prophets
in naming this man as “An Apostle” were openly using this
man’s name to bolster themselves and their assorted ministries
as having been hand-blessed by this “Apostle” and were strongly
implying that by their association with him; and the blessing
they had received from him when he came to their meetings,
these ministries in these places claim now to have received
of this man’s “Apostolic Mantle” (Aka
so that they are now apostles as well.) Moreover
I saw in the Spirit that these self-serving, fleshly men were
actually setting up these claims towards the future, because
of this man’s age. And that upon his death they would use
this standing claim (Saying these
claims of Apostleship were known and never objected to as
long as this man lived – so therefore it must be true.)
so that they in the end will gain further power and authority
for themselves that they will wield over their respective
flocks and other believers to elevate themselves and to financially
enrich themselves as they hijack and fleece the flock of God
with this man’s name and mantle supposedly in place.
Immediately upon discovering
this and in fear of what the Lord had spoken I alerted this
man and his ministry concerning these very things. At the
time realizing the severity of the situation – This man contacted
these ministries and quite uncharacteristically was forceful
in demanding they remove all online references to his being
an Apostle and some of their articles that had relation to
these activities. Within a few weeks these men with some resistance complied to his
wishes. Afterward
we spoke, and at that time I was told that he would write
a statement/article to put this to rest.
Well, he did not do so mostly
because has is completely against speaking the least bit of
reproof or correction, but seeks only to speak positive encouraging
words. And this over time has greatly hurt this man’s ministry
and his effectiveness. Within
four months this identical issue arose a second time within
elements of this same circle. I brought this activity again
to his attention and repeated my fears of what God had originally
shown me to him, and quite uncharacteristically for a second
time he quite forcible demanded that those involved desist
from ascribing the title of Apostle to him, and that they
were to refrain from using his name and ministry in implying
he had imparted or given them “Apostolic mantles” or “Apostolic
anointings” towards any claim of their having entered into
a “spurious office of apostleship.”
I implored him once more by the Lord to
write a definitive article to set the record straight for
once and for all, concerning His testimony in relationship
to the true office of Apostle to deter in some measure (Because
these men had already clearly shown a proclivity towards this,
so that by his doing so at least something would be in place
to make any such perverted claims of these men more difficult.)
those that would seek after his death to use his name to subvert
and stumble others. He
again gave me his word that he would do so in a rewrite of
his personal testimony and encounter with God. But the Lord
told me at the time that he would not do so, for the reasons
stated above. And told me to write this article and I did
so originally in May of 2005.
It is now December of 2006 and the Lord has had me
revise the article. And we make mention here as according
to the word of the Lord spoken now over two years ago -- this
person in disobedience has never yet written a single word
one on this issue. So
here I am again, still feeling that I am the wrong man for
the job and if it were possible even more unqualified to speak
these words than a year earlier.
One day a
year or so before these events the Lord revealed that
the word "Apostle" was not a word that was coined by Christ
in the New Testament. (As I had
been led to believe in my youth.) but rather the
word "Apostlos" or Apostle
had been repeatedly used regarding certain people in the Old
Testament in the Greek Septuagint (That
had been translated hundreds of years before Christ was born.) At the time God first revealed this to me and small group I shared
these things with it was a 7.0 magnitude on the spiritual
Richter Scale, affecting doctrinally a great many things that
we had been taught in our youth and even in bible school and
this is what we will seek to study here and open now for your
inspection. So that you in turn might search the scriptures
(By the Law of the Bereans) to see if these things
be so.
Regarding this and true revelation.
when God opens or reveals such things they are very exciting
and life altering. But there is another side to true revelation
in that it reveals the human condition, our failings and our
fallings short. – (The Spirit of God moves among men and brings revelation and
understanding to strive with men unto repentance.)
So these same revelations when rightly divided in the word
of truth also are painful and heartbreaking because they expose
levels of perversion and corruption within the Ek-Klesia that
I frankly could have never have imagined on my own.
From the point of time that the Lord first
revealing these things, in the ensuing months as promised
in scripture the Lord has abundantly confirmed what He originally
spoke in Scripture after Scripture after Scripture, as well
it should be.
For out of two and three
witnesses shall every word be established.
And so we begin this study with a passage
in the bible that on its face would not
seem to speak of Aaron as being
an Apostle, but in the course of this study we
will come to see not only Aaron's “Apostleship” but the significance
of what the writer of Hebrews says here in regards to Aaron
and his “Apostleship” -- and how this relates
to what has been and is becoming a major issue in the Church
of this hour -- that is the appointment and setting in
the body by men of Apostles to have the rule over them.
Hebrews
5:3-5
(Speaking of Aaron) And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people,
so also for himself, to offer for sins. And
no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called
of God, (As an Apostle first,
and later as a high Priest) as was Aaron. So also Christ
glorified not himself to be made an (By men the chief Apostle, king on David’s earthly throne,
or an earthly) high priest; but He that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day
have I begotten thee.(He
sent [He Apostlos] Christ and therefore He certified this
very thing by an abundance of scripture, by audible voice,
and by signs and wonders and diverse miracles.) For Lo it is written
of me in the volume of the book. (Not
in a verse or two but throughout the volume of the book Christ his ministry and his position was prophesied of and
promised.)
We live in a fearful day where preachers and teachers no
longer teach sound doctrine, (Prophesied
of by Paul in 2 Timothy 4:3) and also routinely
honor themselves and confer honor to one another. (As
condemned by Christ John 5:44-45 )
They honor themselves as to having: “The call of God”,
and for their having seized possession of gifts and ministries.
And now the hour has come upon us that being emboldened by
their forefather’s sinful and corrupt behavior these men now
wish to confer the offices of Prophet and Apostle upon themselves
and upon one another. False teachers and false preachers are
one thing. False prophets and apostles are something completely
different. For in the latter these point blank infer that
God has not only spoken directly to them, but that God himself
has also sent them forth with their words. To realign the
body of Christ and to restore the foundations that once were.
