The Torn Curtain

Book

The Torn Curtain

by Marcia Martins

Introduction

This book springs from the personal experience of the author. Involved with intercessory groups, I began to notice some barriers to God’s plan for His Church. This revelation comes when searching for understanding, especially about the relationship between women leaders. The theme was developing and reaching new dimensions and approaches. Common observation of  even superficial human behavior, envolved to a deep biblical understanding, and that took us to absolute truths. A Final Word of God and His authority is at the root of all human tragedies, casting his light that brightens and clarifies, to grant wisdom to man.

The central theme revolves around the text of Genesis 3:15, when God decrees the rivalry between the woman and the serpent, between the seed of the woman and the children of the serpent.  This rivalry is present today in the Church of the Lord, and through the Word, we will capture the action of this female spirit who continues to work in Women / Church, the Bride of Christ.  The confrontation unfolds from Genesis to Revelation, while the question remains: to whom belongs the living son? Who is the real offspring of the woman? Herein lies the root of the entire division in the Body.

In this context we analyze the issue of primogeniture, which is also a source of conflict and rivalry, and how this biblical argument remains from beginning to end, showing that the first son never retained the blessings of the birthright.  We marvel at the logic, the coherence of the Word and the absolute sovereignty of God in its selection criteria.

The Seduction-Woman closes part of this approach to the Word of God. Men lose the blessing and birthright, but the one who instigated his fall is one that was raised as his helper. The confrontation between the prostitute and the virgin; the mother of Jesus and the mother of Cain, goes to the finish in the final outcome of Revelation.

In fact, the study will investigate further and we can put the comparison in terms of Religion - the false woman, against the Church - the true one, the Religious Spirit confronting the Spirit of God in a struggle that takes place on the stage of life. Religion is born of the Tree of Good and Evil, of man's struggle in an attempt to reach God through human expedients.  The Church, moreover, is born of Jesus, the True Vine, the Tree of  Redemption. In the Gospel of John 15:16 - You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed  you ... Jesus makes it clear that salvation comes from Him, through Him, and for the glory of the Trinity.

Every argument is a new surprise to the reader who dips also in the true sense of God's judgments. He never punishes in a destructive way, but in his righteous judgments he directs us to His Perfection.

This story of eternal love will end with a happy and amazing ending! Best of all, we are not reading the story of someone, but that of our own autobiography rewritten by Jesus, the Word of God.

 And That's How It All Began

"Why didn’t Adam and Eve bear children, except after the fall?"

Genesis 1:27,28 -- So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them: Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.

God created the couple, the female and male, and together they should populate the earth. Until then God had created all things, but now, he created a being in his image, with creative skills.

If that was the condition of these beings, and they had about them an expectation of the Creator in the sense of increasing in number, why then did the couple bear no children, except after the fall?

The man received not only the abilit to reproduce himself, but also the ability to make decisions as to what he should create.  There was a decision to be matured. We know, by nature, that the fruits arrive in a given season, when a certain cycle is completed. Adam and Eve were potentially productive, but there was a conscious decision to be taken. Until then they were innocent and walked in obedience to God, but, his choice to obey was tested. And we know the outcome.

Genesis 2:8,9 – Now the LORD God planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man he had formed. And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Eden means "pleasure" and that was the intention of the Lord: meeting at that place with the man to give and receive pleasure. Eve was also created as a source of pleasure and joy to Adam and there is no reason to suppose that they did not develop an intimate and whole relationship.

The couple was fruitful and fertile. The womb of Eve waited for the seed to give life to their descendants who would settle the land. If, in obedience, she ate the fruit fresh from the tree of life, the man would be generating in the image and likeness of God.  The image of God is Jesus. His children would be a manifestation of the life and character of Jesus as God's children.

But the choice of Eve, with the concurrence of Adam, fell on the tree with the fruit hybrid that contained the seed of knowledge of good and also evil. She then bore sons with different characteristics: Cain and Abel. Both descendants of the woman, generated from a single womb, fertilized by the fruit of disobedience. Our choices will produce consequences.

I believe that the Creator wanted us to know Him only, and look at him like one mirror; we should know only the good and never get to know the evil in the person of Satan.

Now the inhabitants of the land had in themselves the seed of good and evil. They sowed in the land not only a blessing, but also a curse. Thus was born not only the herb that the man has planted with his own hands, but will also be born thorns and thistles, which he personally did not plant, but are a result of his sin that endures and bears fruit -- reactions leading to difficulties and sorrow for his life (Genesis 3:18).

The Garden now symbolizes our body. We have to care for it because our body is made of the dust of the earth and the disease is the plague in the Garden, which arises spontaneously.

Cain was born of this seed and brings death. He killed his brother Abel, as the devil used Jesus’ brothers to kill him. So, temporarily, here on earth, the blood of the righteous continues to be spilled without an immediate and definitive answer from the Good against Evil.

Just as our parents, Adam and Eve, we can choose the type of fruit we produce. It depends on how we deal with sin in our lives.

Cain was someone who could not deal with sin. He opened the door for the devil to use him as his instrument of evil.

Abel understood how to deal with their sin, taking upon himself, figuratively, the atoning sacrifice of the Lamb. He understood the forgiving grace of God.

We must be "born again" from the holy seed, which is Jesus, the Tree of Life.  We must reaffirm our daily choice to eat the fruit of that tree. In the same way the people gathered the manna - symbolic of the promises in God's word - each day, to keep them, hopefully and confidently on their way to the Promised Land.

The first couple was ready to bear children, had the potential to do so, knew God's will about it and heard the clear instructions to multiply and replenish the earth. But when? God left that detail out.  Would it be immediately?

For King David it was not immediately. Many years passed between the received anointing as king by Samuel, and the day he assumed power in Israel.

For Joseph, the story was no different. Many years passed until the vision and calling from God on his life could be realized.

Jesus himself is waiting until all things are subject to Him, when He will reign as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Matthew 22:44).

We have one calling from God , we lay hold of His promises, we receive capacitation, anointing, vision and ... then comes the frustration.  Was our mother Eve also living a moment of frustration? Was she ready to fulfill the purpose of God, eager to have children and populate earth, fulfilling their calling?  How long she was waiting for this?

Was she wondering when? If God promised, why did He slow the promise to fill earth with your children?

We can deduce that if Eve were fully satisfied, the snake would not have known how to tempt her.

But there was something desirable: to have as much understanding as God. Who knows, if she ate the fruit, would she have the answers she needed?

The serpent cast doubt in the heart of Eve to fully trust in the intentions and words of God. After all, why had she not had a child?

The snake argued: if you are forbidden to eat of a tree, you can not eat of any tree in the Garden, right?

Eve replied: Not quite ...

            But the serpent, known for his wit, had already managed to swallow Eve’s fallacious  reasoning.

The truth is that she could eat of every tree of the garden, with the exception of one.

Maybe, we are just imagining some anxiety in Eve, leading her to rush into choosing the seed that bore fruit that was not of God?

Sarai too rushed, not trusting enough in God's promise to produce the right result. She gave her slave Hagar to generate a son of Abraham. Thus arose Ishmael instead of Isaac.

If we can explain the failure, because of the difficulty in waiting for God's time, the maturing of the call, then we understand that God gave the right answer at the right time.

God put an end to two thousand years of waiting for the Messiah, fertilizing - by his Spirit, the womb of Mary.

When we will generate the fruit and fulfill God's purpose in our lives? Despite our anxiety, he is working in us, we are maturing. The whole process of maturation takes time, involves pain. The Lord wants to lead us to a condition of making the right choices and producing valuable fruit. Therefore we have to wait and we indeed do it with a growing expectation, as the woman who is pregnant, and can not wait to bring a child into the world.

The Statue of Nebuchadnezzar's Pride

This pride is so evident in the figure of Nebuchadnezzar, manifested in the life of each one of us.

In the text of John 5:41-44, Jesus says something very important, the meaning of which eludes our full understanding.

"I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God? "

Daniel, chapter 3, says that King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue 30 meters high and 3 meters wide.

What image is that? This is the image of pride, which causes jealousy in the Lord.  We were made in the image and likeness of God and for the praise of his glory. But following the example of Nebuchadnezzar, we also make a statue and put it in the open for everyone to see. It is a gold-plated image. This gold speaks of the glory of man, not the glory of God. It is placed to cover all kinds of ugliness and imperfections.  Whoever looks just sees the outward golden glow.

This image that we make is an image of ourselves to stand before the people. Usually it is much larger than the original that inspired it, to the same extent that we judge ourselves to be more than we really are. We tend to be complacent in our judgments of ourselves and try to cover up our flaws and imperfections.

If someone disagrees with our concept of ourselves, of course they are looking for trouble.

Daniel 3:4-5 says: This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of every language: ... You must fall down and worship the statue of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

But the Word says in Isaiah 45:23, that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. So that privilege belongs to Jesus and when any other claims that we bow to a false image, that is not the image of Christ in their life. In other words, they are stealing the glory of God.  We can indeed recognize the image of the resurrected Christ in the lives of our brothers and rejoice with it.

And then it happens that whoever does not bow down and worship will be released into the burning fiery furnace to be burned alive.

There are many ways to burn someone. James 3:5 onward says: Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.   Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.  The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among parts of the body.  We can react to anyone that threatens our proud statue, the image that we expose in front of people, reacting with the fire of libel, of depreciation, of gossip - injuries that destroy the life of our brother. You put in doubt the character of another, his reputation, his honesty, and even may deliver such a person into the hands of demons.

James 3:9 says about the tongue: With it we bless our Lord and Father, also with it we curse people made in the likeness of God.

Daniel 3:12 says: There are certain Jews ... these men pay no attention to you, O king.

That is the issue. By attacking the image of the pride of a person, he or she feels threatened, personally affronted. The reaction then is similar to the king, that angry and furious call to the bold men of God: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

Verse 19: Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.... What did he do?

- He increased the fire of the furnace seven times.

