The Anointings or Mantles of Anointing are linked to the gifts of God and to the offices of the five-fold ministry (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Ephesians 4:11).
 
1 Corinthians 12:4-11:
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.
5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.
6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
 
Ephesians 4:11:
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, …
 
The Mantle of Anointing
 
=> The term Mantle of Anointing refers to the peculiar spiritual covering that designates and empowers a spiritual officer. The mantle serves to promote the spiritual officer* and awaken and refine the spirit of the respective believer. It is an official garment that is discerned by most people and honored and collaborated with by the angelic hosts.
 
In regard to the prophet, the mantle of anointing is the attribute by which the prophet attracts a following, accurately presents the word of the LORD, and gathers the prophet’s personal economy in support of the ministry (cf. 2 King 2:13-14).
 
2 Kings 2:13-14:
13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.
14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. ‘Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?’ he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
 
The prophet’s mantle, as seen in 1 Samuel 28:14, is not only eternal and spiritual, but it is the prophet’s covering and contains the messenger's ministry attributes as well.
 
1 Samuel 28:14:
14 ‘What does he look like?’ he asked. ‘An old man wearing a robe is coming up,’ she said. Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.
 
It is what devotes the prophet to his or her God from whom the mantle was received in the first place. The prophets mantle’s affect on the officer (note: prophet) is evident when in service, or preparing for prophetic ministry. <= (Note: The text marked with ‘=>’ is based on an exposition from the ‘Prophet’s Dictionary’ by Paula A. Price, Ph. D.; page 404)
 
*) A mantle of anointing functions much like a uniform that can be clearly seen – by citizens within a community who are recipients, for example – and reveals the area of responsibility the respective officer operates in, and what kind of assigned service or help can be expected of him.
 
The Anointing and its Impact
 
The anointing is, among others, the actively working presence of the Holy Spirit (Note: God – Father and – Son) in the respective office or structure of the gifts.
 
The closer we get to the presence of the Heavenly Father, the more we begin to grow in knowledge and the gift of discernment; this results in perceiving the presence of God more intensely and can take various forms. People describe it for instance as feeling a positive heaviness, abundant joy, deep peace, an energizing, speechlessness, prophetic activity (Note: i.e. receiving pictures, visions, trances), etc.
 
Thus, believers who have already or strongly experienced the presence and supernatural effects of God before, describe it as a ‘strong anointing’, and this presents a way for comparison. We should only give it a subjective rating, though, for it is rarely relevant, as God's activity is revealed in sovereignty and difficult to ‘assess’.
 
It may be useful for saints to learn an appropriate way of dealing with the presence of the Spirit of God in order to react appropriately to the respective revelation given and to flow with the anointing.
 
This becomes possible the closer we get to God, and it also enables us to react accordingly to the respective situation by the discernment of thoughts (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:10-14 i.c.w. Hebrews 5:14).
 
1 Corinthians 2:10-14:
… 10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.
13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.
14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
 
Hebrews 5:14:
14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
 
The Anointing and the Use of Oil
 
In the visible the anointing of a person was carried out by rubbing or pouring oil on the head or body (Note: olive oil), as clearly stated in Psalm 133:2.
 
Psalm 133:2:
2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe.
 
Persons and objects consecrated to the LORD were anointed by prophets or priests, such as, for instance: The stone in Bethel (cf. Genesis 31:13), the tabernacle, the altar (cf. Exodus 29:36), prophets (cf. 1 Kings 19:16), priests (cf. Exodus 30:30) and kings (cf. 1 Samuel 10:1; 1 Samuel 16:1.13).
 
The anointing is always connected to complete devotion to the LORD and a required ‘offering’.
For olive oil is created by the pressing of olives, and the name of the garden (Note: ‘Gethsemane’ means ‘olive press’) where Jesus decided to give His life, is connected to it (cf. Matthew 26:36-46).
 