And no man
taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, (As an Apostle first, and later as a high Priest)
as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified
not himself – (The servant is not above the
master, if Christ could not and would not honor Himself with
titles or glorify Himself, if we are his disciples indeed
we can not and will not either.)
He whom God sent, he who God “Apostlos-ed” God Himself confirms as only God alone can –
With a word of reconciliation that shall turn the hearts
of these children of disobedience unto their Father and their
savior Jesus Christ. Their words shall reconcile children
to their parents, turn the hearts of wives back unto their
husbands and the heart of husbands back unto their wives to
the restoring of the household – for in the word of God we
see salvation comes to household and not to churches or denominations.
And the one who is sent of God or “Apostlos-ed” shall heal or restore the
breach or the wound that has been in the church now for
1900 years and turn the heart of this filthy and corrupt betrothed
bride back to Christ while their remains time for repentance
and cleansing even unto sanctification. And such a one God
shall confirm, as he speaks the words of God rather than his
own, by His conferring as according to His will signs and
wonders and diverse miracles, that bring glory only to God
and Jesus Christ. And if I have not spoken plain enough here;
such a one shall speaks from the volume of scripture and reveal
Christ and God, not themselves.)
We now need to address a point that has been
spoken of in several articles on this website, namely that
quite a number of words in the KJV bible or most English translations
have not been left as untranslated Greek or Latin words. Words
like Apostle Prophet Evangelist, and Angel are all transliterations
(Foreign words that are almost letter
for letter made into a new English word. – These then become
super words, for these words are no longer Greek, Latin, and
are not by definition English either so all the normal language rules
no longer apply. -- So the translator or the denomination
they agent for now gets to redefine these new English words
to suit their own doctrines or traditions.) The
Greek words for the words mentioned above are Apostolos, Prophetos,
Euanggelos, and Angglos. So here we can see how the transliterating
these Greek words was done letter by letter with minor alterations
in their spelling to create out of whole cloth the English
bible words we are all too familiar with, while at the same
time losing the true meanings of these words.
We will now seek to address here the word
Apostlos --
I write with tears
in my eyes concerning the sad state of that which calls itself
the “Church” today. The blind leading the blind. Carnal
men teaching doctrines and traditions they know not from whence
they came, and where it is leading them to. Their teachings
are filled with the poison of asps, they feed it to the young
and innocent carrying the water for the serpent, with the
results that these are inoculated
from the word of truth – Solomon speaks by the
spirit of this very thing when he declares:
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old,
he will not depart from it.
So that those that have come
under these deep levels of indoctrination whether it is Mormon,
Roman Catholic, a variety of Calvinistic leaning Evangelical
and Fundamentalist denominations -- from their youth – rarely
are able to depart from their grip. And if they do inside
themselves they remain conflicted between the traditions and
doctrines they were taught and are ingrained into them at
the foundation or core level of their being and the word of
the Lord that they now hear and believe and thus the work
of the serpent still holds these back, from any full obedience
to the things they now hear.
The poison of these false teachers and false
preachers by definition bring believers young and old into
a toxic slumber or stupor. And at any sign of their hearers
stirring, these disciples of death give their victims larger
and stronger doses lest at anytime their followers awake and
discern who these men are that would be their preachers and
teachers, and turn away from them and become followers of
Christ in not word alone, but in Spirit and in truth.
1
Corinthians 1:1 Paul called to be an apostle
of Jesus Christ through the will of God.
2
Corinthians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,
Ephesians
1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God.
Colossians
1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God.
2
Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.
Here we find stated over and over that the office of Apostle comes
directly from God and Jesus Christ, and cannot be conferred
by men or the will of men.
The
reason that men have resorted to preaching about “apostolic anointings” and or
“prophetic anointings” is that
for decades they have preached as the centerpiece of Pentecost,
the Latter Rain movement, and now in the Charismatic movement
the Restorative Gospel. So that for almost a hundred years
between these so-called revivals their customers have been
waiting for the restoration of the office of Prophet and Apostle.
So these things sound real good to an audience that has been
built of the idea that at any time the power of God is going
to fall down upon them from on high and they are suddenly
going to turn into an army of: Aposto-propheto-evango-pasto-teachers. And we might
add here that all of this comes at the heels of the big claims in the 1950’s of the restoration of the Office of
Prophet that was so greatly ballyhooed. And that at some point
there has come some realization that all that was spoken and
claimed by the dozens upon dozens of wannabe Latter Rain prophets,
that all of their collective work some 50 years later is like
a large dried out deflated rotten grape fruit, that now looks
more like a dirty coaster stuck on a counter top than a former
piece of fruit.
Hebrews 2:4 God also bearing them (The Thirteen Apostles) witness, both with signs and wonders, and with
divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according
to His own will. (This
is hugely important doctrinally but it is not the kind of
stuff that fills churches and has people fighting to hand
you their tithes and offerings)
1
Corinthians 12:27-29 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath (Past
tense)
set some (Few) in the (many of the) church, (The Ek-Klesia
– That is the Out called of the called, not the church made
with hands – So here Paul says that in scripture God sent
ministries and gifts to the few of the few.) first
apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that
(workers of) miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments,
diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets?
Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?
We have already made reference to “The Berean rule” and now we will
explicitly state the meaning of this;
Acts
17:11-13
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they
received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched
the scriptures daily, (To see) whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which
were Greeks, and of men, not a few.
But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that
the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither
also, and stirred up the people.
In
the book of Acts, when Paul the Apostle arrived in Thessalonica,
he came in upon a group of Jews called “The Bereans.”
Luke tells us that they were more honorable/ more noble than anyone else that Paul had come in contact
with previously, in that when Paul preached, They searched the Original Greek
and Hebrew
scriptures (aka
as the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek Old Testament) daily to see if those things
were so. In other words, these
Jews did not accept on face value anything that the Apostle
preached to them, and if anything Paul preached was not found
not to be in the Greek and Hebrew of the Law
and/or the Prophets they promptly rejected or lined out that item that Paul
had preached until a proper clarification or rebuttal with
Scripture was made. Paul marveled at this, and Paul lauded this behavior as being:
“more
noble” and “more honorable.” Here Paul praises these common people for doing such and implied
that all believers, from the least to the greatest, were to
follow their example of searching the Law and the prophets
daily to see if what is being preached and taught is so.
