TIME !!!

TIME !!!

Anything that goes on and on forever and ever is comprised of TIME !!!

ETERNITY is not endless time.

ETERNITY is that which exists without, or outside of TIME !!!

ETERNITY did not cease when TIME began; neither does ETERNITY start when TIME ends !!!

TIME is being governed by ETERNITY !!!

God is ETERNAL and has ETERNAL LIFE and is thus outside of TIME !!!

When Christ defeats the last enemy in the last of AGES; death; then He will hand up all of creation; all THINGS, which include TIME, to the Father, when TIME then will cease to be and God will be ALL in ALL !!!

TIME is only necessary until REDEMPTION has had its completed work: only until change is necessary to accomplish God's purposed end !!!

The Wrath of God is always revealed to us in the context of TIME !!!

ALL men must bow their knees to God; for the train of DEATH shall be defeated and TIME shall be ended and then that train should have reached its destination.

If any passengers remain on board, then they must choose, then !!!

The Revealing of the Sons of God !!!

The Revealing of the Sons of God !!!

These days, today, right now, are the days of the revealing of the sons of God !!!

“For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.”

Romans 8:19 KJV

These are the days: in fact, again; these days are already upon us now; that the sons of God are being called out of and from the body of Christ.

These are the many are called, but few are chosen ones; who have learnt to hear the voice of the Spirit of God and to obey His voice, in whatever capacity they can hear.

These are the ones who having heard, obey, NOT KNOWING what it is exactly that they hear, for what they are hearing is revelation of those things that have been hidden, the hidden wisdom of God, that He has chosen to reveal to us, by His grace, in these last days !!!

But these know of Whom it is that they hear these things and are thus filled with faith and the Holy Spirit able to speak into the lives of others those things that they hear in quiet.

Those who hear and have heard are in themselves no more worthy than any others; only that they are able, by His grace, to hear the call and participate in that calling !!!

Yet, there is a process and a submission, that comes from and with that hearing, that requires of us, who believe, certain things !!!

If we go back to Romans 8, we can see, (as well as in chapters 5,6 and 7,) some of those requirements outlined.

These do not make us better Christians, do not emanate from the flesh or carnal mind, but are initiated within our spirits and are a part of the new mind of Christ.

These are works of faith; works of the sons of God, being revealed, displayed to the world in these last days.

These also are the spiritual fruit of the word that has been planted in good ground and have been allowed to grow unhindered, nurtured, meditated upon, and allowed to increase with the increase that comes from God !!!

We have all been called as believers to these greater works, yet some will not heed the call.

“For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”

Hebrews 10:36-39 

So Romans 8-

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:1-39 KJV

These are they, who have looked into the mirror enough times and in continuing to look, know intimately what they look like.

They are changed into the image of God, from one degree of glory to another, or to that next degree of glory !!!

They have confessed and believed that they are strangers and pilgrims on this earth; yet also with this realisation, know also, that they were placed here on earth, for such a time as this; that their destiny involves so much more than a 9 to 5 existence;  or as pew warmers.

That they had been apprehended of God at such a time as this for a higher purpose; that through the knowledge of themselves in Christ:

and ultimately, as God takes our faces and turns them to look full into His wonderful face: the revelations of Him and His majesty, become clearer to our souls, as He reveals His grace and marvellous love for not only us as individuals, for His body; or for His beloved Israel; but for all of His creation; for ALL men and ALL things; in the face of Jesus Christ !!!

Jesus told us, that,"if you had seen Me, you have seen the Father:

And that, "I and the Father are One!"

I quote here from J. Preston Eby:

"GOD'S PURPOSE FOR THE CHURCH

There is no Scriptural truth stated in simpler or more convincing language than that God, omnipotent and omniscient, has, from the beginning, both formed and marked out the path of destiny for every nation of men upon the face of the whole earth. Unceasingly and untiringly God has been working out His purpose, shaping all things through successive generations and ages. In the age after the Flood, beginning with Abraham, men were divided into two special groups - men in general, plus a Chosen Family. Later we recognize these two groups as Israelites and Gentiles. the Chosen Family or Israelites were selected to bear witness to a wicked and idolatrous world of the truth of the One, True and Living God. They always remembered that they were chosen, but quickly forgot what they were chosen for. Instead of bearing witness to the heathen, they only hated them! And, worse yet, copied them and became corrupted by their wicked practices and idolatrous religions. 

Beginning with Pentecost another group has appeared, a group called the church (ecclesia), the body of the Christ. Its very name denotes that it is a "called out" group, composed of both Israelites and Gentiles, chosen especially to proclaim, not only the power and wisdom and righteousness of God, but particularly His GRACE. They are to proclaim to the world God's solution of the problems of sin, sorrow, and death, the solution God wrought out in Christ. 

The apostle James made a statement to the council at Jerusalem in which he clearly defines the outline of God's purpose for the Church in this present age, and in the age and the ages which are to follow. "Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, AFTER THIS I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down ... and I will set it up: that THE RESIDUE OF MEN might seek after the Lord, and ALL THE GENTILES (Gr: nations), upon whom My name is called, saith the Lord, Who doeth all these things" (Acts 15:14-18). Dispensationally, this is one of the most important passages in the Bible. It gives God's great purpose for this age and the next age. James says that God's purpose during this present age has been to visit the nations TO TAKE OUT OF THEM a people for His name. I cannot emphasize too strongly that it is to the selection and training of that chosen groupthat the activities of God in the world are now devoted. God is not dealing with nations at this time, rather, He is calling a people out of the nations and dealing with this called out company. It may come as a shock to some, but it is absolutely true that God's plan for this present age has never been the conversion of the world! It has never been to "sweep nations into the Kingdom of God" as some of the missionary enthusiasts love to say. World-wide salvation was never in God's mind or purpose for this dispensation, and God has not been "trying" to save the world, as some ignorant souls would have us believe. Wherever the Gospel has gone it has always saved some, but never all. God's purpose, then, during this church age, is to "call out" a people for His name. Out from among the billions of earth God is choosing an ELECT COMPANY to bear His name, to be formed into His nature, to reveal His glory. God has been forming His church, the body of Christ, the called out ones. Precisely this has been in progress since Pentecost. 

It is here, in the true church, that Jesus Christ first establishes His government to rule and reign on the throne of men's lives. God's purpose in His church is not merely to save men from sin and hell and carry them off to some far-away heaven somewhere. God's plan is to first establish His dominion in the hearts of His Elect, imbuing them with the glorious MIND OF CHRIST until they become His nature and will in the earth. Sadly, most Christians never come to this! They are too busy playing church, waiting for their mansion over the hilltop, or blundering around in the carnal programs, foolishness, and shame of a wretched, fleshly, Babylonian religious system. But even as the dispensation of the law, at its consummation, brought forth that which it typified and pointed to - Jesus Christ, the Son of God - so this present church age must, in the latter days, at its consummation, bring forth even that unto which it pointed - the many-membered BODY OF THE CHRIST, the CORPORATE SON, matured, overcoming, conformed unto the exact likeness of its glorious Head and so filled with the fullness of HIMSELF that it can be said in all truth, "As HE IS, so ARE WE in this present world" (Eph. 4:11-16). 

God never intended that either Christ or His body should rule over all nations during this present age. His reign is confined entirely to that little company of footstep followers who have heard His voice and who follow the lamb whithersoever he goeth. These are the blessed sons of God who become the very embodiment of His divine government. This may seem to be an extremely slow method and a very small and insignificant Kingdom for such a great and eternal King, but I cannot over-emphasize the importance of this lowly beginning for a government whose authority is destined to "subdue ALL THINGS." May God grant us vision to see that not only is He establishing His divine government in the hearts and lives of an Elect company of believers, but through His faithful dealings with them He is actually FORMING THEM INTO A GOVERNMENT - a ruling body of sons! 

God is calling out a people to bear his name. But WHY? WHEN? WHERE? To bear His name merely to a small handful of people through their short lifetime in the flesh during this age? NO WAY! James says, "AFTER THIS (after the Lord has completed His work of calling out and forming His special people) I will return and build again the tabernacle of David ... THAT THE RESIDUE OF MEN MIGHT SEEK AFTER THE LORD, AND ALL THE GENTILES (NATIONS) ... saith the Lord!" The "residue" of men denotes "all the rest" of men, all who were not included in the "called out" firstfruit company. Our wise and gracious heavenly Father is even now forming His government of faithful and obedient sons whom He shall raise up as Kings and Priests in due time to bring His Kingdom to pass in all realms. God, through 1900 long years, has slowly, surely, and wisely been choosing this company, preparing them through the fiery furnaces of trials and afflictions, purgings and processings, to reign with Him in righteousness and power. "If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him (II Tim. 2:12)....... Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: AND WE SHALL REIGN OVER THE EARTH" (Rev. 5:9-10). "To Him that overcometh ... to him I will give POWER OVER THE NATIONS: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of My Father" (Rev. 2:26-27). 