- He commanded the most powerful men that were in his army to bind the three men  and cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

But this fire did not destroy them because they trusted in the Lord, according to verse 28:  And delivered his servants that trusted in him ... But they were bound by the king’s most valiant warriors. In the same way, when we speak ill of others, we are allowing demons to bind their lives, limiting the blessing and bringing some unneeded troubles.

Romans 3:23 says: For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

And Romans 5:2: ... Rejoice in hope of the glory of God. That is, we have no glory except what we are expecting from God, when we will have our bodies glorified for eternity. The glory seen today in our lives belongs to Jesus. To Him be all the glory.

The true servants of God do not bow to the image of others, nor do they make an image of themselves, because they seek the image and likeness of Jesus. When you bow before the image of the pride of another person, flattering them, you increase the size of that image. Look up and see that the pride of the image grew.

 Rivalry Versus Unity

"Who is the seed of the woman and who are the 

descendants of the devil?"

We aim to work with leaders of prayer groups and we are learning some interesting aspects in relationships between the servants of God. Sometimes, when dealing with women, we realize that there rises a "spirit of rivalry" responsible for a hostile race that ends up preventing unity and cooperation.

The understanding in this regard was deepening, and we identified an "evil spirit of rivalry" operating in the middle of the Church of the Lord. Indeed, what began as a female rivalry reached the Church in general, not only by the massive presence of the woman who operates actively in the body and therefore brings this influence, but also by the fact that the Church of Jesus typifies the Bride of the Lamb. In this way we have a Church-Woman, giving the explanation for any rivalry that has been established and perpetuated between the different denominations and ministries.

This behavior is more typical in women and is highlighted if we compare them with the way men relate. They have a tacit agreement (wordless) to never denounce each other. They will mutually support one another, even if the other is wrong. It is an unwritten law, a complicity, as if it were a code of honor among them never to impeach each other. They are united and do not want to meddle in the affairs of others and avoid taking sides or any kind of commitment.

When we realize this whole issue, we begin to seek God in a greater understanding of the subject. How are we to fight against this "rivalry" that is not exactly among women, but between carnal and spiritual, as in Galatians 5:17.

The rivalry must be recognized and, once diagnosed, we can say that an enemy discovered is a dead enemy! Although in this case, it is not so simple to distinguish if the enemy is moving to the rival that is being used by him. It is difficult to separate the person from the evil spirit that is moving through him. When the conflict is established, both sides claim to have reason.

With whom is the truth? Therefore, to intervene and issue a favorable decision on who actually is right, we need the action of the Righteous Judge.

What is the root of this curse that operates in female relationships? We can see this dispute even between mother and daughter. In the Church, the operation of this "spirit" has prevented a lot of important things that God could have done via the leadership of women.  They fight each other for many reasons: perhaps to exercise the power, or by their, pride to stand out as more spiritual, or for a control position. Women lack this complicity that exists between men, though the rivalry between them operates differently.

The same behavior can be observed between local churches, in their collective position as Bride of the Lamb.  The Body of Christ suffers the action of this sort of competition that makes it impossible to operate in the Spirit and undermines the advancement of the Kingdom of God. More than complicity, the churches need to work harmoniously as part of the same body.

God created woman with two important characteristics: her great beauty and her ability to generate life in the womb.  We need to consider this wonderful capacity she has to conceive a new life.

Proverbs 12:4 - A virtuous woman is a crown of her husband. The word crown in this verse has the meaning diadem, symbol of royal dignity.

Genesis 6:2 – The sons of God saw that the daughters of men are "beautiful."

These sons of God produced giants with the daughters of men on earth, corrupting the human race. Because of this beauty of women, the human race has degenerated and the flood came.

Genesis 3:15 -- I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

The enmity was established between the woman and the serpent, but especially among the descendants of the serpent and the woman seed. And here we have a point of origin of that dispute. It is possible to judge the paternity of our brothers?

Today we practiced the DNA test that undoes all doubt about who is the father of a child. But when the criterion is spiritual, Jesus himself warns us that we should not judge each other and not try to separate the wheat from the chaff, because they are so similar that we would run the risk of making mistakes.

In any case, each side claims to be the seed of the woman, and that brother or church which looks different, not like us, we believe to be a child of another father.

♣ Who is the woman’s seed and who are the descendants of the devil?

Consider the following reasoning:

I Corinthians 15:47 - The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.

The first part of the answer is clear: The seed of the woman is only one: Jesus.  He is the Jesus in us. The spiritual man is born again.  Believers together form a single body of the Lord, the Church.

Here the text of the Word explains a little more: Galatians 4:22,23 - For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one of the slave woman, and the other of the free.  But the slave was born according to the flesh, that of the free woman was by promise. Hagar and Sarah are corporate women who typify Religion and the Church of God.

Galatians 4:29-30 - But as one, which was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born of the Spirit, so now. But what said the scripture? Cast out the handmaid and her son, because in no way will the son of a slave be heir with the son of the free.

♣ The big question is: who is the true heir of the promise?

There is a fight for the inheritance, the blessing of the birthright, as happened between Jacob and Esau. Who is the real male-child? Who is the child of obedience? This dispute and rivalry, which began between Hagar and Sarah, went to her sons Ishmael and Isaac. There is no way the son of a slave, which is our carnal man, the slave of sin, will inherit the kingdom, along with the son of freedom, which is our spiritual man, born of God.

To this day the descendants of the flesh of both Arabs and Jews are fighting with each other in our earthly reality, a picture of the same disagreement in the spirit realm. The son of a maid, Hagar, Ishmael, typifies our carnal man, who was born of the will of man, the man's own ability to generate; and Isaac, who was born of God’s supernatural promise, typifies the spiritual man.

♣ And the descendants of the devil? The descendants of the devil, on the other hand, are the sons of disobedience. Ishmael, for example, was a son of disobedience, because Abraham was to create a descendant of the slave Hagar, which was not the plan of God. It represents the fruit of the flesh in our lives. These are in rebellion against the will of our Heavenly Father and walk in obedience to the devil, seeking to fulfill his will.

John 8:44 - You belong to the devil who is your father and you want to do the desires ...

Ephesians 2:2 - ... according to the prince ... the spirit that now works in the "sons of disobedience."

In conclusion, we herein established a damned descendant, the fruit of unbelief and falsehood, the offspring of Satan, and the blessed offspring, generated from Jesus, the descendant of the woman.

In the following verse the argument is clear: John 1:12 – yet, to all who received him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children not born of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but of God.

Author's Note: We keep the "H" in the name of Abraham's prophetic letter by the sense that the original was referring to Ruach (Wind of the Spirit) blown in the name of the patriarch. Reference: Perspectives on The World Christian Movement (Chapter The Living God Is a Missionary God), by John Sttot, published by William Carrey Library, USCWM, Pasadena, CA, USA. 

Even Moses hid his face to transmit a different image, to create the impression that he still reflected the glory of God. (Exodus 34:33 cf. II Corinthians 3:13). How many of us do not do the same to look more spiritual, when in fact we are being religious and hiding behind the image built from pride, to make a good impression?

This image that we project is an idol. And when one makes an idol, we prostrate before it in worship. An idol dominates us and we are no longer free to be what we truly are. We are stuck to that image.

The narrative follows in Daniel 3:29: the proud king recognizes the true King of all people, the true God.

However, in the following chapter  4:10, the King has a dream and a vision of the great tree that corresponds to the same lesson of the statue, talking about the pride of man. It seems that once again he would have to be confronted in this question of pride. Finally, in verse 30, Nebuchadnezzar shows that he has not yet learned. He gives himself the glory and is humbled by God, spending seven years of his life as an animal.

When we steal the glory of God we are in fact acting with complete nonsense, which reduces us to the status of a brute. The animals, at least in their beauty and simplicity manifest, even spontaneously, the glory of the Creator.

 The Yeast of the Pharisees

"What do the baskets full of leftover bread mean?"

Mark 8:1-21cf. Matthew 15:32-39; 16:6-12.

Matthew 23:15 is a warning of Jesus to the scribes and Pharisees: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you get one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. "

When we speak of the descendants of the devil, we  can not ignore the treatment of Jesus Christ by the religious leaders of his day.

The Lord warns his disciples about the danger posed by the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod to emphasize the issue of religious spirits in conflict with the very Spirit of Jesus, who truly prepares His bride.

Just as the parables, the miracles performed by the Master also had the specific task of teaching us something about His Kingdom. It was a time when Jesus was already expressing impatience with the religious elite of his day.  He confronted his disciples using the miracles of the loaves He had performed.

The first miracle of the loaves can be found in the four Gospels and the description of the second miracle in Mark and Matthew, preceeding the comments of Jesus.

There is a great emphasis in these texts with respect to numbers and Jesus asks in the end: Mark 8:21: "Do you not yet understand?"

     I myself did not understand until the moment when the Spirit of the Lord began to clarify some things from the text to me.

     There was a great crowd involved on both occasions of the multiplication miracles. The crowd was in the desert and was hungry, but had no chance to be fed. But there was hope: Jesus was with them.

    They were three days without eating, yet Jesus was with them.  It is because this Bread had not been broken, multiplied and divided.  This crowd was in the presence of bread, the bread of life, Christ Jesus, but he was still whole. He would rather party in the three days between his death and resurrection.

Once resurrected Jesus himself would be food for the people, but the distribution of the bread would be made by his disciples according to Mark 8:6 – He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they did so.

And Matthew 15:36 – Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples, and they in turn to the people.

We have the prophetic fulfillment of this miracle when in Acts 2:3 Jesus sends the Holy Spirit that was distributed among the participants in the upper chamber, like tongues of fire.  From there this Fire, with the Word of God, would be divided and multiplied throughout the church on earth, through His disciples.

In chapter 8, verse 3 Jesus said: "If I send them away to their homes, fasting, they will faint by the way, and some of them came from far away." Indeed, without the bread of life we faint along the way. The reference to those coming from afar speaks of the gentiles who will enter into the mystery of salvation.

