Restoring the Fallen Tent E-Book

Riaan Engelbrecht

• Herausgeber: Riaan Engelbrecht
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

It has been a while since the Lord spoke about restoring the tent of meeting. To understand this, we need to understand that before church, there was the Temple, and before the Temple, there was the tent of meeting in the days of Moses. The tabernacle of meeting evolved in the physical Temple built by Solomon, which evolved among the Gentiles to be mostly church buildings. With the stages of development, especially among Gentiles, the very essence of the tabernacle of meeting as in the days of Moses got lost among the sand of time. The tabernacle in the wilderness was about God meeting with man, and where man could enjoy the presence of the Lord. By the shed Blood of the Lamb, God’s presence is now not contained within a physical structure, for God now makes His home within man by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, as believers, we have BECOME the tabernacle of meeting. Through our interpretation of church, the tabernacle today sadly remains a physical structure instead a spiritual one. The church of today has evolved away from the foundational concept of divine interaction, relationship and Covenant participation, which forms the spiritual tabernacle (house) in service to God. It is time to rediscover God’s true intent and purpose for the Tabernacle, and how we are to restore what has fallen and become lost over the centuries.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Restoring the Fallen Tent (Kingdom of God)

How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts

Restoring God’s tabernacle in the last days

False centre of worship breeds familiarity

Getting the ways of God right again

Emergency spiritual field tents

Life of the Kingdom

Challenge the old order

Seek Siloh, not brick and mortar

In His Presence

A pure temple consumed with pure holy fire

Real encounters with God, not emotionalism

The Oikos – a household serving God

The spiritual journey of the Tabernacle

Impact of Greek rhetoric on the fallen tent

Expanding God’s Tent - prayer of Jabez

Dwellings of fervent prayer

Focus on Christ, shed the Janus mindset

A cry from God

True purpose of the Ecclesia

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Also By Riaan Engelbrecht

About the Author

Also by the same author:

Perilous Times Series Volumes 1- 9

In Pursuit of God Series Volumes 1 -15

The Holy Spirit Series Volumes 1 - 3

The Disciple of God Series Volumes 1 - 5 (Vol 2 Part A and B)

Deliverance Volumes 1 – 3 (Vol 1 Part A and B)

Crossroads to Freedom Volumes 1-4

The Kingdom of God Series Volumes 1- 4

The Prophetic Series Volumes 1-5

Apologetics Series Volumes 1-8

Restoring the Fallen Tent

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Scriptures quotes from the New Kings James Bible, Amplified, and the New International Version.

For more free study material and audio visit http://avishuaministries.wixsite.com/avishua

Table of Contents

How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts

Restoring God’s tabernacle in the last days

False centre of worship breeds familiarity

Getting the ways of God right again

Emergency spiritual field tents

Life of the Kingdom

Challenge the old order

Seek Siloh, not brick and mortar

In His Presence

A pure temple consumed with pure holy fire

Real encounters with God, not emotionalism

The Oikos – a household serving God

The spiritual journey of the Tabernacle

Impact of Greek rhetoric on the fallen tent

Expanding God’s Tent - prayer of Jabez

Dwellings of fervent prayer

Focus on Christ, shed the Janus mindset

A cry from God

True purpose of the Ecclesia

How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts

It has been a while since the Lord has been speaking about restoring the tent of meeting. To understand this, we need to understand that before church, there was the Temple, and before the tabernacle, there was the tent of meeting in the days of Moses.

It was in the tent of meeting where Moses met with God, for in the Ark of the Covenant that rested in the tent, God dwelled. Exodus 33 says, “7 Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. 8 So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. 9 And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. 10 All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. 11 So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.”

The tabernacle of meeting evolved in the physical Temple as built by Solomon. The Temple then evolved among the Gentiles to become generally church buildings. With the stages of development, especially among Gentiles, the very essence of the tabernacle of meeting got lost among the sand of time. The tabernacle in the wilderness was about God meeting with man, and where man could enjoy the presence of the Lord. By the shed Blood of the Lamb, God’s presence is now not contained within a physical structure, for God now makes His home within man by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, as believers, we have BECOME the tabernacle of meeting.