The Anointing and the Associated Change of Shape
 
Speaking in a spiritual context, the anointing is connected to a change of form, entailing a transition from a solid to a liquid structure, thus turning away from the earth realm (Note: soul) and pointing to the supernatural realm (Note: spirit).
 
Because the anointing is, among other things, connected to the offices of the five-fold ministry and the various gifts with the Holy Spirit distributing them, as He wills (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11), we can only use the anointing to the extent and in the way as God calls each one of us, or as He sovereignly leads us in any given situation.
 
The targeted use of the allocated personal anointing is subject to the guidance of He, Who anoints (Note: the LORD as author) and should not, under any circumstances, lead to abuse. Our use of the anointing we have been allocated, should serve to glorify the Heavenly Father.
 
Amen and Amen.
 
In His Wisdom,
 
Daniel Glimm

Acts 20:4ff. tells of a so-called ‘apostolic pre-sending’ in which the apostle Paul sent out seven of his saints associated with him by ship from Philippi to Troas. He did this in order to join them and the saints there at a later time.
 
Acts 20:4-5:
4 He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.
5 These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas.
 
Humility and Faithfulness in Small Things
 
When Paul’s apostolic pre-sending is considered in a prophetic context, the importance of humility becomes apparent because his name ‘Paul’ means ‘the little one’.
 
Since we know that the Word of God often speaks of the importance of faithfulness in the ‘small things’, it shows that this is always connected with something great, which implies more responsibility (cf. Luke 16:10a i.c.w. Luke 19:17).
 
Luke 16:10a:
10a ‘Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, …
 
Luke 19:17:
17 “Well done, my good servant!” his master replied. “Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.”
 
The apostle Paul was clear that at certain times there must be a spiritual advancement in the lives of believers that is associated with an extended spiritual vision and understanding that the LORD desires to give. This is clearly illustrated by the upper room in the city of Troas (cf. Acts 20:6-8).
 
Acts 20:6-8:
6 But we sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread (Note: Passover), and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days.
7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.
8 There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting.
 
The Feast of Unleavened Bread and the City of Philippi
 
Here it was no coincidence that Paul, with the power of the full measure of Passover, namely, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, sent his seven disciples by ship from Philippi to Troas, where they stayed for seven days.
 
The name of the city ‘Philippi’ is derived from the first name ‘Philip’, which means ‘horse friend’. Horses in a spiritual context stand for winds or the angels of God (cf. Hebrews 1:7 i.c.w. Zechariah 6:2-5).
 
Hebrews 1:7:
7 In speaking of the angels he says (cf. Psalm 104:4), ‘He makes his angels spirits, and his servants flames of fire.’
 
Zechariah 6:2-5:
2 The first chariot had red horses, the second black, 3 the third white, and the fourth dappled – all of them powerful.
4 I asked the angel who was speaking to me, ‘What are these, my lord?’
5 The angel answered me, ‘These are the four spirits [winds] of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world.
 
Based on Paul’s apostolic pre-sending, it is evident that he understood the significance of the biblical times as well as the power of the blood of the Lamb. Paul sent his saints who were aligned with him to Troas with the measure of the full redemptive work of Christ in faith. There they prepared the spiritual field for him so that the apostolic seed of the Word of God could bear fruit in Troas.
 
The Connection Between Faith, Spirit and Biblical Time
 
Since the saints sent ahead by Paul sailed by ship and did not walk to Troas, this is an indication of the importance of living in the dimension of the Spirit, with the sail representing the faith of a saint and the wind representing the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. John 3:8).
 
John 3:8:
‘… 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.’
 
Thus, it reveals to us that the connection of our faith with the biblical times and the Holy Spirit leads to a higher spiritual level, which is revealed by the upper room in Troas, where the already present saints received Paul’s apostolic forerunners with expectation (cf. Acts 20:8).
 
Acts 20:8:
8 There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting.
 
