The almond tree was called
“the hastening tree” by the Hebrews because of the fact that it budded
early, even before the cold winter had properly finished. God said
to Jeremiah that He would, “hasten my word to perform it.” This symbol
is shown to us in Numbers chapter seventeen. Only God’s anointed one had
a rod that blossomed, the rebels of Israel were made to look barren, humiliated
and counterfeit when Aaron’s rod alone blossomed. Only God’s own
Son has the power of Life in resurrection (Romans 1:4). He alone can bring
life and blossoming to the nations in the Millennium Reign. God is hastening
towards that time when the Divine Rod of an Almond Tree will bring about
a transformation to our planet. He will first break down, and uproot the
entire planet, just as Jeremiah shadowed in his time:
“And the LORD said
unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day
set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull
down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. “
(Jeremiah 1:9,10).
The predictions of the prophets of the Old Testament have partially been fulfilled in the first coming of Jesus Christ, soon the reImagesing prophecies could well be fulfilled - in our lifetimes! “ Yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Hebrews 10:37). “Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry, “ (Habakkuk 2:3). Our Lord Jesus Christ will bring eventual blessing beyond dreams, just as the prophets of Israel foretold. Then Israel will be restored and enter into her greatest period of all, and will be head over all the blessed nations of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
THE ROD OF THE HASTENING TREE.
Jesus Christ was this Rod,
Who came to His own, Israel, but they did not accept Him the first time.
He was to them as a rod of almond tree that DID NOT blossom, a dead old
stick. But Jesus Christ was resurrection and life, and HE was pictured
in their own rod in the ark. The almond tree, a native of Syria and
Palestine, has blossoms rather like a peach tree. Its Hebrew name is "wakeful,
hastening," as it puts forth its blossoms even as early as January or February.
In Eccl. 12:5, it is referred to as illustrative, probably, of the haste
with which old age comes.
"The almond tree bears
its blossoms in the midst of winter, on a naked, leafless stem, and these
blossoms (reddish or flesh-coloured in the beginning) seem at the time
of their fall exactly like white snow-flakes. In this way the almond blossom
is a very fitting symbol of old age, with its silvery hair and its wintry,
dry, barren, unfruitful condition." Jesus Christ takes that which
is “dry,” “barren,” and “unfruitful” and makes it blossom! He alone is
the ROD of the almond tree of our lives and this earth itself. He will
take this old, silver-haired world, battered by thousands of years of sin,
murder, wars and unspeakable inhumanity to man and make the almond blossom
again. A miracle of rebirth or regeneration for this old globe!
Moses was directed to make certain parts of the candlestick for the ark of carved work "like unto almonds" (Ex. 25:33, 34). The rod in the ark tells us that there is a resurrected Man on God’s Almighty Throne in Heaven, and He has “budded and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds” for ALL who will put their trust in Him. He is truly BEAUTY FOR ASHES! (Numbers 17:8).
H.A. Ironside has compared
the Rod of the hastening-tree with the “seething pot” of Jeremiah 1:13:
“ And the word of
the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said,
I see a seething pot; and the face thereof [is] toward the north. “
(Jeremiah 1:13).
Although this refers to Israel who would not receive Jesus Christ, and to their sufferings throughout the ages when they refused to bow before Almighty God, It surely tells us also of our own sufferings on this earth. Here on earth we Christians have our own “seething pot” of persecution, sorrows because of the death of loved ones, broken relationships, sins which overwhelm us, physical decline, fear for the future of those we love and see still lost in sin, and we face our own eventual death. The “seething pot” of the last chapter of Zechariah may be for Israel, but we Christians can know that the Rod of the Almond-tree will stand up for us as He will stand up for them. “The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee” (Zechariah 14:5).
“ For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.” (Zechariah 14:2).
The Jeremiah visions of the
Rod of the Almond-tree and the seething pot speak to us of encouragement
and courage in our own trials. We have not been Raptured yet, we may indeed
have to persevere until our own physical deaths. Yet no matter what our
own seething pot may be, our Rod of the Almond-tree will come one day.
And He is with us in the seething pot. One glorious day we will be with
“all the saints” who will bring this earth and Jerusalem back from the
very pit of disaster. Jesus Christ will reign forever very soon, this is
our strength, let us not be afraid.
“ Fear thou not; for
I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen
thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness.” (Isaiah 41:10).
THE ALMIGHTY REVIVES THE CONTRITE AND
HUMBLE.
One of the most poignant,
tender verses in the Word of God is Isaiah 57:15. The omnipotent
Creator Who inhabits all eternity speaks directly to those who are weak
and weary in sin, sorry and heartbroken at their failure. He says:
“For thus saith the
high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell
in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble
spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of
the contrite ones.”
