“With everlasting joy on their heads.”
(Isa. 35:10, NKJV)
In last week’s teaching we wandered off from our path for a while, which lead to wondrous revelations regarding the rhema-words of believers. Strictly speaking we didn’t really wandered off, as our overarching theme is still that of the sixth kingdom, namely the kingdom of Christ, and the rhema-word is one of the founding forces involved in this kingdom in the restoration of all things (Matt. 17:11).
We headed in this direction in that teaching because of Joel 2:23, which speaks of the former rain and latter rain which is poured down onto the seed of Christ, a process in which faith is central, and through which we learn righteousness.
The latter is actually our current focus, and the important Scripture of Rom. 14:17 is what we are pondering: “the kingdom of God is … righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”. These three foundation stones of the kingdom of God are WITHIN US (Luke 17:21).
In the teaching of Day 1615-1617 we pointed out the explicit link that exists between Zion and righteousness. To gain a better understand of the term righteousness, we need to understand what occurs in Zion. Remember – in typological terms we are already on Zion. In fact, we ARE Zion! If Heb. 11:22 then makes clear that “you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem”, we need to understand that the Bride have already moved through these “gates of righteousness” (Ps. 118:19). (We explore more of this aspect in the near future.)
There are a great number of Scriptures that explain that Zion is fulfilled in justice and righteousness (Isa. 33:5); without righteousness Zion cannot be the Bride. Selah.
This group, these oaks of righteousness that are found on Zion, “the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified” (Isa. 61:3), were already chosen before time, to this place in Christ. Ps. 74:2 frames it beautifully: “Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, the tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed— this Mount Zion where You have dwelt.” Later, in Ps. 132:13, the psalmist declares: “For the Lord has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His dwelling place …” Those that live in Zion are thus a remnant (= Bride) that move out of Jerusalem (= the organized religion), “who escape from Mount Zion” (2 Kings 19:31). The verse concludes with this glorious promise: “The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this.”
In one other instance the same expression is found, and it is in the important Isa. 9:7, which speaks of “the increase of His government” in the kingdom of Christ, and that of “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.” In these teachings we have often spoken of the immense truth that this reign of David takes place in and through the Bride of Christ, but also that it continually increases, even if it doesn’t seem so in the physical realm.
This “remnant,” those “who escape”, or as Isa. 35:10 refers to them, “the ransomed of the Lord”, will “come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” The third dimension is marked by this overwhelming “joy of the Holy Spirit (1 Thess. 1:6) both within and consistent flowing from those who have been chosen. The joy of which is spoken here is not a mere positive attitude; it is not the proverbial glass-half-full mentality; it is not the how to win friends and influence people-quasi-psychological way of thinking and social orientation; it is especially not the fake Charismatic smile.
A true establishing of this spiritual joy is never dependent on your circumstances (Matt. 6:25-32). It is often about joy despite your circumstances. 1 Thess. 5:16 makes it clear: “Rejoice always …” And it is not only joy that unexpectedly washes over you in the midst of difficult circumstances. There is a great undiscovered truth in Isa. 35:10, which we run the risk of not noticing unless we read the detail of the verse, especially interpreting the personification it contains.
Firstly – the remnant, or those “who escape” are also explicitly called “the ransomed” (a beautiful word that encapsulates our identity.). The word ransom has very specific associations in Scripture, that of the sacrifice Jesus had to make: “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree …)” (Gal. 3:13). [It is important that readers of these teachings realise that Scripture sometimes refers to Jesus as Christ (“Jesus who is called Christ” – Matt. 27:17) and it is used as one of His Names, and does not point to the extended concept of Christ as the Body. Other examples are, for instance, Matt. 11:2; Matt. 22:42; Mark 15:23; Luke 2:11; Acts 9:22; Rom. 5:8.]
The first instance that the word ransomed or redeemed is found in Scripture is within a very interesting context. In Ex. 13:13 it is presented as follows: “But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.” The lemma lamb has clear symbolic value in Biblical lexicography – it clearly points to Jesus:
- “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter …” (Isa. 53:7)
- “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29).
- “For indeed Christ [= Jesus], our Passover [Lamb], was sacrificed for us …” (1 Cor. 5:7)
- “… saying with a loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!’” (Rev. 5:12).
This is a very, very strange ordinance that God dictates in the Old Testament: Every firstborn of a donkey must be redeemed by a lamb. This is not the case for any other animal. What is so special about a donkey? There are many interesting things to be learnt about the donkey from Anthony Dent’s Donkey: The Story of the Ass from East to West, but this is not currently our focus.