We see here, Paul, the Apostle, and the “Revelations”
and “Inspiration” he received of Christ’s hand, bowed directly
to the authority of Scripture in the Original Greek and Hebrew
Old Testament. And so also Paul bowed (as the servant of all) to the least believer.
Paul acknowledged for all time this right of
all believers to call into question any teaching or doctrine
that can not be found as such in the Original Hebrew and Greek
of the Old Testament as part of the “Priesthood of all believers.” This
enumerated right was given to the common believer that on
the basis of Scripture written in the original Greek and Hebrew
of Old Testament, no false apostle, no false prophet, no false
evangelist, no false Pastor or Teacher would be able to stand
before them in their own name and authority and declare unto
them false doctrines and traditions.
Matthew
7:28 And it came to pass,
when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished
at his doctrine: (They were amazed at His doctrine as it flowed directly from Scripture – These
Jews were attending local synagogues and for several generations
where Scripture was read and then expounded by members of
the various rabbinical orders.)
Matthew 15:9 But
in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men. (Here Christ speaks of the members of these opposing rabbinical schools,
sects or as we call them today denominations. And Christ is
saying here that their doctrine does not come either from
scripture or from the word that proceedeth out of the mouth
of the Father, but the source of teaching and doctrine comes
from their commandments (The legal decisions or judgments
made on as sitting in the seat of Moses) and traditions of
a particular group of (Dead) sages and rabbis that each of these schools or denomination
reverenced and were submitted to. John the Baptist, Jesus
Christ and the apostles were in an all out war against the
Pharisees and all these other schools that held these oral
traditions codified in the Mishnah and later enlarged upon
in the Talmud. What enraged all these opposing rabbinical
theological schools that sat in the seats of the Sanhedrin
This is what Christ uniformly
condemned and openly mocked in the Pharisees the Scribes the
Lawyers the Jews and some of the other rabbinical schools
mentioned by name in the Gospels. Christ blasted their commandments
and traditions from their select groups of dead
rabbis and sages – and Christ and John the Baptist
consigned all that they taught as being hidden graves and
tombs filled with dead men’s bones (Quoting
this from the Mishnah) and condemning them publicly
before their peers with their own commandments and traditions
stating that their sacred writings were what was utterly defiling
them and their hearers as well. If you talk with any old denomination
priest, pastor, reverend or whatever they want to call themselves
– these will all tell you of the great tenants of their faith.
(Commandments given by their
long dead apostles or their great sages and rabbis.) And then the will speak of the great traditions of their denominations.
(That also were created by these same dead sources) So that what men have woven in all these church
denominations, is exactly what Christ condemned and mocked
in the rabbinical schools of His day.
Matthew
16:12 Then understood they how
that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but (To beware) of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the
Sadducees. (Which
were the writings of the Mishnah and Talmud.)
John 7:15 And
the Jews (These are members of one of the particular
Rabbinical schools – and are mentioned in a number of passages.) marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters,
having never learned? (Contrary
to much of the traditions we have been taught concerning this
passage – no one in the synagogue of the people that personally
knew Christ marveled or was amazed when Christ read that passage
from Isaiah – these rabbinical disciples were amazed that
a man could be so filled with scripture and wisdom – never
having gone to rabbinical school. And in another passage concerning
the apostles the reference to their being unlearned is also
speaking that they also had not been to a rabbinical school
and there the Sanhedrin noted that these men had been with
Christ a man also that had been unschooled and yet had great
knowledge and wisdom.
How blindly have we read
all these things and how in darkness have our preachers and
teachers have kept us? Paul prophesied of us from afar off
when he said:
2
Corinthians 3:14 But their
minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same
vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which
vail is done away in Christ. (When the church was retooled in the image
of Talmudic Judaism the vail that was taken away returned
– and it is today over all of Evangelicalism Fundamentalism
Pentecostalism and Charismaticism – despite what they many
preach teach profess and confess.)
1 Corinthians 12:27-29 Now
ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And
God hath (Past tense) set some
in the church, (The
Ek-Klesia – That is the Out called of the called, not the
church made with hands – So here Paul says that in scripture
God sent ministries and gifts to the few of the few.) first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly
teachers, after that (workers of) miracles, then gifts of healings, helps,
governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? Are
all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?
(So
by the Berean law we understand that all that is in this passage, [What we have unscripturally been taught as
to the five-fold ministry living and dwelling within each
new covenant assembly is not at all what Paul is speaking
of here.] the offices, and the ministries listed here are
all from Old Testament passages Miracles would be Elijah and Elisha. Government are Joseph who ruled
next to pharaoh, and Esther. Helps is not vacuuming the church
carpet or cleaning church toilets as is commonly preached,
Helps entails the miraculous It is Rebekah that helped Jacob
obtain the inheritance of Abraham and the blessing of fruitfulness
when Isaac had been deceived into giving these instead to
the seed of the serpent in Esau. The ministry of helps was
also evident when David and his army hungered. It was Abigail
that walked in the Spirit and was not made subject to the
express commandments of her husband. And she brought them
desperately needed meat and drink and brought also to David
the word of the Lord.
Ephesians 4:11-12 And He gave (Past
tense) some, apostles; and some, prophets;
and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For
the perfecting (Greek
Kata-Artismon) of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: (Here also by the Berean law
we understand that Paul here is not speaking of
himself and those working with him but he is citing scripture.
– He was not seeking here to
root and ground the church in himself or in any of the other
men and women that were Christ. – He is seeking to root and
ground these young believers in scripture and to show them
that everything they say and do is to emanate or reflect Christ
and Scripture. And this is
the exact message we wish to speak here throughout all the
writings in this website.)
