Link to view this
lesson online
The
Blood of The Everlasting Covenant
The Lion of
the Tribe of Judah
The
Blood changes our curses into blessings!
I have had prophetic dreams in my life; however, they
are not an everyday event with me.
Just as I was finishing the proofing and the final edit of this book,
God gave me a prophetic dream.
In my dream, I was in my home, and I saw my wife
invite a lion into our home. It
truly gave me fear. I felt as if
this lion could and would destroy me.
The lion simply walked around peacefully. The fear continued to grip me. I was attempting to appease him.
Then the lion approached me and stood up on his back
legs. He placed his front feet on
my shoulder which brought his face right up to my face. The fear was intense! I put my hand on his nose and
said, “Good boy, good boy.” His
face became very friendly, but my fear continued. I was just glad that I was not being eaten alive!
My wife and I laughed about this dream for the entire
morning. Then about noon, the Lord
spoke to me about the dream and tears flowed down my face, as I understood it.
I do not feel adequate to write about what the Lord
said, but I will attempt it. I
pray that the Holy Spirit does the translation for you, the reader.
Revelation 5:1-5 says,
1 “And I saw in
the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the
back, sealed with seven seals.
2 Then I saw a
strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll
and to loose its seals?’
3 And no one in
heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to
look at it.
4 So I wept
much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look
at it.
5 But one of the
elders said to me, ‘Do not weep.
Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed
to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.’”
We know that Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of
Judah.
John was sad and was weeping because he did not see
anybody worthy to open the Scroll.
Then an elder told him that Lion of the tribe of Judah had prevailed, or
overcome, and that He indeed was worthy.
The Scroll is the curse as shown in the Book of
Zechariah. I
It is also our rightful inheritance and Satan’s
rightful inheritance. It
represents the curse turned into a blessing for us, and final judgment on
Satan. That is why John wept,
because he did not see anyone who was worthy to perform this miracle, the
miracle of turning our curses into blessings and watching Satan receive his due
punishment.
Hal Lindsey has a very important historic view on
the Scroll.
"Sealing a scroll was a common and
important practice in Biblical times. The wills of both Emperor Vespasian and
Caesar Augustus were secured with seven seals.
"For such a document, a scribe would
procure a long roll of parchment and begin writing. After a period of writing
he would stop, roll the parchment enough to cover his words and seal the scroll
at that point with wax. Then he would resume writing, stop again, roll the
scroll, and add another seal. By the time he was finished, he would have sealed
the scroll seven times. The scrolls would be read a section at a time, after
each seal was opened.
"Why was this process used? Evidently it
was to prevent unauthorized persons from tampering with the scroll or reading
and revealing its contents. Only a "worthy" person -- that is,
someone with proper authority -- could have legal access to the scroll's
message.
"When a Jewish family was required to
forfeit its land and possessions through some distress, the property could not
be permanently taken from them. Their losses were listed in a scroll and sealed
seven times, then the conditions necessary to purchase back the land and
possessions were written on the outside of the scroll. When a qualified
redeemer could be found to meet the requirements of reclamation, the one to
whom the property had been forfeited was obligated to return the possessions to
the original owner."
(There's A New World Coming, Hal Lindsey[1])
This is the book I was reading in 1979 when the
Lord saved me!
Revelation 5:6 says,
6 “And I looked,
and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in
the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven
horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the
earth.”
Notice, when John looked, he did not see the
Lion of the tribe of Judah, rather he saw the Lamb. The Lamb had become the Lion because He had overcome. The Lion and the Lamb were one.
Revelation 5:7-14 says,
7 Then He came
and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
8 Now when He
had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell
down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense,
which are the prayers of the saints.
9 And they sang
a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals;
For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every
tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 And have made
us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.’
11 Then I
looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living
creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten
thousand, and thousands of thousands,
12 saying with a
loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and
wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!’
13 And every
creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as
are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor
and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever
and ever!’
14 Then the four
living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ And
the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.”
Anytime we look a lion in the face, we are
likely to have fear.
I sensed the evil in my dream, but at the same time
the lion did not harm me. I
believe the evil I sensed was all the evil that this Lamb/Lion had
“digested.” The Lamb had digested
the evil, and He had converted the evil into a blessing. This process of overcoming had created
a Lion who now rules.
However, this overcoming required the very blood of
Jesus, the Creator. This is the
blood of the everlasting covenant.
You can choose how to respond to suffering. Let the Lamb digest the evil in your
life.
“There is a very
ancient teaching that if you know the right name of anything, you will have the
power to control it; but if you call it by a wrong name, you give that thing power
over you. Bringing this into a
totally Christian perspective, those circumstances, people, or situations we
call and see as “bad” will indeed be bad experiences for us. Our reactions to life’s problems are
the key. If we can see a nuisance
as an opportunity to practice heavenly reactions, be certain of this, heavenly
results will blossom from it.” [2]
The overcoming process will do this for you! It will give you a share in the Lion’s
dominion over your curses and over Satan.