Through our interpretation of church, the tabernacle remains a physical structure instead a spiritual one. While we are called to fellowship, therefore to tabernacle corporately with God, this should be within an environment where God meets with man, and where God is the focal point. It is within an environment where God in His presence may move among believers, and where believers in a relationship with God seeks to actively participate in His Kingdom to fulfil the Great Commission.

In Acts 2, we read of the disciples who were just filled by the Holy Spirit: “2 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

The disciples met to fellowship, break bread and prayer, therefore to commune and meet with God. They were constantly busy interacting with God and His Kingdom. In God’s presence, they were empowered and they were able to strengthen each other. They met in the temple but also from house to house, which allowed for the strengthening of unity and to dwell in God’s presence corporately. The first disciples enjoyed the type of fellowship that Moses enjoyed in the wilderness. Moses was strengthened in the wisdom, knowledge and might of God to fulfil God’s will, and the Lord’s will is always perfect, right and good.

The church of today has evolved away from the foundational concept of divine interaction, relationship and Covenant participation, which forms the spiritual tabernacle (house) in service to God.

Is it truly about meeting with God, dwelling in His presence and being strengthened as a disciple? It simply becomes a place where people come to sing a couple of songs and then listen to one man’s sermon. There is no real fellowship with God. No change. No corporate participation. The church has become terribly legalised and is rotten to the core because of traditions and man-made ideas. We are far removed from the days of Acts 2 when everything was about God. Acts 2 also upheld what Paul said in “1 Corinthians 14: 26 How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret.”

Ephesians 4 is a well-known Scripture about how God has gifted some to be an apostle, prophet, evangelist, teacher and shepherd “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

Ephesians 4 is hardly happening, and neither is proper discipleship, for we have become so far removed from the divine ideals and purposes of tabernacle of meeting. Every Sunday people speak about going to “church”, yet we are the church, and we are not called to attend church but to gather AS the church to meet with God. And the purpose of such a meeting is never for selfish reasons, desires or to fulfil personal agendas, but to come in unity into God’s presence. For in the tabernacle of meeting, God ran the ‘show’, yet with our churches, man takes the centre stage and so often spiritual leaders get personal glory.

Exodus 33 speaks of how the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle. When is the last time we truly and really experienced the tangible presence of God at a supposed church gathering? We also need to understand that so often we confuse emotionalism with the move of the Holy Spirit, and, therefore, allow the empirical (the five senses) to dictate and determine our spiritual reality.

Years ago, the Lord also spoke about restoring the altar, which is about man coming back to God as a living sacrifice, yielding, submitting and surrendering to the Lord. Such a sacrifice is grafted into the Lord (John 15), and so the Lord becomes all if we are truly surrendered to God, His will, way, truth and Kingdom become all important. With restoring the fallen tent, we need to relook “church”, which means realising what the Kingdom of God is all about and how we are called to be active disciples. As disciples, we are called to be the tabernacle of meeting, and as we join with other believers, we in fellowship come into God’s presence to pray, to seek Him and to yield. Man is never supposed to steal the ‘show’.

Jeremiah 10 speaks of God’s judgment on Israel for her idolatry, spiritual apostasy and rebellion. It says, “20 My tent is plundered, and all my cords are broken; My children have gone from me, and they are no more. There is no one to pitch my tent anymore, or set up my curtains. 21 For the shepherds have become dull-hearted, and have not sought the Lord; therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.”

We can read Jeremiah 10 in context to physical tents, for following the captivity at the hands of the Babylonians and Assyrians, the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel were left deserted. There was no one really left to pitch tents, which speaks of a dwelling place. But Jeremiah 10 also addresses the spiritual plight of the people, for they have abandoned their God. Remember, the priests were supposed to be the ones who had to look after God’s Tabernacle. Jeremiah links the inability to pitch God’s tent (take note this is singular) because the “shepherds have become dull-hearted, and have not sought the Lord.” God’s tabernacle (His tent) had become neglected, primarily by the priests, but also by the people of the land for they had rejected the ways and will of God.