In this age salvation is unto "as many as are ordained unto eternal life" (Acts 13:48). But in the ages to come there shall be a displaying of God's matchless grace through His beloved sons that "the residue of men shall seek after the Lord, and all the nations over whom My name is called." If this is not true then "reigning with Christ" is absolutely ridiculous and purposeless. But, blessed be God! the word is sure: "...the God of heaven shall set up a Kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the Kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume (take into itself) ALL THESE KINGDOMS, and it shall stand for ever" (Dan. 2:44).

Savior of the World Series by J. Preston Eby 

http://www.tentmaker.org/articles/savior-of-the-world/

http://www.tentmaker.org/articles/savior-of-the-world/Judgment-Eby.html" end quote.

So we see that to be a part of those who heed the call and decide to say yes to God, we also need to be able to say no to the world !!!

I'm not talking about going to live in a cave, or to become so boring as to render your life equally disqualified before men and God !!!

This is that calling from God to rise up into the full potential that is ours in Christ for today.

This is the call of God to begin to step into His unique destiny that He that knows the end from the beginning, has ordained for you: specifically you and I !!!

There is no one else out there who can do what God has called us to do, nor who has the exact same calling as us; as me and you !!!

This is the life that we have always wanted; this is the opportunity of a lifetime; this is our time: 'for such a time as this', we each have been called.

Just look at the events taking place in our physical world right now; the words that have been declared to us by those called of God, operating in those gifts that God has blessed His body with !!!

Look how all of these things are lining up together, how the Spirit of God is speaking to our spirits to search all of these things out !!!

Great truths are lying just beneath the surface if we are willing to search for them; in His word, through the words of the prophets; in the Old Testament, as well as in the New Testament.

In our hearts, He confirms that, which is of His Spirit, to our spirits, as we learn to hear His voice and appropriate the mind of Christ.

It is then that we actually find all of our searching for the knowledge and wisdom of God is Him; it's all in Him; the Lord Jesus Christ !!!

“For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 1:21-31 KJV

This is so that we, who are the foolish, can, in Christ gainsay the wise and take their wisdom, ( as sons of God, in Him, Who is made unto us Wisdom; ), captive by the foolishness of God !!!

“Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.”

Luke 21:14-15 KJV

Now, is the beginning of the days of the sons of God, with many sons stepping up and into their callings.

For all of us who are becoming more sensitive and intuitive to the Spirit of God's voice; the time in faith, is always NOW !!!

For God Who created time, can cause that, which, in the natural realm takes a long time, to be established; to happen in a day !!!

“Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompence to his enemies. Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.”

Isaiah 66:5-9 KJV

“This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”

2 Peter 3:1-18 KJV

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

Romans 8:18 KJV

“For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.”

Romans 8:19 KJV

Greek : Apokalupsis - An uncovering, laying bare, revealing, revelation.

“And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

2 Corinthians 3:13-18 KJV

That veil in Christ being removed also now in the reading of the Old Testament.

I now leave you with another wonder passage from J.Preston Eby's 'Saviour of the World' series:

Start quote -

"THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE

In the increasing light with which God is filling the hearts of the elect, this scripture, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is ONE Lord, bears a depth of meaning greater far and deeper than the surface truth we have presented thus far. That this passage may become clearer to our minds, scintillating in heaven's light like the ray which is broken into many prismatic hues, consider now the glorious things concealed in this mighty word of the Lord. The Lord our God is ONE. One, in the numerology of the scripture, means unity, united, undivided, unfragmented. One is the primary number, denoting beginning or source. Unity being indivisible, and not made up of other members, is therefore independent of all others, and is the source of all others. "One," excludes all difference, for there is no second with which it can either harmonize or conflict. One means unity and unity comes from the word "unit."

In reference to His substance, God is SPIRIT. In reference to His state of being, God is ONE. That which is ONE is that which is united, undivided, unfragmented. Oneness speaks of unity, harmony, singleness, concord, solidarity. God is ONE! The fact that there is ONE GOD must not be confused with the truth that GOD IS ONE. Perhaps, as someone has said, this is only another aspect of viewing the same truth, for God is truly one, undivided in Himself, or in His will and purpose. And surely HE alone is God! But this One God IS ONE. It is a great and blessed fact that God is ONE. He who is united, undivided and unfragmented in every aspect of His nature and state of being cannot be influenced, affected, moved, upset, frustrated, changed, altered, damaged, destroyed, made discordant or set at variance in any way. The character of God is eternal, changeless, unaffected. The love, joy, peace, righteousness, wisdom, justice, power and will of God do not rise and fall, rise and fall, rise and fall. Matters not what happens nor what men or devils say or do, the love of God, the purpose of God, the power of God are steadfast, unmoved, unquenched, unaffected, without fluctuation. He is Jehovah, the self-existent one. He is ONE. No power in the universe can cause any deviation whatsoever in God's nature, will or action.

There can be no doubt that each aspect of God's being moves in perfect harmony and accord with every other part of His being. Here in the physical world there are contradictions in our value system because there are contradictions in moral philosophy, limited by finite and faltering human nature and reason. What is the ultimate contradiction in moral philosophy? In moral philosophy, the ultimate contradiction is between justice and mercy. The judge, if he is a good judge, will be just. He will not let somebody get off, without paying their dues. Moral justice demands that evil be punished. Because if evil goes unpunished, then the judge is a participant in the crime, by letting it go unchecked. Justice is one side of the coin. The other side, the other value is mercy. Mercy says, "I want to forgive you, when you don't deserve it. And the more undeserving you are, the deeper my mercy runs." This is a contradiction. How can you possibly combine these two creatively?

We speak of law and love, of truth and grace, of justice and mercy, and so long as sin does not exist there is no controversy between any of these. If there be no sin, law and love are never out of harmony with grace or each other; truth and grace go ever hand in hand; justice and mercy sing a common anthem. If the law be broken, what is love to do? If truth be violated, how can grace operate? In the presence of crime, how can justice and mercy meet? This is the problem of problems. It is not a problem as between God and man. It is not a problem as between God and the angels. It is a problem between GOD AND HIMSELF.

Justice and mercy can only be harmonized by making them ONE. And this can be done only in the realm of the God who IS ONE. Every facet of God's nature is unified, so that His justice is not warring against His mercy, neither is His judgment set against His grace. Herein lies the mystery and the wonder of it all - there is no conflict in God, no contradiction! In God, and in God alone, we see the contradictions combined, and justice and mercy kiss each other. Christendom has spoken of God's justice being satisfied, as if He were an incorrigible tyrant that must somehow be appeased. They speak of eternal punishment as a self-evident result of God's eternal, unchanging nature of infinite justice. Apparently, according to this crude theory, one is to think of two parallel lines, divine mercy and divine justice, two divine properties, running close beside each other but diametrically opposed to one another, each in its own right, continuing on into infinity. Not only love, but also justice must run its full course, and thus justice and mercy are isolated from each other endlessly. In this view God is both infinitely just and infinitely merciful at the same time but never the twain shall meet! This crude theory is responsible for the ridiculous doctrine of eternal life for some and eternal torture for others.

I am constrained by the Holy Spirit of God to cry out against such a blasphemous absurdity! Our God is not schizophrenic, He does not have a split personality. He is not both infinitely merciful and infinitely vindictive! The Lord our God is one, all the attributes and powers of His Being are working together in perfect accord, each harmoniously synchronized in the same purpose and toward the same end, without any contradiction. In the scriptural view, His justice is linked inherently to His salvation. "There is no God else beside Me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside Me (Isa 45:21). He is a Saviorbecause He is also just! His righteous nature requires that He be our Saviour. He "knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust," and He knows right well that "the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who has subjected the same in hope" (Rom. 8:20).

Yes, He will correct us, and by this very correction make the necessary changes in us, and then He will bring us into the fullness of salvation. IN HIM "mercy and truth are met together; righteousness (justice) and peace have kissed each other" (Ps. 85: 10). These are never to be viewed as opponents to each other, they are gloriously working together to fulfill God's redemption in us. Where mercy alone cannot produce the needed change, God applies His judgment. And when judgment has accomplished its full work, "in wrath He remembers mercy" (Hab. 3:2). His wrath and His mercy COOPERATE one with the other, both designed to play their role in bringing man to the one expected end: reconciliation to God and deliverance from sin and death. There is no conflict between the two - the objective of each is redemptive, not vindictive. If we have a concept where the judgment of God is pitted against His mercy, or where the justice of God becomes greater than His love, or where wrath triumphs over grace, then we have a distorted concept of God. We have not yet learned this one simple but sublime truth: The Lord our God is One!

I have never believed that by teaching the ultimate salvation of all men we were pitting one group of scriptures against another, or one aspect of God's nature against another, for it is my conviction that the solution can only be found in the correct harmonization of all the scriptures and all the characteristics within God Himself, not ignoring one while advancing the other. God's justice and His mercy, God's judgment and His salvation must meet together as co-agents in God's redemptive purposes, else there is eternal warfare and irreconcilable conflict between the two. I find all the judgments of God to be disciplinary and correctional rather than vindictive and final. Therein lies the harmonization of which I speak. According to the Word of God, God is at the same time the judge of all and the Savior of all. He is not the Judge of some and the Saviour of some, but both Judge and Saviour of ALL! "Judge of all" must mean that He judges all; none escape. "Saviour of all" must mean that He saves all; none are left out. Within that one wonderful fact can be seen the beautiful HARMONIZATION of the justice and the love of God - His judgment leading to repentance and a knowledge of His mercy. Praise His wonderful name!

