“And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all
things He may have the preeminence.” (Col. 1:18, NKJV)
We are currently discussing the extensive sixteenth characteristic of the spirit of Zerubbabel’s working within the Bride. Broadly-speaking this corporate mantle shakes heaven and earth. The goal of this is as 2 Cor. 5:4 explains, “that mortality may be swallowed up by life”, or as Isa. 25:8 (ACV) notes – “He will swallow up death in victory …”
In our discussion of this matter we were looking at the prophetic wondrous sign Noah, of whom was prophesied: “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.” (Gen. 5:29). The meaning of Noah’s name, rest, is of great importance here, as within it culminates the condition of complete restoration. Within this is nestled the “comfort” with which humanity will be ministered to.
It is absolutely noteworthy that the name of the Holy Spirit is closely linked to this! In the following Scriptures Jesus presents these explicit linkages:
- “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:16-18)
- “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (John 14:26)
- “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” (John 15:26)
- “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. (John 16:7).
Noah was the prophetic promise of hope that God would bring about a dispensation that would alleviate the general human state of decay (Gen. 6:12) – the curse will be reversed.
Noah, and what he thus symbolises, brings about an order which, through certain reap-and-sow principles, will increase things, and that which increases in a Godly manner, “of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” (Isa. 9:7). This creates a growing space of God’s control, and is made an absolute reality through the working of the Holy Spirit.
This growing space in which all things that are being restored form part of, is a state of existence NOW, but a state of existence that is outside of time and decay. Please think about this – this growing space is outside of time and decay, is thus eternal, and it manifests everything that is immortal, and it is here NOW (in time).
In Prov. 8:22-30 an important key is presented to better understand the nature of this eternal space of rest. The Wisdom as personified Being is speaking here, but from the context of this section, as well as for example the explicit reference in 1 Cor. 1:24, it is clear that it is Jesus Christ who is presented here as the Wisdom: “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth; while as yet He had not made the earth or the fields, or the primal dust of the world. When He prepared the heavens, I was there, when He drew a circle on the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains of the deep,when He assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters would not transgress His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside Him as a master craftsman;and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him …”
Verse 23 contains an important key: “I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth.” Looking at the Hebrew syntax, three concepts of time are (seemingly) presented : eternity, beginning, before earth. Here are three important reference points about the origin of Jesus:
- Hy is formed in Eternity/Olam (invisible, timeless, from the side of El Olam)
- He is formed from the Beginning
- He is formed before time, before the earth/East/Other reality/“qedmah”
Within this lies a great revelation – all three of the above-named “places” refer to the same space of rest: the place where Jesus was formed (Ps. 2:7). The concept “the Beginning” (as we for instance find in Gen. 1:1; John 1:1 and Heb. 1:10), has nothing to do with a particular time or commencement! Concerning this word in Hebrew, rê’shı̂yth, Strong provides the following definition: “From the same as H7218; the first, in place, time, order or rank (specifically a first fruit): – beginning, chief (-est), first (-fruits, part, time), principal thing.” Word lemma H7218, the root word of in the beginning, is the following: rô’sh, the Hebrew for “Head”, and clearly referring to Jesus Christ! Please look at the following verses in the letters of Paul, in which Jesus Christ is specified as the Head, the Rosh:
- “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church (Eph. 1:22)
- “but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— …” (Eph. 4:15)
- “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church …” (Eph. 5:23)
- “And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.” (Col. 1:18)
- “and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” (Col. 2:10)
- “and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.” (Col. 2:19).
The dictionary description of Head or Beginning (Rosh) in Strong is as follows: “From an unused root apparently meaning to shake; the head (as most easily shaken), whether literally or figuratively – band, beginning, captain, chapiter, chief (-est place, man, things), company, end, excellent, first, forefront, ([be-]) head, height, (on) high (-est part, [priest]), principal, ruler, sum, top.” Now make the link: Rosh/Head also means: to shake! “The Beginning” is not about time! It rather points to the place of origin, the core, the peak, the most important aspect of a matter. It is thus no surprise that this is the space in which the Head is formed. To get everything to a point of being part of the original Head, as in the Beginning, everything must be shaken!
The authentic process through which all things are reconciled with God, is by processing it through the Rosh, “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.” (Rom. 11:36). The spirit of Zerubbabel thus facilitates this process, and does this through shaking all things. Everyone and everything must be shaken loose from the dust of carnality and mortality (Isa. 52:2). In Amos. 9:9 God’s procedures and attitude around this matter is made clear: “For surely I will command, and will sift the house of Israel among all nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve; yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground.” We thus have a better understanding of what is at stake when Acts 4:31 notes “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit …”
This shaking is further explained in Heb. 12:26-29: “whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.’ Now this, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.’”
Heb. 12:29 is often quoted, but it is mostly not considered within the context the sentence is found. Take note that the sentence starts with a conjunction. Not only is it used in this way in terms of the “reverence” and “fear” that it requires – it is also used specifically in terms of this shaking. In this verse they refer to the shaking that took place with the giving of the law (Ex. 19:18) on mount Sinai. This epoch-making event in the old covenant often transposes typologically in the new covenant to the release of the Bride’s rhema words, which collectively forms the lake of fire (already discussed in detail in earlier teachings.) [The law was also referred to as “the words” of God – Joshua 8:34; 2 Chr. 34:19; Neh. 8:19.]
In short – the Bride of Christ, accompanied by the Helper, and with the corporate mantle of Zerubbabel, is used by God to shake the earth, to upset the status quo, and to overthrow expected comfort zones. This is all part of the working of the Spirit to reconcile the entire fallen world with God, and to include them in the so-called growing space of noah, or rest. How this then is linked to the tales of the thousand year reign of peace we have grown up listening to, will be discussed in the next teaching.
- Selah: Are you part of the thousand year reign of peace?
- Read: 1 Sam. 3-11.
- Memorise: 1 Sam. 3:21.
