The Good Laodicean - A WOMAN WORKS IN THE GARDEN

No. 87 - A WOMAN WORKS IN THE GARDEN
By: John J. Blanchard
August 12, 2006

The end of the world is on many people’s minds as of late. Commentators on the news speak frankly about World War III. Analysts talk about worldwide religious war. Christians increasingly use terms like Armageddon, rapture and Petra. Some Islamic fundamentalists want to help “bring it on!” Even novelists in Hollywood are getting in on the act, weighing in and cashing in. The popular Left Behind series has many people around the world frightened about a horrible end-time scenario. Even movies and television programs are scaring people with their plots and schemes for the end of the world.

If you look around the world and follow the news closely, you will see that a lot of dedicated government officials are trying very hard to keep the lid on things and to solve the problems around the world. We owe them a debt of gratitude, because they are doing an exceptional job. In some cases, even former enemies are working together to help peace prevail, such as the United States with George Bush and Vladimir Putin in Russia. These are two former enemies working together to try to help bring about peace.

Let’s start with this point to ponder: Before we succumb to all the hysteria and add our voices to the din, why don’t we listen to the voice that matters? That voice is the voice of God. Let’s start by turning to Matthew 24, beginning in verse 3.

DECEIVED BY WARS Matthew chapter 24, verse 3: “Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’ And Jesus answered and said to them: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many.’”

Many would come supposedly in Christ’s name and yet deceive many. How would they do so? He goes on in verse 6 to say: “‘And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.’”

Christ said do not be troubled by wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes and pestilences. It is His voice we are trying to listen to today, and that is what He told His disciples. Do not be worried. We have always had wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes and pestilence.

Turn to Luke 21 for the same discourse. Very similar words are used. Luke chapter 21, verse 7: “So they asked Him, saying, ‘Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?’ And He said: ‘Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, “I am He,” and “The time has drawn near.”’”

Certainly we hear that a lot today. The time of the end has drawn near. We are in the time of the end! Over and over we hear those words repeated.

Continuing in the last part of verse 8: “‘“The time has drawn near.” Therefore do not go after them.’” These are Christ’s words here. Do not go after people. Do not follow people who are speaking like that.

Verse 9: “‘But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified…’” Right now the news, movies, television programs, books, booklets, so-called experts, are trying to terrify people with horrible scenarios for the end of the age. Christ said do not be terrified.

I want to say, brethren, that we have always had wars and rumors of wars. An example I often use is picture ourselves as Christians in the first era of the Church, and we are getting hauled into the Roman coliseum. As the Romans let the lions out to devour the Christians, would it be comforting for one of us to tell one of the others, “Be glad you are not in the great tribulation!” Would that make any sense at all?

We have always had wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes and pestilences. Jesus Christ Himself said do not be troubled or terrified by these things. They are not the sign of My coming. They are going to be used as deceptions for My coming. So it is very important here at the end of the age to discover what the true signs are and how to follow them. Then we can understand and take away the fear. God did not give us a spirit of fear but of a sound mind and wisdom.

Therefore, what does this term “end” here mean in Luke 21 and Matthew 24? The term “end” is telos in Greek which means the point, or the goal, or the set limit; figuratively the result for immediate prophetic purposes. In other words, there is a limit of time that God has set, and you will have wars and rumors of wars right up until the end. But there is a limit of time set, and there are true signs and wonders to mark off to know where we are in the course of history vis-à-vis Christ’s return.

We need to listen very carefully to God’s word. We need to take a pause here in time. Take a deep breath and relax. Listen to the Shepherd’s voice, for Jesus Christ speaks to us through His word. But we have to let Him talk to us. Get rid of the fear, the anxiety and the preconceived notions and listen to our Shepherd. If we do have ears to hear, His word will tell us that to believe that the world is doomed to destruction, is to deny what Jesus Christ and God the Father have accomplished so far in history and what they intend to complete very soon now! We do not want to be in a state of denial what the Great God has been working toward now for a long, long time.

THE GOD OF THIS WORLD Back in the recesses of time before Adam, the earth was a horrible place! Satan was the god of this world (god with a little “g”). You can read for yourself in II Corinthians 4:4 that he is, indeed, the god of this world. He ruled a planet that was in total ruins. He had devastated and wasted the surface of the planet earth. It was in a wild state of chaos. There was no love or light left on the earth. No truth existed here. It was inhabited by strange and vicious-looking creatures that we call dinosaurs and man-like creatures (but not Adamic man) and also lots of demons. That is what inhabited the earth. The earth was, indeed, a waste place. We do not know all the details, but we know some of the key facts as to how the earth became a wasted place.

Turn, if you would, to Ezekiel chapter 28:11. “Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, “Thus says the Lord God…”’” You will see on the news a lot of talk today in Lebanon about the cities of Tyre and Sidon that are under assault by the Israelis. Do not be confused. This king of Tyre is not speaking of a human being here. This king of Tyre, as you will see, is a type of Satan the devil.

