“‘In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel My servant, the son of Shealtiel,’ says the Lord, ‘and will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord of hosts.” (Hag. 2:23, NKJV)
We are still discussing the seventh characteristic manifestation of the spirit of Zerubbabel. Why is the Bride, who has been chosen (here represented by Judah, as opposed to Israel, who represents the Church), first accepted, then rejected? Why is the signet ring placed on the Bride’s finger, then ripped off, then returned again, then taken off?
In the previous teaching we pointed out that the signet ring points to intimacy (Song of Songs 8:6) and spiritual authority, or the right to reign, or rather: royal prerogative, rights and privileges (Gen. 38:25; 41:42; Esther 3:10 & 12; 8:2, 8 & 10).
According to Ezek. 28:12 the signet ring also becomes the symbolic concretisation of equality, complete wisdom and absolute beauty. The term signet ring is in turn derived from the symbolic qualities which “finished proportions” (Rotherham) and the “full measure and pattern of exactness [giving the finishing touch to all that constitutes completeness]” (AMP) represent. These specific phrases are very important for the topic at hand.
If Eph. 4:13 presents that the Bride must gain “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” in order to do what she has been called for, there is a certain measure of “finished proportions” to which each individual is called so that the corporate Christ can be made “complete”. To each individual within the Bride a measure has been granted (2 Cor. 10:13), which has to be made full, a “full measure … of exactness”. This is not a random choice for you or I – it is a predestined fullness out of which Christ consists, an “exactness” with a deeper-seated pattern or composition. For each member of the Bride, as is for instance said to the king of Tyre in Ezek. 28:12 (YLT) , “thou art sealing up a measurement”.
The word predestined is used deliberately above. According to Webster’s it means, “To predetermine or foreordain; to appoint or ordain beforehand by an unchangeable purpose.”
Concerning the difficult topic of predestination we have written about from various perspectives and angles in these teachings – for a recap consult the teachings of Day 5, 513-514, 515-517, 518-520, 629-631, 848-850, 855-856, 1046, 1048 and 1161. It is however very important to summarise the main insights gained from these teachings, for the sake of better understanding the spirit of Zerubbabel.
- The offer Jesus makes in John 6:37 is available to all people: “… the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out”. In Acts 2:21 Peter proclaims: “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” With this the Protestants’s “unconditional election” is deftly overthrown. Also: “God treats everyone on the same basis” (GNT). The NET-translation perhaps makes it most clear: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism in dealing with people”.
- Strictly speaking, election only applies to the gospel of Christ. That which He said to his disciples in John 15:16 is likewise (according to John 17:20-21) also applicable to the wider Bride of Christ: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you …” Many are called, few are elected (Matt. 22:14). But this election did not overrule our choice – even the devil was one of the chosen ones (John 6:70)! Election to Christ first of all requires that one dies to oneself, and take up the high calling in Christ (Phil. 3:14). Then you are also elected according to the “foreknowledge” (1 Pet. 1:2) of God.
- The revelation of Christ is only given through God (Matt. 16:17), and we are in accordance called “to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus” (1 Pet. 5:10). Although we know that this election is based on the foreknowledge of God, my and your prophetic examining and researching thereof (1 Pet. 1:10-11) is a prerequisite for this revelation! The kingdom of God must be taken with violence (Matt. 11:12). “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matt. 7:7-8).
- If, according to Eph. 22:10a (NJB), the Bride is “God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus”, the word that is used in Greek here is “poiēma”, which apart from meaning “poem”, etymologically also points to something that is consciously made (thus certain translations translate it as “workmanship”, or “masterpiece”). The conscious construction of the poiēma, or poem, is THE BRIDE, “who are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones” (Eph. 5:30). These “members” of Christ are each unique, irreplaceable (Ps. 139:15) words in the poem, which is Jesus. The fullness of Who Jesus is, He parcelled out in a manifold number of “irreplaceable words” that each reveal something about Him, the Head, and make those things manifest.
- Because of this organic unity in Christ, “the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Eph. 4:16) is able to grow.
Please note the phrase “by what every joint supplies”. Each predestined part of the Body is eventually necessary to “do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done” (Acts. 4:28).
Only the Bride has been elected from before the foundations of the earth were laid (Eph. 1:4), but she has to continually choose and keep on choosing to make manifest the life of Christ within her (John 5:40).
Perhaps the most authentic way in which we can grasp this truth, is to look at the Godly trace nestled in the gematria. The word signet ring‘s gematria is 454, which is exactly the same gematria as the word sin, to miss your mark, or then: to miss the purpose for which you were created. It is exactly this purpose which distinguishes the Bride from the Church, in other words, brings about that the Bride is without sin, as 1 John 3:6 makes clear: “Whoever abides in Him does not sin.” Therefore the gematrical worth of the words holy and life are also 454!
The signet ring on the Bride’s finger is God’s unconditional election (Rom. 11:29). If it is taken off, it is because the individual in the Bride has chosen to do so. If it is placed back, it is likewise also by an individual’s choice. In this light Jesus’s words about Judas is more understandable: “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” (John 6:70). With the signet ring you become part of the “full measure … of exactness”, the full measure of the life in Christ which becomes manifest within you (Rom. 8:2).
- Selah: Ponder the importance of choice in election.
- Read: 28-30; Prov. 13-14.
- Memorise: 13:14.