The One Whose very name and
everything He stands for is HOLY, dwells in two places specifically: the
high and holy place of the ages of ages, the limitless space of the everlasting
stars and planets, and also with every little one of this earth who is
“contrite” remorseful, sorry towards the Holy Lord, with everyone who is
“humble” and has come down from their high-horse of pride. What Love which
would stoop to dwell with us, and never depart:
“Judas saith unto
him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto
us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If
a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and
we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”
(John 14:22-23).
God’s prophetic Word must
cut across all our own plans, all our ambitions and hopes for
a future on this earth. He is bringing His Mighty Son to this earth, He
is taking His Blood-bought Church home. What does it matter what our own
small, and often miserably selfish, plans are? Dear young friends of mine
once spoke of their dislike of my speaking of the Rapture and Christ’s
soon coming. “Don’t say that?” said one. “I am doing a beautiful embroidery
I want to finish, and I have some fruit trees growing. I want to see the
fruit on them in a couple of years!” How unimportant those childish toys
will seem to this girl when she goes to the Holy place which is prepared
for us in glory. Like the teenager who has never given a thought
in years to his once beloved teddy bear, we will leave behind this world
and its toys without a single glance backwards:
“In my father’s house
are many mansions...I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:2).
WE ARE BEING TRANSFORMED.
We are NOT to imagine that
outward forms, rituals and legal obedience will transform us into creatures
fit for the Kingdom of God. We must yield ourselves to a far greater dealing
with God than that! The Life of Christ is within us, God has brought we
believers into a CONVERSION which is converting us into Christ Jesus’ image,
not just taking us to heaven. There is a “righteousness” which is just
the futile effort of man to secure by his own works a character which a
holy God will approve of. But this is not the robe of righteousness
of Revelation 19:8. The garment in Scripture is the symbol of righteousness.
In a bad sense it symbolises self-righteousness, the best that a man can
ethically and morally do, trying to keep the law and rehabilitate himself.
(Isaiah 64:6; Phil. 3:6-8). In a good ethical and moral sense it
is “the righteousness of God” given to all who believe.
The New Testament unfolds
to us the miracles of the covenant of Grace. Law can neither justify a
guilty sinner or sanctify a believer. The Christian life is, in Scofield’s
words, “the out-living of the inliving Christ.” “I am crucified
with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and
the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of
God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
I do not frustrate
the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is
dead in vain.”
The believer is dead to
the law and redeemed from it. He is wholly justified and sanctified by
Grace - it is ALL of God in Christ Jesus. “not under law, but under
grace” - see Romans 6:14; 7:4; Gal. 2:19; 4:4-7; I Tim. 1:8,9.
This quote from Scofield’s
Bible notes, p.1241, gives us warning. The preaching of a legalistic, works-dominated
doctrine is an anathema to the Lord! No man will boast before God of his
good works, either for justification or sanctification:
“The test of the Gospel
is grace. If the message excludes grace, or mingles law with grace as the
means either of justification or sanctification (Gal. 2:21; 3:1-3), or
denies the fact or guilt of sin which alone gives grace its occasion and
opportunity, it is ‘another’ gospel, and the preacher is under the anathema
of God" (Gal. 1:8,9).
WHAT IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD?
We believers are being prepared
for the Kingdom of God, we must have the righteousness of God in order
to be fit for such a holy calling and destiny. What is the righteousness
of God? Is it an attribute of God Himself, or maybe our own characters,
the way we live our lives with God’s help after we are saved? No, it is
neither of these according to Gods’ Word. The righteousness of God is a
Divine Person, CHRIST JESUS is the righteousness of God. He met every demand
of the Law in our place. He has been made by an act of God called imputation
“righteousness” for us. (I Cor. 1:30; James 2:23). Bunyan wrote this in
his day:
“The believer in Christ
is now, by grace, shrouded under so complete and blessed a righteousness
that the law from Mt. Sinai can find neither fault nor diminution therein.
This is that which is called the righteousness of God by faith.”
Like the Kingdom of God the righteousness of God is both in us, and we are in it or HIM! What is positionally ours in Heaven must be outlived in our daily walk In CHRIST. The filling of the Holy Spirit is not some sort of Pentecostal extreme experience which must be avoided at all costs. In misunderstanding we should not imagine that legalism must rule our lives or we will be swept into the extremes of demonic ecstasies. The filling of the Holy Spirit is the filling of our lives with the Lord Jesus Christ’s life and His righteousness. We are to put on the THE NEW MAN! What is the new man which is being transformed by God into the likeness of Christ Jesus? We could look at this “new man” in two ways here:
1. The new man is
the regenerated man, as distinguished from the old man who is lost
in sin
(Romans 6:6). He is the
saved person compared to the unsaved person.
