In connection with the sending of the raven and the dove by Noah (Note: means ‘rest, comfort’) after the Flood, the waters of God’s righteousness, these were decisive. They were necessary for the ark to settle on God’s predestined height of Mount Ararat (cf. Genesis 8:4-5).

 

Genesis 8:4-5:
… 4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

 

Here we can clearly see that it was not Noah who chose the place to settle, but God, by causing the waters to recede. The name ‘Ararat’ is translated ‘mirror’, which is a reference to reflection by faith (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:18).

 

2 Corinthians 3:18:
18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate [Note: like in a mirror] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

 

 

Furthermore, the ark moved on or above the water in a similar way to the way the Spirit of God moved when the heavens and earth were created (cf. Genesis 1:1-2).

 

Genesis 1:1-2:
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

 

Since we are not looking for a permanent place on earth, but for the everlasting one to come and the ark was ‘a vehicle of transition’ for Noah, his family and the animals, moving with the dynamics of the water, it reveals the importance of walking in the Spirit in connection with the right spiritual perspective to us today (cf. Romans 12:2 i.c.w. Hebrews 13:14).

 

Romans 12:2:
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.

 

Hebrews 13:14:
14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
For everyone who is born of the Spirit, this means that we do not know the starting point of the Holy Spirit as well as His destination (cf. John 3:7-8).

 

John 3:7-8:
7 You should not be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again.”
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.’

 

For every believer in Christ Jesus who is born of the will of God, this means that you become a momentum of the Holy Spirit through the influence of the Spirit of God, because you reveal His work through your walk before men. If we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to work through us.

 

To this end, it is important that we allow the Spirit of prophecy, which is the testimony of Jesus, to work through our prophetic empowerment, which we have received by grace (cf. Revelation 19:10e).

 

Revelation 19:10e:
‘... 10e For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.’

 

 

This prophetic ability is similar to the window that Noah made for the ark in order to use it later, namely to allow the raven and the dove to fly (cf. Genesis 8:6-8 i.c.w. 1 Corinthians 14:1).

Genesis 8:6-8:
6 After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark 7 and sent out a raven, and it kept flying to and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.
8 Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground.

 

1 Corinthians 14:1:
1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.

 

It is no coincidence that the birds were created before man, namely on the fifth day of creation, and in this context point to a certain quality of the spirit.

 

In sending out the raven and the dove that followed, Noah initiated a phase of ‘contrast’ or opposition in the spiritual realm, in which we can find the meaning of our voluntary agreement or denial according to the biblical values in the form of our ‘Yes!’ and ‘No!’ (cf. Matthew 5:37).

 

Matthew 5:37:
37 All you need to say is simply “Yes,” or “No”; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

 

A contrast denotes, for example, the difference between light and dark areas or colours within a picture or image. It is necessary that we move in the spirit of prophecy with the spiritual quality given to us by God in order to have the right perspective on the respective circumstances.

 

Only this helps us to correctly assess and evaluate complex circumstances from a spiritual perspective in a neutral way (Note: without emotional distortions) and in the sobriety of the spirit (cf. 1 Peter 5:8a).

 

1 Peter 5:8a:
8a Be alert and of sober mind. …

 

Jesus also admonished His disciples to ‘watch’ and be active in prayer in order to offer holy resistance to the deception of the adversary (cf. Matthew 26:41a).

 

Matthew 26:41a
41a ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. …

 

The word ‘to watch’ means to observe what comes out of yourself or other people and to pay attention to what is happening in the world around you.

 

 

God, who is Spirit, led the ark to one of the mountain peaks of Mount Ararat, which is also an indication of being positioned at the right time of God (cf. John 4:24a).

 

24a God is spirit, …

 

The word used in Hebrew for peak or head (Note: Hebrew ‘rō'š’) goes hand in hand with the beginning of a biblical month or year which is Rosh Chodesh, Rosh Ha-Shanah. In such time frames, it is advisable and wise to put aside the past, i.e. to let go of the past and be ready to enter the new time with God.

 

The emphasis here is on spiritual consistency and developing the fruit of the Spirit in the form of patience. This is what the raven can point to in this context, among other things.

 

As already mentioned, the name ‘Noah’ means ‘rest, comfort’ and can be a reference to Christ Jesus, who is the Lord of the day of rest – the Sabbath (cf. Matthew 12:8).

 

Matthew 12:8:
‘… 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.’

 

Since both the raven and the dove have wings, they point to different powers of the Spirit, such as the raven, which refers to consistency, faithfulness and patience in the life of a believer. The dove, on the other hand, should serve as an indication of the presence of the Holy Spirit in connection with humility, who always takes from Christ to reveal the truth in the respective moment or phase (cf. John 16:13-15).

 

John 16:13-15:
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.
15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.’