1 Corinthians 3:11 For
other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which
is (Except) Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:5
For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and
ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
Kata-Artismon “Kata” normally
denotes
a descending,
or
a downward motion, but
when there is an equal motion of a second party “Kata” denotes a connection, or a union with
that second party. [And here that second party is the Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists,
Pastors and Teachers] Artismon or Artios means: To Be Entirely Suited, or To Be Complete, or To Be Ready. The root word in the Greek is Apo To Fit, or To Adapt. The idea here is a wooden object that is crooked or twisted or is misshapen in some way
[The Stone that the builders rejected] But through these ministries
this rejected wooden object is reworked, reengineered, repaired
and restored until it is made to perfectly function and to perfectly fit. And in this service these “saints” [Greek: Sanctified believers] are being brought into this
fellowship, union and harmony with these Apostles, Prophets,
Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers in order that they might
become their replacements. This replacement we are speaking
of here is not a replacing in the sense of perpetuating this
order as men commonly preach in this day, but this replacement
we are speaking of here is in the sense that these Apostles,
Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers have completed
their task, and therefore are no longer needed.
Psalm
37:31 (If) the law of his God is in his heart;
none of his steps shall slide.
Jeremiah
31:31-34 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers
in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out
of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto
them, saith the LORD: But
this shall be the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD,
I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their
hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
And they shall teach no more every
man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they
shall all know me, from the least of them unto the
greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will
remember their sin no more.
Anyone that reads this passage will note that in this “New Covenant”
there is seemingly no mention here of the “The five-fold ministry” nor does there appear to be any room for it. Doctrinally this has given some theologians
fits because of their corrupt earthly understanding of Scripture,
the Gospels and the Epistles. So they have this passage written
up as a third covenant. A covenant beyond the New Covenant
with Christ, a covenant that is not administered by Christ
through the shedding of His blood and His death upon the cross
but one that is given to the Jews at the time of the Second
Coming of Christ, or one that is put in place in the millennium.
In Hebrews Chapters 9-10 there is a full discussion of the New Covenant
of Christ in which the writer of Hebrews not only identifies
the above passage in Jeremiah as the covenant that was made
by Christ with the shedding of His own blood, and His death
upon the cross, but the writer of Hebrew declares that there
is no other covenant after this to the Jews at the second
coming, or at the millennium.
Hebrews 9:28 So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him, He
shall appear the second time without sin unto (our full) salvation. (and redemption)
Hebrews
13:20 Now
the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord
Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through
the blood of the everlasting covenant.
For just as Christ was the second and last Adam, so too this is God’s
final covenant with men Jew and Gentile, Slave and Free through
the shedding of Christ’s inestimable blood and His death upon
the cross.
Ephesians
2:20 And are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone;
(Here again
by the Berean law we understand That Paul here is not contradicting
himself here and stating that upon him and Agabus the prophet
the church is founded Paul is stating that the church is founded
upon the Apostles and Prophets recorded as such in Scripture
who prophesied of Christ’s coming, His ministry and His death
burial and resurrection – So that here the foundation of the
Apostles and the Prophets are saying the church is founded
on the Law and the Prophets with Christ Himself being the
chief cornerstone that is the manifestation or the fulfillment
of all these prophets and apostles spoke by the Spirit.)
Ephesians
3:4-6 Whereby,
when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge
in the mystery of Christ. Which
in other ages was not made
known (it was hid) unto the sons
of men, as it is now revealed (as) It was (“once at a point of time” revealed) unto His holy apostles
and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs
(Greek sugkle-ronoma: Joint-Heirs), and of the same body (Greek sus-suma: a Joint
–Body), and partakers (Greek sum-metocha:
Joint-Partakers) of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
This passage as well as others has been
misinterpreted as Paul talking about himself and the other
eleven apostles and the prophet Agabus.
What Paul is actually saying here that
he by the Spirit been has able to see what the holy apostles
and prophets foretold in the “Old Testament” concerning Christ
and the church –which things in times past have been hid from
the Jews and the world.
All these words Paul mentions in the above passage are contained
in the Greek Septuagint – which we have mentioned elsewhere
are the bible that Christ and Paul used.
Numbers 32:30 But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall
(not) have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. (Greek sugkata-kleronomeomai: Joint-Heirs, or Joint-Possessors)
In citing this passage
Paul declared that being a “Joint-Heir” in Christ is not an
issue of birth for all the Israelites were of the seed of
Abraham, it was not an issue of circumcision for all the children
of Israel were circumcised – they all had to pass over the
river Jordan armed and be prepared to fight under God’s leadership
and guidance – for any to not do so they were not to be made
“Joint-Heirs” they were disqualified, from ever partaking
of the promise. Here
Paul blows out most of the populist doctrinal teachings concerning
Sonship and our spiritual entitlements based upon our new
birth, and our spiritual circumcision .
Psalm
2:8 Ask
of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance
(kleronomeomai) and the uttermost parts of
the earth for thy possession.
Ezekiel
31:4
The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high, with
her rivers running round about his plants, and sent her
little rivers unto all the trees of the field
(Joint Body’s
little rivers– su-stema) Here we see the Joint-Bodies Paul
is citing are are speaking of Christ being the waters great
and deep and we being the “Little rivers” that run around
His plants (the brethren) and the faith full of these then
are sent (Greek apostled) to all the trees (the households)
of the field. (These being rural households and hamlets.)
Psalm 122:3 Jerusalem
is builded as a city that is compact
together:
(Greek
sum-machia: Joint-Partakers or “fitly compacted together”)
So that in Christ we are one body, and it is supposed to be
that the body of Christ is so interwoven, to one in heart
mind and spirit that men can not discern where one member
begins and the next starts.
Continuing from
the words of Paul in Ephesians 3:4-6 we see
that he recognized, and called the Holy Men in Scripture Apostles
and Prophets.
Therefore when we back up a few verses when Paul mentions
the foundation of the Apostles and the Prophets that were
given to the Ek-Klesia we note
here that even the word Ek-Klesia is an Old Testament word that was used some 75 times in the Greek Septuagint.