For almost 1700 years God’s tent (His true tabernacle) has also been plundered, and all the cords are broken. In its place, we have erected man-made structures and mausoleums resembling white-washed tombs. Within such structures, we have taken the liberty to butcher God’s truth as we have set up a religion under the guise of Christianity. Man has run this show, as we have changed the very fabric of the church until it no longer resembles God’s true tabernacle. Who can argue how some, if not many, ‘shepherds’ of today have become dull-hearted, and have not sought the Lord. After all, we have allowed paganism, witchcraft, New Age ideas and secularism through the doors, all the while worshipping God. We are as guilty as Israel when they sought to worship God and Baal. A result of Israel’s idolatry was judgment at the hand of God. As in the days of Haggai, we have not been building God’s Kingdom, but our own kingdoms.

Of the House of David according to 2 Samuel 7 it says: “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me.” It will endure forever for Jesus sits on the throne of the House of David, which is nothing more than the Kingdom of God on earth, therefore the ecclesia. Only Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of 2 Samuel 7. And so we have to understand says the Lord, the tabernacle/tent of David has fallen, meaning not only has Israel fallen (to be restored) but also the rule and order of God among the Gentiles that have been brought into the fold under the Covenant of Grace/Blood.

Amos 9 of restoring the fallen tent was written in context to the coming restoration of Israel, and the subsequent impact of Israel on the rest of the world, but the Lord says He is not only looking to restore the fallen tent of David in Israel but among the Gentile believers. And so the Lord placed it in my spirit that we need to erect/restore the Tabernacle/Tent of David once again to its glory, therefore the TRUE HOUSE of God where God raised up a holy priesthood and dwelled among the people by His Glory as in the Days of Moses.

Haggai 2 says, “9 The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty." For again the Lord has spoken, the tent/tabernacle is broken, falling apart, yet the Lord wants to restore it, therefore restore His order, His Truth and Way as in the days of old. And what He restores, the glory will be greater! God is raising a remnant in these last days to restore the true Tabernacle of God, but we need to follow God’s blueprint by yielding and submitting to the Spirit of God.

This is the mandate for the remnant: RESTORE THE FALLEN TENT OF DAVID AND THE LORD WILL THEN REBUILD (REVIVAL, RESTORATION). The fallen tent is to truly return to His Kingdom, to fulfil the Great Commission, to be the church and to be a true sanctuary for God’s presence. Again, says the Lord, return to His order, beyond religion, and let the people meet Him again, in His Glory for the tent has fallen and the glory has departed. It is time to repair the Tent/Tabernacle and prepare the way of the Lord. Yes, we must prepare the church for what the church is supposed to be, which is a place where we truly meet with God to be active in His Kingdom in service and duty.

Sadly, these days, the pulpit is more concerned about political correctness, and self-exaltation, self-hype and self-glorification. Across the world, all things immoral in the eyes of God have become moral and all things unnatural have become natural in the eyes of man. Where are the servants of God to correct such wickedness? Instead, churches are steadily condoning sin and iniquity, approving of evil, as we are more concerned about man’s opinion than the Word of God. Pulpits have become quiet and silent on such matters, fearing man more than fearing God, as we are no longer interested in saving people from the flames of hell. Instead, we are more interested in a feel-good encounter Gospel, yet true discipleship continues to die in churches. Why? Because we have veered away from the original intent and purpose of the tabernacle of meeting.

Churches have become a business. It is a dead building where dry bones pile up. While the ‘church’ slumbers, the world is hurled into darkness, aflame with moral corruption and spiritual bankruptcy, all because the true light of our Lord Jesus is hardly been shone from the pulpits. Where is the true cry for repentance, and how can we repent if the people no longer know what is right and wrong? Where is the chastisement to correct the ways of the people, and where is the holy fear of God in the nations anymore?