The judgments of God can never be rightly understood apart from His nature of love. If God's judgments spring not from His love then they come not from God at all, for He IS LOVE. What ought this to teach us about His judgments! The pen of inspiration wrote, "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you art rebuked of Him: for whom the Lord LOVES He chastens. and scourges every son whom He receives...for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness" (Heb. 12:5-10). God doesn't go around purposelessly punishing or vindictively torturing any of His creatures. But He does go about precise paths of bringing forth correction UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS, as the prophet says, "When Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness" (Isa. 26:9). God's judgments, whether upon saints, nations, or the wicked in general are all corrective in nature, accomplished by the motivation of His nature which is LOVE. Truly, the Lord our God is ONE!

Do you recall the story about the wind and the sun arguing over who was the stronger? They decided that whoever could take the coat off a man walking down the street was stronger. The wind tried first. It blew and howled furiously. Twice it knocked the man off his feet, but the coat did not come off. In fact, the harder the wind blew, the more the man buttoned up. Finally the wind gave up. Next was the sun's turn. It started to shine, and the man, glad with the change in weather, unbuttoned his coat. But the sun grew warmer still till finally the man took off his coat. The sun won. One of the hidden morals of this story is that both the wind and the sun had the same objective - to take the coat off the man! While, in this case, warmth won out over violence, there was no conflict between the two. And so it is with God's judgments and His mercy. He will send what is needful to work the necessary changes in our lives - but ALL THINGS are of God, and all things WORK TOGETHER for our good. The Lord our God is ONE!

From -

Savior of the World Series

The Restitution of All Things 

by J. Preston Eby

THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE

http://www.tentmaker.org/articles/savior-of-the-world/restitution.htm

" end quote 

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www.righteousness777.blogspot.com

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God's Grace !!!

God's grace is over and above all that we can think, believe or imagine: 

And it is over abounding over the sin of Adam, as the oceans are to a drop of water: in Christ !!!

Jesus Our Jubilee !!!

Our Jubilee, whether now received by faith or later by the price paid by our Redeemer, is complete possession of God Himself, as in Ruth and Boaz !!!

Continue to glean on the edges as a slave, or enter into the marriage supper of the lamb of God !!!

The Jubilee !!!

The Jubilee !!!

Jesus came as our kinsman redeemer to redeem on our behalf, our inheritance lost !!!

Jubilee! by J. Preston Eby INHERITANCE LOST (4)

Jubilee!         

by J. Preston Eby

INHERITANCE LOST   (4)

Nothing in the whole world is more obvious than the fact that the inheritance man once knew in God has been lost. In that dim and distant long ago God set man over all the works of His hands. He appointed man the supreme ruler of the infinite vastness of infinity and the heir of all realms and realities. When sin came, all that changed and man instead of a ruler became a slave, eking out his subsistence by the sweat of his face. He came into bondage to sin, sorrow, satan and death, and, believe me, satan is a hard taskmaster. Man lost his relationship with God, and life became at times unbearable. The mystery that the natural mind can never fathom is the fact that it was by divine planning that circumstances were so arranged that man forfeited and relinquished his title deed to the inheritance given him, and he became a servant of sin, to obey the lusts thereof. "Know not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (Rom. 6:16).

How pitiful that the myriads of things which appeal to the flesh can become so important that men will serve them to the satisfaction of the flesh, and immediately place themselves in the servant position, while that thing becomes their master. To whomever, or whatever we yield ourselves as servants to obey, his servants we are. The application of this can take many forms and cover many items, but the principle of it is constant. "In time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2). Servants of corruption, servants of the negative realm, having lost the inheritance given to man, and rather than being "lord" over the creation, man became the slave of it. Man has throughout these ages of travail borne but a faint semblance of the glory that once was his. Think of a rancher who owns a large ranch and then becomes disabled so that though he still owns the ranch he is unable in and of himself to manage it or to evict squatters or kill rattlesnakes. The rancher didn't lose ownership, but did lose his ability to manage his ranch. The enemies came in and overpowered him until he became a helpless prisoner in his own domain. Such is the pitiable state of man in relation to his magnificent inheritance!

When the blessed Son of God hung upon the cross God in infinite tenderness wrapped the land in darkness in the hour of His supreme suffering. About those three hours we know little, save the words that escaped the lips of the Sufferer Himself. There came a moment when the voice was heard amid the darkness, and it said, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" The men about the cross were quite familiar with the words. They were not strange words. They were quoted from the Psalter, from the Worship-book of the Hebrew people. They had often chanted the Psalm in solemn monotone and recited it in many an hour of heart anguish. But there are values in it far deeper and more profound than the Psalmist knew when he wrote the song. When he wrote it, it was the expression of sorrow such as he was then passing through. But it has become for evermore full of meaning to us, because Christ uttered these words upon the cross. There is great value in recognizing the fact that it was a human cry, and that Jesus quoted it. And the value is all the greater if we remember that all that follows in that twenty-second Psalm is an exposition of what it is to be God-forsaken. The Psalmist was not looking at the old rugged cross on the craggy crest, he had no vision of it; he was, I am deeply persuaded, writing of his own heart's agony; and here this One, this King upon the cross, stretched back through the centuries and took hold of the most awful wail of agony that ever escaped the human heart, and quoted it as His own experience. He was our humanity, born of a virgin; throughout the whole of His public ministry He had spoken in human terms, and yet with unequivocal divine authority.

"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me!" It was first of all the cry of a soul at the uttermost of sin, having lost the vision of God. It was the cry of a soul at the uttermost of sorrow, conscious of its lack of God. All sorrow is lack. All grief is the consciousness of lack. When the soul becomes conscious of the lack of God, that is the uttermost sorrow. Moreover, it was the soul in the presence of mystery, in the presence of silence, with no voice, with no answer. In that moment Jesus expressed in human speech the fact that the pains and the penalties of the human sin were His. That is the heart of it, and the center of it, and the soul of it, and the mystery of it!

I must assure you, beloved friend, that the anguish endured by Jesus on the cross has been experienced by every son and daughter of Adam's race. We have already suffered it. We have known the terror of being away from the Father's presence. Jesus was only then, in His identification with man's plight, beginning to experience what mankind has experienced for six long milleniums! An absolute forsaking of the Father! And loss, total and unspeakable loss. It was God that lowered man, making him a little lower than the angels, or lacking from Elohim , as the Hebrew expresses it. Most Christians say that Jesus suffered so we wouldn't have to - but the doleful truth is that we've already been partakers of His suffering , for His suffering was naught but our suffering which He took upon Him. There was one difference - we did not have the ability to return! But God so loved us that He gave His beloved Son into the same death so that He could bring us into glory. Since the day I came into this world I have had to suffer the death of a carnal realm of thinking, live in a world that I knew nothing about, with no understanding of spiritual things, no knowledge of from whence I came, no comprehension of where I was going, shapened in iniquity, enslaved to the passions of the flesh, owned and controlled by the law of sin and death, until Jesus came and awakened me and whispered into my quickened spirit that I am on my way back home! Away back at the beginning God gave a promise of restoration, of victory over sin and death. "Her seed shall bruise your head," God told the serpent. And in Romans 16:20 Paul reiterates the promise: "And the God of peace shall bruise satan under your feet shortly." Man shall surely return to his possession. All that was lost shall be restored.

Let me give you now a scripture that shows the hand of God in this and the extensive scope of both the departure from, and the returning unto, God. I quote from Psalm 90:1-3. "Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth or the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You art God. You turn man to destruction; and then say, return, you children of men." You could never read this word "return" here if you had not first read that man had been "turned" away to destruction. In this passage the word "destruction" has this meaning in the original: a complete collapse, crumbling man to a contrite condition.

After turning men to destruction God then says, "Return to me, You children of men." Oh, yes, He turned us to destruction, but planted deep within the subconsciousness of every son of Adam is the secret command to return, which is revealed in that inner desire, yearning, craving, seeking, feeling, compulsion which is never satisfied until man does find himself home in God once more. All the religiousness of men, from the witch doctor in the jungle to the modernist in the pulpit in America, is the manifestation of this feeling after God, if haply they might find Him (Acts 17:26-27). While mankind in general is still lost in the hellish darkness of sin and death, yet there is a firstfruit company whose hearts have been charged by the inward call to return, and with the Shulamite maiden in the Song of Solomon share this blessed experience:"By night on my bed I sought Him whom my soul loves; I sought Him, but I found Him not. I will arise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broadways I will seek Him whom my soul loves: I sought Him but I found Him not. The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw you Him whom my soul loves. It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my sould loved: I held Him and I would not let Him go" (S. of S. 3:1-4).