Continuing in the last part of verse 12 of Ezekiel 28: “‘“Thus says the Lord God, ‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God…”’”’ The king of Tyre (the physical man) did not come along on the scene until a couple of thousand years after the garden of Eden story in Genesis. Of course, the town that is now called Tyre in Lebanon is full of physical people. We are not talking here about the one individual with the seal of perfection. You will see as we read on that this is a description of Satan as a type of a kingdom run by the king of Tyre.

Verse 13: “‘“‘You were in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub…’”’” Now it becomes very clear that this is Satan, one of the two anointed cherubs over the throne of God.

Verse 14: “‘“‘You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones.’”’” That means God destroyed his position as a covering cherub.

Verse 17: “‘“‘Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, that they might gaze at you.’”’” This is speaking of a future time.

Here we see Satan, a covering cherub at the throne of God, millions or billions of years ago (who knows how many) who was eventually cast down to the ground (the earth), for he turned against the very God. He had sinned within. This is what happened to Satan a long time ago.

Turn to Luke chapter 10 please. This was after Christ had sent out the seventy in His name to do work. Verse 17: “Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.’ And He said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’” That is a description of his fall from the throne of grace (the throne of God in heaven) down to the earth. It is the same thing we read about in Ezekiel 28.

Continue reading Luke 10:18-20. He said the really great thing here is you are registered as some of the saints from this point if you hold fast. You are registered and your names are listed in heaven as certain ones that the Father and I are using. But the point here is that they were marveling that the demons had to obey them. Christ said this is nothing. I was there when Satan was cast to the earth like lightning. Who knows, it could have been billions of years ago. Satan left the throne of God. He came to this earth and was the ruler over this earth. He ruined it totally! He totally ruined the earth. It was tohu and bohu (waste and void). It was a destroyed place. Christ is saying here we are putting him on the run! This is part of our plan to defeat this horrible being, and rejoice that you have a part in it.

Satan still had access to heaven, but he did not have his position there anymore. He did have access to go back to heaven and accuse the people God was using. He accused the people of the earth before God. He had been punished for sinning. That standard is God’s standard for all of us. Therefore, Satan had the right, as the god of this world, to go back to the throne and say, look, so and so is a sinner. So and so is sinning. He accuses them and then says to God You have to punish them like You punished me. What’s fair is fair. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, as they say.

Let’s get some proof that he did have access to go to heaven and accuse. Turn to Job chapter 1. There is a very interesting little event here that we often read over. Job chapter 1, verse 6: “Now there was a day when the sons of God…” Satan was considered a son of God. “…came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, ‘From where do you come?’ So Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.’”

In the oldest book in the Bible, which is the Book of Job, we see a description of Satan coming before the throne of God and telling God I have been walking back and forth on the earth. If you read the whole story, he goes on to say I see this Job down there, and I want to go after him. I will prove to you that Job will sin. That is the gist of the story.

If you would turn to Luke chapter 22, we will see corroboration that Satan has the authority to accuse. Luke chapter 22, verse 31: “And the Lord said, ‘Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat.’” This is Jesus Christ talking to Peter, one of the principal apostles. “‘But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.’”

We see that Christ turned to Peter and said Satan is after you, and he has asked to sift you like wheat. He has asked to destroy you! There is only one way Satan can do that. If a person has sinned, he has the right, as the god of this world, to go after them. Without God’s protection and help, we are in big trouble when we find ourselves in that spot. Unfortunately, all of us sin so all of us have had the dubious honor of having Satan accuse us before the throne of God. That is not, of course, the end of the story. We are going to see what happens here as Jesus Christ and God the Father work toward the ultimate defeat of Satan.

Let’s continue here in the same vein of thought by going to Revelation chapter 12. After Jesus Christ’s resurrection, Satan was cast down to the earth permanently. He could not go back and forth anymore. We will read that story right here beginning in verse 7. Read Revelation 12:7-11.

Here we see a description of Satan being cast to the earth, and hear what happens in heaven when this occurs as we read verse 12 of Revelation 12. “‘Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.’”

From Jesus Christ’s resurrection Satan knew he had very little time to try to defeat God. We have used that time up, about two thousand years now. When Satan was finally cast out of heaven, there was great rejoicing in heaven, because the angels were telling one another we finally got this guy out of heaven! He kept trying to accuse us and get us to go bad like the rest of the demons. He is kicked out, and he is gone for good, but woe to those poor inhabitants of the earth! And especially woe to our brethren in the Church down there who now have to deal with this horrible, evil being.

In a couple of phases God the Father and Jesus Christ have been defeating Satan for a long time. He once had a position at the throne of God. He lost that position, but he is still god of this world. He still is persecuting the world and still causing wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes and pestilence. But God said as We get a Son (that perfect Man resurrected), we can now lock that demon down there, and he at least cannot come up to heaven anymore. His turf, you might say (his power to rule greater and greater areas) has been shrinking for a long time. He is down to one last speck of dust in the universe, and that is the earth. He is the god of this one speck of dust.

