By Bro Isaac Ezeh
THE PRIESTHOOD
The Bible shows clearly that as this age comes to an end, wickedness is going to increase on earth. (See 2 Timothy 3:1-5) This increase in wickedness will be the direct result of strange spirits and beings that will increase on earth and stretch evil and wickedness to the very limit. (See Revelation 9:1-6). Genesis chapter 6 gives us an insight into the root of the type of wickedness and evil that is multiplying on the earth today.
“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
“There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:1-5)
These giants also called Nephilims were the products of the abnormal union between angels and women and the offspring they produced were men who were born outside the natural order of God. As such they were not human beings in the proper definition of the word. One distinguishing mark of a human being is that he is the product of God’s in-breathed spirit which made him an image of God, and therefore sharing in His nature (See Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 2:4,7).
This class of beings born outside the order of God were a deliberate plan of Satan to pollute the human race and thereby subvert the plan of God for the earth. It was for this reason that God commanded Israel to destroy the Anakims and giants that populated the land of Canaan. They became an open door for Satan to corrupt mankind and multiply evil on the face of the earth. This prompted God to destroy people of that era, saving only Noah and his family of seven who had not been tainted by the corruption of that era.
The Bible tells us that the end of the age will have the same evil complexion as the days of Noah: “And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the son of man.” (Luke 17:26). The days of Noah were days when evil multiplied on earth as a result of the activity of the Nephilims.
The Nephilims were influential people in their time. They were described as men of renown. Do not be surprised that some influential people on the earth today including some heads of government and institutions are produce of this breed. They may not be physical giants but there are men of this breed in the public space today, writing a different rule for mankind to follow and opposing and working against everything that is godly. How do you explain the attempt to force mankind through economic pressure to accept the gay lifestyle and making it the basis to engage with other sovereign nations as America and Europe are doing today?
The point I am making is that today’s priests must be able to confront giants and gods. God never sent Moses to confront Pharaoh until he had raised Moses into the status of a god. In Exodus 7:1 it is written: “See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh and Aaron thy brother shall be thy Prophet.”
The bread and butter serving priests have little or no place in the ministry of today. We must pursue God through our separation and consecration to him so that He can make us into the type of priests who will be able to confront the gods that Satan is raising in every sphere of society through the working of the mystery of iniquity.
ALTARS
Altars are gates into the realm of the supernatural, the meeting points or intersections between spirit and man. Pharaoh was a man of altars. God always directed Moses to confront Pharaoh on his way to the waters, the place of his altar
“And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, lo he cometh forth to the water.” (Exodus 8:20).
Before Moses could deliver Israel from the hand of Pharaoh, he had to judge the gods of Egypt. The ten plaques were specific judgments against the ten gods of Egypt that controlled the social, political, spiritual and economic lives of Egypt. Moses had to overcome them by the hand of God upon him and by having a superior priesthood before he could bring deliverance to Israel.
We must follow the same pattern and come into a superior priesthood before we can have answers to the issues of today. In the battle of the earth, the man who has a higher altar and makes a superior sacrifice will win. (See 2 Kings 3:26-27).
All the men who had a significant and successful walk with God were men of altars; from Noah to Abraham and up to our Lord Jesus Christ who erected the highest altar on earth at Calvary and now serves at the altar in heaven. (See Genesis 8:20-22; Genesis 12:7; Genesis 28:18; Genesis 35:1; Exodus 17:15-16; Exodus 20:24; Revelation 8:3).
Our markets are full of altars. Our offices, institutions and other places of endeavour are full of satanic altars and sacrifices made to demons.
We must raise men who are altars themselves and understand the mystery of altars if we are to have any chance in raising Disciples of Christ to occupy the top echelon of the seven spheres of influence in society. Without Disciples of Christ occupying these spheres, it becomes a more difficult task to fulfill the mandate of the Lord given in Matthew 24:14 and Matthew 28:18-20.
To be useful in ministry today, we must be men who have a living altar. A living altar causes the glory of God to come down from heaven into the realm of the earth.
“And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house.” Ezekiel 9:2-3.
Note that in this scripture once those men stood beside their brazen altar, which was a living altar, the glory of God left heaven and came down to earth. That is what is needed today to confront the level of wickedness on the earth.
THE COVENANT
The only way God relates with man is on the basis of covenant. Abraham is cited in the scripture as a model and father of faith, but even Abraham’s heart was not settled on the promises of God to him until God entered into a covenant with him. We see this from Genesis 15, where Abraham’s response to a unique visitation of God was to complain about his childlessness and the hopelessness of his situation.
