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The Great Exchange
Part XII
The last
installment of the Great Exchange continued our analysis of the
spiritual powers which are identified via the characteristics of the various
individuals and institutions recorded in Scripture.
The
Scriptures speak of things in this world as a “shadow” of the
“substance” in the spiritual realm where Christ is king (see Part
VII of the present work for details of this profound truth).
“Meat…drink…holyday[s]…new moon[s]….sabbath
days…are a shadow of things to come…ye have in heaven
a better and an enduring substance” (Colossians 2:17;
Hebrews 10:34).
Since the
Word of God tells us the things of this world are a shadow which
we can see, it follows that the spiritual influence that lurks behind the veil
of physical existence can be identified by the characteristics of the
shadow.
“The tree is known by his fruit” (Matthew 12:33).
Thus,
we’ve been examining various Biblical accounts, to determine the
identities of the substantive powers that generate the shadow seen in the
historical accounts.
In Part
XI, we moved from the account of Adam and Eve,
through the generation of Cain and Abel, and
subsequently revisited the story of Esau and Jacob.
In the last two accounts (Cain and Abel, and Esau and Jacob), we saw the same
dynamic, as the envy which impacted the offender in each story
was related to a Hellish Hatred, which then summoned the presence of Death.
This cycle
is invariably related to the twin spiritual terminals of Hell and
Death, which always seek to destroy the power of Life.
We’ve also learned that it is the power of “Hell” which
inevitably seeks to lead those who harbor its influence, toward the power of
“Death.” The
spiritual principalities of Death and Hell are
periodically given an anthropomorphic description in the text, which indicates
they are more than simple phenomena, as such Scriptures point towards a
mystical identity.
Many have
simply ignored the colorful text in Revelation where the rider of the
Pale Horse actually carries the name of Death,
along with a secondary entity named Hell.
“Behold a pale horse, and his name that
sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with
him” (Revelation 6:8).
In several
installments of the Great Exchange, we’ve shown additional
similitudes wherein Sin equivocates with Hell, so
we have an additional layer of Scripture which confirms that the power of Hell/Sin
leads to Death.
“Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death”
(James 1:15).
In this
chronological sequence, the imagery of the False Prophet, exhibiting the
characteristics of Sin/Hell, is the catalyst for the emergence of
Antichrist, which is another euphemism for Death.
“And [the False Prophet] deceiveth them that
dwell on the earth….and causeth the earth and them which
dwell therein to worship [Death]” (Revelation 13:14, 12).
This
sequence, wherein the power of Hell consistently moves the lost
towards the entity of Death, is seen in prophetic metaphor
throughout the various episodes.
For example,
after the LORD responded favorably to Abel’s sacrificial blood offering,
but rejected Cain’s offering from the vegetation of the earth, there is a
crucial exchange. When Hell’s component of envy toward his
brother Abel had achieved a foothold in the consciousness of Cain, the LORD
interacted with Cain to warn him of the danger.
“And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy
countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou
doest not well, sin lieth at the door [is in the
vicinity]”.
“And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou [must] rule over him” (Genesis 4:6, 7).
The
statement that Sin “desires” to have Cain,
is reminiscent of Christ’s later statement to Simon Peter, that Satan
“desires” to have his way with the Apostle:
“And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to
have you, that he may sift you as wheat” (Luke 22:31).
The outline of
the same spiritual cycle was also clearly seen in the case of Esau,
whose jealousy of his brother Jacob, led him to
conceive of a plan to kill Jacob:
“And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing
wherewith his father blessed him; and Esau said in his heart, The days of
mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother
Jacob” (Genesis 27:41).
In the
account of Esau and Jacob, the LORD’s blessing of Jacob deflects the
hatred of Esau, and Jacob survives his brother’s wrath, and continues to
prosper.
Over many
generations documented in the Scriptures, we see the very same cycle is
continually repeated. Jacob (now identified as Israel) has twelve sons, and the
youngest son Joseph, is his favorite. At the age of 17, Joseph
was blessed with prophetic dreams, but in his youthful naiveté, he did not see
the jealously which was developing in his brothers.