Sadly, sound Gospel is hardly been preached as so much false theology and teachings have invaded the pulpit. And so the people turn their ears away from the Truth that saves and sets free, only seeking a word that soothes and exalts the ego and the pride. Take a closer look at this world. It is burning with suffering and hate. Where is the light? Where is the truth anymore? The pulpit has become about man and his selfish needs, and it is no longer about God. How we need to pray for the pulpits to become on fire again for our Lord and Saviour Jesus, and how the Truth needs to be preached again that sets us free.

Strongholds need to be broken. Healing needs to be done. Deliverance needs to take place. Freedom and liberty need to soar in the hearts of the captive. This happens when we return to the tabernacle of meeting. Too many people do not know God. They do not have a living and intimate relationship with Him. They are not restored, healed, delivered or edified. They are broken by this world, impoverished by the spirit of religion, traditionalism and legalism. They have been made slaves by fear, lies and deceptions. They have been harassed, tormented and hunted by spirit and soul crippling philosophies and demonic lies.

As we ponder how we have gone astray, we can but cry out to God to light the fire again so that we may declare the Truth of God as His Spirit leads.  To restore the fallen tent, is about how as a people we need to realise who we are in Christ, and who God is. It is about seeking God on a personal, and on a corporate level where we return to the days of Acts 2.  Restoring the altar speaks about restoring our relationship with the Lord. This means we must be rooted, grounded and settled in the Lord. Restoring the altar means restoring our foundation. And the foundation of our very existence, faith, action and thought must be Jesus and no else.

The Lord is putting a new song in the hearts of His Bride. It is that song sung in Revelation 5. It is the song sung to Jesus, He who is the Truth. He is calling the Bride back from our state of being neither hot nor cold. The Bride is rising from her slumber, tired of complacency and familiarity. It is time for those who hunger for God and not man’s ways to stand up for truth. To restore the tabernacle calls for a people to worship, abide and behold the Lord as the sure foundation. In the last 2000 years, the Holy Spirit has come powerfully to guide us in our walk with the Lord, empowering and equipping us. If we seek Him, the Great I Am, we shall again walk in restorative power to drive back the darkness and bring light.

The Lord is so willing and ready to meet one's needs. Where one's need meets God's power, then spiritual mountains are moved. Where need and faith collide, where need and hunger meet, where desire and thirst mingle, then God's hand moves and His glory is revealed. When this need of the people is brought before God (people willing to go up the mountain) then He moves in such manner as the day that Moses went up the mountain. Wherever I go and speak to the saints, this unquenchable and continuous hunger is evident for a real and intimate meeting with God.

It is time again for the Bride to be led to the feet of God and away from our own man-made visions, programmes, teachings and way of doing this. Jesus is all and in all. He is the only answer. The words of Jesus ring so true today that the harvest is ripe yet the workers are few. We need to pray that God will raise up His army because the need and work are too great, it is really as if this desire for God has become out of control - this is because as evil rises, the world will fail more to satisfy man's spirit.

We must just be those vessels through whom God can work, making ourselves available, never being the answer but being the marker that points to the truth.  This I know: God is so ready and so willing to meet His people - really to meet them face to face. The Lord is coming down to touch His children, to meet with them and for them to have a real encounter so that they can know who He is.  Those who are walking in the Spirit, who restores the fallen tent and we abide in Him, are those who shake the very foundations of Satan's kingdom by simply living, breathing and fighting for the truth - it is they who dare to abide in the Holy of Holies; it is they who dare to challenge for their claim to the land; it is they who fear only the Lord; it is they who stand with the high praises in their mouth and the double-edged sword in their hand; it is they who live in the dangerous, seeking to set those free in darkness; it is they who seek to destroy Babylon, Egypt and Rome; it is they who will not rest until the Lord's banner is raised high.

This is the Bride, the true Crusaders, the David warriors, the Samuel priests and the Joshua conquerors. These are the freedom fighters. They shall be attacked, but the victory is already won. The victory was claimed 2000 years ago. We just take back what is ours. If the devil doesn't like it, just too bad - we shall resist, wrestle and challenge for we serve the Almighty King. Who can be against us? The Lord is seeking His true army to make a stand. Be strong, be true and hold onto the Lord who is our Defender and Strong Tower.