 

 

In this case, it was in God’s interest to reveal the hidden revelatory truth about the Messianic body of Christ in the form of the olive tree from the dimension of God’s rest as Noah waited seven days when sending out the dove (cf. Genesis 8:10-12 i.c.w. Romans 11:17-18).

 

Genesis 8:10-12:
10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark.
11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.
12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

 

Romans 11:17-18:
17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

 

=> The understanding of God’s rest that includes resting in the finished work of Christ is a blessed perspective. Furthermore, one of the greatest blessings in a person’s life is to discover that Jesus Christ has truly won the victory and that we simply need to trust Him in this regard (cf. John 19:30 i.c.w. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57).

 

John 19:30:
30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

 

1 Corinthians 15:54-57:
54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written (cf. Isaiah 25:8; Hosea 13:14) will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’
55 ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Every believer should definitely enter into this rest in Christ.
However, even if we truly understand all that Jesus Christ has accomplished for us and experience His rest spiritually, we can still at certain times become physically and emotionally exhausted.

 

God is not only interested in our spiritual side, but He wants to bless us in every area of our lives, because He created man as threefold, namely with one spirit, one soul and one body.
It is God longing for us to enter into His rest, and not just in a spiritual or theological way, but in a way that including enjoying His presence and joy each week (cf. Mark 2:27).

 

Mark 2:27:
27 Then he (Note: Jesus Christ) said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

 

Therefore, God has prepared special times for us personally as well as for our families so that we may rest by receiving the restoration of our strength.

 

This means times that have been specially prepared for us so that we can receive God’s goodness and new strength and thus be able to move forward and overcome the obstacles in order to follow our destiny. God wants us to stop at His special time and take time to remember that He is good (cf. Psalm 103:2).

 

Psalm 103:2:
2 Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits – … <=

 

(Note: The text set in ‘=>’ is based on the theme of God’s rest from the book ‘A Time To Advance’ (ISBN-13: 978-0-9791678-3-6; Glory Of Zion International) by Chuck D. Pierce with Robert and Linda Heidler).

 

In this context, the continuous flight of the raven at the time of Noah should serve us. In our spiritual walk of consistency and patience, we are dependent on the presence of the ‘dove’, i.e. the Holy Spirit, coming into our spiritual sphere in the dynamic of God’s rest in order to strengthen us in our walk of the Spirit, so that we find the sustenance of the prophets in the form of ‘the manna of heaven’ in the spiritual sphere and in this way increase in strength in our spiritual man (cf. Genesis 8:6-8 i.c.w. Matthew 3:16b; John 6:51; 1 Kings 17:4-6).

 

Genesis 8:6-8:
6 After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark 7 and sent out a raven, and it kept flying to and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.
8 Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground.

 

Matthew 3:16b:
… 16b At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.

 

John 6:51:
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live for ever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’

 

1 Kings 17:4-6:
4 You will drink from the brook, and I have instructed the ravens to supply you with food there.’
5 So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there.
6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

 

 

In connection with the head area (Note: Hebrew ‘rō'š’) of the Beloved from the Song of Songs, which represents Jesus Christ, with the black plumage of the raven and the white plumage of the dove, it reveals to us that these are connected with the curls and the eyes of the LORD (cf. Song of Songs 5:11-12).

 

Song of Songs 5:11-12:
11 His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves by the water streams, washed in milk, mounted like jewels.

 

This includes a supernatural understanding of the mysteries of God’s Word (Note: curls => scrolls) and the right prophetic pure vision through the Spirit of wisdom and revelation based on pure faith (Note: gold; cf. Ephesians 1:17-18 i.c.w. Revelation 3:18a).

 

Ephesians 1:17-18:
17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, …

 

Revelation 3:18a:
18a I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become rich; …

 

It is no coincidence that Noah used the creation of the fifth day - the birds - to check whether the water of the time of judgment decreased or not (cf. Genesis 1:20-23).

Genesis 1:20-23:
20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”
21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.”
23 And there was evening, and there was morning – the fifth day.

Through this sending of Noah, there was a so-called locating between the day of mercy and the day of judgment. It was the day of mercy that finished the judgment and announced the new day in creation.

 

This means in a prophetic context that Noah acted in the power of the grace of God which is represented by the number 5, and sent out both birds after the mountain tops became visible on the 11’th day of the biblical month ‘Av’. This biblical month means ‘fullness, fruit, father’.

 

Noah opened a new spiritual ‘window of time’ and by releasing the ‘contrast’ (Note: raven => black plumage; dove => white plumage) created a new day of grace amid the Father’s fullness.

 

In this context the black raven with its wings represents the evening and the white dove with its wings represents the day. Both birds are an indication of a spiritual time frame of the Father’s care.