This is a huge accomplishment of God! To get Satan’s power and influence out of heaven and out of the throne area of God and down to this little speck in the universe is a huge accomplishment! There is one huge problem though. This earth was designated billions and billions of years ago to be God’s future throne for the whole universe. This will become the place where God’s throne will be for the rest of eternity! That is the place Satan still has in his grasp. God cannot tolerate evil anywhere in His kingdom, so God will get Satan out of this last little bit of turf that he rules. He has been working on it now through the Church for six thousand years. That is where we start telling the story about Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. Turn back to the Book of Genesis.

A CHANCE TO REPLACE SATAN Turn to Genesis chapter 2, verse 7: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.”

We see in Genesis God formed Adam of the dust of the ground, and we to this very day (all humanity) are basically dirt. We are composed of dirt, water and air. That is why when we die we go back to dust. But He told Adam you will have charge over My garden. On this earth, what was totally devoid of light and truth (a waste place), God created a beautiful little area called the Garden of Eden. There He put the man. He told him to tend this place. The ultimate goal is to make this place a beautiful place that will expand over the whole world and kick Satan out. We will have a perfect government, and you will replace Satan! That is ultimately what Adam’s future would have been. But Satan knew that, and he wanted to destroy God’s plans to have a beautiful place (the Garden of Eden). He wanted to destroy man made in the image and likeness of God who would replace him as a son of God.

Remember back in Job Satan was called a son of God. Adam and Eve had a chance to be sons and daughters of God. They were going to replace him. Eden means the region of Adam’s home. It means to be soft and pleasant and to live voluptuously. Beth Eden means a house of pleasure. So God was building a family and a house of pleasure (a wonderful place for mankind to live).

In the Garden of Eden there was a perfect environment. It was the perfect environment to nurture and care for this little budding human family, both spiritually and physically. Physically we know there was everything necessary to survive. But spiritually there was also light and truth. The world may have been very dark, but right there in Eden there was light and truth, as well as food and water.

We can see that God had started something big here. God is not a failure, ever! Satan wants to stop God, but God is always bent on success. Satan thought he had ultimately thwarted God’s plans when he did what? We do not have to read the story in Genesis 3. We are all very familiar with how the serpent seduced Eve and got her to take of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Once he had done that, he had corrupted Adam and Eve and ruined the Garden of Eden for God. Those beings, made in His image and likeness, had now let sin enter them. Now they were in the same state Satan was in! They had to be cast out!

Satan was cast away from God’s throne when sin was found in him. Now God was trying to develop a kingdom starting with the Garden of Eden. Once sin entered into that Garden, He had to cast out Adam and Eve. Satan was laughing and thought I have thwarted God! But in his ignorance and folly he soon found out it was only a temporary delay as God’s plan marched forward toward his eventual defeat. God is, indeed, going to build a family to replace Satan and his demons.

SATAN HAD TO DEFEAT EVERY HUMAN Let’s read about God’s fascinating decree to Satan in Genesis chapter 3. Read verse 14-15. What is this decree? It is a binding edict! It is a rule of law. They are the rules of engagement in the battle in the war between God and Satan, between good and evil. In essence, God was telling Satan you corrupted the dust of the earth that I had created in My image and likeness. If that is the way you want to fight, We will fight fire with fire. You must now always lick the dust of the earth. You must always defeat every human being who comes along. You must make every human being sin and thereby be disqualified from replacing you.

Satan had his job cut out for him. He had to get every human being to sin and be disqualified. He and his demons busily set about the work of defeating God through man. That cursed turned out to be huge because there was not just one man and one woman. They kept coming! The dust kept coming. Human beings kept coming along. First there were a few, then hundreds, then thousands, then millions, then billions! Those demons and Satan are very busy trying to defeat all of us.

Knowing that they had to defeat every single person, what happened? Two thousand years ago they failed. God finally sent a pile of dust that could live an entire life without sin, and that was Jesus Christ. That is why in Revelation 12 it said he knows his time is short. He had to lick the dust every time successfully, and it came about that he lost. He tried everything with Jesus Christ. He tempted Him in Matthew 4 with everything. I will give you these kingdoms! Fall down and worship me! Make bread. Protect Yourself from me. You don’t have to suffer. He tried everything to get Jesus Christ to sin, and he failed. Even the most hideous death you could design was not enough to get Jesus Christ to sin. From that point forward, Satan knew he only had a little bit of time.

SATAN PREVENTS GOD’S GOVERNMENT FROM FORMING There is only one way left to defeat God and that is preventing the rest of the government from coming together that will replace Satan and the demons. Jesus Christ is the King, so He replaces the bad king. He is the God with the big “G”, and He is going to replace the god with the little “g”. But a government has many people involved. It has many positions. They have to be filled by the saints that we read about in Luke who were registered. That is why Jesus Christ said rejoice that your names are registered in heaven as some of those who have a chance to replace those demons. That is why I am giving you power over those demons. I want you to go out and trample on them. I started doing this when the Father and I kicked Satan away from the throne of God a long, long time ago.

Therefore Jesus Christ and God the Father have been very, very busy defeating Satan. We must constantly remind ourselves that God is going to win, and we want to be on the winning side.