On the basis of the seven saints sent out beforehand by Paul, the dimension of the Holy Spirit in his sevenfold characteristics can be seen in this. Furthermore, we can also see the meaning of the names of those sent before, the respective quality of the spiritual preparation which they implemented through the guidance of the Holy Spirit among the believers in Troas.
 
The Seven ‘Forerunners’ and the Trojan Horse
 
They acted in a certain way like the soldiers in the belly of the ‘Trojan horse’, to act as undercover apostolic strategists with their God-given revelations, to prepare the hearts of the saints for the arrival of Paul and what he had to say about God. Jesus also proceeded in a similar manner, sending the seventy or seventy-two disciples ahead to prepare the respective field of faith for the ‘visitation’ of Himself (cf. Luke 10:1).
 
Luke 10:1:
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two [or seventy] others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.
 
As previously noted, Paul’s seven ‘forerunners’ were:
 
  1. Sopater – ‘salvation, protection of the Father’ => teaching about the importance of the protective presence of the Heavenly Father,
  2. Aristarchus – ‘best Prince’ => teaching about the governmental rule of the Spirit in Christ Jesus,
  3. Secundus – ‘Second, the Second’ => teaching about the right timing of God and the anointing of the double,
  4. Gaius – ‘earthly, an earthly man’ => teaching about the God-given spiritual execution of authority of the ecclesia on earth,
  5. Timothy – ‘glory of God, beloved of God’ => teaching about faithfulness to God and its result,
  6. Tychicus – ‘by chance, with whom is good fortune’ => teaching about the unexpected favour of God,
  7. Trophimus – ‘nourishment, the nourishing one’ => teaching of the solid food of God.
 
Paul connected the presence of God’s spiritual communication as represented by the seven apostolic ‘forerunners’, with the time frame of the Spirit as represented by the seven day sojourn.
 
Associated with these seven saints sent ahead by Paul were four geographical locations (Note: Berea, Thessalonica, Derbe, Asia) that functioned like an open door in Troas to release the flow of God and reveal the timing or ‘the hour of the LORD’. An hour consists of four quarters.
 
It means for us that it is necessary that we act with the timing of God’s grace, which is indicated by its arrival at Troas on the fifth day (cf. Acts 20:6).
 
Acts 20:6:
6 But we sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread (Note: Passover), and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days.
 
The fifth day of arrival combined with the seven days of sojourn, reveal an apostolic measure set by God (Note: 5 + 7= 12) in the form of ‘progression’ and ‘apostolic visitation’.
 
It is said that Paul spoke to the saints in Troas on the first day of the week, which is also called ‘the day of resurrection’, when Jesus rose from the dead after the crucifixion, his message lasting until midnight.
 
The Power of Transition and the Apostolic Instruction
 
Earlier, after Paul’s seven emissaries prepared the way for the Word of God that Paul was about to preach, Paul met the saints at Troas to instruct them with an important apostolic message.
 
It was Paul’s concern that the saints of Troas were uniformly gathered to fully hear his apostolic instruction, since he was going to travel on the next day. This was the reason why Paul continued to preach until midnight that day and even after that.
 
The place where the apostle stayed was flooded with the light of God’s revelatory knowledge, which is made clear to us by the many lamps burning in the upper room (cf. Acts 20:8 i.c.w. 2 Peter 1:19).
 
Acts 20:8:
8 There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting.
 
2 Peter 1:19:
19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
 
There was thus an attitude of expectation active in the hearts of the believers of Troas.
 
During the apostolic instruction and we can assume that it was filled with revelatory knowledge and the upper room flooded with fiery light, Paul was driven by the Holy Spirit to communicate the revelation he received in a compact version or form to the saints at Troas because he was going to travel on the next day.
 