2. The new man is
a partaker of the Divine Nature through the Person of Jesus Christ Himself.
(II Peter 1:4; Col. 3:3,4).
In no sense at all is the new man the old man who is reformed and dusted down, improved and who has turned over a new leaf as to speak. The “new man” is CHRIST formed in the believer. ALL new, no vestige of the old man left! After we are born again we cannot add our own righteousness by merely putting on the outside the “do’s” and “don’t’s” of religiosity. We must be filled with the Life of Christ and cooperate with the One Who is forming the new man in us, progressively.
“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: ‘ (Colossians 1:27).
“...God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” (I John 4:12).
SALVATION IN CHRIST BRINGS A NEW RIGHTEOUS
MAN.
Under the old law a man
could only become righteous by doing righteously, by obeying the law. Under
Grace in the Church Age a man does righteously because he has been created
anew in Christ and has been made righteous. Believers ARE the righteous
in Him already, because Christ is righteous. Now we must be filled with
the Spirit so that we can be conformed to what we already are in glory.
Sharing His Life here on earth. We must “grow in grace.” No, not
INTO Grace, as though we can be saved by the amount of Grace we receive
within. We must grow in the Grace we already have and rest in Christ Jesus’
Life. This is NOT a second receiving of the Holy Spirit, a second added
blessing or something new being added in any way.
The Catholic idea of “graces”
being “infused” to people, and the more graces received make it more possible
that they can be spared from going to Purgatory, has nothing
whatsoever to do with this
“growing in Grace” of II Peter 3:18. We are already saved by Grace
alone, by faith, now we must grow in Grace, by faith. A brief study
of God’s Word can start the reader on a delightful and thrilling study
of their own on this subject. Here I will draw on Bible study notes from
various sources.
1. Grace is the way God deals
with us in this Church Age for salvation (John 1:17).
2. We Church Age believers,
those who are truly saved by Grace alone, are “not under law, but under
grace.” (Romans 6:14).
3. We have been brought
by the Lord Jesus Christ into an amazingly high position, nothing to do
with the works of the flesh, which is shown magnificently in Ephesians
chapter one. Verse 6 says this:
“To the praise of
his grace, wherein he hath made us acceptable in the beloved.”
4. Now we must move on to
more Grace, not more vigorous works of the flesh in the old man, on to
understanding what God is doing with us NOW! God is never-endingly working
to impart to us, and to perfect in us, Christ our Life with corresponding
graces. These have to do with growth, service and giving. We will list
some of these for your own personal study, and examine briefly a few as
well.
GRACE for service:
Romans 12:6; 15:15, 16;
I Cor. 1:3-7; 3:10; 15:10; II
Cor. 12:9,10: Gal. 2:9;
Ephesians 3:7; 8:4 et al:
“ Grace [be] unto
you, and peace, from God our Father, and [from] the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given
you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him,
in all utterance, and [in] all knowledge; Even as the testimony
of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift;
waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: “ ( I Cor. 1:
3-7).
Here we see not the effort
of the old man, but the enrichment by Grace of the servant so that he/she
may have the words to say in testimony, the spiritual gifts needed to serve
and minister to others, and the knowledge of the mysteries of God in Christ
Jesus.
GRACE for growth in our Christian lives:
II Cor. 1:12; Ephesians
4:29; Col. 3:16; 4:6; II Thess. 1:12;
Heb. 4:16; 12:28,29 James
4:6; I Pet. 1:2 et al.
“When he shall come
to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe
(because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. Wherefore
also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of [this]
calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of [his] goodness, and the work
of faith with power.
That the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, according to the grace of our
God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
( II Thess. 1:10-12).
The old man living legally
and religiously to his own glory will NOT be admired “in that day.” No,
the Lord Jesus Christ’s Life received by Grace will be admired in the saints,
He will be glorified in them.
“ Knowing that he which
raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present
[us] with you. For all things [are] for your sakes, that the ABUNDANT
GRACE might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the
inward [man] is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which
is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal
weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen,
but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are
temporal: but the things that are not seen are eternal.”
( II Corinthians 4:14-18).
Note that
the “inward man” is renewed by God “day by day.” His “ abundant grace”
in saving us and sanctifying us will “through the thanksgiving” of multitudes
who have shared Christ’s Life, “redound to the glory of God.” Increasing
and abounding to God’s glory!
SOON IT WILL BE AD 2000.
A new millennium will begin
soon, not just a new year this time. A new century as well, quite a landmark
for this world of troubles and rebellion! As we look back at the
history of the nations it could seem as though utter futility, non-productive
wickedness and meaninglessness ruled supreme! How many times, year after
year, century after century, has mankind made elaborate plans and resolutions
to start afresh and make a better job of this world. They are not different
as the world approaches AD 2000, the world wants to make new millennium
resolutions, plans and promises for a “better world.” But like the mountains
of individuals who make new year resolutions on New Year’s Eve, and who
have broken those resolutions only days later, collective humanity will
soon break their united resolutions for the new millennium. It is all futile
then, really?