Verse 4 says, "How can anyone satisfy them with bread in the wilderness?" The people were hungry and in the wilderness. This was also a spiritual reality, and only Christ could change that situation, giving rise to life in the midst of barrenness.

The first miracle involved a crowd of five thousand people, had five loaves that were broken,  and multiplied by one thousand (Matthew 14:21). The body of Jesus was broken and multiplied, to feed the people.

In Acts 2:46 says: Daily, they continued with one accord in the temple. They broke bread from house to house, and took their food with gladness and singleness of heart. "

Apparently, in the end, the disciples learned from the meaning of broken and multiplied bread.

Subsequently, in Acts 4, we see one new multiplication of souls, and this time we got the five thousand, with only two of Peter’s sermons.  The same number is recorded in the first miracle of bread multiplication, but now are souls for Jesus.

After being fed, he dismissed them, except the 12 remaining disciples, symbolized by the 12 baskets with the pieces of bread.  The disciples of Jesus, the bread of life, were pieces of that bread, Jesus’ body here on earth.

 The second miracle involved a crowd of four thousand, and four is the number that speaks about man added to the divine trinity and his work on earth.

There were seven loaves divided by four parties and multiplied by a thousand to feed four thousand people. You find this argument in the book by Dr. Christian Chen, Teacher of Nuclear Physics, USP (São Paulo University – Brazil), author of The Numbers in the Bible.

There were seven loaves divided, parted and multiplied to feed four thousand men, besides women and children.

That left seven baskets full. These baskets symbolize the seven churches of Revelation. Christ walked among the seven candlesticks (Revelation 1:12,13). Seven is the number of perfection, His church complete in all its manifestations.

The seven churches are for men, typified by four thousand fed not only by bread, but also fish.  In the second miracle you will see the presence of fish, the symbol of the early church.

When the Pharisees and Sadducees seek Jesus asking him a sign he answers in Matthew 16:4: "An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, and no sign will be given, but the sign of Jonah. And he left them and went away. "

The sign of Jonah refers to the prophet who spent three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, like Jesus in the womb of death. Similarly, this miracle just shows that the bread of eternal life would be broken and multiplied. There is no greater sign than what Jesus was doing, but they did not understand, which drew a deep sigh of discouragement from the Lord.

The churches came out of the bread Jesus, bread without yeast, without sin. This bread is divided, is parted, but without losing the feature of bread, then multiplied to be distributed.

The disciples thought the teacher was referring to the fact that they had not brought bread for the boat, but the Bread of Life, without yeast, Jesus, was in the boat with them. This bread is multiplied from the division, while the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod has only a swelling. In appearance the bread is great, but the content has lost its original nutritional value, their ability to feed. This bread only ferments in the stomach. So also the message that the Pharisees preach to the proselytes only worsened their spiritual malnutrition. Too much bread causes anemia in people naturally and spiritually, especially when this bread is leavened by the yeast of the hypocrisy of man.

Churches that arise from the yeast added by man are churches that grow only the tradition of men. The Pharisees with their habits and customs liked to control people through religious power, as Herod, another example given by Jesus, symbolizes the power corrupted and your gut to kill Jesus. It is the fear of losing his political position, a religion mixed with the interests of the State, and the falsehood and hypocrisy. (Matthew 16:4)

So, to conclude our explanation, the first miracle of multiplication speaks of Jesus Christ generating his twelve disciples, and the second miracle typifies the emergence of the Church. Jesus Christ left the fruit of his ministry here on earth, his twelve disciples and his church.

On both occasions it is clear that Jesus is the bread that truly feeds one living a desert life, and that bread will kill the hunger of mankind, depending on the commitment of His disciples to distribute it in adopting the same procedure taught by Jesus, giving themselves up. It costs nothing to force a misleading process of sinful fermentation to reach the crowds, but one has to pay the price in giving life to produce a strong people that will not faint from starvation on the way back home.

The Fish As A Symbol of the Church

"The bread, the fish and the fire: new evidence of a supper on the beach. A new teaching. "

The fish was chosen as the symbol of the church because he swims in the salt waters of the sea that represents the peoples of the world, without, however, their flesh becoming salty. He is not contaminated by the environment, so they, like the Church, are in the world, without mixing with the taste of the world. This is because the pressure from the inside out is greater than the pressure from outside in. Salt water does not enter a fishes’ body, because it’s is higher than that of seawater. Likewise, greater and stronger is He who is in us than He who is in the world.

Of course, if a fish is injured, there will be a gateway to its body for the salt. The same also happens with us. If the believer is left hurt by sin (and the doors it opens), contamination of the world will come into his life.

The fish was always referred to by Jesus as a symbol of the souls to be caught in the sea of People.

In Habakkuk 1:14 the prophet laments: "You have made man like a fish in the sea, like sea creatures that have no ruler."

Another reason the fish represents the church is because it is usually in groups, in shoals and, importantly, as the text above, the fish have no ruler over them. This is a reference to the government of the church that does not follow the same criteria as the governments of this world and whose ruler is not of this earth.

Matthew 20:25-28 - "Jesus called them together and said, You know that the rulers of Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just of the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Matthew 23:8-10 - "But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi’, for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father’, for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher’, for you have one Teacher, the Christ. "

Church leadership is expressed through service to others and not by authoritarian grip. While there are human leaders they are invested by the greater authority that is only delegated to them, because this authority belongs to God. The leader is one who is willing to give his life for others and not act in self-interest.

The church has the divine government, and its head, Jesus Christ is your guide, which guides the paths of His Church on this earth, through the presence of His Spirit in the believers’ lives.

Once risen, Jesus ate supper with his disciples again and this time, the elements distributed were the bread and fish.

No more bread and wine, a symbol of his crucifixion, but now the bread - a symbol of Jesus Christ, the bread of eternal life - and fish – the Church’s symbol. The Church is made up of representatives of all peoples. In this passage Jesus teaches Peter and the disciples of the Church. He made them fishers of men and now gave the necessary knowledge and the anointing that they could accomplish the work.

In John 20:3 Peter says: "I'm going fishing,” but he caught nothing. Jesus then told Peter to launch the net again on the right side of the boat (John 21:6).  The net became full with 153 large fish of the sea of Tiberias. The significance of this fishing is that all 153 species of fish that are found in that sea were represented there. The fish were great because each one represented a people.  The sea speaks of people; fish speaks of souls saved in the midst of these people. There will be in the Church representatives from every nation on earth.

Now, the resurrected Jesus shared with them the food. Before, the Lord has said that his food was to do the will of the Father (John 4:34). This food is now symbolized by the bread, which is Jesus himself, along with the fish, the Church, to be built in the fire of the Spirit (John 21:9). The work will now be made by Jesus, His Church and Holy Spirit. Here the fire is symbolized by the fire roasting fish. After 40 days of showing Himself to his disciples, Jesus went to heaven leaving the Father's promise that the Spirit would be poured out.

Now we see this fire again: Acts 1:8: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

About 10 days later, in the feast of Pentecost (50 days after Easter), during which time the disciples were praying in the upper chamber, the promised Holy Spirit was poured out in tongues of fire. Peter gave his first sermon, his first ‘fishing,’ and saw three thousand believe. Then another two thousand souls entered the kingdom of God.

The final lesson comes to Peter right away, even while they are there on the beach. In John 21:15-17 Jesus asks Peter if he loved Him, and in every answer he commanded Peter, "Feed my sheep, herd my sheep, feed my sheep" making clear the role of apostles to build the  Church of Jesus Christ.

 Jesus’ Teaching Method

"The Master teaches us the inductive method.

We learn through experience. "

Did Peter understand everything the teacher was showing and teaching him on more than one occasion? I believe that the same Spirit today who shows us the meaning of what Jesus spoke and did, also worked on the first disciples so that they could understand.

Jesus uses the method of teaching by induction. He leads his disciples through the facts and circumstances that lead to true learning through experience. Jesus works with ideas and this is how they can understand the new realities of the kingdom of God, its laws and forms of knowledge that govern it.

All works differently in the new time of Grace and words are not sufficient or appropriate to make the students reach the meaning of the spiritual teaching of Jesus. He needs to demonstrate.

The Lord has not changed his pedagogy, his way of teaching. It continues today, leading us through the facts and circumstances of life, in order to achieve the knowledge of His will for us. He wants, as it is in Hosea 6:3, us to know and follow on to know the Lord. He wants his people to obtain “the knowledge.”  My people perish for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6).

The Lord warns us that we need to know the Scriptures and the power of God (Matthew 22:29). For this the Holy Spirit, who came to teach us all things (I John 1:27) has worked since the founding of the church, leading the disciples of Jesus Christ, through the years, to the knowledge of God and His will for His people.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (Revelation 2:7). This appeal is made at the end of each letter sent to the Churches of Revelation. Listening means to listen and obey. Listening in this case involves paying close attention so you can understand what is being said. As the Lord speaks to us not only through their words but also through people, events and situations that involve us, we will need to be well aware of what happens to us and around us. We find meaning in all things, seeking to discern and learn the lessons of God for our lives.

 Two Women, Two Natures

"The shame of spiritual sterility that prevents us to bear fruit for Jesus."

  These two natures, the earthly and heavenly, still live in us, as does the struggle between flesh and Spirit.  We have the man Adam and the man Jesus living in us, they shared our interior as the word says in Galatians 5:17 and Romans 7:15-25. Although we are children of light, sometimes we give rise to the old habits and sinful acts driven by the flesh, bearing fruit against the fruit of the Spirit.

This possibility of women to generate the savior has been used by the devil to inspire a destructive struggle, a struggle between women and between the churches, the Bride of Christ.  This is the reason for the disagreement. They should fight against the snake, but the carnal nature takes over and they end up fighting each other.  In fact, only the regenerated being can fight and prevail against the snake, but because many in the congregation are not new creatures, they end up fighting each other in the flesh.