The Accident of ‘Eutychus’
 
At the centre of this apostolic revelation of God, a young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in a window of the upper room, sank into a deep sleep so that he fell from the third floor. This accident caused the young man to die, so Paul left the upper room and went downstairs to the dead man to intervene in a similar way as the prophet Elisha did with the young man of the Shunemite who had died (cf. Acts 20:9-10 i.c.w. 2 Kings 4:32-35)
 
Acts 20:9-10:
9 Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third storey and was picked up dead.
10 Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms round him. ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘He’s alive!’
 
2 Kings 4:32-35:
32 When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch.
33 He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord.
34 Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out on him, the boy’s body grew warm.
35 Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got onto the bed and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.
After the young man Eutychus was raised to life by the apostle’s intervention, an apostolic witness ‘of resurrection’ thereby arose among the saints in Troas.
 
When Paul’s apostolic intervention is considered based on 2 Kings 4:32ff, it conceals a spiritual call for true life in the Spirit.
 
From the three Hebrew words mentioned there for ‘mouth – Peh, Ayin – eye, hand – Yad’ results the Hebrew word ‘pā’î’, which means ‘shouting, screaming, bleating, panting’. (Part excerpt from the Elberfelder Study Bible to the Hebrew word ‘pā’î – bleating’ with the word key number: 6600, 6598* and the name encyclopaedia of Abraham Meister with the word key number: 2773)
 
‘Eutychus’, a Representative for the Saints of the New Wine
 
The name ‘Eutychus’ means: ‘the happy one’. The name is derived from the Greek tense word ‘eutychein’, which means ‘to reach the set goal, to achieve what is desired’, and ‘to be happy in one’s undertakings’. (Note: Part excerpt from the biblical name encyclopaedia by Abraham Meister on the name ‘Eutychus’ with the word number 1107).
The explanation of the word as well as what happened to the young man Eutychus should make clear to us nowadays that it is Satan’s attempt to destroy the potential carriers of the new, namely what God wants to do in this time and the time to come, because he does not want the joy and the favour of God to spread in the lives of people with whom they come in contact. But the good thing is that God has already secured His plan to implement it on earth through His saints!
 
‘Eutychus’ represents the saints at this time who are ready to move in the structure of the new wineskin and in the new wine. These are saints who do not lose sight of their goal -God’s purpose- to reach it with all their strength and joy (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:24-26).
 
1 Corinthians 9:24-26:
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last for ever.
26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.
 
Great Comfort
 
The apostolic intervention for ‘resurrection’ didn’t stop Paul from going back up to the third floor of the upper room and having fellowship with the saints in the resurrection power of Christ. In addition, Paul continued to share his insights through his apostolic understanding.
As a result, great comfort spread among the saints (cf. Acts 20:11-12).
 
Acts 20:11-12:
11 Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left.
12 The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.
 
May the Holy Spirit give us great comfort in the time to come through the power of revelatory truth (cf. John 14:26; John 16:7).
 
John 14:26:
26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
 
John 16:7:
7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
 
And may there be bold, apostolic, and sovereign leadership in the Body of Christ that helps saints move forward in new ways and experience the power of community that God wants to give to generate greater influence in society.
 
Amen and Amen.
 
In His Wisdom,
 
Daniel Glimm

In going forward with the Lord, it is important as disciples to be careful not to get stuck in the present time with the promise given by God.
 
Based on the birth of Benjamin (Note: ‘son of the right hand’), as the youngest son of Jacob, at whose birth his mother Rachel died, we can know the call of God to not get ‘stuck’ in the old or worn-out time (cf. Genesis 35:16-19).

Genesis 35:16-19:
16 Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty.
17 And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, ‘Don’t despair, for you have another son.’
18 As she breathed her last – for she was dying – she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.
19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
 
The Birth of Benjamin and the Entry into the Great Time of God
 
How interesting to notice that Benjamin’s birth took place on the road between two localities, which were on the one hand Bethel (Note: ‘house of God’) and on the other Ephrata (Note: ‘fruitfulness, fertile area, bearing fruit’). Benjamin was the only son of Jacob born in the Promised Land.