Mankind is yet groping about in the dense darkness of the carnal mind, knowing not that He is standing right there in the shadows, were their eyes opened to see. Yet He has appointed a day - Oh glorious day! - when His light shall shine forth and the plan shall be completed as the apostle said, "For God has allowed us to know the secret of His plan, and it is this: He purposed long ago in His sovereign will that all human history should be consummated in Christ, that everything that exists in Heaven or earth should find its perfection and fulfillment in Him. In Christ we have been given an inheritance, since we were destined for this, by the one who works out all His purposes according to the design of His own will" (Eph. 1:9-11, Phillips).

Praise God, by redemption, we already have something of our inheritance, but at best it is only the earnest - what a day's pay of the laborer is to the year's wage, or the foyer of a mansion to its vast and magnificent rooms. "Now He which established us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, is God; who has also sealed us, and given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts" (II Cor. 1:21-23). The word "earnest" is from a Greek word meaning simply a "down payment" or a "pledge" or "token payment" which is paid to guarentee that the balance will be paid. The Amplified Bible renders this verse thus, "He has appropriated and acknowledged us as His, putting His seal upon us and giving us the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the security deposit and guarentee of the fulfillment of His promise." Wuest's translation says that the Holy Spirit is "the token payment guarenteeing the payment in full of our salvation!" Then in Eph. 1:14 we read, "That Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance, the firstfruit, the pledge and foretaste, the down payment of our heritage - in anticipation of its full redemption and our acquiring complete posession of it, to the praise of His glory"(Amplified Bible). We know not how soon the fullness shall break upon us, but it will come, and not tarry, as our hearts are prepared to receive it, praise His name!

Misunderstanding the nature of our inheritance and the plan by which God shall bring us fully into it has, in the past, led to many ignorant and unscriptural assertions. For instance, speaking of a deceased saint we have said, "He has gone to his reward." Nothing could be farther from the truth! It is not death that qualifies one to receive his inheritance, but the raising of ones whole being up into the sphere of His life. "God ... has begotten us again unto a lively (living) hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible ... reserved in heaven for you." Heaven is not the inheritance. The inheritance is merely "reserved" in heaven (the celestial sphere) for you. And it is not revealed when you go by way of the grave, for it is "ready to be revealed in the last time" (I Pet. 1:5), here and now, praise God! And truly, not only we, but in the beautiful words of J.B. Phillips's translation, "The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own"(Rom. 8:19). "Their own" is their lot of inheritance, and this will mean the fullness of our salvation - spirit, soul and body - a company of immortal and incorruptible sons filled with the fullness of His mind, nature, glory and power to bless and restore all creation. Towards this blessed consummation, as yet "reserved," our hope stretches out both hands; meanwhile, it is an inspiration and stimulus for every moment of our life!

Suppose you are sitting in your home some night and the door bell rings. A man is there, and he says, "I'm an attorney with such and such a firm, and we're trying to find a relative of a missing person. Your name is so and so. Did your mother come to this country from Scotland fifty years ago, and did she have a brother who went to Australia?" You say, 'We have a family Bible here. It's all written down. There's my mother. She was born in Edinburgh on such a date. She had a brother and he went to Australia, and we never heard from him since." "Well," says the lawyer, "this is wonderful for this is the last link in the evidence. He went to Australia and had a son there to whom he left his fortune; that son died and left no heir. The lawyers in Australia have traced it back to Scotland; the Scottish people traced it over here, and we have come to you for we believe that you are next of kin." You say, "Yes, undoubtedly." "Well, says the lawyer, "I'm very happy to inform you that you have a very large inheritance." You say, "I can get that new Lincoln I've been dreaming about." He says, "It's a very large inheritance." You say, "Mercedes." "In fact, your uncle had coal mines." You say, "Rolls Royce." The lawyer says, "Now, of course, its in the courts and you can't get anything very soon except the down payment. Your uncle also owned hundreds of thousands of acres of sheep ranches; oil and gold have been discovered there. It's going to be three or four years before you can get it all, but they have a little advance payment that's ready for you now." "Well, what is this little down payment?" "This little down payment is only twenty-eight million dollars." "If that's the down payment, what's the whole thing going to be?"

Not all the certified public accountants in the world could ever add up the glories of the inheritance reserved for us. And none of the religionists can even begin to comprehend what the inheritance really is. It would be impossible for a team of bankers, lawyers, preachers, teachers, evangelists and scholars to get together and tell us what the magnitude of the inheritance is. All any of them can do is tell us a little bit about the interest on the interest. That is about as close as anyone can get to understanding our inheritance, because the down payment is the Holy Spirit of God! This inheritance is nothing short of the fact that we inherit God Himself!

http://www.tentmaker.org/articles/savior-of-the-world/

Jubilee! by J. Preston Eby THE INHERITANCE (2)

Jubilee!         

by J. Preston Eby

THE INHERITANCE    (2)

"Verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled"(Mat. 5:18).

It is only when we recognize the typical character of God's dealings with Israel that we can rightly appreciate the wonderful history of that people, or understand why their history, in preference to that of all other nations, is so particularly recorded by the prophets and the New Testament writers. In them, as the New Testament writers show, God has given striking illustrations of His plans, both for the Church and the world. Their Tabernacle service, so minutely prescribed in the divinely given law, with its bleeding beasts and all its peculiar appointments, their festivals and holy days, their sabbaths and all their ceremonies, as types pointed forward to antitypes, larger, higher, and grander far than those shadows. And the apostle Paul assures us that those antitypes will be laden with blessings for mankind, when he says that the law foreshadowed "good things to come " (Heb. 10:1; 8:5; Col. 2:17); while our Lord, in the above expression, assures us that all good things thus foreshadowed are sure of fulfillment. 

When our Lord said that not one jot or tittle of the law should pass away until fulfilled, He referred not only to the fulfilling of its covenant obligations for all under that Law Covenant, finishing its hold upon them, by meeting its demands against them in full with His own life, but He meant more than this: He meant further, that all the blessings expressed in it typically would also be sure of fulfillment upon an antitypical scale - the plane of reality. In all the Israelitish ceremonies, God caused no type to be made which will prove meaningless, or pass unfulfilled; for the keeping of a type is not the fulfilling of it. The fulfilling is reached where the type ceases, being displaced by the reality, the antitype.

Thus, for instance, the slaying of the pascal lamb was fulfilled in the death of Christ, the "Lamb of God," and there began the special blessing upon the antitypical firstborn, the elect believers of the Church age. The blessing, foreshadowed in that type, is not yet completely fulfilled, though the fulfillment began with the death of Christ, our Passover Lamb. In like manner, every ceremony prescribed in the law of Moses proves to be of typical significance. And the particularity with which the observance of every detail of the types was enforced throughout the age of Law gives emphasis to our Lord's words quoted above - that every minute particular, every jot and tittle, every dotted "i" and crossed "t", must be as meticulously fulfilled spiritually as it was carefully enforced naturally in the ceremonies of the law.

Because of the tremendous importance of the time that you and I are living in, at the close of the age, it is my deep conviction that it is infinitely important for us to gain understanding concerning some of the patterns, symbols, types and shadows given to us in scripture. Whenever one receives a true revelation from God, he will find somewhere in the Word that which points to it, that which is a symbol of it, that which is a pattern to it. We are admonished by the apostle Paul that everything that was written aforetime was written for our learning, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. So I believe that as God's unfolding to us continues to bring us more and more into Himself, there are patterns that we can find which will help us to understand the wonderful purposes of God in His people.

What appears in the scripture on the surface, the letter of the Word, suddenly illumined by the Spirit of Truth, brings tremendous discovery. It has been said, and I believe it is true, that the letter of the Word or the letter of the law, could never be explained apart from the gospel of grace. But, on the other hand, the gospel of grace in its fullest measure, in its depth and width and height and breadth, could never be understood without comprehending the figures of the law.

There is an interesting passage in Matthew 5:17. "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Many folk would like to do away with the law. Contrary to things He came to destroy - He came to destroy the works of the devil, He came to destroy death, He came to destroy the carnal mind - but contrary to the things He came to destroy, the Christ did not come to destroy the law, rather He came to bring the law to its highest fulfillment .

In this writing we propose to examine that typical feature of the Mosaic Law known as Jubilee, and to show that it was intended to foreshadow the great Restitution, the recovery of mankind from the fall, to be accomplished by the redemptive and reconstructive and restorative activities of God outlined in Acts 3:19-21: "Repent   therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." Jubilee, in its very character, was a clear and unmistakable illustration of that glorious time of the restitution of all things. Since the Jubilee was a part of the law, and since repeating it naturally does not fulfill it, and since our Lord declared that the type could not pass away without fulfillment; and moreover, since we know that no such restitution of all things as that foretold "by all the holy prophets since the world began," and prefigured in this type, has ever yet occurred, we know that it must be fulfilled in the future. True, there is a present partial fulfillment in a firstfruits company, as we shall consider in detail later, but the broadest and fullest measure of fulfillment awaits the total triumph of the Kingdom of God in all realms forevermore.

Under the law of inheritance in Israel every family received a tract of land as a perpetual inheritance. This land was a trust from the Lord. The land remained the Lord's, although He gave each family the right to produce food and clothing from it. The Israelites were to exercise stewardship of the land. The ancient landmarks showed the boundaries of each family's portion. If they rented or sold or lost the land to someone else, the property came back to the family in the Jubilee at the end of the fifty years. Thus, even if the inheritance were lost, it remained still, typically, an eternal inheritance.