God is now calling His Bride to choose His way or the way of man. He is now calling us to step out of the walls of Babylon and into the light of truth. We love to talk about the unity of the Bride yet that unity is not the unity of denominations, but the unity of those serving Him in Spirit and Truth. To restore the tabernacle implies sacrifice and it will take courage and boldness. This world is not easy. In the workplace, in the cities, generally, everywhere, there is a great rise of things that stand against Him. Yet we must choose to live for Him and not for the world. The greater the darkness, the greater the light! It is no longer about us, for man has had His time in the sun. It is about Him, His Kingdom and His glory. To restore the altar means restoring Him on the throne of our hearts.

There is no more time to be indecisive or to be lukewarm. There is no more time to want to do our will and still serve Him. Now is the time to restore the altar, restore the foundation and walk in intimacy with the Lord.

Matthew 6 makes it clear we must first seek the Kingdom of God. Thus, its values, its truths, its nature and customs. Church customs van never replace Kingdom. Man-made agendas, programmers, ideas and doctrines never trump Kingdom. Are we truly following Kingdom or church culture? Church culture is often tainted by man, yet Kingdom remains holy and pure. We must always follow Christ, for He remains the head of the Church.

David writes in “Psalm 84: 1 84 How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts! 2 My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. 3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young— even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, My King and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising You. Selah.” How the king loved to be in the presence of the King of kings! For David, it was all about God and worshipping Him. To be in God’s tabernacle was so joyous that even his soul fainted to encounter God. Do we truly as the tabernacle of God yearn and long for God, to worship Him and be in His presence? Are our “churches” today a dwelling place of God’s presence, where people longs for God?

We need to restore the fallen tent so that people may truly know who God is and walk with Him as He walked with Adam and Eve and as the Lord walked on earth with the disciples. We need to learn again how to tabernacle with God, and how to move beyond the natural and the tangible to enjoy divinity by the spiritual and the supernatural. This is not about mysticism, or New Age mumbo jumbo, but about intimately dwelling in God. Those who seek such a sweet and blessed relationship, shall find God dwells with them. And in that dwelling, we enjoy the courts of God, and we can rejoice in His splendour, goodness, majesty and love.

Restoring God’s tabernacle in the last days

Amos 9: In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:

The restoration of the Bride, therefore the church, coincides with the restoration of the body to the order of the House of David. Jesus said to Simon Peter that He will build His Church and that the gates of hell will not prevail against it.  The Lord made an everlasting covenant with King Davis in 2 Samuel 7. Under this covenant, the Lord said He would build a house for David and not David a house for the Lord. David's son, Solomon, did build the physical temple of the Lord. This temple was the greater extension and permanent structure of the tabernacle that was built by Moses while still in the desert.

"2 Samuel 7: ’11 The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me]; your throne will be established forever.’”

God implied in the David covenant that the promised house would be an eternal dynasty, and that a descendant of the line of David would forever occupy the throne. This eternal dynasty spoken by the Lord is the spiritual House of David, or in other words, the church, also known as the Body of Christ - the holy priesthood and the true spiritual tabernacle. This house is eternal, for Christ died for Jew and Gentile so that we may have eternal life. The descendant that sits forever on the throne of David is Jesus Christ, the true King of kings and Lord of lords.

We read the following in “Isaiah 11 (New International Version): 1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;  from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him -the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD -  3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.”

This root refers to Jesus, and it comes from the stump of Jesse who was the father of David. So again the Lord points to the fulfilment of His promise regarding an everlasting spiritual household. When God, therefore, said that He would build His house, He meant He would build the House of David, which implies the everlasting spiritual dynasty. To build implies a project still under construction, not yet completed and not yet finished. God promised this eternal dynasty, and Jesus forever changed the physical House of David into one of a spiritual nature by His Blood.