Deuteronomy
4:10 Specially
the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb,
when the LORD said unto me, Gather me
the people (Greek Ek-Klesia: Assembly) together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may
learn to fear me all the days that they shall
live upon the earth,
and that they may
(shall) teach (this
to)
their children.
Here in the first
use of the word Ek-Klesia in the Old Testament. And we see
there that 1) The Ek-Klesia have been charged with hearing the word that proceedeth
from the mouth of the Lord.
2) That the Ek-Klesia has been charged with fearing the Lord, (So that they may live. And we know also that many of them
did not fear the Lord, and that not only they were destroyed
but the whole of their households were as well.)
3) And that the Ek-Klesia
was charged with teaching these things to their children.
Now in any Spirit-filled
church today if one were given such a prophesy and calling,
they would be out visiting an upscale clothier picking out
power suits and power ties in anticipation of their unveiling
as the next Moses. Yet
in actuality God’s calling here was to individuals to found
and build their own households upon hearing the word that
proceedeth from the mouth of the father, the fear of the Lord,
and their being able to reach and instill these very things
in their children.
The message here
is that God first of all is in the household business. So
when He sought for a man to lead his people He chose Moses
Numbers
12:6-8 And
he said, Hear now my words: If
there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself
known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful
in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even
apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of
the LORD shall he behold. (The
Lord here is speaking that He is first and foremost concerned
with households, and for the purposes in seeking someone for
ministry He declares here that He first looks in households.
In the garden the
crowning achievement in God’s creation was not man or woman
as is preached, but their being together as one flesh and
forming a household. And in the Gospels of all the subjects
spoken of by Christ the one’s that He spoke most frequently
of was marriage and children. So with all the talk and floury
of activity concerning people receiving gifts, callings, and
ministry, the one things that God cares about most is the
one that is hardly given mention any more seeking to please
the Lord and be found faithful in one’s household.)
John
1:6
There was a man sent from (Apostlos-ed by) God, whose name was John. (John the Apostle
declares here that the prophet John the Baptist was also an
Apostle.)
And
this is also confirmed in scripture.
Malachi
3:1
Behold, I will send (Apostlos) my messenger, and he shall prepare the way
before Me: and the LORD,
whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the
messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he
shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
Malachi here also testifies of
the Apostleship of John the Baptist – And testifies also that
Christ is God, “Before Me” as well as declaring Christ as
the bearer of the “New Covenant.”
John 8:42 Jesus
said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me:
for I proceeded forth and came
from God; neither came I of myself, but He (God) sent (Apostlos)
me.
Christ here declares
His Apostleship, – as well as His proceeding forth from the
Father
John 3:34
He (Christ) whom God hath sent
(Apostlos)
speaketh the words of God; for God giveth not the Spirit by
measure unto Him.
John the Baptist
here also testifies of Christ’s Apostleship and that by Christ’s being “Apostled” by God, God has given Jesus
unlimited access by the Spirit to Himself. --- So in this
hour a true Apostle sent forth of Christ would also have unlimited
access by the Spirit to Christ himself much in the same manner
that Paul the Apostle did. And here we declare that those
that would appoint themselves as Apostles are liars and the
truth is not in them for their have not this unlimited access
to Christ, and neither do they have the signs of an Apostle.
We
might as well hammer down the exact definition of the word
Apostlos. In the Greek the word simply means: one that is
sent. But in the word of God the apostle can not send himself,
and can not be sent by men – the Apostle must be sent by God
in either an earthly encounter where they are commissioned
or by being caught up to the throne of God where God they
are thencommissioned.
Much
of our teaching today tells us that an Apostle is the builder
of churches. So therefore if a man builds three or more churches
the man must be an apostle or so the reasoning goes. This
assertion can be found nowhere in scripture and it fails the
Berean test. Beginning
with Moses an apostle has always been a direct emissary from
God, and like Moses the Apostle bears the seal of the Apostle
-- that is to say the signs of the Apostle. And so like unto
Moses the Apostle Isaiah is both the emissary and also bears
the seal of the Apostle as well.
In
the book of Exodus it is recorded that all of Israel heard
the audible voice of God and yet not one of them became an
Apostle for having been in that incident.
In
the book of Numbers we have an occurrence that 70 elders in
Israel had the Spirit of God from Moses fall upon all of them
– So that one might clearly be able to say that they were
made by God to partake of Moses’ mantle – Yet not one of them
was able to take that honor upon themselves. Not one of those
70 men became an apostle or even had a notable ministry.
In
the book of Exodus a few chapters after they heard the voice
of God, it is recorded that these 70 elders saw God seated
upon His throne and ate before him and again upon not a single
one there was conferred the office of apostleship and with
all of that not a single one of those men had a notable ministry
instead all of them died in their sins.
When
the sons of Korah sought to confer upon themselves the honor
of being priests God destroyed all of them, along with all
of their households
When
Aaron and Miriam sought to confer upon themselves the Apostleship
of Moses God cut them off.
Those
who seek to make themselves prophets and apostles do so at
their own peril. These things are not something that you can
play around with, they are not shoes in a shoe store that
one goes and tries on. Faking that one is a prophet or apostle
is one of the most serious sins unto death against God that
a man or woman can commit. And yet every year hundreds of
people actively seek out to play that game in search of fame
and fortune.
John 7:16
Jesus of Nazareth said: "My doctrine is not mine, but
His that sent me; (Apostlos)
Christ here testifies again of His Apostleship and that another
aspect of His apostleship was a requirement that he speak
not his own words but he speaks the words only of Him that
sent Him. This is a faithfulness to be filled to overflowing
with scripture and the word that proceedeth from the mouth
of the Father. As
Christ was in the Gospels and Paul was in his epistles. Those
that call themselves Apostles and Prophets today are not so.
And there words in no way resemble the words of Christ
or of Paul even in a single chapter.
John
12:49 I
have not spoken of myself, but the Father who sent me. (Apostlos) He gave me a commandment what I should say
John
14:24
He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings, and the word
which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me. (Apostlos)
John
3:31 He
that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth
is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from
heaven is above all.