GOD IS A FARMER So what did God the Father and Jesus Christ decide to do with the dust of the ground? Once they had kicked Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, God said I will farm the earth Myself. Instead of having Adam tend the garden with Eve, a helpmate, I will send a second Adam, My Son. Together We will farm the earth, and I will make another bride (another Eve) for My Son. That bride (the Church) will help Him tend the garden (the earth). We will get rid of Satan and his demons once and for all.

Can we corroborate the fact that God the Father and Jesus Christ are in the farming business? We certainly can. Turn to James chapter 5. Speaking to the brethren (the Church) we are told here through James in verse 7: “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”

We have to recognize that God the Father is a farmer. He has to wait for the earth to produce a crop. The fall rains produce a spring crop, and that spring crop is the first fruits. Then there is another series of rains which come in the spring, and that is for the fall crop. That is the innumerable multitude. It is easy to see. You can study it on your own or listen to some of our other sermons or read some of our booklets, but you will see that God is, indeed, a farmer. He is a very successful farmer.

The early rain is the Old Testament, and the latter rain is the New Testament. It comes together for a crop for God. Isaiah 55, verse 8: “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth…’”

This word and this rain is considered doctrine by God. It is His thoughts, it is His doctrines, it is His truth. And He says, “‘…so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.’”

Jesus Christ and God the Father said we will send the former rain and the latter rain, and We will have a crop, and God is a farmer.

Continue reading Isaiah 55:12-13. You are seeing here one of the signs. One of the true signs and wonders sent by God is His truth that comes in the form of the early rain and the latter rain that you are looking at right in front of you, the Bible. This is a sign from God. It is one of the true signs that Jesus Christ and God the Father are working diligently to defeat our enemy, Satan, and bring peace, light and truth to this earth.

God determined He needed a second Adam to dress and keep the garden, so He sent Jesus Christ. God determined that He would succeed through Eve. There is a promise that He would succeed through Eve and through her seed. Remember in Genesis 3:15 God said through your seed I will bruise the serpent’s head. He will bruise Your heel, but You (through the woman’s seed) will destroy him. Let’s read this second decree of God by continuing in Genesis chapter 3. It is a very interesting set of scriptures. It lays the ground work for how God the Father and Jesus Christ will defeat Satan.

Let’s start reading again in Genesis 3:15. “‘And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.’ To the woman He said: ‘I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.’”

This, brethren, is a sign of what would happen. We see it physically in life. It is hard to rear children and to bear children. It is difficult to bring forth fruit. But God is talking about something bigger. The human family is just a type of what God is doing spiritually through the family of man.

Continue in verse 17 of Genesis 3 and read to verse 19. Yes, mankind has had a difficult time supporting their families. Mankind has had a difficult time working the ground. He is continually fighting off drought, fighting off too much rain, fighting off insects, fighting off weeds and thorns. But spiritually we have been involved in another type of garden in which God is trying to bear fruit, as it said in James 5 and Isaiah 55. It has been difficult, but God is going to win as a patient farmer and wait for the crop to come in. This is a wonderful mystery to understand, and it gives us hope. Now we are looking at the correct signs that God has sent to determine where we are in the space of time relating to Jesus Christ’s return.

The seed was indeed carried to term. If you were to go back and study the genealogy in the Bible, you would see that Eve had descendants. Adam and Eve had descendants right on down through to modern times. They became the family of man. I have heard it said, if you were to go out to the seventieth cousin, you would be related to every man, woman and child on earth!

ISRAEL AS A WOMAN So mankind has carried the seed (the genealogy, the genes) from Adam and Eve, but within that family of man there was a specific sub family. They were used by God to carry a specific set of genes to bring forth that Child who became Jesus Christ and to go on to bring us the kingdom of God. It is a wonderful story.

Let’s go to Genesis chapter 12 and read a little bit of the covenant that God made with Abram. Genesis 12, verse 1: “Now the Lord had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’”

Through this sub family (this little family that started with one man called the father of the faithful, Abram who became Abraham), God said We will make a blessing for all the families of the earth. Of course, that is Jesus Christ. If you were to go back and check it, the genealogy goes all the way through Abram, back of course to Eve. We can trace that back. It is in your Bible. We are not going to do that this morning but just touch on it here and there.

Let’s go to Matthew chapter 1. We are going to start it and then skip some verses. Verse 1: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham…” If you were to read all verses on this one begat that one and so on and come all the way down to verse 16 we read: “And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abram to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.” So the genealogy is there. We know that God succeeded in this promise to put enmity between Eve’s offspring and Satan and his offspring. Right on down through to Abraham that battle continued through the prophets, through the apostles and through Jesus Christ. That woman, Eve, is characterized by the congregation of Israel who became, in essence, a woman. A congregation (or church or group) became a type of a woman that God was working through to bring the earth the Savior, Jesus Christ. Revelation chapter 12 explains this to us.

In order to put the story together we have to go here a little, there a little and get the truth here and there in the Bible. We need to put the whole story together. Revelation chapter 12 tells us another true sign and a wonder that we can watch for. It is a miraculous sign.

Revelation 12, verse 1: “Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.” You can read some of our literature or hear some of the sermon audio tapes describing what this sun and moon represent. We know it is Jesus Christ and the Church, but it is a very interesting story.