Hebrews 9:  23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

When Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave, the House of David changed from a physical order to spiritual order. Jesus sits upon the throne of David, as the king over His household, just as David was the physical king who sat on the throne leading Israel. By the Blood of Jesus, the Body of Christ has also become spiritual Israel, since Jesus came from the bloodline of David and now occupies the throne of the king. It is important to note that much of the prophetic word of the Old Testament prophets and that of the New Testament applies to ethnic Israel, the true seed of Abraham - therefore the Jews of the physical nation of Israel. So, God's covenant with David spoke of the everlasting Body of Christ, to whom both Jews and Gentiles should belong if they wish to seek eternal life.

Interesting to note that David said in Psalm 16 that the Lord Jesus is always before him and that Jesus is on his right hand. Jesus is also spoken of here as the Holy One who will never see decay. Jesus never saw the decay of the grave because He rose after three days. So, just as David the king over Israel placed Jesus on his right hand, so now Jesus, the eternal king of the spiritual House of David, is still placed at the right hand, but this time of the Father.

Since God, therefore, says that He would build His Church, implying restoring the House of David, the question arises as to what nature or order would Jesus restore the Church. Is it not that Jesus would restore the spiritual House of David to the order of the physical House of David? However, since we now deal with an eternal king and an eternal house, compared to the physical king and physical kingdom of Israel, such a restoration would be the ultimate epitome, of the completeness and the fullness of the physical House of David.

In other words, the spiritual House of David would be the epitome, completeness and fullness of the physical House of David. This is why it is also said that the glory of the latter house will be greater than the former (Haggai 2:9).  This implies that the nature and the order of the spiritual House of David would be one of complete fullness that was never achieved by the physical House of David.

It stands to logic that the physical House of David was therefore but a shadowy blueprint of how the spiritual House of David would be restored. Once again, since Christ is the eternal true king, all the spiritual fruits of the physical House of David and everything that the reign of David represents and promotes, would be completed by the reign of Jesus!

It is important to study the physical House of David, compared to the House of Saul, to understand to what order Jesus will restore His House. It is important to remember that Jesus will without a doubt restore His House to the right order and nature. Understanding the House of David would enable the saints to move along the right lines of teaching and equipping, while it would empower the saints to walk in the anointing and the authority. Such restoration would take place both corporately and individually. This will happen corporately, since the Church had to be restored as a Body, and individually since we need to overcome, but also because we are part of the Body of Christ. It is a simultaneous process of restoration. This restoration would yet reach its peak like never before!

Ultimately, the rise of the church to the order of the House of David, which means the effective restoration of the saints as a spiritual force on earth, would see an army of God rise who will reign as kings spiritually, who will be called to be warriors but who will walk with the heart of the servant - full of love and joy.

David was a king, prophet, warrior and servant. The spiritual House of David is a house where the Bride acts in unity as a king, prophet, warrior and servant. It is therefore vital to understand the concepts of a servant, of reigning as a king and fighting for the rights of the kingdom as a warrior.

The saints of the spiritual House of David, which is the epitome and personification of the physical House of David, would be restored in function kingdom power when they are restored in relationship authority and anointing according to the blueprint of the tabernacle as given by God to Moses.

The physical House of David after all functioned according to the blueprint of the tabernacle, for such a plan and outline paved the way for the correct foundations to be laid by King David so that he and the nation can live in favour with the Lord. The ministry of Paul on the other hand shows how the church must function in order to bring about this restoration based on the blueprint of the tabernacle, which is enfolded into the House of David.

Let us read from Haggai 1 (verses 3-11):  Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your panelled houses, while his house remains a ruin?” Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvest little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honoured,” says the Lord. “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty, “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the field and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labour of your hands.”

What then are we building? The house of the Lord! The fullness of Christ means fullness in blessings, provision, healing, anointing, the Holy Spirit, God’s presence, God’s glory, and God’s treasures. We, however, can’t experience the fullness of such awesome wonders if we keep building our own houses (when placing ourselves above God). We can only discover such wonders when we build God’s house of glory. This means that we have to become God’s house of glory in Spirit and Truth, which will empower and enable us to honour and exalt God through all that we do, say and think!