Today we know that Jesus has come in the flesh, so the type of competition that was in the Old Testament no longer exists. Physical sterility is no longer a problem but now the spiritual sterility, which prevents the fruit of Jesus is the reason for shame.  Sometimes there is only a semblance of sterility.

On the other hand, the fertility, or the appearance of the same, can be a source of pride and contention when we consider ourselves more spiritual than others. The mistake is thinking that Jesus is more prevalent in our church, and that and we have the true revelation while others walk in deception. Then we can think only our church is generating true salvation.

Genesis 16:4,5 -- But when she saw that she conceived, she despised me.

This was the fight between Sara and her slave Hagar. When Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, she began to humiliate Sarah.

We can catch this situation among the people of God. We judge by appearance: - my ministry is thriving, look how many sheep I have, or see that I have all sorts of resources!; what is the financial input of your church?

And. .. look at you. You are sterile, while I'm generating the “seed of the woman,”- a true ministry of God.

And they despised each other because of this appearance. Hagar was there, appearing to be the winner, because she conceived Ishmael, believing that this was an Isaac.  She conceived her son by man’s strength.

Genesis 29:31 -- The Lord saw that Leah was hated, He opened her womb, while Rachel was barren.

The two sisters fought step by step through his "position," competing based on the number of children. The one who could give more children to Jacob would be in a privileged position.

Genesis 30:1,2 – When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die! Jacob became angry and said “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”

   Indeed, we need to understand that it is God who makes us spiritually fertile or sterile. Great servants of God in the Bible were born after God reversed barrenness in the lives of their mothers. This is a demonstration that these children were birthed by the will of God, and not by the will of the flesh: like Samuel, Samson, John the Baptist, etc.

If true fertility is to generate "children" of  God's will in our lives, why then stay in this view of rivalry and dispute? Each person has their unique role in God's kingdom.

Although all are "the seed of the woman who crushes the serpent's head," yet the "children" of every woman are unique and different.  There is no reason to compare ministries as diverse and unique; all equally manifest the glory of God.  We must respect the fact that my son is the male child and your child is the male child, because they were generated from the same Father and are part of the same Jesus.

As they generate the "savior" in the flesh, the woman has a strong chance to be generating the "salvation" in spirit, and when I say women, I am referring also to the church in its call to generate salvation.  The only thing that matters to the enemy is to choke these children, kill all the children of Jerusalem, as Herod did in an attempt to eliminate the King that threatened the throne. This rivalry, which led Herod to commit this heinous crime, infanticide, can take us individually and as churches, to make the same mistake: eliminate each other’s children.

The rivalry between two mothers, Leah and Rachel, the wives of Jacob, was transmitted to their children, to the point of them trying to kill their brother, Joseph, because of jealousy.  Joseph typifies Jesus Christ, and we see that at the end of the story, the brothers of Jesus, the religious Jews of his day, eventually killed him for the same reason: rivalry and jealousy.

Pride fosters divisions, plus the vanity between the ‘churches-women.’ To overcome this pride that has often been characterized as a denominational pride, and to put an end to this hostility, we have to walk in meekness and humility as Jesus walked.  This spirit of rivalry has operated in the church through the woman, but if we fight alone against this blight on our lives, the whole church will be blessed.  Then, from the one channel who was a curse, the woman who works for God will become the biggest instrument of change and unity to build the Kingdom of God.

Philippians 2:7-9 – “but made himself nothing, take the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave the name that is above every name”.

God exalted Jesus, after he agreed to humble Himself, empty Himself and die. Only after His death Jesus fulfilled the ultimate purpose of God through His life. So we only fulfill the larger purpose of God when our ego, our carnal man, dies. We need to have this attitude that turns everything around in us, so that the children of our wombs bring the church to a new time.

 Matthew 5:40 - And if someone want to sue you and take your tunic, let him take your cloak as well.

Where establishing such a spirit of rivalry and dispute, if we, the sons of God, have a humble spirit and turn the other cheek, the Lord will give us victory. This is the spirit of Jesus Christ, able to nullify all contention and all disagreements in the inner Church.

Numbers 12:1 - Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. Miriam only turned against Moses on this occasion and it was because of another woman, out of jealousy. However we must remember that any conflict between women is typological and refers to the conflict between the Church and religion.

Philippians 4:2 - In the New Testament we read a phrase that is suggestive: I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord.  Apparently, in the early church, the rivalry between the leaders was already a problem to be overcome.

John 4:7-29 – Here we see that the Samaritan woman was by the stream alone, at the time of the heat of the day. She didn’t want to fetch water together with other women.  When she went to town preaching Jesus as the Messiah, it was to men. Other women probably not would listen to her. Women are more severe in judging each other by the presence of rivalry.

 The Two Women and Solomon

"Who is the living child? Envy and jealousy in the Ministry "

w I Kings 3:16-28: ... “Please, my Lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”But the there said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”

This story well illustrates the issue of rivalry and the wisdom of King Solomon judging two prostitutes who fought over a single child. The son of one of them had died during the night and she switched him with the other child. In the morning, they began to battle for the child and took the case to the King.

As the two claimed to be mother of the living boy, Solomon commanded to bring a sword to cleave the child in half. This is wisdom, the strategy that God gave him.

            The sword, according to the Word, has the power to divide soul and spirit and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, revealing the whole truth. Here we have the word of two women and the word of the "King" Solomon, typifying Jesus.

The real mother, at that time, waived her right to keep son for love, while the other said, not mine nor yours, let him be divided. In other words, if he can not be mine, you’re also not going to get him; he must die!

If you look at this story in the spiritual context, we understand that the child represents Jesus, namely the design of the Lord in our lives, which is generated in our inner being and has the life of God. In John 3:6 says, That which is generated from the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

The real mother requires the child’s authorship for you - I brought that child to light - but when "the project" is at risk, she yields to preserve the will of God, the Lord's plan.  It is precisely because of her ability to deliver and surrender, that the true "mother" is recognized.

The final sentence belongs to the King, who does justice, rightly giving the living child back to his rightful mother.

w Sometimes God gives us a ministry, a strategy, but out of jealousy, envy, rivalry, one that lives very close to us, tries to usurp it.  This woman does not care what God gave you, but lets it die by neglect or lack of vigilance. At night, the child is laid on, and suffocation follows.  Her son died was because he was slept on.

And when we're talking about this woman, we are also referring to the church. Sometimes God is developing a project with a specific church. The pastor receives the plan of God, the church is thriving, but for the people who share the same space (the ones who lived together), the confidence of the pastor, begins to compete with that for their leader.  These opponents come into question: perhaps the Pastor is not listening to God, so is not getting it right (what God wants).

They end up leaving the ministry, leaving the Pastor and taking with them, if possible, a third or more of those who support them in the rebellion.  They open another church and try to steal the "project" and deploy, taking over the "son" of others. The legitimate son will never be the "alien".

w The night speaks of a time without light, when you sleep.  When we are asleep spiritually, it means that life has virtually ceased, and almost dead, we generate death (John 3:19-21 and Matthew 25:13). Jesus Christ is the light of the world; when a child dies, it means that it was a false type of Jesus.

At midnight, the hour of greatest darkness, the child is robbed by another by use of cunning and deception.  At the time of greatest darkness, she commits the greatest evil. Why does she becomes her companion's rival?  For envy.  She was not able to take care of the child that was hers, then tried to get hold of what belongs to another. In this attempt, it "threatens" the surviving child. Neglect killed the first and jealousy tries to kill the second. If the King did not intervene promptly, and the second woman had been allowed to stay with the child that was not hers, she would lose that too. For what she lacks is true love.

I go as far as to say that this woman lacks love for the child's father.  If you truly love the Lord, we have all the zeal with fruit that He is generating in us; we will not let the life of God in our inner being die.  Without love, we can not bring life to the "children that God gives us."

Even God watches over His word to perform it. On the other hand, God is awake taking care so that his word, once generated, is alive and brings life.

The real mother woke up, early, to breastfeed. She was up early for the care and feeding "the son", the commission she had received from God. This was handling what she had received, and when it came to light in the morning she was not just buring the child, but taking notice.  This clarity speaks of a time of revelation, when God's light comes enough for us to understand what really is happening. Soon she realized the deception of the partner trying to deceive her. One who appeared to be dead - and this was the third day - revived and returned to the arms of his true mother, which indicates that child as a type of Jesus Christ.

God, the righteous judge, will return what belongs to us, if we allow justice to remain in  his hands.

Even King Solomon must have faced some difficulties with his concubines. He had a thousand women in his harem (I Kings 11:3).  We wonder about the rivalry between them... after all, how many of them have generated sons to the King?

 Samson

"In our death, our victory"

In Judges 13:1-25, is the story of the birth of Samson, one chosen of the Lord.  This is another case in which God intervenes and reverses the physical sterility of a woman to create  spiritually rich fruit.

Samson's mother was barren until the angel of the Lord appeared to her to announce that she would have a son. She should devote herself, and the boy would be a Nazarite, chosen by God to rid Israel of the Philistines.

Samson is a complex personality, difficult to understand.  The story jumps from his birth (Judges 13), to an episode that happens when he is grown (Judges 14). He is interested in a Philistine woman, belonging to the enemy, who oppressed Israel. His call was just the destruction of the Philistines, and not an alliance with them by marrying a woman of her people.

His parents do not approve the idea, but he insists and they travel to Timna to ask the girl's hand in marriage (vs.5).  It is worth noting the word "down" which appears in verses one, five, seven and ten, every time mentioning that Samson went to see the Philistine woman.  This suggests exactly what was happening to him from the spiritual point of view: he was moving away from his calling.

He followed this path of descent and in verse 6 met a lion (Satan).  In this confrontation, he smashed the animal and had an apparent victory against the enemy. Samson won the lion with his physical strength, using his own hands, but the devil has found a way to use that animal to lead astray him spiritually.

In his first encounter with the lion he defeated it, but on a second occasion, he was defeated. That lion was a trap of the devil for his destruction.