Why allow Satan any victory?
You can win every time by allowing Jesus to do the overcoming. You may not win in your definition, but
you certainly will win according to God’s definition. And when you go to be with the Lord, what will be
important? Of course, this type of
victory is only possible if you live the “overcoming lifestyle.”
Allow the Lion spirit to rise up within you through
overcoming so that you may help others.
How? Through the overcoming
lifestyle that is embedded in the Book of Revelation.
Revelation 12:11 says,
11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the
death.”
Revelation
reveals more that you think!
I believe
that there are multiple messages in the Book of Revelation, and the one I am
describing here is certainly not the only message.
I am
going to look at Revelation from a different point of view than many are
accustomed to. I am going to use
it in the same way that God has used it in my life. God has used it for me as a present day devotion; something
practical to show me what is going on in the spiritual world as I am
overcoming. This is not so much my
theology as it is my personal testimony and experience. Dr. Mark Rutland, president of Global
Servants and Southeastern University, says that Revelation is more like a
Hebrew opera, a drama with music and poetry, than a theological text book. I am not saying that Revelation does
not have to do with future world history, but I am saying that is more than
that. It applies to your current
history as well.
We
have often used the term “Junk to Jewels.”
How does
this happen? What happened in the
process of junk becoming jewels?
At the end of the Book of Revelation we see the Kingdom of God with a
foundation of jewels. During the
middle of the book we see the suffering John, and ourselves, overcoming and
turning our junk into those jewels.
John was
suffering on the isle of Patmos (definition: my killing- a rugged and bare
island in the Aegean Sea). He had
ministered with Jesus; he was His closest friend at one time. Jesus entrusted His mother to John at
the Cross. John saw Jesus for many
days after His resurrection. John
had a powerful ministry during the early church days, starting with the coming
of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
He, as an elder, wrote His precious epistles in an effort to get people
back to basics, a relationship with Jesus.
Imagine
how John must have felt now that he was a prisoner on barren island of
Patmos. He was carrying rocks from
a quarry up and down the hills as his daily work task. Perhaps he was wondering: “Jesus, what
is going on? Peter is crucified,
James is beheaded, the church is persecuted and in shambles, and things do not
look good. What is this all
about?” Have you ever felt like
John?
Than
suddenly, on one Lord’s day, “Bang.”
He sees Jesus in all of His glory, but not like he had know Him
before. Jesus was so on fire and
powerful looking that John fell at His feet as dead (Revelation 1:9-18). Read it.
The
mystery of afflictions.
Not only did Jesus want to make some sense out of
John’s affliction and the affliction of the church in those days, but also He
had John write the Book of Revelation so that you and I could make some godly
sense out of our afflictions. He
wants us to know that He has not deserted us, but that He is on task wanting to
turn our junk into jewels.
Jesus
started out by revealing Himself to John as the One in control, and as the
Judge. Jesus also revealed to John
who he was, and who you and I are, that is kings and priests. We are destined to rule and reign and
to be the bridge between lost mankind and God.
Then in
chapters 2 and 3 the church is told that they need to get their lives cleaned
up because they are about to go to war and overcome. A soldier with a rusty rifle and a broken helmet cannot be
victorious. You should study these
two chapters to see if God is speaking to you about your own life.
The
open door.
Then in Revelation chapter 4 John sees a door opened
in Heaven and he hears the voice, “Come up here.” We need to obtain God’s view of our circumstances so we can
see them as He sees them. John
noticed that he was in a courtroom; he saw God the Judge, he saw the Throne,
and he saw a rainbow as a covenant promise.
The word
“throne” used here in Revelation chapter 4 means a tribunal bench used for
judges. God is now on the throne
as a judge! There are multitudes
of other examples showing God to be the judge. Some might say, ‘Oh, the Book of Revelation, and the
judgment therein is for some future time in history.” Well it might be, but it is also in the now! We have the right to bring the Kingdom
of God to earth now! I personally
have experienced these kinds of judgments!
The
Scroll.
In
chapter 5 John saw the Scroll in God’s right hand. The Scroll is the curse of the entire human race and for you
and for me personally (Zechariah 5:3).
Jesus unrolls the Scroll one seal at a time confirming the price He paid
for our bondage to sin and curses.
He is the only one worthy to do this. John wept because he thought that nobody would be
worthy.
Then John
heard the song.
Revelation
5:9-10 says,
9 “And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to
take the scroll, and to open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed
us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we
shall reign on the earth.’”
As each seal of the Scroll is broken open, judgment is
executed. Judgment is two sided
with God. For those who are
consecrated and obedient and are overcoming, judgment is very good news. It means that Satan has been judged
guilty and we have been judged innocent and set free! It is for our deliverance and the enemy’s destruction.
While I cannot explain all of the disasters and suffering
to the very detail in Revelation chapters 6-18, I can say that they represent
God’s judgments that are setting us free.