As long as we fail to submit completely to God, meaning that we desire to satisfy our own needs then we are building our own houses. We however build the house of God when we live according to the principles of His Word and Spirit. We must make sure that God’s house does not lie in ruins within us. Without the fullness of Christ (verse six of Haggai 1), we can never experience the full harvest of our work, nor shall we experience the full blessing of abundance when it comes to God’s provision and protection (food, clothes, money). We must stop following our ways (building our own houses), but start building God’s house of glory.

When we become God’s house of glory, the Lord shall be pleased. The Lord does mighty wonders through those He favours. Verse 10 to 11 sounds the warning that God will actually withhold His full blessing while we keep running after our own desires. In the Bible, this withholding of blessing is compared to a drought that comes upon the land. Drought causes the soil and the ground to become infertile, therefore unable to produce crop (harvest). God’s blessing is like rain from heaven, and it causes the labour of our hands to grow and become fertile (Deuteronomy 28). It also causes us to grow spiritually, in order that we may become more like Jesus so that we can enjoy the blessings of the Lord.

As you come to him, the living Stone – rejected by men but chosen by God – you also, like living stones, are being build into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to GOD through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4-5) 

We must as a holy priesthood built to God’s honour. We are called to be spiritual sacrifices since Romans 12:1 says that we must offer our bodies as offerings, holy and pleasing to God. This is then our spiritual act of worship. However, sadly, the Lord has spoken many times in my spirit that we have not built the Tabernacle (tent) of David but rather our own houses and not His house. And again He says we have built our houses (ministry, lives, and our kingdoms) in the best streets and in the best towns. We have sought the best for ourselves and for our own kingdom. Our houses are wonderfully adorned and wonderfully arrayed. We have sought fame and fortune and glory and recognition here on earth. We have sought the best for ourselves and we have sought the approval of man.

But, while we labour for our own gain, His house stands unkempt, wasted and deserted. We have thought we have built His house yet the Lord says this is not so. Our houses carry mats that will not allow feet of blood and mud to stain them (for we keep the lost and sinner out - we keep the Lord Jesus out!) Our names glitter bright above our doorpost for it is all about our glory and us. So the Lord takes me back to Deuteronomy 6 - on our clothes and foreheads shall only His name be glorified. His name is no longer found above our doorpost. It is no longer found in our hearts. Corporately as the Bride, we have deserted His house and the repercussions are that we walk not in His blessings and glory and the abundance of wine and oil as described in Haggai. Our sacrifices are defiled.

So the Lord said He will send fire in these last days like never before. It is a fire for those who serve Him - for them, this fire will go before His children to level the path. It is a fire of such power and magnitude to get the Bride ready. It is a fire that leads us - a holy and pure fire. A power is waiting to be unleashed. Yet there is also a purifying fire. For the Lord says these houses that are built not in His name and not to His glory will be destroyed. For you see this says the Lord: For those who do not repent and weep for their sins will be forced to sit on the ashes of their burned down houses and on that ashes they can then mourn and weep. Then the Lord led me to Job 18. It confirms the wicked will know fire and His hand of power. You will also read about roots. This to the Lord places on my heart: many followers have become like bare trees for their roots are decayed, old and rotten. Their soil is void of nourishment and therefore carries no fruit. We need to pray for such revival in the Bride that roots will come alive so that the Bride can bear fruit.

For this we have to understand: REPENT, FOR THE KINGDOM, IS NEAR. MAKE STRAIGHT THE PATH FOR THE LORD FOR HE COMES IN GLORY AND POWER. For the Lord says we build not His Kingdom but our own. We toil under the sun dusk to dawn by the sweat of our brow and we quake in our labour but all in vain, dirt on our hands, yet we do not sweat by the anointing for His Kingdom and we should be quaking in the power and might of the Spirit. From dusk to dawn we toil for our own endeavours, yet we should toil in His power and anointing!

It is time to labour for His kingdom, there above the sun where true riches do not gather dirt or rust, riches formed by His Blood and Tears. He says toil for Me My Bride; let your hands be unto My service and thy lips unto my service. All things under the sun come to an end. For the Lord cries for us to worship Him yet our hearts and mind are far from Him. 