Verse 8 says: after a few days he came back to take the Philistine as his wife, and departed from the path to see the carcass of the lion, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey.  He took the comb in hand, and went on eating it, and coming to his father and his mother, gave them the honey and ate, but did not give them the knowledge that the body of the lion had taken.

Samson was going to his wedding and we can not understand why he wanted to see the carcass of the lion, even having to deviate from his path.  The truth is that he broke his Nazarite vow to touch the dead animal.

In verse 12 we read that Samson also decided to use the case of the lion to propose a riddle to some wedding guests, definitely falling into the trap that the devil set for him.

In verse 14 he proposes the riddle: of the eater came forth meat (the lion), and from the strong came forth sweetness (honey).

Samson was deceived by his own puzzle, and had not realized the correct answer. Indeed the eater was the devil himself in the lion skin, and food (honey), was the "forbidden fruit" that Samson took and ate and gave to his parents.

Samson did as Esau, who lost his birthright by marrying gentile women, after yielding to the temptation of a mess of pottage.

The wedding party lasted seven days and ended in total disgrace. The Philistines, under threat of death, plucked the answer of the riddle from Samson and tells it to the guys who challenged him.

Samson was enraged, killed thirty from Ashkelon, took his raiment, paid off the bet and went back to the house of his father.

After some time he decided to return and consummate the marriage, but the girl's father had given his betrothed to his companion of honor. Samson, angry, placed fire throughout the planting of the Philistines.

They took revenge by burning his wife and her father. Samson then responded by making a slaughter among the Philistines.

The Philistines still wanted revenge and threatened to attack the men of Judah. So the men  of Judah, delivered Samson to them to escape from destruction, but the hero released himself, took a donkey's jawbone and injured one thousand men.

Verse 18 - Feeling very thirsty, he cried to the Lord and said, "Through your servant You gave this great salvation; must I now die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?

Then the Lord split the cavity that was in Lehi, and there came water, and Samson drank, regained breath, and was revived ...

w Samson had left a big confrontation with the enemy and needed to be renewed. He put his need for God as a great thirst.  If he not satisfied immediately, he would become weak and fall into the hands of the enemy whom he had just defeated. The Lord then split the rock, which is the figure of Jesus, and it leaves water that revived the great warrior.

Chapter 16 begins by saying that Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a prostitute, and lay with her.  In this incident we see that he came down a little more.  After this (vs. 4), he took a passing liking to a Soreque Valley woman, who was called Delilah.  This woman gave the final blow in Samson’s life, handing him, without any strength, without the anointing of the Spirit, into the hands of the Philistines.

As a prisoner, he was taken to entertain the people and knocked over the columns of the building where the Philistines gathered for a great feast to their god Dagon. And the Word says, that he killed more in his death than he did in his life.

Samson judged in Israel for 20 years, and was finally used in his death to fulfill his calling.

w The devil, though he is the deceiver, always ends up being deceived. When he killed Jesus Christ, he thought he had won, but the cross was the moment of his total defeat. When Jesus Christ died, he overcame death and defeat Satan.

In Samson’s case, in his death, he fulfilled God's purpose for him. We go through the same thing. While we live in this world, the death of our self, often through pain and suffering caused by the enemy, results in victory for the purposes of God in our lives.  And when our earthly body is affected by death, that will be the moment of our total victory, because we will be resurrected like Jesus, delivering ourselves forever from the devil, and receiving our reward of eternal life.

Samuel

"Returning our calling to God"

The first two chapters of I Samuel tell the story of Elkanah and his two wives: Hannah and Penina.  Penina had children, but Hannah was barren, yet the husband loved her more than the other.  Chapter 1:6 says,  and because the Lord had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.

Hannah and Penina again are corporated and symbolic women that typify the church and religion.

Penina generates in the strength of the flesh, and Hannah generates in the fullness of time, according to God and to His glory, children not born from the will of the flesh and blood. (John 1:12,13)

Hannah anguished over the situation and was crying before the Lord and made a vow, that if she had a son, she would dedicate him to the Lord.  She then became pregnant with Samuel and after weaning him, left the child in the care of the temple priest Eli.

Chapter 2 begins with a song of Hannah glorifying God.  In vs.5,6,7 she says: ... She who was barren has born seven children, but she who has had many sons pines away. The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord send poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts.

w Like Hannah, we got the fertility from God, made pregnant by the Lord's plans, but left to ourselves, we cannot take care of these "children" by our own strength.  The projects, the ministry, the calling, all comes from God, and we need to give it back to the Lord. Only then will He return to us what we long for, along with the spiritual gift to carry out His purpose through our lives.

 Naomi and Ruth

"When a woman joins"

We can speak at length of women in situations of confrontation, but what happens when women overcome the rivalry and unite?

The Book of Ruth says that there was famine in Bethlehem, the "house of bread."  There was a lack of physical nourishment and spiritual nourishment for the people, because the bread symbolizes the life of Jesus Christ.

The couple Elimelech (my God is King) and Naomi (pleasant, beautiful), decided to move to Moab with their two sons, Mahlon (thin) and Chilion (wasting). The fruits of the couple were being lost, the life generated was dying. In the new land, Naomi's husband died. He was the head, symbolized Jesus Christ in this family and as a logical consequence, their children soon came to die, because we are talking about spiritual life.

If Naomi is no longer the wife, she cease to generate life.  If we stop being the Bride of the Lamb, we also lose the position to create life in the Kingdom of God.  This is the situation of the widow.

But before they disappeared, their children tried to generate a descendent and married Orpah and Ruth, who unfortunately had no children.

The entire situation is one of death, loss, sterility, lack of bread and lack of life.

Over time, the situation in Bethlehem improved, and after 10 years, Naomi decided to return from Moab to their land.

Ruth decided to go along and changed her religion and nationality: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.

We saw that the two were united and came to Bethlehem,  but did not know what to do. There was no man to take care of them.  And so, by the providence of God, Ruth ended up in the fields of Boaz, to collect the remains of the harvest.

Naomi told her daughter to approach Boaz. He was older and had no children.  Then we learn that he was the redeemer of Naomi's family - the one closest relative in charge of raising her offspring. (Galatians 3:13, I Peter 1:18-20). It provides that none of the tribes would suffer extinction.

Ruth 3:5-6 – Ruth answered: Whatever you say to me, I will do. Then she went to the threshing-floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law had commanded her.

Titus 2:3-5 says ... the older should teach the younger.

Boaz decided to assume his position and took Ruth to be his wife.

Ruth 4:13 - So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; he lay with her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she had a son.

Naomi and Ruth came together to generate, through Ruth’s marriage with Boaz, the son Obed. This child was the father of Jesse, the father of David, preserving in this way the genealogical line of Jesus Christ.

At an earlier time the genealogy of Jesus Christ had been threatened and God had also used a woman that his plans would continue. This happened at the time of Judah. He had three children, two of which were given to Tamar in marriage. The two died without bearing children. She then received a strategy of God and became pregnant by their father, Judah. Tamar conceivesd twins: Perez and Zerah. From Perez came Boaz.

Thus was fulfilled the Word of God about Jesus Christ as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, through the obedience of Tamar; and Jesus, the Root of David, through Ruth’s loyalty and obedience.

Two Women and Moses

"Women in God's Plan"

Jochebed and the daughter of Pharaoh - These two women were so important to bring into existence the projects that are at the heart of God! They were used to generate and protect the life of Moses.

He came as a savior, as the liberator of the people who were outwardly under Egyptian bondage, leading them to the earthly Canaan. Likewise, Jesus Christ came to take us to the promised land, to our heavenly Canaan.

Exodus 2:2 -- ... and seeing that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months.

The mother of Moses, seeing her son, realized he was something: God’s special child. Given the sentence of death for Hebrew’s  children, she decided to hide him for three months.

The nine months of pregnancy added to these three months, is 12 months, the full number of God.  Acts 7:20 says he was pleasing to the eyes of God.  Another version says that he was not an ordinary child, implying some special grace. Moses was a divine plan entrusted to the care of his mother, Jochebed. After this time hidden and protected, Moses was placed in the basket and released into the river. Surprisingly, the daughter of Pharaoh disobeyed the order of her father and adopted a Hebrew child.

Moses' mother could no longer keep him on pain of losing him forever. So she decided to give him the protection of God in a small "ark," the basket of deliverance. When Jochebed released her son, God gave him back to her with all the needed conditions to create safety and security, in spite of Pharaoh’s threats, even receiving a salary and everything else necessary.

God gave Moses to her; it was beautiful, it was God's promise. But she had to release him, as her Isaac. We receive the promise in the natural realm, but when we sow this promise and leave it for dead, it is reborn in the spiritual dimension and is fruitful in God's resources, in God's way, not ours. Isaac could reproduce naturally, but God would like one offspring much bigger, not only as the dust of the earth, which speaks of the Jewish people, or as the sands of the sea that speaks of the Gentiles, but as the stars of heaven, which speaks about the Church in its celestial dimension.

Ø In this story we see again two women acting in cooperation to accomplish God's plan. The mother who gave birth, Jochebed, and the mother who formed him into a man, Pharaoh's daughter, who took care of this only child (Exodus 2:8,9).  Jochebed is one type of Israel, the place where Jesus was born, and Pharaoh's daughter is a type of the Church, formed by the gentiles (Egypt represent the nations of the world). Israel, represented by Mary, the mother of Jesus, gave rise to the Incarnation of the Word. Similarly, the Church expressed the expansion of the Resurrected Christ - the Spirit who gives life.

This joint effort made possible the survival of Moses, the deliverer of God's plan for his people; after all Moses was a type of the Savior Jesus Christ, freeing people from slavery and bondage.

When two women are united in love for the "Son", Satan, typified in Pharaoh is defeated in  his attempts to destroy the people of God.

So it was with Mary (Jesus) and Elizabeth (John the Baptist): two women united in one victorious purpose to redeem and save mankind.