The birth of Benjamin should serve as an indication to us that, with the authority given to us by God, in Christ, we go in His promise to the new place predestined by Him, in order to establish the quality of our fellowship with Him there. This place is in the context of the open heaven and is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit to produce a greater measure of the fruit of the Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:22-23).

Galatians 5:22-23:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
 
In the way that the prophet Ezekiel was drawn into the fear of the LORD because of the size of the rims of the wheels by the four living creatures, we as God’s people are entering into a great time of God that must be rightly discerned (cf. Ezekiel 1:18).
 
Ezekiel 1:18:
18 Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.
 
It is the fear of the LORD which is the ‘birthplace’ of wisdom, so it reveals to us that uniting with the advancement of God, wisdom is brought forth that we are in need of for the coming time (cf. Psalm 111:10).
 
Psalm 111:10:
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.
 
The Four Living Beings, Their Wheels, and the ‘Brooding’ of God
 
Furthermore, the four living creatures with their wheels clearly show that the LORD was enthroned over them, which is akin to a governing spiritual brooding. It is like the time of Jesus when He lived on earth while looking toward Jerusalem and longing to ‘brood’ like a hen over His people (cf. Ezekiel 1:26 i.c.w. Matthew 23:37).
 
Ezekiel 1:26:
26 Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli (Heb. ‘Tarshish’), and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.
 
Matthew 23:37:
37 ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.
 
The Heavenly Father longs to bring new life into existence through His spiritual ‘brooding’ or birthing. This is clear from the prophet’s statement that he saw God’s ‘loins’ and took them as a spiritual starting point, which points to the bearing or brooding or even bringing into existence of spiritual life (Note: His promise for this time) (cf. Ezekiel 1:27-28).
 
Ezekiel 1:27-28:
27 I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him.
28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell face down, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
 
Therefore, as God’s people, we need to allow the new thing that God is bringing forth to break through in our spirit man, which can be manifested through travailing prayer.
 
The Awareness of the Guidance of the Holy Spirit

In such spiritual birth stages, it is essential that we are aware of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who, like Rachel’s midwife, stands in the future and sees the new emerging from the ‘worn out’ as well as helping us to stand secure in the promise of the future under open skies as well as to go forward in revelatory truth (cf. Genesis 35:17 i.c.w. John 16:13).
 
Genesis 35:17:
17 And as she (Note: Rachel) was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, ‘Don’t despair, for you have another son.’
 
John 16:13:
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.
 
In this process it happens that by the Spirit of truth the old and even sinful patterns are pointed out to us, which are mistrust, worries and doubt, to break with them.

Here it is of great importance to be ready to leave the worn-out time to enter with the Holy Spirit into the newness of the Heavenly Father. Such decisions cost a price and are mostly related to the submission of our own will to the will of God (cf. 1 Peter 5:6; Proverbs 21:30).

1 Peter 5:6:
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
 
Proverbs 21:30:
30 There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.
 
If we don’t want to surrender to God’s guidance, the consequence is that we stay in a worn-out time and thus are not able to correctly discern the new things that the LORD is doing, although in them lies hidden the authority of the Ecclesia -the church- for the future.
 
=> Times of transition or transformation always take place when the Lord redefines something and makes the necessary adjustments to guarantee the progress of His people. Here He reveals to us what we should keep our eyes on while He gives the direction. Furthermore, the Lord teaches us and reveals Himself in a new facet.
 
A transition in the literary sense is a sentence that connects the last thought or section with a coming one. Therefore, it is important that we ask the Lord for revelation as well as for us to recognize His ways in a time of change.
 
The perspective He reveals to us is the bridge between the past period or season and the new time. Without clear revelation and communication, the power and wisdom gained through past victories may be lost.