Continue reading Revelation 12:2-5. Obviously that Child is Jesus Christ. The woman was His congregation who had worked all through those years. It was the promise to Eve that her seed would eventually destroy Satan. The ultimate final woman to give physical birth, of course, was Mary, but she was of the genealogy.

We understand what genes are today. The human genome has been mapped. We understand that those are the genes that go all the way back through Abraham to Eve. So what God did through Mary was miraculous, but we are not to worship Mary because that work had gone on for a long time by the woman (the congregation of Israel) to give birth to Jesus Christ. That is why there is a sign in heaven of this woman with twelve stars, meaning the twelve tribes of Israel. They were working to give birth to Jesus Christ over about a four thousand year period.

This miraculous sign is a sign of God’s success. The woman bore fruit for God, and ultimately Satan will be crushed because of it. Now we can better understand how God is a farmer and works through the dust of the ground in a special season. Also we understand how the woman kept bearing physical seed (humanity) that Satan had to keep trying to defeat. Eventually there was one who went through life perfectly without sin and fault, and that was Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ Eve was successful, and God’s promise came to pass. It was a lot of work down through the patriarchs, down through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and down through the congregation of Israel.

A CONGREGATION FOR A PURPOSE If you were to look up the word “congregation,” it is a very interesting and fascinating term. It means called out people, to be God’s assembly or family, to keep specific seasonal appointments with God. Those seasonal appointments are God’s holy days. They represent what God is doing over the vast ions of time.

Congregation comes from the Hebrew word “moed” which means appointment, a fixed time or season, specifically a festival (meaning a holy day), conventionally a year. We reenact these holy days every year in advance showing that God is working toward an ultimate goal that He is going to succeed. Each year we go through the holy days to represent in advance what God is successfully doing. Satan has his counterfeit holy days out there. Christmas, Easter and those types of things are his holy days to take people’s attention away from the true holy days mentioned in the Bible.

When we follow those holy days, we see that the word “moed” goes on to mean by implication an assembly as convened for a definite purpose. The congregation was convened for a definite purpose. It is technically the congregation, but by extension the place of meeting, also a signal as appointed beforehand as a sign. These are God’s signs to know what God has done. Through the women, Eve, down through her descendants to the birth of Christ we saw signs. Then from that point forward there are more signs.

Congregation also comes from the word edah, which means a stated assembly and specifically a family. God is working through a family. He is working through Abraham’s family. Through his family all the world will be blessed! We owe ancient Israel and the family that came from Abraham a tremendous debt of gratitude for the effort that they went through against all odds. Preserving the former rain for us and preserving the holy days for us, they did not do it perfectly. They sinned. They did get punished from time to time. They bore a terrific price in order to be the human family and the human nation that God would use to bring all of us Jesus Christ and the former rain that we know as the Bible.

With the birth of Christ, that was only the first phase. It was the most crucial phase, obviously, for Jesus Christ gave us the blood that could wipe away sin. His blood allows us to deal with the sin that Satan would inspire mankind to do. Satan tempts mankind to commit sin, and then he turns around and accuses us of sinning. That blood allows us to overcome sin and defeat Satan. That is the most crucial step in God’s plan. Without a savior, nothing else can happen.

With a savior we only have a king. We do not have the rest of the government yet that would replace Satan’s demons. So there is a second phase to the woman’s work, but it is a spiritual phase. For now the second Adam (Jesus Christ) works spiritually. Overcoming sin is a spiritual effort. He had to live a perfect life. So the spiritual vision of the first woman is the Church. That woman grew out of the first woman (the congregation of Israel). All of the apostles were Jewish. All of them were part of the twelve tribes. We know that from Acts the first three thousand converts were all Jews and of the ancient tribes of Israel. It expanded from there eventually. As Paul was given the directive to graft in non-Jews who could be part of the family of God, they would be part of the eventual ruling body called the registered saints.

This Church was to be a bride. The second woman has a remarkable work to do. She has been doing it for two thousand years, unbeknownst and unseen to most of mankind. You cannot see this woman as such. We know she is there. We know the Church exists. We know it has been working for two thousand years.

Turn to Revelation chapter 12 again. Continuing where we left off earlier, we will continue with verse 5. “She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.” That is Jesus Christ and His resurrection.

Verse 6: “Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.”

After Christ’s resurrection this woman in the form of the congregation of Israel (and the ultimate fulfillment in Mary giving birth to Jesus Christ) fled into the wilderness. The Church in the spiritual wilderness (the waste part of the earth), like the Garden of Eden, was in existence in one spot in a wasted wilderness of the world. The Church fled into the wilderness and was nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. Those are not one thousand two hundred and sixty literal days. If you ever get the time to listen to the series Seasons of the Church, you would see that.

Today we have to focus on this woman’s work, for during that time which represents nearly two thousand years, the woman worked very hard doing spiritual things to do what? You cannot take away the sins of the world. The Church cannot take away the sins of the world. That was Jesus Christ’s job. It is to replace Satan’s government and prevent the destruction of the world in order to have a beautiful Millennium here when Satan is locked away. That is the job of the Church.