The Virgin Church

"Only after fulfilling our mission in the world shall we go to the Wedding of the Lamb"

         Speaking of Mary, one cannot fail to mention her as a symbol of the Women- Church. The text that follows will talk about Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a kind of Church of the Lord. There are interesting similarities.

Matthew 1:18-23 – This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledge to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel os the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a so, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel – which means, ‘God with us.’

Now the Church is espoused to Jesus Christ, is committed to the groom. Mary too was betrothed to Joseph (like the Church is promised to Jesus Christ) as was customary in Jewish culture.

Like Mary, the Church's marriage is not consummated, is definitely not joined to the groom. However, this Virgin Church is pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

It is in the power of the Spirit of God that we are generating the male child, generating salvation for all peoples of the earth.  We, as a church, are pregnant with the projects and with the call of God. (Revelation 12)

We're bringing Jesus to the world, salvation for humanity and the Holy Spirit is doing this work through the Church involved in its shadow.  We are reconciling man with God - Emanuel, generating Life.

Like Mary, who only joined to Joseph after bringing Jesus Christ into the world (Matthew 1:25), the Church also will only be joined to Jesus Christ as his wife, after accomplishing their mission. Only after completion of our calling as a church in the world to proclaim the Gospel to all people will we go up to the Wedding of the Lamb (Matthew 24:14; Revelation 19:7,9).

Mary and Joseph had other children (Matthew 12:47). She was now free to build an intimate relationship with her spouse. We do not know if other children will be born or what kind of fruit will come from the union of Jesus with the Church for building a new family to God. A union of love usually produces fruit.  The body, which is the Church, joining the head, Jesus, becomes complete, and then goes forward, following the plans of the Eternal God – plans that are veiled now (Deuteronomy 29:29ª).

         The Bride of Christ

"Only our complicity allow us to form the body of beloved son to God"

Revelation 12 – A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with sun, with the moon under her feet and crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.

Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born.

She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.

The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for1,260 days.

vs.17: “Then then dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring – those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea”.

The woman here represents the visible church who was in labor, screaming in pain to give birth. The dragon is Satan, that old serpent, ready to devour the child when born.

The devil tries to kill the  newly born “child”, before it grows and fulfills the plan of God as Jesus fulfilled.

This male child that was born, is the true church, which will be snatched up. In verse 17, after the rise of this "man child" - the raptured church - was still a part, ie the remaining seed of the woman (church), who keeps the commandments of God and has the testimony of Jesus Christ. These may be Jews or another part of the church that has been left behind. The dragon will fight against them.

He stood up on the sand of the sea. The sea symbolizes all nations. The sand was mentioned in God's covenant with Abraham when he said that his descendants would be as the sands of the beach.

Let's talk here of the woman as a symbol of the visible church. Just as the visible church should give birth to "God's plan," we, as the male child, as believers, each one of us should do the same.

Similarly, each church as a family raised by God, must generate the male child. Generate and bring to life something that comes from God. There is only one Man (Jesus Christ) raised by a single Spirit. (Ephesians 4:3-7)

In this context, there will be churches and ministries who neglecting their calling who do not fulfill God's purpose. Because it does not love its spouse Jesus Christ, this church does not love and care in an efficient way for his son. As a result, she will sleep on the child and kill God's plan.  Sleeping on a child is something like walking in the flesh, in the cold word that kills. (II Corinthians 3:6, Romans 8:6).  The two women, I repeat, are religion and the Church.

Frustrated, allowing God's Life to die, she becomes jealous and attacks the children of other. "Neither mine, nor yours" she says. The spirit of rivalry is thus released between the churches. Each one requires for you the motherhood of the male child.

However, the woman of Revelation 12, was clothed with the sun, or clothed in the light of God, which is Jesus Christ.  The moon, not having its own light, symbolizes the powers of darkness and was under his feet.  This Woman-Church has authority over the evil powers.  And on her head is a crown, a symbol of power, with twelve stars. This is a reference to the twelve apostles, the twelve gates of Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb.  In other words, it represents the whole church and not any denomination.

She screamed in pain, because it is not easy to bring a child into existence, and to keep it alive, only by the power of God.  The Church is suffering, but triumphant!

Thus, a spirit of competition and rivalry is not admissible among us, women, Christians, and among the churches of the Lord (which are as many as the thousand women of Solomon). Rather a sense of solidarity and even complicity in will form the body of God’s beloved son.

Travail

"A woman has the honor to be a kind of church, leading people to salvation"

Genesis 3:16 – “To the woman he said, I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

Here, the woman is a kind of church that generates salvation through birth pangs. This text, if interpreted without understanding, can give women a bad impression of a sadistic God who wants to torture us in this situation.  Besides, we can not get rid of desire, it still would turn against us, putting us under a government that sounds to our ears as abusive. But that’s not what our loving Father wanted to say.

 If, by the Spirit, we understand that this woman is the church, everything has a new meaning. Actually the church-woman is bringing God's children to an existence that includes pain (Galatians 4:19; Revelation 12:2). And, sure, her greatest desire is for Jesus, her husband and head that governs His beloved church.

John 16:21 - When a woman is to give birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but after the birth of the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a man has been born into the world.

What Jesus said to his disciples provides a safe indication that He was not referring to an ordinary baby, or perhaps a girl. The Women-church is to give birth to a male child, the promised bride of the Lamb. Mary gave birth to a boy, a man brought to the world, which is Jesus, who came to be, through the resurrection, the Christ, our salvation.

Jesus Christ also warned us that living in the world would include afflictions. Having served His mission here on earth, the church goes to glory and no longer remembers her afflictions.

Matthew 24:8 - ... But all this is the beginning of sorrows.

Since birth, the church grew out of the water and blood (John 19:34) spilled by Jesus Christ, a man of sorrows, who knows what suffering is (Isaiah 53:3).  Just as Eve was taken from Adam's rib while He slept, the beloved of Jesus came from His heart while He slept the sleep of death.

As early as its inception, the church began to experience the pain mentioned by Jesus Christ for the first time.  The early church came up with this call and its early leaders were martyred. These pains have only increased, as with a woman who is about to give birth. The pain will intensify and become more frequent until the birth of the child.

Nature is in this same process.

Romans 8:22 - ... all creation at once groans and travails until now.  Something is happening on this planet Earth. We are in the process of generating something new.

Matthew 11:12 -- Since the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven is filled with stress, and those who strive to take it.

The kingdom of heaven is won by effort, through violence. Natural birth is an example for us of what Jesus is saying. The child needs to break through, fighting to pass through the narrow door. You can not be cowardly or timid to be born, because if you do not endeavor, you die. So it is with our spiritual life, especially if we refer to the time of Law, which existed in the days of John the Baptist.              

From Water To Blood

"As to whether ‘the child’ you are generating is the seed of the woman, the child of promise?"

Jesus Christ as an example, is the son of promise. He had been promised to the people of Israel and was expected for two thousand years. He was conceived by the word that came from God and the Spirit that overshadowed Mary with His shadow (Luke 1:35).

Our "man child" should be raised by the coming of God's Word and the Spirit, which together will generate Jesus in our spiritual womb.

John 3:6 - That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

What is generated in us which had its origin in our human mind (as creative!) is flesh. It is born of carnal man with his corrupt nature, of our own will, not subject to the will of God.

The Word, a seed when fertilized by the Spirit, will generate life. Jesus Himself sowed the Word for three years in the heart of His disciples. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit fell and covered them with His shadow, surrounded them, and bore fruit.

The men of Israel made three annual pilgrimages to the three official celebrations of Jerusalem in the central sanctuary (Exodus 23:14-17). The first was the Passover or Feast of Unleavened Bread. All yeast (a symbol of sin) was to be taken out of their houses on the very first day. There was a major housecleaning. This party represents the Exodus from Egypt, leaving the world and sin behind.

The third party was that of Tabernacles, when the people lived in huts, resembling the crossing of the desert. In Exodus 23:16, it is called the Harvest Festival and can be a prophetic reference to the final harvest in which Jesus Christ will snatch His church (Deuteronomy 16:13-15, Leviticus 23:34-43).

Finally let's talk about the second party of the year, the Feast of Weeks or Feast of Firstfruits of the wheat harvest, also known as Pentecost. Pentecost celebrates the harvest of wheat, according to Exodus 23:16 and 34:22. It speaks of wheat bread, which in turn speaks of the Word. Thus the word planted by Jesus in the lives of His disciples was representing a large harvest, with the emergence of the church and thousands of souls coming into the kingdom. First Fruits is a reference to the resurrection of Christ, the first man to be resurrected. In I Corinthians 15:20 we read: But, in fact, Christ is risen from the dead, the firstfruits of them that slept.

We have many examples in the Word of God of times when the Word is joined to the Spirit to impregnate the servants of God with His plans and projects.

The greatest example is that of Mary, when generating the Savior.  But Jesus, when He was baptized, He experienced the descending of the Holy Spirit upon Him together with the Word of the Father: Luke 3:22 – “and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: You are my son whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

The prophet Ezekiel has in his ministry, the true "man child". He even recounts the experience of their calling. It is worth calling your attention to the presence of two necessary elements: the word that came from the Lord and the action of the Spirit of God.

Ezekiel 2:2,3 – As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me on my feet, and I heard Him speaking to me. He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to this very day”.

Ezekiel 3:3 – Then he said to me: “Son of a man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.”  So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.

Manna also tasted like honey (Exodus 16:31), so that the people of Israel in the desert were constantly reminded of God's promise, the land of Canaan, flowing with milk and honey, where they were going.  The manna represented the promise, the bread of the Word which came from heaven to us, Jesus Christ.  The manna kept in the Ark of the Covenant is a type of Jesus Christ.

The scroll that the Prophet ate is the Word of God - the Lord's promise that we must eat to fill our insides -- the innermost places of our being.  Once full of the Word (promises), the Spirit will bear fruit and we can bring into existence the promises that are in the mind and heart of the Father.