On the spiritual plane the very thought of our "inheritance" immediately brings to mind so many things recorded in the scriptures. How that the "meek shall inherit the earth," how that we are to "inherit the kingdom," and to "inherit the life age-abiding," to "inherit the promises," "inherit the blessings," etc. and all of this thrills the heart with the gracious outflow of the Father's love to us. In Ephesians 1:5 & 11 the apostle wrote, "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will ... in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will."

An inheritance is the result of another's gain, which is passed on to you. It comes to you for another's sake, it is not the result of personal accomplishment. We are learning what it means to be a son of God, realizing God's great plan and purposes involved. One of the important rights of sonship is that of inheritance. Heirship depends upon our relationship to God - our Father. If we have been born of God, if we have been born from above, we are children of God and consequently heirs of the Almighty. This is what the apostle speaks of in Hebrews when he teaches about the discipline that God applies to His sons, and he says, "Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection to the father of spirits, and live?" God is the Father of spirits. God is the Father of our spirits. Furthermore, God is the God of the spirits of all flesh (mankind; Num. 16:22; 27:16). 

When we were born of the flesh we became heirs of our fleshly parents; but when we were born of the Spirit of God we became heirs of our heavenly Father - God! He purposed to make the inheritance ours by way of relationship, having "begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away" (1 Pet. 1:3-4). Begotten - to an inheritance! To be "heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ" (Rom. 8:17). It is through Him, through Jesus Christ, that we have obtained and been made heirs of this wonderful inheritance. What we receive we share in him, in union with Him, for He is the "heir of all things" (Heb. 1:2). All that we have is through our Lord Jesus Christ, and by grace. "Giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light" (Col.1:12).

Inheritance is also concerned with nationality and law one inherits in the country of his parentage and according to the laws of that land. Jesus explained to Nicodemus in Jn. 3:5, that in order to enter the Kingdom of God human beings have to be born-again - of the SPIRIT. The Kingdom of God is the land or realm of our inheritance, and that great land is entered into by birth!

"Blessed be God the Father...who has begotten us again ... to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Pet. 1:3-4). This inheritance is "reserved in heaven for you," in the spiritual realm. Most saints subscribe to the crude notion that our inheritance is heaven - a mansion over the hill-top in some far away celestial Disney World. Not so! The apostle says that our inheritance is "reserved in the heavens." And from this spiritual realm of unlimitations we "draw down" our source of life and blessing and glory and when we are full it overflows to all about us. From the very first moment of our begettal unto this living hope, we begin to lay hold upon our inheritance. We begin by learning through the revelation of the Word and the dealings of the Spirit, which map out that inheritance, what God is like, and what He is prepared to be to us. Next we proceed to appropriate and make use of His attributes and properties in the crucible of daily experience and need. Then we become possessed of the indwelling life of God, who works His very nature into ours. And so we come to possess God just in proportion as He possesses us. We inherit Him as our portion up to the measure in which He possesses us. 

Arise! Oh sons of God, you are living on a vast estate! Around you on all hands are God's life and love and grace and wisdom and power and glory awaiting your appropriation. Do not be content to be circumscribed and limited, as was Israel in the wilderness. Be rather like Joshua and Caleb who march boldly into the land crying, "Give me this mountain!" taking in evermore of the rich territory allotted by God.

http://www.tentmaker.org/articles/savior-of-the-world/

Jubilee! by J. Preston Eby TRACING OUR INHERITANCE (3)

Jubilee!         

by J. Preston Eby

TRACING OUR INHERITANCE  (3)

I am deeply impressed with the words of Jesus Christ as found in Jn. 8:32. The Master was giving a discourse, explaining that He had come from God, sent from the bosom of the Father He had come from above, and they did not know Him because they did not know His Father. Then to those Jews present who believed on Him He declared, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." The word "truth" there means a revealing of what was covered. You will know that which is hidden. You will understand that which has been concealed in the patterns, the types, the shadows. You will perceive that which has been obscured by the veil of the fleshly mind and hidden in God from before the dawn of the ages.

The word "know" is from the Greek GINOSKO meaning to experience or become aware of. Jesus said you would experience, you would become experiencially aware of that which was formerly concealed and hidden, and that truth would make you FREE. In II Pet. 1:3-4 the apostle wrote, "According as His divine power bath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that bath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

The word "knowledge" is in the Greek epignosis meaning to recognize, recognition, full discernment and acknowledgement. This is most interesting! Cognition means, according to Webster, "the process of knowing or perceiving." In re-cognition we have the prefix "re" which means "again." Re-cognition, therefore, means to know again, to percieve a second time. What did Peter mean, then, when he said that exceeding great and precious promises are given to us, and all things that pertain to life and God-likeness "through the knowledge (epigno- sis: re-cognition, knowing again) of Him who has called us unto glory and virtue." 

Recognition is to become fully aware of and fully acquainted with what we already knew before! It means to identify what was known before. If I met you on a street corner one day and then didn't see you for a couple of weeks, when I saw you again I would recognize you because I met you once before. I would remember you, bringing you back again into mind. And that, precious friend of mine, is what truth is, that is what salvation is, that is what redemption is, that is what re-conciliation is, that is what re-birth is, that is what Jubilee is - it's recognizing what we already know, it's identifying and possessing again experiencially what is already ours! It's being awakened. It's a return. Hallelujah!

This beautiful truth cannot be more graphically articulated than in the following words by George Hawtin.

"With these lofty thoughts of God in our minds, knowing that His ways and methods are higher and better than our own, our hearts respond with joyful accord when Paul in wisdom shows that it was God's intention that all mankind should come to know Him through faith in God's Christ and not through their own works of righteousness. Therefore, exalting mightily the grace of God rather than the works of man, he wrote to the Gentiles these almost incredible words of faith: 'For God has concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all. O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? or who has been His counselor? Or who has first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed to him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him , are all things: to whom he glory for ever. Amen' (Rom. 11:32-36). The clearest possible rendering of the final verses of Romans eleven is found in the translation by Goodspeed, which in verses 34-36 gives this clear wording: 'Who has ever known the Lord's thoughts or advised Him? Or who has advanced anything to Him for which he will have to be repaid? For from Him everything comes, through Him everything exists, and in Him everything ends.' 

Somewhere hidden in the spirit of every man there abides the secret knowledge that we came forth from God, even as this text forcefully declares. This, too, is the thought so beautifully expressed by the poet in the idyll: 

Oh my Father, that dwells 
In a high and glorious place, 
When shall I regain Your presence 
And again behold Your face? 
In Your holy habitation 
Did my spirit once reside? 
In my first primeval childhood 
Was I nurtured by Your side? 

For a wise and glorious purpose 
You have made me here on earth 
And withheld the recollection 
Of my former friends and birth. 
But at times the secret something 
Whispers, You're a stranger here; 
And I feel that I have wandered 
From a more exalted sphere.

Oh, my Father, that dwells 
In a high and glorious place, 
Yet shall I appear before 
You And again behold Your face. 
Day by day Your Spirit leads 
Ever onward unto Yourself, 
Till at last I'll find contentment 
In Your pure reality. 

I shall be surprised indeed in that glory world above should we find that these blessed words of Christ, spoken of Himself, do not in truth apply to us all: 'I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world and go to the Father' (Jn. 16:28). Far away in the depths of my ransomed being there is a chord that vibrates in response to the words, 'I came forth from the Father and am come into the world,' and that same chord responds again to the words, 'Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.' We came forth from God, our orbit leading us from the celestial to the terrestrial. There can be no doubt of that; and by faith we know that this same orbit will guide us again from the realm of the terrestrial back to the bosom of the Father, for from Him everything originally comes, through Him everything now exists, and in Him everything will ultimately end. Glory to God for ever! 

"My spirit rejoices today in thankfulness to my Father in heaven that many years ago He let me hear a secret from His own heart, a secret that few in our generation have ever understood. When He breathed it into my listening heart, it well nigh stunned me because of my tradition and unbelief, yet I could not doubt the truth He taught me when He said, ' The creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but reason of Him who has subjected the same in hope ' (Rom. 8:20). As dew distilling from the mighty ocean falls in snow and ice upon the rugged mountain, there to remain in the grip of glacial death for a thousand years or more until released at last by the warmth of the sun to race down the mountainside in rushing torrents of water and join a thousand babbling brooks to expand into a mighty river and flow into the eternal seas, so as a mist has the spirit of man gone forth from the presence of God. Buffeted by the frigid winds of earth, he learns the lessons before ordained by the wisdom of God, and when the Sun of righteousness shines upon him, freeing his spirit from the icy bondages of the flesh, cleansing him by the power of the blood of Christ, he returns to God whence he came, not empty and alone, but as a mighty river, once again to become one with the ocean of God's self." 