After
relating a particularly provocative dream, he related it to his eleven
brothers.
“And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and
said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and behold, the sun and the moon and
the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And his brethren envied
him” (Genesis 37:9, 11).
Sometime later,
when the sons of Israel were out in the field tending the family flock, Israel
dispatched young Joseph to see how they fared. The brother’s envy of
Joseph had intensified into hatred, so they purposed to throw him into a pit,
and leave him to die. Once again, the spirit of Hell had summoned
the spirit of Death, and the wrath was directed at the innocent Life
in the triune architecture.
In this account, Reuben, one of Joseph’s eleven brothers, shows the positive characteristic of intercession, as he urged his brothers not to kill Joseph, but to leave him in the pit. Reuben planned to rescue Joseph at a later time.
“And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and
said, Let us not kill him. And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but
cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness and lay no hand upon him; that
he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again” (Genesis
37:21,22).
Another
brother, Judah, suggested they instead sell him to a caravan of
Arabs they had seen passing by.
“And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our
brother, and conceal his blood?” (Genesis 37:26).
The brothers agreed and, after selling Joseph to an entourage of Midianite traders, in order to explain Joseph’s absence to their father, they decided to tell their father that Joseph was killed by a wild animal. In order to convince their father Israel of the fraudulent account, they killed a goat and dipped Joseph’s coat in the blood.
In this
account, not only do we see the LORD’s intervention to preserve Joseph
via Reuben’s intercession, we also see a trio of references to the
blood, which the spirit of Hell had sought to shed.
In the first
mention, when Reuben initially urged his brothers not to kill Joseph, he
referenced the bloody intent.
“And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood”
(Genesis 37:22).
In the
second mention of blood, Judah also mentioned the shedding of blood.
“What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?”
(Genesis 37:26).
Finally, in
a foreshadowing of the “third part” in the triune formula of
redemption (in Zechariah 13’s epic equation in which “two
parts” are cut off and die, but the “third part” is
preserved), we see another instance of the innocent blood which
was shed, as a substitute for the blood of Joseph.
“And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid
of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood” (Genesis
37:31).
The prophetic
parallels between Joseph and Jesus are so
obvious it’s difficult to see how anyone can miss them – but we
will certainly mention at least a few of them.
Both Jesus
and Joseph were envied by their brethren, and the identical
dynamics of Death and Hell were at work. For
instance, in but one of the astonishing story of Christ, our last chapter noted
how Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who wielded the authority to
order the death of Jesus, knew of the Jew’s envy
of Christ.
“For [Pilate] knew that for envy [the
Jewish priests] had delivered him” (Matthew 27:18).
Another
interesting facet of these Prophetic Parallels is the fact that, just as
Joseph was temporarily held in the pit but was then released, we see that
Christ was temporarily in the tomb for three days, after which He rose from the
dead.
“And they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit”
(Genesis 37:28).
Because Joseph
survived the ordeal, the Gentile nation of Egypt was preserved from the
terrible death of the great famine which struck Egypt. Exhibiting the anointing
of God, Joseph prophesied of the great famine which was to come, and the nation
only survived because of his presence. Likewise, because of Jesus,
salvation came to the nations, as the door of salvation was opened to the
Gentiles through Christ.
“Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent
unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it” (Acts 28:28).
Manifesting
the spirit of Hell that was clearly resident in the Jews, the
priesthood vehemently urged the spirit of Death that was in the
Romans to come forth, and insisted that they kill the Life of the
LORD that was in JESUS CHRIST.
But Death
and Hell were only able to kill the shadow, as the
eternal substance of Christ saw the Father raise His precious
body from the dead, where he is now installed in the heavenlies as the one mediator
between our Holy God, and all mankind, which is still under the curse of Death.
-- James
Lloyd
To Be Continued ________________________________________ Christian Media PO Box 1414 Medford OR 97501 ________________________________________ |
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