The Word and the Spirit also came upon Gideon.  He was beating out wheat when the angel of the Lord came with the following words: The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. Go in this strength that you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you? (Judges 6:12,14)

The clear call came from the Lord, and  this word came to light in verse 34:  the Lord came upon Gideon.  In its mission, it actually generated the man who crushed the serpent's head, totally destroying the Midianites, the Amalekites and all the peoples of the East. These, according to verse 12, covered the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were an innumerable multitude as the sand of the seashore. The ministry of Gideon has a genuine brand of the Spirit.

We can find in the Bible many fruitful ministries of prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Daniel and others who received the call, the Lord's commission for his mission. Received the task and the covering of the Spirit to create a "legitimate child". Like them, we must build a work whose foundation is gold, tested and approved by the fire.

I repeat: to determine whether the child we are generating is the seed of the woman, we will need a legitimate seed that is planted in us by the Father, and fertilized by the Spirit.  Only from this agreement between calling and anointing are we going to bring Jesus into existence through our lives.

We can see the importance of this principle of agreement in  Revelation 22:17 - The Spirit and the bride say, Come.  Let him who hears say, Come.

The Miracle of Jesus in Our Lives

"You do not drink blood, but drink water, and He, the water of the Word, became blood; the living Jesus embodied, fleshed out in you. "

John 3:5 - ...whoever is not born of water and the Spirit, cannot enter the kingdom of God.

The child is born naturally and spontaneously from the water, when the mother’s waters break, but to enter the kingdom of God one must be born of a “spiritual water”. The first thing we do in this world is to pull air into our lungs - we breathe. From the spiritual point of view, to be born in the Kingdom of God, we also have to breathe in the Spirit of God which is our breath of eternal life.

In the spiritual generation we born of the Water of the Word plus the Spirit; and from the blood of Jesus that cleanses us of sin and death.

Romans 10:17 - And so faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.

This is the first miracle that Jesus works in our lives.  We hear the preaching of the good news, the word of salvation. When we drink this living water, and when we believe under the conviction of the Spirit, it turns to Jesus, on the inside.  First came the word to Mary by the angel.  She drank that word, the Spirit came into action and Jesus was formed in her womb.

The man will live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. First comes the Word and the Holy Spirit that convinces us, and together brings Jesus into our interior. It is when we believe that the miracle of life happens.

Luke 1:45 - Blessed is she who believed that the words that were spoken by the Lord will be fulfilled.

There is a word in the Old Testament that speaks of a bitter water, as opposed to living water.  The woman suspected of treason should take that water and abort the child in her womb, because the sentence for sin is death.

Numbers 5:27 – If she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then when she is made to drink the water that brings a curse, it will go into her and cause bitter suffering; her abdomen will swell and her thigh waste away, and she will become accursed among her people.

 This unfaithful wife brings two figures: the first is Israel and the second is religion. It is because Israel was unfaithful to God, engaging in idolatry. The religion also means adultery with spirits other than the Spirit of God.

Joseph could have applied this test to Mary, but he was in submission to God.

Along with the Word of the angel, came the Spirit of God that fertilized Mary, became flesh and blood in her womb.

Why did Jesus choose the miracle of Cana in Galilee as the first sign? Typifying the first miracle performed by Jesus in our lives, he performed his first miracle, turning water into wine.  Prophetically, this actually happened at a wedding because the groom Jesus has just raised his bride from the water and blood. The church was born from the Lord's side when he gave his life for it at Calvary. Just as Adam had his wife taken from his rib while he slept, Jesus also brought His beloved from the blood that gushed from His heart when pierced by a spear that certified His death.

When Jesus performed the miracle at the feast of Cana, He took the water of purification  used for ritual cleaning, and turned it into wine, a symbol of life and joy.  When we are cleansed by the Word of God, His life enters into us and His kingdom is righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).

Everything we eat and drink will turn into blood in our body. The blood nourishes the cells of the body, so that we can say that we are what we eat.

If you drink the living water of the Word, it becomes in you “blood,” the life of Jesus.

You do not drink blood, but drink water and this Word becomes blood, becomes Jesus alive and incarnate in you. He is the life of your life, because the life is in the blood. Jesus himself said: the words I said to you are spirit and life.

The more we drink the Word of God, the more life we will have.  The Spirit of God uses the water of the Word to purify us,  to develop our  sanctification in order to form Jesus in us.

Psalm 42:2 - My soul thirsts for God, the living God.

Psalm 63:1 - ... Earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

This is how the people of Israel felt as they walked through the desert: thirsty.  So also are people who do not yet know Jesus - dry in real life.

In Exodus 17: 6 Moses receives God's answer to the people's cry for water, I will stand before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out it for the people to drink.

 Then in Numbers 20:11 - Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

Jesus is the rock wounded by God to quench our thirst for salvation, our thirst for love. From this rock flows the living water that flows in us to eternal life.

Isaiah 55:1 – Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters ...

Jeremiah 2:13,18 – My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

Now why go to Egypt to drink water from the Shihor? And why go to Assyria to drink water from the River?

This is how Israel was unfaithful to the Lord, relying more on the strength of the armies of other nations and their gods than on the living God.

John 4:14 - ... but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

João7: 37.38 - ... if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. Jesus said that on the last day of the feast, when all had been drinking at home, but not of His life.

Romans 12:20 – On the contrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.

Certainly, we need to give the bread of the Word and the cup of salvation to our enemies so they become our brothers in Christ.

Isaiah 49:10 - They will neither hunger nor thirst, ... and I will lead them besides springs of water.

Revelation 7:16 – Never again will they hunger; never again they will thirst.

What wonderful texts!  We have to eat every day, drink every day. This speaks of our hunger and thirst for God that can not be satisfied now, in this land.  But there will be a day when the Lord will indulge us in a full and definitive way.

Revelation 21:6 -- ...To him, who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.

Revelation 22:17 - ...Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. 

Rejection of Birthright

"By this the blessing of the birthright which belonged to the first son, always fell on the second child?"

Genesis 3:16 ...I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.

 The desire of women-church is for your husband Jesus that will rule over her. Jesus is the Head of the Church and The Desired of our souls.

Genesis 4 tells us that Eve conceived and gave birth to two children, the First, Cain and the second Abel. Eve, like Women-Church generated Abel to life, and Eva like Woman-Religion, generated Cain to death.

To repeat: We are referring to Religion as a series of schemes and initiatives of man to reach God; and the Church, as the initiative of God sending Jesus Christ to form a people and take us back to him.

Here is one of the keys that answers our question of the rights of the firstborn: I Corinthians 15:47 - The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.

Galatians 4:29,30 – At that time, the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does the Scripture say? Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman will never share in the inheritance with the son of the free woman.

The Word says that the first man is of the earth (Adam) and the second man is from heaven (Jesus). So were the children of Eve: Cain was carnal, a descendant of the devil, because he killed his brother and the devil was a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). But through Abel, the perfect sacrifice to God for the restoration began to be offered.  Seven came replacing Abel, and so were the two offspring on earth.

Ôhe evil descendants and the blessed offspring - Both left the same womb, the womb of Eve.

Likewise, from the womb of the church-congregation, are born both Cain and Abel, sons both carnal and spiritual, two different natures that  begin to fight among themselves.

Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob: in both cases, the seeds of the women, the blessed descendant came as the second son, and not as the first.

While the blessing of the birthright should fall on the first, it fell upon the second child because the first typifies Adam, and the second typifies Jesus (the second Adam), the son of promise, which only grows by a supernatural operation of God, at the time that the Lord determines action.

Usually the wife who was not beloved by the husband could have children at home, but the beloved, which typifies the Women-Church, is only generated by the operation of God in her womb, and the fruit was precious to God.  We have seen examples of Hannah, Sarah and Rachel. The Women-Church is only going to be spiritually fertile because she loves and is loved by her husband, Jesus.  It is the presence of His life that generates life through us, and the promise of God through our lives will be fulfilled in God's time. (Genesis 30:2)

Sometimes we see other people in their Christian lives doing so much with so many activities for God and we feel ashamed, anguished in spirit, like Hannah, who could not generate Samuel to God.

Hannah means full of grace and she wanted to be fertile ground for God, but their waiting time was too long.  It was not fair, because she loved her husband more than Penina, and was more loved by him.  Why did her love relationship did not generate fruit?

We can be humiliated and suffer shame as we wait for God’s promise in our lives.  What  shame Abraham had to endure until, in his old age, he would generate Isaac? To generate a child, any child, many can do this; but to create a child of obedience and trust in God, like Isaac, to generate a descendant of the throne requires much more.

Bathsheba was pregnant by King David, but his successor was not his first son by her. This child died because he was a fruit of adultery, and death is the sentence for sin. The choice of God fell upon the second son, Solomon, who typifies the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Jesus King.

Our ministry must be the son, the anointed of God, able to defeat the forces of darkness, to crush the serpent's head. (Revelation 12)

The Last Stand Between Two Women

" The harlot is one who is a prostitute, and everything that is not true worship of God, is prostitution"

The big showdown in the Book of Revelation will occur between two women and their descendants.

One is the prostitute Babylon and its descendants who were organized under the Babylonian civilization; the other is the New Jerusalem, which brings together the descendants of the woman.

We will see on one hand the enthronement of the rule of Christ and his Bride, the true church, the New Jerusalem, while on the other hand, the fall of the false church, the whore, Babylon the Great, which represents the systems and religions of the world.

Revelation 17:1-4,18 ...Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits in many waters. With her, the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.

Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.

The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.

This passage recounts the trial of the great whore.  She is seated in a position of government, on many waters, that is, on many nations.  We know that Satan is the god of this world and is moving to establish his reign. Those who should have authority from God, prostituted themselves with their type of evil government.

She was in the desert - a dry life, sitting on a scarlet beast, being led by and leading the power of Satan.

The woman Babylon was richly dressed, adorned, and holding a cup full of abominations. On her forehead was written: Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.

The harlot is what prostitutes, and everything that is not true worship of God is prostitution. This includes, in addition to religion, the idolatry connected with people, politics, economics, etc..