To assist us in determining the mystery and symbolic value of the donkey, we can start with an obscure reference from Gen. 36:24: “These were the sons of Zibeon: both Ajah and Anah. This was the Anah who found the water in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon.” In his book Beasts of the Field: The Revealing Natural History of Animals in the Bible, Michael Bright writes the following about this history: “Anah’s name is an old Semitic word for ‘ass’ … Modern versions of the Bible suggest that Anah chanced upon ‘hot springs’, but no mules.” (p. 173). In more traditional translations, like the Israeli Authorised Version, this verse is presented as follows: “and Anah: this was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father”. The Hebrew word for hot springs can thus also, interestingly enough, be the word mules. A mule is the offspring of a horse and a donkey, and thus has the best qualities of both species, but is alas infertile. (According to the law this coupling was not allowed – Lev. 19:19, primarily about the implications of the mixing of seed – Gen. 3:15. More on this later.)
Typologically speaking the link between these two words, mule and fountain, brings us, ipso facto, to Song of Songs 4:12: “… my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed”. This points to an infertile purpose! This may seem tenuous, but actually sheds unforeseen light on why it is specifically the donkey that had to be redeemed by a lamb. The first part of Song of Songs 4:12 reads as follows: “A garden enclosed …,” and then the other similar phrases follow: “a spring shut up, a fountain sealed”. Thus – we can only move into this locked garden of Eden [= third dimension] when the infertile fountains of purpose are opened up! Then the infertile becomes the seed carrier: “Sing, O barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman, says the Lord.” (Isa. 54:1). Please take note: this is accompanied by cries of absolute joy: “The whole earth rests and is peaceful. It breaks out into shouts of joy.” (Isa. 14;7, GW). This is similar to the servant-eunuch of Acts 8, who became the first (non-Jewish) seed carrier of Abraham (Gal. 3:16) in the New Testament! Verse 39 makes it clear: “he went on his way rejoicing”!
Throughout Scripture the donkey is a symbol of service, a burden-bearer. Of the tribe of Issachar, of which the donkey is icon, is for instance said in Gen. 49:15: “He saw that rest was good, and that the land was pleasant; he bowed his shoulder to bear a burden, and became a band of slaves.” Jesus specifically requests a donkey to ride into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:1-7), not a horse. This was not because Jesus was trying to create a more humble impression by using a donkey; He was already humble (Matt. 11:29). A military victor would have arrived in the city on a horse, but important people came on donkeys: “Asses were respectable mounts for important people at the time … Jesus was coming as a man of peace, so he arrived on a donkey.” (Bright, p. 175).
Obviously the dramatic entry into Jerusalem as the Anointed King had already been hinted at in Zech. 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Jesus brought his sacrifice, Heb. 12:2 notes, “for the joy that was set before Him”, and Ps. 45:7 declares the secret that eventually allows him to do this: “Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” It is certainly true that Jesus, as the pioneer, is the Prototype of the Son that leads many sons into glory (Heb. 2:10), and thus offered Himself as the prototypical Lamb and Donkey, not just for the sake of salvation, but also as the one Who carries the burden, and thus, through His labour for the body of Christ (Eph. 4:12), carries believers in glory and joy into the (New) Jerusalem. Despite the heavy burden, the marker of the donkey prototype is the fact that his labour is always done joyfully – it is part of the anointing oil of Christ.
Before we were saved, we had the nature of the wild donkey, Ishmael (not just the meaning of his name, but also his character – Gen. 16:11-12; Hos. 8:9), absolutely obstinate. We place our heavy burden of sin upon Jesus, because we are redeemed by the Lamb (Ex. 34:20; Ps. 55:22; Gal. 3:13-14), then broken in by the Holy Spirit, and lead with a bridle (Prov. 26:3; Gal. 5:17-18). As the donkey foul [= son of the donkey] you are now linked by a covenant: “Binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes.” (Gen. 49:11; also see John 15:1-7). His yoke, however, is soft, and His burden is light (Matt. 11:30). If “the strength of the laborers is failing”, (Neh. 4:10) those in Christ who have been anointed by the oil of gladness, will be able to carry the burdens of others and in this way, fulfil the law of Christ (Rom. 15:1; Gal. 6:2).
- Selah: Do you truly experience the joy of the third dimension?
- Read: 14-22 (Since the teaching of Day 1 we have now read the entire Bible 10 times!)
- Memorise: 22:1-2