Who is our family and what is our possession that once we had in the Father, that we are to return to? I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that it is a possession that we had in God before the foundation of the world. How clear and unmistakeable the scripture is about this! "Father, I will that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which You have given Me: for You loved Me before the foundation of the world" (Jn. 17:24). "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as He has chosen US in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love" (Eph. 1:3-4). "Who has saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (II Tim. 1:9). "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised (us) before the world began" (Tit. 1:2).

Our inheritance is a possession that we once knew in God and that we are being restored to because it was promised and given to us in Christ before the world began. Do you understand, precious friend of mine, what God is saying? "That beginning you had with Me, when you and I knew each other, in that distant age of antiquity, before the foundation of the world, in the bosom of the Father, in union with Christ, when you were foreknown of Me, while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy - do you not know, dear one, that that state of being in which you existed, that conscious awareness in which you dwelt, that righteousness and peace and joy and glory and wisdom and knowledge and power which was then yours with Me--that is your inheritance!" 

We have an eternal inheritance in the Lord. "And you shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the large tribe you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the small tribe you shall give a smaller inheritance; wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his; according to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit" (Num. 33:54). Concealed within that law of Israel's inheritance lie truths of staggering significance. Every man has a place in God's great Kingdom, just as each of the twelve tribes of Israel was given a lot of inheritance in the promised land. Each member of each tribe had their own designated lot of inheritance in the land of Canaan. And that is a figure in the Spirit. Just as we are Abraham's seed after the Spirit, so we have a spiritual promised land which is God's spiritual Kingdom, bespeaking of a glory, or a position or a lot of eternal inheritance in Jesus Christ.

Long milleniums ago the aged prophet Daniel, having faithfully come to the end of his illustrious course, was given a final blessing with a message of personal consolation and hope. The angel of God turned to Daniel and said, "But go your way until the end: for you shall rest, and stand in YOUR LOT at the end of the days" (Dan. 12:13). He was to depart and continue on his road, awaiting the end. His future was not left in uncertainty. Like many other Old Testament saints, he was to pass away, without receiving the promise (Heb. 11:39), but, in faith, awaiting the divine pledge. When the age of abiding bliss came, he would arise to receive his "lot" of inheritance, the heaven bestowed heritage as distinct from the "lot" apportioned in the earthly Canaan.

Not every one of us has the same lot, for each has his own lot of inheritance and each of us will be different. We know that in the natural if you pertained to the tribe of Judah you had a particular lot of inheritance in Canaan. Or if you belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh, Gad, Issachar, or any of the other tribes in Israel you possessed a certain geographical location your lot of inheritance had to be staked in. If you were squatting on the inheritance of your brother you were there like a sojourner or a stranger, sometimes as a bondman, but your real lot of inheritance was found in the geographical area God gave to your tribe.

It is my conviction that in the spirit all of us belong to a spiritual tribe in God, that is, a spiritual position or calling in the Lord. Beyond the natural there is a spiritual Israel and there are spiritual tribes And there are spiritual lots of inheritance. Everything that is seen in the earth regarding the plan and purpose of God had its origin in the heavenlies. The arrangement and structure of the Tabernacle in the wilderness and all its furnishings and ceremonies and priestly ministrations were to be made according to the "pattern" shown Moses in the Mount. Therefore there had to be a heavenly reality from which the earthly was made. The Jerusalem which is above is the mother of us all, and that great City has twelve gates bearing the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. This intimates that there is a heavenly Israel as well as an earthly Israel. Therefore we are down here working out or staking out our position in the Christ for our inheritance.

We mentioned earlier that Peter says that we have an inheritance "reserved in heaven for us." I do not for one second believe, as so many Christians ignorantly assume, that Peter meant that in some far-away land, on some beautiful Isle of Somewhere, we would receive a mansion, a harp and a crown for an inheritance; but we have an inheritance reserved for us here and how in a heavenly way of life, in a spiritual state of being, in the sphere of divine reality. And no one can take it from us. None of us can have the inheritance of any of our brothers. Each has his calling. Each has his position. Each has his unique place in the great and eternal Kingdom of the Father. Our own is so grand and glorious to us that we care not for a portion of any one else's. God gives the best for each of us.

Let us look a little closer at our inheritance. The first Adam was given an inheritance which was lost, but through the last Adam the inheritance is regained. "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds" (Heb. 1:1-2). The great aim and object of God in creation was to provide yet another dimension of inheritance for His Son, in whom He might show forth His glory and find His blessedness. On the sixth day the Lord said, "Let us make man in our image and after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him..." (Gen. 1:26-27). When the Lord said, "Let us make man in our image," He was speaking not only of Adam, the first man. His mighty edict included the entire human race, which included every descendent of Adam from Adam himself to the very last man who shall be born of his family. I am a son of Adam, the extension and projection of his substance, mind, nature and being, and so are those who read these lines.

As we consider this truth, we should especially notice this most significant statement: "Let us make man in our image ... and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."

This statement, which seems so simple, is a shadow of things divine. Man in Christ, man in God's image, is God's government in the Kingdom of God. It is a well concealed prophecy displaying to the spiritual mind the vast scope of man's authority when, perfect in God's image, he is presented faultless, tested, and ready to receive again his inheritance.

First, Let us give him dominion over all things under the earth, let us make him ruler of the things beneath, the lowest realms of the bottomless, typified by the fish swarming in the depths of the seas. 

Second, Let us give him dominion over the things in the realm of the heaven, the things above, the spiritual world of the celestials, typified by the fowl that fly in the heavens. 

Third, Let us give him dominion over the earthly and physical realms, over all natural things, typified by the cattle and all the earth. The dominion that would be man's after he was perfected and conformed to the image of God through the dreadful sufferings of death was to extend, not merely over fishes and beasts and birds, but over those things which they foreshadowed, that is, the things beneath the earth, things upon the earth, and things above in the vast universe of angels, principalities, and powers of the celestial realms being made subject to him. 

Should someone find it difficult to embrace so great a truth from so small and insignificant a type, I would point you to the unequivocal confirmation of these very facts given in plain and easy to understand words by the inspired writer of Hebrews wherein he says, "For unto the angels has He not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, How poor a creature is man, and yet You remember him, and a son of man, and You come to him! You have made him for a little while lower than the angels; with glory and honor You have crowned him, and have set him over the works of Your hands. You put everything in subjection under his feet. For this subjecting of the universe to man implies the leaving of nothing not subject to him. But we do not as yet see the universe subject to him. But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels - even Jesus - because of His suffering of death crowned with glory and honor,, that He by God's grace might taste death for every man " (Heb. 2:5-9, Weymouth). You won't quite grasp that at first. It's too overwhelming! To be crowned means to be given kingly rule. To be crowned with glory and honor is to be given such rule as Jesus has now - and that is described as being the Administrating, Ruling Executive over the entire universe!

As "the seed" of Abraham, Christ is the inheritor of all the promised inheritance (Gal. 3:16,29). Christ is the designated heir of all things, of all ages, and of all worlds (Heb. 1:12). And in Rom. 8:17 we find, "The Spirit bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then HEIRS; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ." God Himself sums up this great truth in Rev. 21:7, declaring, "He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and He shall be My SON."

But today unregenerate, carnal man is shooting rockets to the moon and sending space vehicles to the planets of our solar system, boasting that he is going to use the moon as a launching pad to soar to the planets and galaxies beyond. But man is simply getting in too big a hurry! He is striving to take over what indeed can be his - but man has not yet fitted himself to manage it - and it has not yet lawfully been placed in his hands! Man today is not in God's image and likeness, and it is that man to whom God entrusts universal dominion, the man in His likeness! Man today does not bear God's image, and can only spread his sin and death, bringing chaos and destruction wherever he goes. What natural man does not know, does not remember, is that when, through Christ, he first qualifies for the trust - it has been God's intention all along to place not only the moon and Mars, but the whole vast, limitless universe, physical and spiritual, under his jurisdiction! What an inheritance!

But there is a deeper and more wonderful truth beyond this. As the ocean includes the seas, the bays, and straits, which, though known by separate names, are parts of its majestic and all-embracing fullness, so is there a dimension of HIis inheritance that encompasses all that is ours in Christ. In the law of the Old Testament priesthood, the Lord spoke to Aaron, "You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall You have any part among them. I am your part, and your inheritance, among the children of Israel"(Num. 18:20). It was a very satisfactory arrangement for the pious priest. He could well dispense with the oliveyards and vineyards, the wheat fields and homesteads of Palestine, if he might have God Himself as the strength of his heart, the source of his provision, and his portion forever. And the Psalmist eagerly caught at the thought, gladly surrendered all portion in this life, if only he might be satisfied with God (Ps. 17:15). "The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: You maintain my lot. Yea, I have a goodly heritage" (Ps. 17:5-6).

Ah, how blessed the thought! God Himself is our inheritance! Not golden harps. Not golden streets. Not walls of jasper or pearly gates. Not a cabin in the corner or a mansion over the hilltop. Not fluttering wings and a white nightgown with which to flit about over the Elysium hills of glory. NO! There is something deeper, more inward and rapturous - the possession of God. Heirs of God! Heirs of all the communicable glories of the divine nature and power. To know Him, to explore His Being, to live on His fullness, to discover new tracts and continents in the terra incognita of Godhead, to see His glory, to put on His mind, to be changed into His image, to wield His scepter - this is "the heritage of the servants of the Lord." Glory to God!