 

It was the bird species of the raven that provided during a famine on God’s behalf at the brook Kerith for the prophet Elijah. And it was the bird species of the dove, whose form the Holy Spirit chose to settle on Jesus during His baptism, so that He went full of the Holy Spirit into the desert for testing (cf. 1 Kings 17:3-4 i.c.w. Luke 3:21-22; Luke 4:1).

1 Kings 17:3-4:
3 “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.
4 You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.”

Luke 3:21-22:
21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

 

Luke 4:1:
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, …

It is the Holy Spirit through whom we proclaim the Father in the spirit of Christ’s sonship and get to know the Father (cf. Romans 8:15 i.c.w. Galatians 4:6).

 

Romans 8:15:
15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

 

Galatians 4:6:
6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”

 

Accordingly, through Noah, God manifested a new time frame of His grace, which was covered with His fatherly fullness, because with God the day begins with the evening and Noah also sent out the raven first and shortly afterwards a dove (cf. Genesis 1:1-5).

 

Genesis 1:1-5:
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day.

 

May this open window and the dynamics of God’s Spirit be felt in our lives in all that goes on in the fullness of God’s grace in this time of transition.

 

Amen and Amen.

 

In His Wisdom,

 

Daniel Glimm

As the people of God, we are approaching Shavuot also known as Pentecost according to the biblical calendar, in which connecting with the right saints in the right place at the right time plays an important role. Only from this does strategy emerge and guarantee the coming success that God has in store for His people.

 

 

The focus here is on the upper room.
The Hebrew word for ‘upper room’ is ‘’ălîjāh’ and is derived from the root word ‘’ālāh’, which means ‘to go up, to ascend’ (Note: word explanation taken from the Elberfelder Study Bible for the Hebrew words ‘’ălîjāh’ and ‘’ālāh’ with the word key number: 6062, 6045). The root word just mentioned is used for God’s sovereign and liberating guidance of the people of Israel out of Egypt (cf. Exodus 3:8).

 

Exodus 3:8:
8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey – the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.

 

Thus, the upper room shows that it is God’s plan to allow us as His people to enter from a limited spiritual level into a higher spiritual level.

 

An upper room is a higher place in a building, which in a biblical context is associated with a greater spiritual quality in the interpersonal relationship and the intensification of the Holy Spirit.

 

The increase of the Holy Spirit presupposes the time in the upper room of Passover at the time of Christ and includes an atmosphere in the form of coolness and heat, similar to what the people of Israel experienced in the wilderness through the pillar of cloud and fire (cf. Luke 22:7-15 i.c.w. Acts 1:13a; Acts 2:1-3; Revelation 3:15; Exodus 13:21-22).

 

Luke 22:7-15:
7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.
8 Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.’
9 ‘Where do you want us to prepare for it?’ they asked.
10 He replied, ‘As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, 11 and say to the owner of the house, “The Teacher asks: where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”
12 He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.’
13 They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table.
15 And he said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

 

Acts 1:13a:
13a When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. …

 

Acts 2:1-3:
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.

 

Revelation 3:15:
15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!

 

Exodus 13:21-22:
21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.
22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

 

This time of spiritual increase can also be described as a period of ‘extreme differences’ in which the Holy Spirit reveals Himself, encompassing our spiritual hunger for more of Him. The Lord wants to meet us with His spiritual fullness to fill the ‘emptiness’ in the form of spiritual hunger. Spiritual fullness includes, among other things, a measure of new communication that brings greater spiritual maturity through revelatory knowledge.

 

 

The situation is like that of the eunuch of the Queen of Ethiopia, who was on his way back to Ethiopia from Jerusalem in his chariot drawn by horses. While he was studying the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, which in chapter 53 reveals the mystery of Jesus Christ, the Passover Lamb, he was sitting in an elevated place, namely on his chariot (cf. Acts 8:26-28).

 

Acts 8:26-28:
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Go south to the road – the desert road – that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’
27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet.

 

Meanwhile, the apostle Philip was already filled with revelatory knowledge, so the Spirit of God instructed him to bring his spiritual maturity to the eunuch, who was on his chariot in an elevated place to receive from God, not knowing that Philip, Spirit-led, would suddenly appear at his chariot.

 

At this point, there is an emphasis on the starting point of both people, who had the city of Jerusalem as their place of origin but went to different destinations after their encounter (cf. Acts 8:39-40).

 

Acts 8:39-40:
39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.
40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and travelled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

 

Through the encounter between Philip and the eunuch, it reveals that the geographical location of the temporary residence contributed to the circumcision of the eunuch’s heart and the increase of the knowledge of the truth in him for the glory of God (cf. Romans 2:29 i.c.w. Acts 8:36-38; 1 Timothy 2:4-6).