Here
Christ speaks of Apostles sent of God and Apostles that are
sent of men. The Apostles of God are men of the Spirit, speak
of the spirit and walk in the Spirit and the Apostles of men
are men of the flesh, and speak of the flesh and walk in the
flesh.
John 6:33
For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven,
and giveth life unto the world.
Here
Christ declares that Apostles send form God bear the word
that proceedeth from the mouth of the father – which is life
giving bread, manna to feed those who hunger in spirit.
Luke 11:49 Therefore
also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and
apostles, and some of them they shall slay and
persecute:
Christ
here is quoting from the Old Testament concerning the prophets
and apostles that God sent to Israel and Judah that they persecuted
and slew, and he declares to the Pharisees that they shall
do the same deeds that their fathers also did to Christ, his
Apostles and Prophets.
Matthew
10:1,2,8 And when He had called unto
Him His twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean
spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness
and all manner of disease. Now the names of the twelve Apostles are these; -- Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the
dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Christ’s
naming here of the twelve apostles was a statement of His
Deity. It was a bold statement to the Scribes Pharisees and
the Priests that He could transfer the powers conferred upon
him by God upon whomsoever He willed whether they met with
talmudic standards of cleanliness or holiness or not.
Mark
13:22 For
false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew
signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the
elect.
Christ here is quoting
from Deuteronomy 13.
2
Peter 2:1 But there were false prophets
also among the people, (Ek-Klesia in the Israel and Judah) even so there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring
in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them,
and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
Peter also cites Moses in Deuteronomy 13 but prophesies here of a day in the future, when Apostles
and Prophets shall be no more in the church a day when there
shall arise the rulership of false teachers to the stature
of Apostles in the same manner that the Pharisees arose and
took the seat of Moses in the days of Christ.
Deuteronomy
13:1-3 If
there arise (out from) among you
a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and
giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder
come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go
after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve
them; Thou shalt not hearken unto
the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for
the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the
LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
When
Moses spoke these words the first thing that would have come
to the minds of each and every Israelite was Aaron. Elsewhere
we have spoken in quite some detail of Aaron being an Apostle,
a trusted vessel and when he declared to the Israelites: Break off your earrings so complete was the power of
his deception, and the words that he spoke there after so that even the very elect in the Ek-Klesia
in the wilderness were deceived. So that all of the anointed and
consecrated priests and all of the 70 elders that were filled
with the Holy Ghost and sat in the seat of Moses bowed before
and worshipping the image of the beast along with the rest
of Israel.
Matthew 24:24 For there shall arise
false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs
and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
(Even
as the false Apostle Aaron was able to deceive all of Israel
and even the very elect of his day.)
The
coming of the first Apostle – Moses
Numbers
12:3 Now
the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were
upon the face of the earth.
Exodus
3:1
Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the
priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of
the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
In almost all of
the “cookie-cutter” teachings and preachings about Moses calling,
other than declaring that Moses had the call of God in his
life, this verse regarding Moses shepherding a flock in the
wilderness is lauded as the eminent qualification of Moses
as to his having become the prophet of God, and the shepherd
over Israel.
If the preachers and teachers would really believe the doctrines
and traditions they espouse one would be led to believe that
they would have all after discerning some measure of the call
of God in their life, gone out and found some where some small
flock of flea bitten sheep to tend, sit with and watch over
they by day and night for a few years, while waiting upon
the call of God.
We note here some things in this passage
concerning Moses. First
Moses was not a man of personal ambition –
(And we find more attestation
to this in Numbers 12:3 concerning Moses meekness)
As he for some years was content
to tend the flock of father-in-law Jethro. Had this been Jacob,
he would have been tending his own flocks long before this,
that were multiplying well beyond Jethro’s tiny flock. Moses
simply did not have anything within him to lecture Jethro
about his calling, and that he was a man of importance that
was to be the head not the tail.
Moses more than likely felt he had blown
his calling. – And that whatever God had planned had been
passed on to another. He had probably even tried to forget
completely the things that God had spoken to and over him
in his youth.
Another thing concerning Moses vocation in
shepherding – Rather than this being a crowning achievement
and Moses eminent qualification – this is an attestation that
Moses was a man of no discernable talent. As the job of his shepherding a flock, and in particular a
small flock (We know this because
Moses shepherded this flock alone. For a flock of any size
requires multiple shepherds as the one cited at the birth
of Christ.) Unlike what
has been preached the truth is that one does not have to be
the sharpest tool in the shed to shepherd a flock. It is intellectually
a low voltage occupation, that entails living among the flock
24/7 leading them by day to pasture and water and sleeping
as they feed and staying up all night to fend off predators.
One might have
expected that this Priest of God of Midian, upon discerning
God’s gift and calling in Moses would have given Moses a seat
of honor in his house, and perhaps even taken him on as a
apprentice in teaching Moses the ways of God but he did not.
Being that Jethro was The Priest of God at Midian at
his word Moses would have given virtually any position in
the kingdom of Midian or in the house of Jethro While Jethro
thought enough of this stranger from Egypt that was dressed
in attire suggested wealth and privilege. (Being
the “Son” of Pharaoh’s daughter even though he chose not to
live as Egyptian royalty but as an Israelite he would have
still had clothing and signets or bracelets to indicate who
he was.) Unlike the Israelites
Moses had done no hard work in his life, and by his rejecting
being made an Egyptian royal he rejected any training and
schooling they had to offer, and by the same token also he
received no training from his people either.
Exodus
2:16-18
Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came
and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's
flock. And the shepherds came and drove them
away: but Moses stood up and helped them, (At very least these shepherds moved aside with Moses standing
there as he) -- watered their flock.
And Moses (being a man of little
ambition) was content to dwell with Jethro: (And sit at his table) and he gave Moses
Zipporah his daughter.