In a birth, this transitional phase is the most difficult phase. It is the time when the woman in labour feels: “I can't take it anymore!” Only the gaze of the child who is coming gives the perseverance and endurance towards this aim of maintaining the family and even securing the inheritance.

It is not the new that is coming that is so difficult to handle, but rather it is the transition from the old to the new state is the difficult thing. What matters is how we respond to the phase of transition before the Lord establishes the new in the earthly realm, which reflects the realm of the Spirit as a shadow image.
 
Therefore it is important to proceed with the right strategy and protect the coming promise.

Phases of change are closely related to the process of expansion, in which it is necessary to live within the structure of the new wineskin. The term ‘enlargement’ means that something expands, releases and increases in form, or increases in scale and intensity. <= (note: The text set in ‘=>’ is based on the message ‘At the Crossroads of Change’ by James W. Goll from the year 2013)
 
The New and the ‘Economic Type’ of God
 
Regarding the new, the LORD revealed that it is, among other things, an ‘economic type’ that works or serves from the governmental realm of God’s redemption, as indicated by the name ‘Benjamin – son of the right hand’.
 
Since Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God and the right hand of the LORD retains the victory, the presence of divine government, redemption, and triumph can be seen in this (cf. Mark 16:19 i.c.w. Psalm 118:15-16).
 
Mark 16:19:
19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God.
 
Psalm 118:15-16:
15 Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: ‘The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!
16 The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!’
 
Moreover, the newness goes hand in hand with the quality of the relationship to the Word of God and the new age, as indicated by the statement of the prophet Micah in which ‘Bethlehem – house of bread’ is mentioned before the ancient name ‘Ephrata – fruit region, fruitful, bearing fruit’ of the place (cf. Micah 5:1-2).
 
Micah 5:1-2:
1 Marshal your troops now, city of troops, for a siege is laid against us. They will strike Israel’s ruler on the cheek with a rod.
2 ‘But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.’
 
Intimate spiritual fellowship with Christ Jesus as the Bread of Life in the form of the Word of God leads to fruitfulness on many levels.
 
Here, the colour appearance of the wheels of the throne chariot, which look like ‘Tarshish’ and which bear the ‘brooding’ presence of God, has a mystery about the ‘economy’ of God. For it was the ships from Tarshish that brought King Solomon the riches (cf. Ezekiel 1:16 i.c.w. 1 Kings 10:22; 2 Chronicles 9:21).
 
Ezekiel 1:16:
16 This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: they sparkled like topaz (Heb. ‘Tarshish’), and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel.
 
1 Kings 10:21-22:
22 The king had a fleet of trading ships [Heb. ships of Tarshish] at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.
 
2 Chronicles 9:21:
21 The king had a fleet of trading ships [Heb. ships of Tarshish] manned by Hiram’s servants. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.
 
The ‘Ship of Economy’ of the Ecclesia
 
Since the ‘ships of merchant’ play a significant role in the fall of economic Babylon and provide a certain kind of refuge, a principle of preservation/salvation can be seen in this for those who move from the corrupt ‘system of Babylon’ into the care of the Spirit-filled Ecclesia (cf. Revelation 18:16-20).
 
Revelation 18:16-20:
… 16 and cry out: ‘ “Woe! Woe to you, great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!
17 In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!” ‘Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off.
18 When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, “Was there ever a city like this great city?”
19 They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out: ‘ “Woe! Woe to you, great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin!”
20 ‘Rejoice over her, you heavens! Rejoice, you people of God! Rejoice, apostles and prophets! For God has judged her with the judgment she imposed on you.’
 
Here it is not left out that those who have ‘conspired’ (Note: brought into alliances) with the Babylonian system suffer great economic losses, but are saved in spite of all this as if through ‘fire’ (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:12-15).
 
1 Corinthians 3:12-15:
12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.
14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.
15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved – even though only as one escaping through the flames.
 
Amen and Amen.
 
In His Wisdom,
 
Daniel Glimm