“And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.”Genesis 15:2-3
God’s response to Abraham was to enter into a covenant with him in the way men of that era entered into covenants by having sacrificial animals placed on two sides and having the parties entering into such covenant to pass in between the sacrifice. (See Gen.15:9-10)
The ultimate purpose of God for man is to enter a deep relationship with Him that corresponds to a marriage relationship. Through covenants man would walk with God and grow in relationship with Him that will culminate in a marriage relationship. That is the reason why Christ died, and that is what He hopes to get from the preaching of the gospel.
COVENANT RELATIONSHIP
There are four levels of covenant relationship. The Scripture outlines the four levels of covenant that grows in ascending order with one leading to the other.
Blood Covenant
This is the entry level into a covenant relationship with God. God initiates this covenant to show the permanency of the relationship He is entering into with us. A blood covenant involves a commitment to die to oneself and live for others.
When you are in blood covenant with someone you combine strength and the weaker party takes advantage of the strength and estate of the stronger party. After God entered into a blood covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15:5-21) He tested Abraham by demanding the sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22:1-19).
Abraham demonstrated he understood his commitment and did not withhold Isaac. Because Abraham did not withhold Isaac when it was time to sacrifice His own son to save the descendants of Abraham, God could not withhold His son. That is how blood covenant works. It speaks of commitment, death to self and living for the other person.
Blood covenant involves entering into a relationship of servant hood through the shedding of blood by sacrifice and must be renewed daily. This is what Paul meant when he wrote: “I affirm brethren by the boasting in which I have in Christ, I die daily,” 1 Corinthians 15:51. See also Luke 17:10.
Salt Covenant
Let me quote from a Book, Lost in Translation by John Klein and Adams Spears. “In contrast to the Blood Covenant (wherein Paul died daily), this is an eternal covenant.
Once you make it, it is made forever and doesn’t have to be renewed constantly.” Its name comes from an ancient practice. Each Hebrew person carried a small pouch of salt. When two or more men wanted to enter into this type of relationship with each other, the parties to the covenant would mix their salt and eat it.
When they finish doing this they would redistribute their salt into their pouches. At that point, the only way to break the covenant would be to separate each grain of salt from the others and return it to its original owner. Since this is impossible, the original bond has to remain forever.
When Abraham welcomed the Lord and broke bread with Him (Gen.18:1-15), he was modeling salt covenant. As with blood covenant, salt covenant begins at God’s initiation. God pursued Abraham and gave him a unilateral promise. But at the same time, God still required Abraham to do certain things. Abraham was still modeling the servant (i.e. blood) covenant when he raised the knife and almost sacrificed Isaac.” (See Lost in Translation Vol.1 Pg.42).
Sandal Covenant
Sandal covenant speaks of passing on an inheritance. When God told Moses to remove his sandals in the third chapter of Exodus, He was telling him to give up his temporal inheritance in Egypt, so He could clothe him with a better eternal inheritance. This practice followed an ancient Hebrew custom where men used worn out sandals to mark the boundaries of their property.
Over time sandals came to represent the inheritance concept. Along with the privilege of inheritance comes the responsibility to be a good steward of the inheritance. This was God’s original intent for Adam and Eve when they were given the responsibility to manage the Garden of Eden. Though they lost the privilege through disobedience God is walking to restore us to this type of relationship with him when His bride sits on the throne and rules and reigns with Him as in Revelation 20:4-6.
Marriage Covenant
The marriage or betrothal covenant is the culmination of all three previous types of covenant- servant hood, friendship and inheritance. This is the central theme that resonates through the Bible. God’s original call for Adam was to be His bride. Adam and Eve broke this bond, and through their disobedience handed God a writ of divorce. God’s purpose in sending Christ is to create the basis for a re-union to take place. The ultimate destination for those who follow through the previous three covenants in obedience is to end up in a grand wedding where they will be re-united with Christ. This subject reaches its peak in Revelation 19:6-9:
“And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, these are the true sayings of God.”
The Christian life is supposed to be journey into a greater level of intimacy with God. God’s intention is to take us from the outer court, through the middle court and into the holy of hollies. The means He has designed to take us through this process is by entering into different levels of covenant relationship with us in ascending order until we end up as His bride, where we become one with Him.
There are some things that have arisen on the earth today that the only people who can deal with them are men who know their covenant with God. There are some altars that need to be cast down, and the only people who can touch them are men who know their covenant with God.
There are some gods that Satan has raised, especially in the mountain of economy and governance that the only people who can confront them are men of higher altars who know their covenant with God. This is why it is written: “The secret of the Lord are with those who fear Him, and He will show them His Covenant.” Psalm 25:14. (Continues next publication)
Culled from The Gospel of the Kingdom by Bro. Isaac Ezeh