We discover in Haggai chapter two, verses 15-19, the following accusation from the Lord against those who are not building His house: “‘Now give careful thought to this from this day on – consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty. I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not turn to me,’ declares the Lord. ‘From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought. Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit.’

What do we learn from this Scripture? It speaks of a time of little abundance, but it also speaks of a time of half measures. When we fail to fully commit to the Lord, we suffer blight, mildew and hail (curses), because the Lord desires a fully built house. The Lord is not seeking those who live by half measures, but those who seek to bear the fruit of Christ, unlike the fig and olive trees. When we commit our lives fully to the Lord, then we will bear fruit and experience God’s abundant blessing. 

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me (John 15:4).

We need Jesus in our lives so that we can be changed and guided. The Lord however needs a pure spiritual dwelling, which must become the house (temple) build in our spirit, soul and body. Haggai 2 alludes to the importance of not forgetting when the foundation of the temple was laid. What is the foundation? Jesus Christ of course! We must therefore remember Jesus’ sacrifice, as well as the day that we as living offerings committed our lives to Christ.

In 2 Timothy 2:20-21 we read: In a large house there are articles not of only gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

We are the clay and God is the potter. However, as we grow spiritually, we must get rid of our clay and wood-like qualities, becoming pure and holy (gold and silver), so that we can become noble for God. Clay speaks of a time when we are still being formed and moulded, meaning we are seeking to find our place in the potter's hands. When we build our own house, we remain like clay, not noble, but when we build God’s house, we become like gold and silver.

When you refine clay and wood with fire, it gets burned and becomes of little use. Gold and silver become purer when refined by fire. God’s fire (holiness/purity) refines us, for He desires that we must be refined so that we can become like pure gold and silver.

Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purpose and some for common good? (Romans 9:21) 

We find here the strong emphasis that God is Sovereign and that the clay will either be used for noble or common purposes. We have seen God’s Sovereignty when it comes to sin and sickness. Romans mention that we have a choice. Since we can either choose the curse or the blessing, we can also choose to be noble (useful for the Lord) or common (not useful).

Solomon’s temple was made with gold, and there were no half measures and no expenses spared. We must also build God’s spiritual house with gold, which means that we as His holy living sacrifices can’t live in a lukewarm spiritual state, because then we will retain our clay and wood-like qualities. We need to grow in the fullness of Christ so that we can become like gold and silver spiritually, worthy to build the King’s house.

The Lord is intending to restore all things and the restoration begins in the sons and daughters, for them and this creation, unto His glory. The restoration is not for when we die or when the new heaven or earth arrives. It is for now – we are called to be the sons and daughters who have been bought by the Blood and renewed by the Spirit. We are called to walk the Ancient Ways in His power and authority to be good stewards of this earth, bringing light where there is darkness and establishing His Kingdom in the heart of man.

Yes, the victory has been won by the Lord Jesus, yet the challenge remains for us to bring people into that condition of victory. Under and in the covenant there is victory and so the war and the struggle in the spiritual realm continue to bring the lost into His care.  May we seek Him, yearn for Him and follow His path. May we hold onto His hand and draw strength in His might to overcome.

Is overcoming easy on this path? It requires obedience, submission, persistence, perseverance and dedication to keep walking in and keep talking to His glory. Oh Lord, may the ancient fires burn to light the path to the Ancient of Days. May your fires guide our feet and our ways so that we may stand victorious, in restoration and redemption, here and now as we prepare for the coming of the Lord.

2 Timothy 1: 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.  13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

There is a far greater treasure that is deposited in us when we come to the Lord than any other treasure of the world. It is the treasure of God’s Spirit, His Word and Truth and Presence that He deposits within us. It says in “2 Corinthians 4: 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness”, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

Praise to God, He makes an investment and a deposit the day we come to Him and seek Him as the Lord of lords and King of Kings! Of this wonderful deposit the Scriptures says the following: “Ephesians 1: 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

2 Corinthians 1: 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.  23 I call God as my witness—and I stake my life on it—that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.

2 Corinthians 5: 1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.