The inheritance is incorruptible as to its substance. It is not liable to decay, as are the things of this gross material realm. The inheritance of the saints is, above all, spiritual; and it requires spiritual faculties to apprehend and enjoy it. But in such as have not been born again, their spirits quickened by His Spirit, those spiritual faculties are lacking. They cannot remember the inheritance once promised and given to them before the foundation of the world. They do not recognize heavenly things. They are bondmen in an enemy's house. The glory that pertains to their spirit has been lost in the dimness of a distant dimension. A blind man may stand amid the fairest landscape unconcerned, because the one organ by which he could enjoy it is lacking. A lunatic may live in a house stored with rich treasures of art and craft, oblivious to it all because his mind is blank to all its beauty and value. And the natural man might stand in heaven itself, and miss God with all the glories of His inheritance in the saints, for want of those powers of spiritual perception of which he is deficient. 

Truly, the Kingdom of God comes not by observation; for behold, the Kingdom of God is within you. We are not heirs of the "things" of God, but of God Himself. Heirs of all that He is. Name any of the divine attributes - His love, His holiness, His wisdom, His knowledge, His power, His nature, His life, and myriads more - these make up the inheritance. What an inheritance!

Ephesians 1:10 speaks of "the dispensation of the fullness of times," that is, the period in which the perfect end of God's governmental ways is seen in the dominion of Christ. "That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him: in whom also we have obtaned an inheritance..." All things are to be gathered into the Christ in the heavenly realms and in the earthly realms. All -into Him! "In whom," continues the apostle, "we have obtained an inheritance." Listen, my brother, my sister, we have obtained an inheritance, not in Palestine, not in Israel, not in America, not in Great Britain, not in the earth, nor even in the heavens alone; but, rather, IN HIM. We are appointed the heirs of God and joint-heirs with the Christ.

When Christ is manifested in all His fullness of glory we shall be manifested with Him in His glory. At this "manifestation of the sons of God" creation is brought "into the liberty of the glory of the children of God." It is thus in "the heirs of God" that He will hold the inheritance. Christ is the heir of God. IN HIM we also obtain the inheritance. In this enChristed body God will possess the inheritance. All that vast inheritance that shall be placed under the hand and rule of the Son of God, God will hold in the saints; just as the land of Canaan was Jehovah's inheritance, and He gave it to, and held it in, Israel.

Let us understand! The inheritance is from God, but in Christ. God holds the inheritance in Christ, that is, in the saints, just as a man who has a million dollars may hold it in the bank. He deposits his wealth in the bank, or invests it in a piece of property. So God deposits His inheritance - all He is and all He has - in the saints! He invests all in them so that they are the receptacle and substance of His inheritance. So Paul says, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation that you may know what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints" (Eph. 1:18).

Mark the two occurrences of the word glory in the above verse and their connection. "The Father of glory," and "The riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." We can understand the Father being the Father of glory, and that He must be the One who gives His grace and glory; but what are these words which tell us that we are of worth to Him? "His inheritance in the saints?" Yea, more, "The glory of His inheritance in the saints." Yea, yet more, "The riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." 

Faith rubs her eyes and wonders if she has read correctly. Love bows in adoring worship and accepts what she cannot understand, and Hope exults with expectant joy and longs for the fullness of the Christ to come. Grace graces the graceless with grace and then admires the graced ones of grace. The worthless are made worthy in the worth of Christ, and then HE appreciates the worth of the made-worthies. The beggars beggar the Son of God by making Him a Beggar, and then HE out of His beggary blesses the beggars and makes them peers of the King of Glory. The inheritance is thus from God, but in the saints. It is our inheritance, but first and foremost it is God's inheritance - invested into us. As under the law of Israel the land was the Lord's, but He gave it to Israel to manage as their's, for Him. What an awesome responsibility!

http://www.tentmaker.org/articles/savior-of-the-world/

Jubilee! (1) by J. Preston Eby

Jubilee!         (1)

by J. Preston Eby

Back to Savior of the World Series Index 

The Year of Jubilee 
The Inheritance 
 Tracing Our Inheritance 
 Inheritance Lost 
Redemption 
 Redemption vs. Jubilee 
 Limited Redemption 
Jubilee! 
The Blowing Of Trumpets 
 The Jubilee Trumpet 


THE YEAR OF JUBILEE 

For hours the trumpet sounds blasted and reverberated against the mountains, echoing and reechoing across the valleys of the land of Canaan. While the trumpets continued unrelentingly to proclaim their message, slaves said goodbye to their masters, forfeited farms and properties were judicially restored to their owners, and prisoners sang and shouted for joy as they left the prisons. What was going on? It was the Day of Atonement in the Year of Jubilee. Old men had waited fifty years for this to happen, and young men had never witnessed a day like it before!

The law of Jubilee is given in the book of Leviticus. "And you shall number seven sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto you forty and nine years. THEN you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the Day of Atonement shall you make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof, it shall be a Jubilee unto you; and you shall return every man unto his posession, and you shall return every man unto his family" (Lev. 25:8-10).

The rest of the chapter goes into detail about the law of Jubilee. Let us see what the word Jubilee actually means. The Hebrew word for Jubilee is YOBEL which means a loud, long blast by a ram's horn. It means first of all the ram's horn itself and the sound of the horn, but it further means the Festival introduced by the blowing of the ram's horn. In time the word YOBEL came to mean a trumpet. It is translated twenty-one times as "Jubilee," five times as "ram's horn," and once as "trumpet". Therefore Jubilee means a curved trumpet, the blowing of the trumpet, and the Festival the sounding of the trumpet introduces.

Every fifty years a change took place in Israel. There were four specific things ordained by God to take place in the Year of Jubilee. First, the land and the people were to enjoy a full year of holy vacation. A time of hilarious joy, there was to be no sowing or reaping, none of the toil of harvest or of vintage. The people were to live simply on what they had preserved from the previous year, and what they could gather from what grew spontaneously of itself. Second, all debts were cancelled. Every Israelite was released from his indebtedness and financial obligations. Third, liberty was proclaimed to all Israelites who were in bondage to any of their countrymen. It was the time of total release when every slave and every bondman in Israel working off bad debts or those in debtor's prison were released to a fresh start. The fourth feature of this year was that there was to be a return of ancestral possessions to those who had been compelled to sell them because of poverty or surrender them to creditors in payment for their debts. Every homestead was to be restored to the family to whom it had been allotted when the tribes originally inherited the land. These were the four main provisions of the Year of Jubilee: a year of sabbath for the land and for the people, release from all debt, a returning of every slave to his family, and the return of every man to his possession and inheritance.

On a practical level this law was very important. The Year of Jubilee was a refreshing sabbath-rest both to the people and to the land which God gave them. It was the chief of a series of sabbaths or rests given to Israel. They had a sabbath DAY every seventh day. The sabbath YEAR occurred every seventh year. In it the land was allowed to rest, no crops were to be planted, nor were they to prune or harvest. Walk through Israel's land at such a time, and, lo! every one sits under his vine and under his fig tree in peace. No sound of the oxen treading out the corn, no shouting from the vineyard; a strange stillness over all the land, while its summer days are as bright as ever, and its people as happy as a nation on earth could be found. Amid the rest which in a nation of agriculturists would be nearly equivalent to universal cessation from toil - how continually do the godly sing the praises of Jehovah! And, besides all this, no man appropriated to himself anything that the land then produced; all was common, to the rich, to the poor, to the Hebrew, to the stranger - a token of the restoration of mutual love. Rest on the ground, among the beasts of the field, in the dwellings of men, with praise and worship unceasingly ascending from harp and psaltery and gracious lips, while every man partook of earth's produce as freely as his neighbor - might not Israel say, "Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein; then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord" (Ps. 96:11-12).

Beyond these seventh-year sabbaths lay the grand Year of Jubilee. Israel was given a cycle of seven of these sabbath years, embracing a period of seven-times seven years, a total of forty-nine years; then there was to be a sabbath of sabbaths the fiftieth year -- the year of jubilee!

In that old Hebrew world that lies so far back in the dim twilight of the past, there are several customs, of more than transient interest, which claim our attention when we come to the Year of Jubilee. When Israel came into Canaan, the land was divided among them by lot, according to their tribes and families. Every family received a lot of inheritance, that is, a homestead. Success thereafter might increase, or adversity decrease, their individual possessions, as the case might be. If a man became involved in debt, he might be obliged to sell a part or even all of his property. But God made a bountiful provision for the unfortunate: He arranged that such adverse circumstances might not continue forever, but that all their accounts credits and debts - must be reckoned only to the Jubilee Year, when all must be freed from old encumbrances, etc., to make a fresh start for the next term of fifty years. The man of avarice, who had gone on adding house to house and field to field, gained no permanent advantage over his less fortunate neighbor.

