“Seek the Lord … seek righteousness …”
(Zeph. 2:3, NKJV)
We are currently examining Rom. 14:17, in which we learnt that “the kingdom of God is … righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). These three foundation stones of the kingdom of God WITHIN US (Luke 17:21) are now our focus, and we are first tackling righteousness.
The previous teaching concluded with 2 Tim. 4:8, in which Paul notes that the Lord will give “the crown of righteousness” to him “on that day”. He then continues: “and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing”. It is important to indicate the following:
- the article that precedes “crown” is the and not a – according to ABP it is certainly “the definite article”. Many translations and paraphrases (even a respected translation like the KJV) are tempted to use the indefinite article a, perhaps because of a later qualifier that not only Paul, but “all who have loved his appearing” will receive their own crown. This is, however, not accurate – there is just one crown, which, by way of speaking, the Bride wears. In 1 Cor. 9:24 Paul then uses the same overarching metaphor to describe this journey of faith, and then makes clear: “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.”
- What is probably misleading people about crowns is the fact that we have been conditioned to reduce the universal symbolism of a crown to only that which is an entity of great value, and which is ceremonially placed on the head of a winner or king (read the teaching of 1 Kings 11:12 again for a good description.) In the teaching of Day 1337-1339 we extensively explained that in the New Testament reality, the crown is no longer a physical ideal, but should be considered in spiritual terms. In other words, a crown is a symbol that clearly points to the anointing of the Anointed, Christ!
- The Greek word ‘appearance’ here is epiphaneia. Take note – this is not the so-called once-off second-coming that people expect at the end of times; this is various appearances through which Jesus manifests Himself! A few verses before this, in verse 1, we also find a variation of the word appearance: “I charge youtherefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom …” Suddenly it sounds more like these refer to events that will take place towards the end, when the judgment has already taken place. The Accurate New Testament translates this difficult-to-read phrase in more correct terms, as follows: “the appearance [of] him and the kingdom [of] him”.
- The important question then remains – when and where exactly does the kingdom appear, as the appearances of Jesus are listed in the same breath as the appearance of his kingdom? Selah! In Luke 17:20-21 Jesus makes it clear: “The kingdom of God does not come with observation … the kingdom of God is within you …” In addition, it is when you receive the (collective) crown of anointing that his appearances establish the kingdom within you!
If Zeph. 2:3 admonishes believers to: “Seek the Lord … seek righteousness …”, it is an enduring refrain throughout Scripture, and is echoed most prominently in the well-known statement Jesus makes in Matt. 6:33: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness …” It is of great importance that you and I realise that here it is not a case of either God’s righteousness or Jesus’s righteousness that needs to be sought out. You have hopefully already found that righteousness. Matt. 6:33 speaks of the righteousness that the kingdom constitutes, in other words, the righteousness that must be manifested WITHIN YOU.
In Isa. 26:9b the prophet directs this wish to God: “The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” How does this happen? The answer lies in the words of another small prophet, Joel (2:23): “Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you— the former rain, and the latter rain.” A few things to point out here:
- In Isa 33:5 an explicit link is made between Zion and righteousness: “The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.”
- When the Old Testament speaks of Zion, the mountain metaphorically becomes the eternal space where God lives (Ps. 9:11; 65:1; 76:2), and also where we live within the eternal God, as a home (Deut. 23:27). Our salvation thus comes from Zion (Ps. 14:7). Zion is thus a holy kingdom (Ps. 20:2). In Isa. 60:14 Zion is explicitly called “The City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.” Zech. 8:3 further makes this clear: “Thus says the Lord: ‘I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Indeed, Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the Lord of hosts, the Holy Mountain.’” God says that He has anointed his “King” [= Jesus] over Zion, His “holy hill” (Ps. 2:6). In Ps. 102:16 it is mentioned that the Lord shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory.” The moment that this is spelled out, we need to find a link between Zion and the gospel of glory, or then: the gospel of Christ. Already in the teaching of Day 1537-1539 we referred to Ps. 145:11-13, where David speaks about this kingdom of God: “They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, and talk of Your power, to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom. Your kingdomis an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations.” It is important that the reader notices that David is not only speaking about God’s throne here, but also of his own throne as king, “the throne of David and … his kingdom” (Isa. 9:6). Interestingly enough, with Jesus’s arrival in Jerusalem, the crowds welcome Him in song, and shout: “Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark. 11:10). This echoes the prophetic promise over Jesus, that is presented in Isa. 9:6-7 as: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 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.”