The trouble is, so many of us feel these judgments and we feel like God
has forgotten about us. We can feel
like we are just victims, when in fact we are being delivered by all of this
trouble. We just need to see it
from God’s viewpoint.
Remember, as these disasters take place, you are only
feeling their potential, but Jesus is holding your Scroll, and He is being
pierced with your curse. He bore
your curse and the penalties thereof.
The mystery of the resurrection life in us.
Colossians 1:20 says,
“20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him,
whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the
blood of His cross.”
This verse says that all things (meaning all bad things and
enemies) can be made a friend through the blood of Jesus. In other words, all curses can be made
into a blessing. Our vocation here
on earth is to "overcome" all evil in our realm of influence. That includes all generational curses,
all evil due to our own sin, and from just the sin that the world and Satan
throws at us. If the resurrected
Christ lives in you, then He is able to convert every bad that comes your way
into a major blessing.
However, this overcoming affects more people than
just you.
Luke 11:21, 22
says,
“21 “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his
own palace, his goods are in peace.
22 “But when a stronger than he comes upon him
and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and
divides his spoils.”
The "strong man" that is attacking you holds
others in captivity as well. When
you overcome "him," then those others are also set free. This has occurred to my wife and I more
than once, and actually has become a common occurrence. We know it is real!
Our blood covenant mandate. The three main things to observe.
Revelation 12:11 says,
11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and
by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the
death.”
Here are the “The Big Three.” His Cross, your cross, and
words against the covenant breaker, Satan. Throughout this book we have mentioned the overcoming
lifestyle, which is:
1. Continually
seek out Scripture about His Cross, or what Jesus accomplished at His death and
resurrection.
2. Continually
submit yourself to God for His inspection and allow Him to convict you of those
traits that are not His.
3. Continually
speak the Word against Satan and for the promises of God.
You might say, “I have not done that in my life, it must be
too late, I might as well give up.”
No, no! Paul said in Romans
chapter 7 that he always fought against his flesh and old nature. However then
in Romans chapter 8 he went on to say that it is never too late, that there is
no final judgment, or condemnation, for those who walk in the spirit and not in
the flesh; meaning that we always have time to repent and be cleansed.
Finally, in Revelation chapter 18 and 19 we begin to see
the world system fall, not only the one time in history when it will fall, but
also the system that has kept you and me in bondage for so long. As we stand in the overcoming process,
we see our enemies defeated.
In Revelation chapter 19 we see Jesus coming to rescue us
on His white horse, and we see other saints, maybe you and me riding with Him
rescuing others. We see the
marriage supper of the Lamb, which speaks of a greater bride-like intimacy with
Jesus, after we have endured so much.
Then in chapter 20 we see the devil who has been deceiving
the unbelievers chained and disabled.
I see that as a picture of the spiritual authority we have gained during
the overcoming. Then we see in
chapters 21 and 22 the glory of the Kingdom of God, which is more real to us
now since we have overcome.
Revelation 22:2 speaks of ministry.
Revelation 22:2 says,
2 “In the middle of its street, and on either side of
the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding
its fruit every month. The leaves
of the tree were for the healing of the nations (nations, meaning gentiles, or unbelievers).”
Notice the ministry we partake in after overcoming.
In Revelation chapter 21, God showed John the Kingdom of
God, and its foundation, which consisted of many types of jewels. I submit that each time we go through
an overcoming process, that we place another jewel into the Kingdom. Thus, little by little, we displace and
defeat Satan’s kingdom and build God’s Kingdom.
Finally, Jesus said, “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this
prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Revelation 1:3).
In
Watchman Nee’s devotion titled A Table in the Wilderness,[3], he
says,
“I, Jesus, have
sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of
David, the Bright and Morning Star" (Revelation 22:16). The book of the Revelation is the
unveiling, the apokalupis, of Jesus Christ. It draws aside the curtain to reveal him. Its object is not primarily to
enlighten us regarding coming events - the antichrist, the supposed revival of
the Roman empire, the rapture of the saints, the millennial kingdom or the
final downfall of Satan. John’s
remedy of our ills is not a matter of so many seals and trumpets and
vials. It is not in fact designed
to satisfy our intellectual curiosity at all, but to meet our spiritual need by
revealing Christ Jesus himself in fullness, that we may know him. For Christ is the answer to all our
questions. Get clear first about
him, and we shall know all we need to know about ‘things to come.’ He is the risen and victorious King of
kings. All the events that follow
are the outcome of his being that.
When
challenges in life look like they will overwhelm you, remember, even if they
get worse before they get better, the Lamb is there and so is the Lion. He was before the mess in your life,
and He is in it with you, and He will be there with you when it is all over.
Consider,
as too few people do, what will happen at your death when you finally see the
Lord face to face. He may ask you
how you responded to the challenges in life. Was it in faith, or in fear and despair? And now, little children, abide in Him,
that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at
His coming (1John 2:28).
See the
Lamb, see the Lion.