It is also the job of the Church to bring the latter rain, which is the New Testament and the teachings that you are hearing right now. This is the latter rain to help the innumerable multitude eventually bear fruit, and we are almost there, brethren! We have to recognize what the true signs and wonders are and turn away from the false signs and wonders. We need to stop being nervous or terrified as Jesus Christ said about wars and rumors of wars and focus on the spiritual warfare that the Church is involved with. It is the war that will ultimately defeat Satan and all of the demons.

Let’s identify this woman in scripture. We will start in Galatians chapter 4. Read verses 21-25. That is where the law was given to ancient Israel. Ancient Israel worked physically without the spiritual promises that the Church would eventually have. Theirs is a physical symbol (Mount Sinai).

Continuing with verse 25: “…for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children…” Physical Jerusalem is still in bondage. They are still in a physical state, suffering wars and rumors of wars. If you look at Jerusalem today, it is always besieged. Many enemies hate the Jewish people and Israel, but that is the physical fulfillment. God will ultimately deliver them in a remarkable way. Both the physical promises to ancient Israel and the spiritual promises to the Church and the whole world will be fulfilled. That is why Mr. Herbert Armstrong used to so often say so much of the Bible is dual. It is written to physical Israel and spiritual Israel.

Let’s continue in verse 26 of Galatians 4: “…but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.” There is another Jerusalem. The Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. The mother of us all is a spiritual Jerusalem. It is a spiritual version of what we see on the earth today. This is a woman who is the mother of us all.

Verse 27: “For it is written: ‘Rejoice, O barren, you who do not bear! Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband.’” Eventually the whole world will be brought into the kingdom of God. It is a remarkable thing that is about to take place. Ancient Israel will go on to do wonderful physical things.

Verse 28: “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.” So within that ancient congregation of Israel there were children of promise carrying the spirit of God (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, King David and right on down to Jesus Christ).

Continue reading Galatians 4:29-31. That is not to say that they are under some sort of curse. That is a misunderstanding. The Jews and ancient Israel and their descendants are not under a curse of that type. Eventually salvation is for everybody. Jesus Christ was Jewish, if you recall, and it is through Him that salvation has come to the world. That promise of blessing to all the families of the earth given to Abraham will be fulfilled. It is just that within the physical work of the congregation of Israel, there are a few called out and chosen as patriarchs and prophets and who were given the Spirit of God. They will be among the registered saints.

After Jesus Christ’s work as a Man on this earth in His perfect life, there would be another woman which would have a larger number of registered saints who would go on to replace Satan’s government. It says in Isaiah 9, eventually that government will expand and grow forever and ever! Through a series of resurrections, nearly everybody who has ever lived will become part of the kingdom of God! It is a beautiful story, and we cannot go through every detail now. But it is wonderful that God will win, and He will win in a very, very big way.

Ephesians chapter 5 describes this woman again. Let’s start in verse 22: “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.” This is not just speaking physically here. The physical family is representative of what God is doing spiritually on the earth.

Verse 23: “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.” The Church is subject to Jesus Christ, as His eventual bride. God is telling us here the way the family should run (which is a type of the Church). The woman is subject to her husband. This brings peace to the family.

When we fight against Jesus Christ, there is enmity between us and the Savior. We have to get those sins forgiven. Within the family when there is enmity between husband and wife, it is a physical type of when we sin (as part of the Church of God) and need Christ’s blood and forgiveness. That is what He is saying here.

Continue in verse 25: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her…” When it is working well, husbands love the wives and wives respect their husbands. Then we have a relationship like Jesus Christ does to the Church.

Verse 27: “…that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” This is why on our wedding day, the wife is so beautifully adorned in a white gown. The wedding is such a wonderful time. You would never see the bride walking up with a big ink spot on a white dress or a big tear in the veil. No, it is a beautiful garment. After the wedding husbands like to see their wives look good and have nice clothes. They have decent things for them and try to provide for them. That is what Christ said is a good thing because that is what He is trying to do for His bride. He is trying to take care of us, clean us up and get rid of every spot and blemish.

Continue reading Ephesians 5:28-30. This is crucial, brethren, to understand this.

Read verses 30-33. The great mystery here is that the Church as a woman is flesh of Jesus Christ’s flesh and bone of His bones. The body of Christ has had the same head for two thousand years. Jesus Christ is the head of the body. But the body keeps changing as the dust of the ground bears fruit. People are born, are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit. As each generation dies off and the other one comes, this body lives on with the same mind. This has happened for the last two thousand years. Jesus Christ has been running it, but new people compose it. We are filling the same bodily role as flesh of His flesh and bone of His bones that Peter, James and John did two thousand years ago! It is a great mystery!

This woman is the woman that Jesus Christ is using as His help-meet. It is His spiritual version of Eve! He is the spiritual version of Adam. That is why I Corinthians 15 says a new Adam was given to the earth, Jesus Christ. The Church is the spiritual version of Eve. This work that God started with the first physical woman (the congregation of Israel) is now continuing on through a woman that is essentially related or the same as the physical woman because we are all human beings that are physical. But it has a spiritual component, the Holy Spirit. This woman is a spiritual woman working as a help-meet with Adam in the garden, but this time the dirt for the garden is us!