It appears that
not too longer at after Moses married Zipporah that the shine
seems to have worn off of Moses, his stock seems to have fallen
in the eyes of Jethro to the place that Moses was demoted
in his household to the demeaning position of shepherd. And even so Moses did not depart Jethro and
build his own house and run his own household, he continued
sitting at Jethro’s table
Another point concerning
Moses and the other shepherds rather than deal with these
aggressive shepherds Moses chose instead to venture out into
the wilderness to feed his father-in-law’s flocks; like Abraham
he left the choicest land around Midian for the other shepherds
to squabble over. (So Moses a man of no ambition,) Walked
long to place that few cared to go, so that his flocks might
remain at peace.
So what then was
the qualification of Moses beyond him being the meekest man
on earth, it was though he was treated as a second class citizen
and made to do servant’s work as a dirty lowly shepherd for
which he seemingly received no wages only a seat at Jethro’s
table he like Joseph was faithful in all his house – and therefore
God raised him up to a position of honor and glory.
Exodus
3:2-10 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame
of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold,
the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great
sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD saw that
he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the
midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here
am I. And He said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes
from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is
holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
And Moses hid his face; for he
was afraid to look upon God. And the LORD said,
I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in
Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters;
for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them
out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out
of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing
with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and
the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the
Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry
of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also
seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come
now therefore, and I will send thee (Here Moses is Apostelos-ed
by God) unto Pharaoh,
that thou mayest bring forth
my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
We see here that
Moses has a personal visitation from God. We see that God
speaks with Moses in an audible voice. And in Verse 10 in
the Greek Septuagint it reads thus:
Kai
nun deuro Aposteeilo (Apostle)
se
pros Pharao (Pharoah)
God said to Moses: “I will
make you an Apostle to Pharoah.”
Exodus
3:11-14
And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh,
and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of
Egypt? And He said, Certainly I will be with thee; and
this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: (Here Moses received the tokens or the sighs of being Apostelos-ed)
When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall
serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said unto God, Behold,
when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say
unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you (Here Moses receives the message or words of his Apostelos); and they shall say to me,
What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said
unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say
unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
(I Am hath sent this Apostle unto
you.)
Exodus 4:13-17 And
he said, O my LORD, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him
(Another person) whom
thou wilt send. (Apostlos) (Here Moses
requests for another person to be sent as God’s apostle.)
14And the anger of the LORD was kindled against
Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I
know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth
to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his
heart. 15And thou shalt speak unto him, and put (My) words
in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and
with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. 16And
he shall be thy spokesman
(Greek speak for thee) unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead
of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God. 17And
thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt
do signs. (So here we see Moses as God’s Apostle and Aaron as Moses’
Apostle so that before all of Israel both appear to be Apostles
and this later becomes a snare unto all of Israel in the great
falling away with the Golden Calf.)
Isaiah was also sent as
an apostle –First in chapter Isaiah 6:6 the
messenger is sent (To
Apostle) to Isaiah with a
coal from the Altar of God.
Isaiah 6:1-7
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting
upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the
temple. Above it stood the
seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his
face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he
did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy,
holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full
of his glory.And the posts of the door moved at the voice
of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man
of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal
in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the
altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath
touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy
sin purged.
In this passage we find Isaiah the prophet
at the posts of the door from which he can see the Lord high
and lifted up and his train or Glory filled the temple. Notice
here that the angel cries Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of
Hosts. The whole earth is filled with his Glory. While it
is true that worship the angel is worshipping the Lord and
this is moving the posts of the door and the temple was filled
with smoke – the content of this worship is what moved the
doors and in the next verse we can see that the content of
the cry of the angel greatly affected Isaiah.
Isaiah already was a prophet. Isaiah already
had dreams and visions, but in all of this Isaiah was spiritually
only at the doorposts of God.
It was the angels cry not Isaiah’s that
moved the posts of the door. This is divine intervention this
is a visitation from God. And the doorposts were moved at
the cry of Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts.
At the moving of the posts and the opening
of the door the temple was filled with the Shekina Glory of
God and we can see that Isaiah is already completely overwhelmed
with a sudden revelation that he had a complete lack of holiness
or the righteousness before God. In modern terminology
we would call that a lack of sanctification. So Isaiah
cries out and confesses with his lips that this seasoned prophet
finds himself to be utterly contemptible before God, utterly
undone before God; that there is nothing in me that is
worthy of You, and that there is nothing in me that could
even carry your shoe latchet in ministry.
Isaiah
6:5-7 Then
said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of
unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live
coal in his hand, which he had taken (The
Aggelos had been sent) with the tongs from off
the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said,
Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken
away, and thy sin purged.
From this Isaiah comes out walking in a state
of sanctification. – This is what we are seeking at the posts
of his door, not a gift, not a ministry, but to be cleansed
and made holy so that we can fellowship with Him in Spirit
and in truth. That we can walk in the light as He is in the
light.
Ezekiel was sent as an Apostle
--
Ezekiel 2:1-10
And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and
I will speak unto thee. And the spirit entered into me when
he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him
that spake unto me. And he said unto me, Son of man, I
send thee (Apostelos)
to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath
rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed
against me, even unto this very day. For they are impudent
children and stiffhearted. I
do send thee (Apostelos)
unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord
GOD. And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will
forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know
that there hath been a prophet among them. And thou, son of
man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words,
though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell
among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed
at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. And thou
shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or
whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious. But
thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious
like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I
give thee. And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto
me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; And he spread it
before me; and it was written within and without: and there
was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
And I believe even though the bible does
not say explicitly that Daniel was also an Apostle.
Daniel
10:1-21
In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed
unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing
was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood
the thing, and had understanding of the vision. In
those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. I ate no
pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither
did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I
was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel;
Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain
man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold
of Uphaz: His body also was like the beryl, and his face as
the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire,
and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass,
and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
Daniel
10:7-12 And I Daniel alone saw the
vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision;
but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide
themselves. Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great
vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness
was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. Yet
heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard
the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face,
and my face toward the ground. And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees
and upon the palms of my hands. And he said unto me, O Daniel,
a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto
thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And
when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. Then
said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day
that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten
thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come
for thy words.