- Thus: the kingdom of the heavens = the kingdom of God = the kingdom of our Father = the kingdom of David on his eternal throne = Zion = the New Jerusalem. The Bride is already there, within Christ (Heb. 12:22-24), and this is why the New Testament presents it so clearly in Heb. 12:22: “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels …” If one realises this, you read the references to Zion in the Old Testament in a completely different light. For instance, the testimony of life in Christ is abundant, as in Ps. 132: 10-14: “For Your servant David’s sake, do not turn away the face of Your Anointed. The Lord has sworn intruth to David; He will not turn from it: ‘I will set upon your throne the fruit of your body. If your sons will keep My covenant and My testimony which I shall teach them, their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore.’ For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place: This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.”
- One gains right of entry to Zion by becoming born-again: “And of Zion it will be said, ‘This oneand that one were born in her; and the Most High Himself shall establish her.’” (Ps. 87:5). That incorruptible seed (1 Pet. 1:23) through which each believer is individually born-again (1 John 5:6), is strictly speaking the seed of Christ (Gal. 3:16), the Anointed. But that seed must first come to maturity through what Joel 2:23 terms “faithfully”, which is here presented as equivalent to “the former rain, and the latter rain”, which is poured out on this seed of Christ. Through faith we learn righteousness! The former and latter rains ARE the elements that teach us this! We need to exactly learn what this means (Matt. 9:13), and what the implications of it is.
- The phrase “the former and latter rain” is found three times in Scripture, including the Scripture in Joel 2:23. The reference in Deut. 11:14 links the distinction between these two types of rain to its outpouring “in its season”, and specifically notes the symbolic return of “your grain, your new wine, and your oil” (note the personal pronoun that is used here). The other Scripture, Jer. 5:24, is also concerned with “rain, both the former and the latter, in its season”! To this is added: “the appointed weeks of the harvest”. In Matt. 13:39 the symbolic meaning of the harvest is presented: “… the harvest is the end of the age …” Other translations have it as “the close and consummation of the age” (AMP) or even “the end of the world” (ASV). But from the root word meaning, as 1833 Revised Webster Bible argues, I prefer “the entire completion of this epoch”. If Hos. 6:2-3 then specifically speaks of the beginning of symbolic third day after the return of Jesus (and this takes place with the pouring out of the Holy Spirit), that takes place, then it is absolutely clear; in the conclusion of the cumulative of the five worldly kingdoms the harvest will commence, and it is dependent on the late rains that water the earth – He will indeed “come to us like the rain, like the latter andformer rain to the earth”. The former rains point to the working of the Holy Spirit; the latter rains point to the encompassing working of the seven-fold Spirit, the spirit of Christ! The former rains and the latter rains ARE what teaches us this! In 1 John 2:27 this is spelled out for us: “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things … and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”
- In Prov. 16:15 (ACV) the latter rains are associated with kings and light: “the light of the king’s countenance is life”, or as the NRSV succinctly notes: “In the light of a king’s face there is life …” – the light in which is also life (John 1:4); “and his favor is as a cloud of the latter rain”. Rev. 14:5 also notes that Jesus comes on the cloud “in the hour” of the harvest. Like Zech. 10:1 we might thus also: “Ask the Lord for rain in the time of the latter rain. The Lord will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain …”
Earlier we quoted from Isa. 33:5, which suggests that He has fulfilled Zion with justice and righteousness. With what we have learnt here, it becomes clearer how this actually comes about. More on this next week.
- Selah: Explain to someone the difference between former and latter rain.
- Read: 1 John 4-5; 2 John; 3 John; Jude; Rev. 1-4
- Memorise: 1 John 5:6