There is no Garden of Eden that is physical. It is a spiritual garden in which we give Jesus Christ our flesh. Isn’t our flesh the dust of the earth? We read that in Genesis. Therefore, the dirt, the water and the air that compose our physical bodies we turn over to Jesus Christ at baptism. We say now it is Yours. It becomes His flesh and His dirt. In that dirt He wants to bear fruit, thirty, sixty or hundredfold. Look at the parable of the wheat. That is His garden. He is tending it. We are the woman helping Him. We will not go into that in great detail today, but we are the dirt in the garden that Jesus Christ and the Father are using. That is why the Father is called a farmer in James 5.

BEGOTTEN OF GOD If you would please, turn to I John chapter 5 and you will see how this seed is passed on from generation to generation in the Church. I John 5, beginning in verse 1: “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born…” This is a mistranslation. It should read “begotten”. I will explain a little more as we go along. “…[is begotten] of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.” In other words, whoever is begotten of God should love his brothers and sisters in the Church who are also begotten of God because we are all part of the same woman. We are all part of the flesh of His flesh and bone of His bones. That is part of that great mystery.

Verse 2: “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.” When we love the rest of the family (the rest of the woman, the rest of the bride), we are showing that we are all part of the bride. We are all begotten of God.

Verse 3: “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” We observe His commandments by showing that we love Him. “And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is [begotten] of God overcomes the world.” We overcome by the blood of Christ and working to let Him use our dirt. “And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith.” You cannot see faith. Faith is the substance of things unseen, Hebrews 11 tells us.

This term “begotten” which is the correct term, comes from the Greek gennao. This means to procreate of the father, by extension of the mother, to regenerate an assemblage of family or a crowd. God is building a family to be the bride of Christ. He is not finished yet, and that is why we are not born again. We are part of the same body of Christ that started two thousand years ago at the first Pentecost. We have the same mind (the same head of the body), but the components of the body (the different people) are changing from generation to generation. It will not all be born again until the resurrection when Jesus Christ comes at His second coming.

Between the first Pentecost and today, we are begotten. It is a form of pregnancy. We are carrying the seed like the promise to Eve. The seed (her offspring) would carry the seed of Jesus Christ. We are carrying the seed of the Father through Jesus Christ down through the apostles. There is proof. Turn to I Corinthians chapter 4. Actually there are many scriptures, but we only have time to look at one more. You could do an interesting study on that when you have time.

In I Corinthians 4:14 listen to how Paul talks about those that he had baptized so that they could receive the Spirit. “I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you.” He says I am talking to you as my children now.

Verse 15: “For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” Paul says if I baptized you, you have received the Spirit because I laid hands on you. God honored that and sent His Spirit. You carry the seed.

Ten thousand people could teach you, but there is only one who helped you get begotten. That is the wonderful thing about baptism.

Continuing in I Corinthians 4, verse 16: “Therefore I urge you, imitate me. For this reason I have sent Timothy…” He goes on to explain.

This whole concept here of the seed being passed from generation to generation because of the laying on of hands in baptism is God honoring a request by someone with the Spirit to pass that Spirit on to a succeeding generation of the faith. Timothy was his son in the faith. That is why Mr. Herbert Armstrong used to always say in a way, you are all my children in the faith because you came into the truth because of me. He was not saying something strange or weird. It is no different from what Paul was saying here.

That seed has been passed on from the Father to His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and from Jesus Christ to the apostles at the first Pentecost. Then it has been passed from the apostles on down in succession, using the gospel of God and the Holy Spirit, to our very day for two thousand years. This woman has been carrying the spiritual seed of God in a type of pregnancy.

Turn to Isaiah chapter 54. This requires faith, brethren. Faith is the substance of things not seen. Isaiah 54, beginning in verse 1: “‘Sing, O barren, You who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, You who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate…’” Physical Israel is still desolate right now, but eventually so many physical people will come into the knowledge of the truth. It is going to be beautiful. “‘For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman,’ says the Lord.” This is the Church.

Continue reading Isaiah 54:2-6. The promises to ancient Israel and the Church come together here, brethren.

Verse 6: “‘For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful wife when you were refused,’ says your God. For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you.’ says the Lord, your Redeemer.”

God will remember His first woman (ancient Israel) and fulfill His promises to them. He will remember the second woman (spiritual Israel), and He will keep His promises to them. He will remember both physical and spiritual promises in a remarkable way. Those are the signs and the wonders we should be keeping an eye out for.

Turn to Isaiah chapter 66. The temple is another description of the Church, the body of Christ and the woman. Verse 6: “The sound of noise from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the Lord, who fully repays His enemies! ‘Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day?’” No, it has taken two thousand years now to get to this point since Jesus Christ was born.

Continue in the last half of verse 8: “‘Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children.’” This is speaking of spiritual Zion. “‘Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?’ says the Lord.” God is going to bring this woman to delivery. “‘Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?’ says your God.”

