Sun am 14 June 2009 – Kobus Swart

Gen. 1:24-27; GEN. 28:1;

Heb. 1:1-3; (Rev. 12:1-6); (Gal. 4:19); Gen.12:1-4, 10-20; Gal. 3:14,16;

Gen. 12:11-20; Gen. 20:1-18; Gen. 24:1-4; Gen. 28:1-4; Neh. 13:23-31;

Josh. 23:11-13; Deut. 5:9; Eph. 5: 22-32

Hebrews 1 captures this principle. God says of His Son: “…He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature”. This exact representation is on God’s mind, this is His plan. In the schemes of the devil, he attacks this principle and  introduces mixture. Jesus is the exact representation of the Father and the sons will be the exact representation of the Son (Rom 8:29). This principle must be protected.

Looking from the realm of Spirit, John saw a woman pregnant with child (Rev. 12:1-3), ready to give birth to a man-child, with the dragon sitting and waiting, ready to devour the child. This is the battle that is going on and has been going on through the ages. This battle will have a climax fulfillment as the Corporate Son, Christ, is birthed in the earth. In this season, the apostolic burden is gathering momentum that will hasten the process. As with the apostle Paul, their prayer is: “My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you.” (Gal. 4:19. See also Col. 1:28) This is the prayer of every true Apostolic father; not to simply have “church members”,  but mature sons reflecting the Son!

We have a few significant examples in the Old Testament of how the serpent tried to attack the purity of the Royal Seed line. Twice, after God had called Abram and given him the promises that he would become the father of a great nation (Gen 12), Satan almost succeeded in defiling Sarai by her falling into the hands of foreigners. In both those cases – once being taken from Abram by Pharaoh, and once taken by Abimelech – Abraham allowed it for fear of being killed because Sarah was so beautiful and he let her be taken as his “sister”. Each time, however, God Himself intervened to protect her from having her womb defiled and in so doing, having the Royal Seed line contaminated (Gen 12:10-20; 28:1-4). In the case of Abimelech, God even went as far as closing the wombs of all of his household because of Sarah (Gen 20:18)! We see later how shocked Abimelech was when he found out that Rebekah was not Isaac’s sister, since Isaac had told the same lie about his wife as his father did (Gen 26:7-17)! Abraham finally learned a lesson and instructed his son Isaac not to take a wife from the daughters of Canaan! He had to stay within the Royal seed line (Gen. 24:3). Isaac gave his son Jacob the same instruction (Gen 28:1-4).  Even in the Book of Nehemiah, the Lord warned His people against mixed marriages (Neh. 13:23-31).

The promise God made to Abraham in Genesis 12 is carried over into the New Testament in and through Christ Jesus. “In order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith...Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, ‘And to seeds’, as referring to many, but rather to one, ‘And to your Seed’, that is, Christ” (Gal. 3:14,16). Looking at Old Testament history with its types and shadows, we find God’s heart concerning the final marriage of Christ and the Church(Ephes 5:22-33). The Holy Spirit is in the earth to help prepare a bride for the Bridegroom. We must make more room for the Holy Spirit in our choices in this life.

We notice in the genealogy of Jesus as recorded in the book of Matthew – compared to the historical account – that he left some people out, which was not by mistake. God cut six names  out of Christ’s genealogy who were found unworthy of the throne of David. They were: Ahazia, Joash, Amaziah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiachim and Zedekiah. God is showing us His feelings towards the Bride being prepared for His Son. We should learn from Israel’s mistakes and not miss out on the types and shadows in the Old Testament. We need to help each other apply these principles in our daily lives and choices. The word “holy” means “set apart”. God has set us apart from the mixture that Satan always tries to entice us into. He has set us apart to protect the purity.