 

Romans 2:29:
29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.

 

Acts 8:36-38:
36-37 As they travelled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptised?’
38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptised him.

 

1 Timothy 2:4-6:
4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.

 

The baptism of the eunuch took place because he was hungry for the revelatory truth of Isaiah 53:7-8, which was presented to him through Philip in his spiritual maturity, both being together in the same elevated place - seated on the chariot (cf. Acts 8:28-38).

 

Acts 8:28-38:
28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet.
29 The Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it.’
30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ Philip asked.
31 ‘How can I,’ he said, ‘unless someone explains it to me?’ So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: ‘He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.’
34 The eunuch asked Philip, ‘Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?’
35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36-37 As they travelled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptised?’
38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptised him.

 

 

Jesus also instructed His disciples to go to Jerusalem to receive power from on high, which shows that Jerusalem was an important spiritual anchor point that led deeper into the dimension of the Spirit to walk further the path of calling (cf. Luke 24:49 i.c.w. Acts 1:8-12).

 

Luke 24:49:
49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’

 

Acts 1:8-12:
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
11 ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’  12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city.

 

Jerusalem is the navel of the earth and Israel is the apple of God’s eye (cf. Ezekiel 38:12; Zechariah 2:8).

Ezekiel 38:12:
12 I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the centre [Note: navel] of the land.

Zechariah 2:8:
8 For this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you – for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye – …

 

Speaking in a spiritual context, the character of the capital city of Jerusalem is akin to an open door in heaven. This is based on the intimacy with Jesus Christ as the bridegroom in the form of the walk in first love and the continuous true relationship with Him, since the city is described as the bride and also wife of the Lamb (cf. Revelation 21:2.9-10).

Revelation 21:2.9-10:
2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. …
9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

 

 

This city corresponds to a new dimension of the knowledge of Christ as the eternal King. This dimension is a higher spiritual level, which is emphasized for us by the biblical passage from Revelation 19:11-16. There John sees heaven opened to a new level and recognizes Christ as the eternal King, who reveals Himself in various facets as a warrior riding on a white horse with His royal army.

 

He is the Faithful and True One, the Concealed One - by name known to only Himself; as the Word of God, King of kings and Lord of lords, He moves forward.

Revelation 19:11-16:
11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.
12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no-one knows but he himself.
13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. ‘He will rule them with an iron sceptre.’ He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.
16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of kings and lord of lords.

 

The heavenly or messianic Jerusalem can grant access through Christ in twelve different characters, which result from the assigned angels of the 12 tribes of Israel, each of which is assigned to the four winds in an alliance of three units (cf. John 10:9 i.c.w. Revelation 21:10-13.21a).

 

John 10:9:
9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.

 

Revelation 21:10-13.21a:
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. …
21a The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. …

 

This area of entrance through the pearly gates of the city includes access into the kingdom of heaven since this itself is like a pearl (cf. Matthew 13:44-46).

Matthew 13:44-46:
44 ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.
46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

 

 

The spiritual focus on Jerusalem therefore means an increase in the apostolic understanding of government as well as the close love relationship with Christ Jesus as bridegroom and
husband (cf. Revelation 21:2.9-10).

 

Revelation 21:2.9-10:
2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. …
9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

 

Furthermore, the Heavenly Father in the form of the Almighty and the Lamb of God as temple dwell in the city (cf. Revelation 21:22).

 

Revelation 21:22:
22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

 

This means for us having the right spiritual focus creates an uplifting to a higher spiritual level. This so-called taking away involves being in another higher place, as described in Luke 9:51.

 

Luke 9:51:
51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

 

This means that no matter where we are literally geographically, we should be aware of the dimension of Jerusalem – ‘foundation of peace’ in our hearts.

 

Jeremiah 1:18a reveals to us that it is possible to be a city. This means carrying the culture of the city that comes with the highest level of spiritual relationship with the Lamb of God who is Christ. Carrying this culture of the city within you in your spiritual life also means that it goes hand in hand with peace, which secures you. There is no room for any form of contempt, hatred, fear or worry.

 

Jeremiah 1:18a:
18a Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land – …

 

It was Jeremiah who, when the people of Israel were led into captivity to Babylon, served from Jerusalem and was allowed to dwell in Israel or Mizpah – ‘mountain watch, watchtower’ (cf. Jeremiah 38:28; Jeremiah 40:6).

 

Jeremiah 38:28:
28 And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured. This is how Jerusalem was taken: …

 

Jeremiah 40:6:
6 So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left behind in the land.

 

In this time before and during Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, the Heavenly Father wants to meet us as His people in Christ and fill us even more with His glorious Spirit, who works great things in us so that we can fulfill our calling.

 

Amen and Amen.

 

In His Wisdom,

 

Daniel Glimm