What is important to note here is that like
the Prophet Isaiah, Daniel was already a prophet, both already
had successful ministries with dreams and visions –but that
Isaiah and Daniel were both brought into a greater level of
repentance sanctification before God. Something that we are
taught today is completely unnecessary and has been deemed
as harmful to us spiritually.(These
are words from the father of lies.)
Now we not only see that there were Apostles
in the Law and the Prophets but in their lives we also see
the tokens of God that are given to show the authenticity
of the office but also the signs of the apostle as well. And
of these modern pretenders they have nothing other than their
own corrupt words and the corrupt words of other men to vouch
for them.
The book of Jeremiah is unique in that it speaks repeatedly about
false prophets that Jehovah had not Apostled.
Jeremiah
14:14
Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in
my name: I sent them not, (Greek I Apostled them not.) neither have I commanded them,
neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision
and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their
heart.
Jeremiah
23:31-32 Behold,
I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their
tongues, and say, He saith. Behold, I am against them that
prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and
cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness;
yet I sent them not (Greek: I Apostled them not), nor commanded them: therefore
they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 28:15 -Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah
the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath
not sent thee; (Greek The Lord hath not Apostled
thee) but thou makest this people to trust
in a lie.
Jeremiah
29:8-9 For
thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your
prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive
you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
For they prophesy falsely unto you
in my name: I have not sent
them, (Greek I have not Apostled them) saith the LORD.
2 Corinthians
11:13-15 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel (Aggelos messenger) of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers (Those who are supposed to minister
relief at their own expense) also be transformed
(to appear) as the ministers of righteousness;
whose end shall be according to their (corrupt and perverse) works (of darkness.)
Aaron first and foremost was an Apostle, and we see that though Aaron
worked side by side with Moses day and night, his heart was
not changed. Aaron never was converted regardless of how many
miracles or wondrous works he performed. And this poses a great danger in the church of
this hour, a church that is so geared toward the miraculous
that it overrides any judgment concerning almost any deficiencies
in a purported Apostle or Prophet’s life or even the words
that they preach regardless of how unscriptural or heretical
their words may be as we have repeatedly demonstrated with
the followers of Kenneth Hagin and Kenneth Copeland. I fear
for these believers and I fear for the church of this hour.
God deliver the church from these wolves that are within and
these wolves that compass the church from without. Is they
any that will uncompromisingly rise to defend the flock of
God regardless of personal cost?
Aaron is a
type of the false prophet that shall arise in the last days
that shall cause the whole of bible believing and spirit filled
Christians to worship the beast the image of the beast and
the symbol or number of the beast.
As John the Apostle stated of the False Prophets and False Apostles
of his day “They were among us, but they were not of us.”
So to when Paul was speaking here of False Apostles I can
not help but feel that both men were invoking scripture. –
And that by so doing both Paul and John are calling the churches
remembrance to the sin and corruption of Aaron the first fallen Apostle of who like Balaam there is
a fair amount of scripture to examine and consider.
There is room for some discussion as to how the Lord held Aaron accountable
– but the fact remains that Aaron in Exodus 32 was the lone Apostle left standing after Moses had departed up the
mount, through which God had worked untold signs and wonders,
Aaron was a man that had unlimited access to God, Aaron the
man who had tirelessly preached the Gospel the Egyptians and
to the children of Israel. And in the hour of the church of Israel’s greatest
need Aaron was no longer “one who ministers relief
at his own expense” He became Aaron minister of satan who has been transformed
into an angel (Aggelos messenger) bearing a new and strange light for all his long time disciples to
follow.
Aaron was not satan’s target, the laity was. Aaron was the
minister through which the serpent hoped to snag the whole
of the laity in one swoop. And more particularly the serpent
desired with this inexcusable falling into sin and corruption
that the laity and their seed might be cut of forever. So in the scheme of things the possession of
Aaron was chump change (As the false prophet in Revelation is also declared to have become
possessed) when compared what the real stakes of the entire laity in play.
So too we can draw
an uncanny comparison with the fallen Eve and the fallen Apostle
Aaron. The value of Aaron is that he like Eve was a trusted
vessel of seeming “impeccable” credentials. Where at one time
he was the laity’s most trusted protector second only to Moses,
seemingly on the turn of a dime Aaron has now become their
most deadly predator. And this from this standpoint these
sheep while having seen the Father, and having heard His audible
voice, can hardly be considered as having entered into any
level of relationship with the Lord. Instead we see that they
bare great resemblance to the church of this hour. A church
in which even though we are called to be “priests unto God”
we are more disciples of our versions of Moses and Aaron,
than of God.
John 10:4-5 And when the shepherd putteth
forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow
him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will
flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
Had
the serpent come before Adam, Adam would have fled the serpent
for he knew the voice of the Father. So the serpent instead
sent in Eve a voice that Adam knew and one he would not flee
from. When the serpent sent in Aaron to the laity of the children
of Israel it was for very similar reasons. Had the serpent
instead appeared as himself it is doubtful that very many
at all would have heeded his voice after hearing the Fathers’.
Had he spoke of this rebellion through the sons of
Korah which he later did, they would have had little sway
among the laity because the sheep did not know the sons of
Korah’s voice. And had he spoke rebellion through Miriam as
he later did, she would have had little sway among the laity
because the sheep did not know her voice. But when Aaron stood
up that day on the preacher’s platform and said break off the earrings for those that might have turned
away from this strange and corrupt Gospel, when they heard
the mighty Apostle Aaron speak those words they were swayed
and followed what he said even when it was in complete contradiction
with what God had spoken only days previous.
And
this very thing has been played over and over and over again
in the church age. Upon generation after generation the serpent
has sent in his Aarons and his Eves preaching other gospels
and saying: “Let us go after other gods.” And because the sheep have known these men’s
and women’s voices even when their words have gone against
their hearers increasingly corrupt understanding of the word
of God these Aarons and Eves have prevailed upon the laity
time and time again with their seemingly impeccable credentials
they have followed these on an ever increasingly downward
slope towards hell.