The fiftieth year, beyond which no lease could run, was always approaching with silent but sure speed, to relax his tenacious grasp. However alienated, however unworthily or unthriftily sold, however strongly conveyed to the purchaser or the usurper an estate might be, this long-expected Day annulled the whole transaction, and placed the debtor in the position which either he or his ancestor had enjoyed.

The property which every man had in his dividend of the land of Canaan could not be alienated any longer than till the Year of Jubilee. Now this was no worry to the purchaser, because the Year of Jubilee was fixed, and every man knew when it would come, and made his bargain accordingly. A person under God's system never did sell his land permanently, but he could make leases for any limited term of years, not going beyond the next Jubilee. That year it would again revert to its rightful owner. Today we operate by leases. People may have a five-year lease, or a fifty-year lease, or a ninety-nine year lease. When the lease expires, the property returns to the owner. God worked on that basis, also. Anyone purchasing land, or any creditor foreclosing on a property, automatically understood that what he was receiving could only be held until the Year of Jubilee when all leases and liens expired. When selling (leasing) a property neither the buyer nor the seller must overreach. It must be settled what the clear yearly value of the land was, and then how many years' purchase it was worth till the Year of Jubilee. The scale of prices was to be regulated by the Jubilee. If that glorious event were at hand, the price was low; if far off, the price was high. It is easy to observe that the nearer Jubilee was the less must the value of the land be.

"And if you sell ought unto your neighbor, or buy ought of your neighbor's hand, you shall not oppress one another: according to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy of your neighbor, and according unto the number of years of the fruits be shall sell unto you: according to the multitude of years you shall increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years you shall diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits does he sell unto you" (Lev. 25:14-16). Such was the law of Jubilee!

The great reason for this is revealed in Lev. 25:23. Says the Lord, "The land shall not be sold forever: for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me." The Amplified Bible reads, "The land shall not be sold into perpetual ownership, for the land is Mine; you are only strangers and temporary residents with Me." The Lord, in allusion to Egyptian affairs, says, "THE LAND IS MINE."

The land in Egypt was properly the king's; and all the people were his tenants, since the days of Joseph (Gen. 47:13-26). On the other hand, Israel's land belonged to Jehovah; and the people were His guests, or tenants, sojourners with Him." Here, then, we have the special feature of the Lord's land. HE would have it enjoy a sabbatic year, and in that year there was to be the evidence of the rich profusion with which HE would bless those who were tenants under Him. "And if you shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And you shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of the old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in you shall eat of the old store" (Lev. 25:20-22). Happy, highly privileged tenantry! What an honor to hold immediately under Jehovah! No rent! No taxes! No burdens! Well might it be said, "Happy is the people that is in such a case; yea, happy is the people whose God is Jehovah!"

The sweet singer of Israel expressed it thus: "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein" (Ps. 24:1). In the light of this scripture I would like to reaffirm something which the world at large, and many Christians, seem to have forgotten: This is God's World! Long before time began ... long before a single heavenly body inhabited the vast regions of space...God was. I cannot imagine what it could have been like not to have a world ... with its towering mountains, its vast canyons, and its majestic waterfalls thundering down from the awesome heights in indescribable power, then sweeping on to the seas. The total absence of all these things is beyond my poor, limited comprehension. But the truth remains, as stated in the first four words of scripture: "In the beginning God..." Long before the worlds were made ... long before the billows rolled across the boundless seas ... long before the mountains thrust their towering, snow-capped peaks up through the clouds.. long before there was one flower, or the song of any bird, or the roar of any beast...yes, long before there was anything at all...There was God. Then the blessed Word of God rolls back the curtain of antiquity and shows us God at work, creating all that is, and all that ever was. This passage of scripture goes a mighty step further and establishes for all time and eternity the ownership of this world: "In the beginning GOD created the heavens and the earth." He made it, and it is His. No one can take it from Him. It was then that God wrote His signature of ownership - a signature that reaches from the earth to the farthest outposts of the cosmos.

For this reason no man in Israel, the Kingdom of God on earth, had any right to sell any portion of it in perpetuity. The Lord wished each tribe, and each family of a tribe, to retain its original hereditary possessions under Him, for it was given by God, and they were His people. As state earlier, on a practical level this law was very important. The wonderful provision of the Jubilee Year can better be appreciated when one considers, not only the beneficial results to the individual Israelites, but especially the effect on the nation as a whole. The Jubilee prevented the accumulation of land and wealth in the hands of a few. It prohibited the covetous and ambitious from "adding field to field" whereby the rich became richer and the poor became poorer. It raised legally and at regular intervals families and individuals out of destitution and gave them a fresh start. The slate was wiped clean. 

Without Jubilee there was a good possibility of one tribe eventually incurring such debt so as to completely lose all their inheritance, their possession, their identity. So God gave them a law that every fifty years, no matter how much debt someone owed, it was to be cancelled. You can be certain that every lender took Jubilee into consideration when making a loan! The Jubilee prevented a great internal debt and its resultant false prosperity, bringing inflation, deflation and business depression. The national economy would always be stable and the nation would have no crushing debt (Deut. 15:6). If these laws had been observed, it would have made Israel the most prosperous and perfect and powerful nation ever to have existed!

If an Israelite, through the stress of bad seasons and disappointing harvests, or unwise business practices, were to fall into deep indebtedness to some rich neighboring creditor so much so that he owed him more than even the land of his inheritance was worth - he was permitted, not only to alienate his land till the Year of Jubilee, but to sell himself and/or his family into slavery so as to work off his debt. Let me give you an illustration of what this law meant to Israel. In II Kings chapter four we read of a case where a widow is faced with a large debt left by her husband, and the creditors are coming to take her two sons into slavery to pay off the debt. In this case, Elisha the prophet provided a miracle of multiplying oil to pay off the debt. But in many cases like this there was no Elisha around with a miracle, and the sons were taken away from their home and their mother to work for a stranger as a slave. But only until the year of Jubilee!

Let me give you and example. Jacob owed a huge debt to a Hittite by the name of Ephron, and as the years passed by it became increasingly evident that he would never get it paid off. In fact, each year he fell further and further behind. Finally, there was nothing to do but surrender the property to Ephron and himself with his wife, Sarah, and their young son, Eli, as bond servants in payment for the debt. It was a painful thing for Jacob and his loved ones to say farewell to his humble home and endeared possessions, in which his forefathers had lived and thrived, to go forth into the service of another. With tears of sorrow they walked around the sprawling plot, which he might not live to revisit. Ephron turned out to be a hard task-master and compelled Jacob's family to work long hours. Within a few years Jacob's health began to fail, and soon thereafter he died. A few years later his wife, Sarah, also died of a fever. Little Eli, now fifteen years old, was left alone as the slave of the cruel Ephron. There lingered in his memory cherished thoughts of his carefree childhood on the old home place when the children played together and had such fun. No time for fun now! He was not his own, and there was nowhere to go. What a miserable way to live, he often thought, yet as long as he was alive there was hope that someday, somehow, things would be different.

Soon after Eli's eighteenth birthday Ephron departed on a journey. One afternoon Eli was strolling through his master's field when he heard an unexpected sound. It was the long blast of a trumpet in the distance. The trumpet continued to blow, becoming louder and louder, as other trumpets joined its note from various directions. While standing in wonderment as to what was the meaning of this event, he heard a great commotion. It appeared that a group of people were running along the road in a state of great excitement, shouting and laughing as they went. Finally he waxed bold and stopped an old man with a long, white beard and asked what was going on. "Why, son, haven't you heard? This is the Year of Jubilee. Just started today - this very hour, to be sure. Can't you hear the trumpet? Oh, I guess you're so young you've never seen a Jubilee before! It's the time when all debts are cancelled, and all slaves are freed, and all homesteads restored to their rightful owners." Eli stood transfixed on the side of the road, his mouth open, his eyes wide with astonishment and disbelief. "All slaves are fr ... free ... freed?" he stuttered. "Yes, my boy," the old man assured him, "all slaves are as free as the birds as of right now." "But ... but I'm a slave!" Eli blurted. "Then leave this place, lad," commanded the white-haired stranger, "you're as free as the air. Go home! Go to your family, sit under your own vine. What rightfully belongs to you is really yours now."

The chains of servitude fell from the soul of the exulting slave. Within the hour he gathered his meager belongings and set forth from the house of bondage, and felt himself possessed of liberty which no hand of power or of fraud might invade. He made his way across the miles to the old home place, to his father's farm, and ordered the strangers occupying it to vacate. He started living in his childhood home again, and eating the fruit of his own land. No more serving as a slave; he was working for himself, in his own inheritance. And it was not by anything he had done. He had not earned his freedom. It was just the sovereign law of God that set him free. All that he had to do was believe it, head for home, and claim his inheritance! Thus every fiftieth year, counting from the time of their entrance into Canaan, was to Israel a Year of Jubilee, a time of rejoicing and restitution, in which families were reunited and lost homesteads were restored. Restoration of every man to his own possession brought great joy, cancellation of all debts brought relief and gladness, and release of all slaves inspired much jubilation and celebration. So marked was the wisdom, so manifold were the blessings of this divine institution! No wonder it was called a JUBILEE!.......

http://www.tentmaker.org/articles/savior-of-the-world/