NEVER is this world futile,
NEVER. The wickedness and the curse will one day be entirely done away
with, and God is not willing that any should perish from the awesome effects
of Sin and the Fall. Many will not be reconciled to Him, but God has shown
the richness of His mercy towards all.
“...world without
end. For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that
formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not
in vain...” ( Isaiah 45:17,18).
JUDGEMENT MUST COME!
Judgement must come to fulfil
the ultimate and final requirement of our world-view which is a Theistic
view! We know that God is a Divine Person; humans were initially
created in His image, we are also persons. God has personal relationship
with the world of men, He is not just an impersonal Force as the pantheists
of our modern day would have us believe. Our universe is one of responsibility,
freedom to choose and free will versus God’s Will. We can look out on the
world with its imperfections and the seemingly emptiness of the terrifyingly
endlessness of space, and wonder - and demand answers and understanding
of such a moral universe! Pantheism has no answers, atheism has no answers.
The former reduces us to mere things no better than animals, and the latter
reduces us to beings who have no moral dignity and no Judge to make sense
of it all. But God our Heavenly Father has indeed created us, He is REAL,
He has raised us up to sit with Him in the heavenlies ( Ephesians 1:2-4).
How can we come to grips with eternal judgement and the Lake of Fire? Will rights be never righted, will the second death triumph at last over untold millions? Will that make a moral universe impossible to believe in? No, we must be adults in mind as we contemplate the mystery of judgement. We who are saved are made like mirrors who reflect the Everlasting Creator’s intelligence and morality which must have resolution at last. We have purpose, the cosmos has purpose, history and Christian understanding must have a higher culmination. No matter which way we might try to look at this, and I myself have tried many ways, a God-view of this world implies eventual judgement. No way around it, no universal saving of everyone, or a glossing over of SIN will suffice. Without a climax to history all life on earth is meaningless. The final outcome of judgement brings together all the unruly bits and pieces that will not fit into the moral universe puzzle.
The Kingdom of God will reach
its apex, and the progress of this old world will then be seen to be not
meaningless movement on and on over countless thousands of years, but we
will encounter the finishing of the mighty drama of the earth. Even now,
in 1999, judgement in God’s moral universe operates all the time, every
moment, as a Divine principle in mankind’s history. God’s judgement will
climax in an ending of evil forever, and a new earth and heavens. Future
and final judgement is demanded by even our own small grasp of Who and
what God is. We humans are in a moral relationship with a moral Creator
and who would want Him to be other than righteous, just and holy?
“ ... for there is
nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be
known. “
(Matthew 10:26).
Unsaved mankind is appointed to judgement, which can not be avoided unless by acceptance of Christ as Saviour. This world will be judged as sure as physical death must be the lot of those who live on this earth ( the Rapture being the only exception).
Eternal punishment is NOT a denial of the justice of God, as some would have us believe, it is rather a manifestation of that justice and the moral vindication of righteousness and holy law. Anything less would do violence to a holy universe, truth and accountability. Praise God that He has provided a Saviour for all who will agree to escape judgement through His sacrifice of Himself. None of us without Him would be able to stand before the Judge of all “For our God is a consuming fire.” God has “assured” all men that as sure as Christ was raised from the dead, so those who reject Him as Saviour WILL come under judgement:
“ Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by [that] man whom he hath ordained; [whereof] he hath given assurance unto all [men], in that he hath raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31).
Jesus has told His own:
“ If ye were of the
world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world,
but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”
(John 15:19).
ALL WILL BE RIGHTEOUS IN GOD’S PERFECT
HEAVENS AND EARTH.
God has shown us what He
thinks of all our own “good works!” Look for yourself in Romans 3:10-12.
God has provided for us righteousness which alone will fit us for His Perfect
Kingdom of Righteousness and Peace forever. We share that Life already,
if we are truly saved, the Lord Jesus Christ has been made our righteousness.
“He hath clothed
me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of
[ His ] righteousness.” (Isaiah 61:10).
What is ours positionally in Heaven is also ours progressively as we grow and walk in Him. Let us then yield to His infilling by the Holy Spirit, and be filled with His righteousness by faith. None of our “old man” works will be retained by the Lord, for He will fit us into everything new with all our life renewed in Jesus Christ, body, soul and spirit. In the coming days, after the Millennium Reign, everything will be changed.
“ Nevertheless we,
according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for
such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without
spot, and blameless.” (II Peter 3:13).
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