Verse 10: “‘Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you who love her; rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her; that you may feed and be satisfied with the consolation of her bosom, that you may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.’ For thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. Then you shall feed; on her sides shall you be carried, and be dandled on her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.’” You shall be comforted in spiritual Jerusalem is what that is saying. Abraham’s promise from God will be fulfilled, and all the earth will be blessed because of the work God has been doing for nearly six thousand years. The effect, essentially, will be seen at the resurrection. Turn back a few pages to Isaiah chapter 60 where it talks about the registered saints.

Isaiah chapter 60, beginning in verse 1: “Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you…” This is speaking of His registered saints. “…and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” This can only be the resurrection of the saints.

Verse 4: “‘Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side. Then you shall see and become radiant, and your heart shall swell with joy; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you…’” In the King James Version it is correctly rendered “converted”.

The abundance of the world will be converted when they see the resurrection of the saints. All religious war will cease. All religious conflict will cease, for the world will know the truth of God. A true sign and wonder will actually have passed. That will be one of the most amazing signs and wonders of all time, the resurrection of the saints.

BEARING FRUIT The woman (the soil of God, the garden of God) will have born fruit. The Church is the soil, and God is the farmer. Turn to I Corinthians chapter 3. Beginning in verse 5: “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.” Because God is the farmer.

Continue in verse 7 of I Corinthians 3: “So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field…” (the Church, the woman, it is the dirt God is using, it is His field) “…you are God’s building.” (His temple) “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

We need to bear fruit for God. It goes on to say in verse 12: “Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.” At the resurrection we are going to know who has developed character of gold, silver and precious jewels and who wasted their calling. It is a wonderful calling to have, but it carries a lot of responsibility. Unfortunately today the Church is in a very sorry state.

We have been overrun by evil, but God says He will win. The scriptures tell us He will win. It is a matter of faith. Do we believe Him? Satan has made a royal mess of the Church. It is all broken up and full of accusations. It is full of lawsuits, innuendo, and harsh judgments between brethren and between Church groups, but Satan had a lot of help. We let him use our dirt to bear fruit for him, but God wants to reverse this now. If we want to listen to the Shepherd’s voice and the words that we just read in His Bible, we will do something about it.

HELP OTHERS BEAR FRUIT Turn to Isaiah chapter 58. It is often called the Fasting Chapter, but now with all that we have heard and understand, we can get more out of this than we ever did before. Isaiah 58, beginning in verse 6: “‘Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens…’” These are the burdens that Satan put on the world. Undo the burdens. “‘…to let the oppressed go free…’” Satan has oppressed the world and taken it captive. He has now taken much of the Church captive. “‘…and that you break every yoke?’”

Verse 7: “‘Is it not to share your bread with the hungry…’” We want to share it with a hungry world, but we also want to share it with a hungry Church. The Church is undergoing a famine. That is the famine we should be looking for and not a famine physically.

Continuing in verse 7 of Isaiah 58: “‘…and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out…’” Many have been cast out. We need to find them and bring them back. “‘…when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh?’” The others in the body of Christ in this era of the Church are our own flesh, for we are all flesh of His flesh and bones of His bones.

Verse 8: “‘Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, “Here I am.” If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell in.’”

It is a remarkable story! God is winning. We have to look for the right signs and wonders. He says that the physical destruction of the earth will cease, and the earth will become a beautiful place but also in the Church. The Church will once again sing God’s praises and be a wonderful light to the entire world. Are we listening to the Shepherd’s voice?

Now we can go back to Revelation chapter 3 and look at the poor, wretched, naked, blind and miserable. This is speaking to Laodicea after He calls them the poor, blind, wretched, naked and miserable. We should be trying to help them right now. Revelation 3, verse 18: “‘I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Brethren, the true signs listed in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 are the signs and wonders of God’s Church. What is He doing with the Church? Let’s go to Matthew 24. Matthew 24, verse 15: “‘Therefore when you see the “abomination of desolation”, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place’ (whoever reads, let him understand), ‘then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.’” The holy place is the Church, brethren. It is the temple of God.

Continue in verse 17: “‘Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant…’” Now we know what this is speaking of. “‘…and to those who are nursing babies in those days!’” This refers to those who are nursing those who are carrying the seed of God.

Continuing with Matthew 24, verse 20: “‘And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.’” What the flesh of God is going through now (the Spirit of God, the Church, the woman) is a unique tribulation that has never occurred before. If you were to go to II Thessalonians chapter 2, you would see that there is an evil personage (Satan the devil) sitting as God in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. He is getting the Church to speak false signs and wonders of destruction. Continue on, and you will see that spoken of here.

Verse 22: “‘And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. Then if anyone says to you, “Look, here is the Christ!” or “There!” do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.’” It says false signs and wonders, brethren, and each claiming Christ is working here; we are the body of Christ; we are the spear point of Christ’s work. Many will be deceived with false signs and wonders. Brethren, we must not be deceived by them!

Go to Luke chapter 23, verse 26: “Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, “Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed.”’”

Brethren, there is a time coming when some in the Church will say I wish I had never been called! I wish I had never been begotten! We still have time to reverse our fate! We still have time to do the work of God and be those people that can relieve this world of the physical suffering and destruction that Satan the enemy of God wants to bring upon the world.