She was drunk with the blood of saints and typifies the religious and economic power in the world. God will allow, for a time, His saints, His chosen ones to be defeated by the power of evil, before He comes to final victory.

Revelation 18:21 - Babylon the great city.  This is the civilization built by Satan and his evil principalities, as opposed to the city of God, the holy Jerusalem.  This confrontation is placed in terms of cities: The great city corrupted, the fallen civilization, over against the city ruled by Christ.

Revelation 19:8 - He speaks of the Bride, the Church: she was dressed in white linen, which are the righteous acts of the saints.  The Prostitute was wearing red blood of the righteous, poured out in acts of injustice.  She drank the blood of the saints, as Jesus shed His own blood to sanctify us.

Revelation 18:3  - She drank the blood of saints, while Jesus shed his blood for us, to justify us.

Revelation 21:2 - The New Jerusalem descends out of heaven, prepared as a bride for her husband. She is the lawful wife.

And finally, Revelation 21:9 - The description of the New Jerusalem. This is the final conflict between the two women, with the victory belonging to the Lamb's Bride, The City of God.

Rebekah and the Twins

"In this matter of rivalry, the one who does not who come first, wins ."

The spirit of rivalry, which now acts between sister churches and between brothers in Christ, is acting in the dispensation of the old covenant in the dispute between the brothers of the flesh, involving the birthright. The eldest was the leader blessed by God but never did the first born, from the natural point of view, have the birthright, the supernatural blessing of God.

 In this issue of rivalry, it is not that he who come first wins, but he who was chosen. We saw in the parable of the workers that in the last minute, the last to be hired received as much as the first (Matthew 20).

⇒ Luke 13:26-30 - Then you will say, We ate and drank with  you, and you taught in our streets.  But he will reply, I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers! There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth ... but you yourselves will be thrown out. People will come from the East and West, North and South, and will take their places at the feast in the Kingdom of God. Indeed, there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.

• Who was the real seed of the woman?  Let's watch the struggle between Esau and Jacob. Genesis 25:21-26 - Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.  The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me? So she went to inquire of the Lord.

… The first to came out was red, and his whole body was like hairy garment, so they named him Esau. After this, his brother come out, with his hand grasping all covered with the ... then came his brother, and his hand the heel of Esau, so he called him Jacob Esau`s heel; so he was named Jacob.

Rebecca took 20 years to get pregnant (vs.26). When generated, there were twins in her womb, the two opposite natures, two children, the tares and wheat, represented in Esau (carnal) and Jacob (spiritual). The fight broke out between the brothers and we know the story.  The Bible informs us of the total destruction of Edom (Esau's people) and their descendants. So too will happen to the cursed descendants of Satan.

Now, from Jacob are generated the 12 tribes of Israel, including the Tribe of Judah, whose descendants included Jesus, the seed of the woman who crushed the serpent's head.

Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Judah also could not bear children by the fault of her husbands.  Thus, to preserve the lineage of the Messiah, she became pregnant by her own father-in-law, through a strategy favorable to the plans of God. In her womb also were twins (Genesis 38:27).

Verse 28.29: But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, “So, this is how you have broken out!” And he was named Perez.

These two cases are similar: Esau and Jacob, Perez and Zerah. They were twins and the one who got the birthright in the race was the second child. Perez got the blessing, because he fought most and Jesus came of his offspring.  The same Jacob heard from the angel in Jabbok: you have struggled as prince.  He also fought strongly for the blessing of the Lord, and held its nature; his name was then changed by God, which enabled him to fulfill his call (Genesis 32:28).

 Rivalry Between Jews and Gentiles

"Jacob, a type of the Church, is the first at the table."

Luke 13:29,30 - Many will come from East and West, North and South, and take their place in the Kingdom of God; however, the last will be first, and the first will be last.

In these verses we understand that Jesus was referring to the Gentile nations of the four corners of the earth: people and nations, people of all races, that would eventually take their place at the table of God's kingdom.

Esau represents the call of Israel.  He was red and hairy, which means: he was covered by the skin and blood of the Lamb. But he did not value the choice of God on his life, so his call was passed to his brother Jacob, a figure of the Church.

Jacob had no natural cover like Esau, had no birthright, but wanted the blessing far more, so took upon himself the skin of the Lamb (he was covered with wool to steal the blessing of his brother, getting it from his father Isaac). In so doing, the father also recognized him by the smell of Esau's clothes he wore. Jacob literally took upon himself the coverage of his brother by wearing his cloak, and with it came the authority delegated by his father.

The Church is like Jacob, dyed by the blood of Jesus, covered by his atoning sacrifice.

 The Marriage of the Lamb

"Although Israel is the first, it was the Church of the Gentiles, the second, who received the birthright; as it says in Luke, there are first who will be last in the kingdom of God."

Matthew, chapter 22, verses 01 to 14 brings a parable told by Jesus when He speaks again about the kingdom of heaven and the banquet table. The text of Luke 14: 16-24 narrates the same passage with some differences.

"The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

Then he sent some more servants, and said, Tell those who have been invited, that I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and fat cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready.  Come to the wedding banquet.

But they paid no attention  and went off - one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.

The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

Then he said to his servants, The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.

Go to the street corners, and invite to the banquet anyone you find.

So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man who was not wearing wedding clothes. Friend, he asked, how did you get in here without wedding clothes? The man was speechless.

Then the king told the attendants, Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 For many are invited but few are chosen.

Jesus is speaking to the Jewish people. They themselves refused the invitation of the Lord and did not heed the banquet He had prepared.

In Jewish culture, two invitations were sent to guests. The first gave a warning, the second announced that the feast was ready.  This gave an opportunity for guests to prepare in advance. But the Jews did not heed the call.  They could have planned their lives, activities and businesses in order to be free to attend the party, so the excuses were not acceptable.

In addition to dismissing the invitation they acted aggressively against the servants who were sent with the good news. In the context of Israel, these servants were the prophets, sent to announce the arrival of the Messiah, many of which were not only despised because of their  message, but paid with their lives for the mission they received. 

Verse 8 says: The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.

 So the king sent his servants in all directions to invite anyone they encountered on the road. They should give the invitation to the wedding feast of the king's son.

These servants speak of the church, which today is sent with this invitation to all nations: "Come to the Wedding of the Lamb.  The table is ready.  The Lamb has been slain!

Now the call that was refused by the Jewish people is transferred to the gentiles, which of course, were not worthy either. Among them were good and bad, blind, lame, crippled and all kinds of scoundrels. (Romans 3:23)

But there is important information that should be added to the tradition of this people. The host had the habit of providing appropriate clothing for the guests. Many came from afar, they would get tired and dirty from the trip and could switch to the party.

So, all that mob who came received clean clothes and the height of the event. No one knew who was poor or rich, or smaller, under those fancy clothes.

This gown provided by the King speaks of the robes of righteousness of the saints, the white clothes cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. As soon as that mob, that bunch of sinners, was covered with the blood of Jesus, they became acceptable in the presence of the King.

But when the King came and stood at the table, he noticed a guest without the wedding garment and, indignant, threw him out.

It always intrigued me why this man was without the garment. It turns out that God has provided the coating that is necessary for each to attend the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, but it is up to us to accept this. The choice of dressing in the justification provided by Jesus Christ, is ours.  So the parable ends with the condemnation of that man and the warning of Jesus: For many are called but few are chosen.

w Verse 7 - outraged the king ordered the city burned.

This phrase is associated with the prophecy of Jesus in Luke 19:41-44 – As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you”.

This prophecy was fulfilled in part in 70 CE, when the Roman general Titus besieged Jerusalem and burned the city.

w Jesus talks about the attitude of the Jewish people, who rejected the envoys and the Lord's invitation: Matthew 23:37: Jerusalem, Jerusalem! that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent! how often would I have gathered thy children as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

For more of this parable we can confirm that while Israel is the first, it was the Church of the Gentiles, the second, which received the birthright, as it says in Luke, the first will be last in the kingdom of God.

The  Kingdom of  Earth x The Kingdom of Heaven

"The Church received the order, not to populate the earth, but to populate the Kingdom of Heaven."

If Adam is the first man, the earthly one, and Jesus is the second man, the heavenly one, we can draw some conclusions.

Adam and his descendants received the earth, like God's inheritance.  The order was to have dominion over it, grow, multiply and populate the planet. To fill the earth they should go, spread out, and dominate the earth by one strategy: physical occupation.

-... Genesis 1:28 Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it ...

In the same way, the children of Israel received the promise of earthly Canaan, therefore, Israel is a type of Adam, the firstborn according to the flesh.

Since the beginning God sent the man with a mission. The mission for Adam and his descendants was the occupation and domination of the territory called earth.

The mission of Israel was to witness about the true God, Jehovah, to the other peoples of the earth. But they shamed their father, subjecting themselves to the gods of the Gentiles nations, instead of subjecting them to the Truth. Also they despised the Gentiles, and closed in their own culture.

Cain, the first son, rebelled.  He did not want wander (Genesis 4:12-17); he stopped and built his own city, a civilization that was hardened against God.

The first child frustrated the plan of God, and, like Israel, no longer fulfilled his mission to proclaim the Creator, the True God.  Closed, Cain and Israel, in their own pride, made their own survival the most important target. They did not rely on the security offered by the Father.

When the Jewish religious leaders killed Jesus, they just argued for the need to protect their nation from a possible retaliation by the Roman government. They barricaded themselves in an attitude of self-defense, seeking a false security, out of the center (Jesus) of God's will.

John 11:48 - If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.

To not fulfill the mission puts us at greater risk than the risk of compliance would bring. The real security is in the house in obedience to the Lord.

Jesus, the second son, and his brothers, received the promise to inherit the kingdom of God.

Lucas 12:32 – Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.

We, the Church will reign with Jesus Christ and we will dwell in the heavenly Canaan.  We received the order, not to populate the earth, but to people the Kingdom of Heaven, the task of rescuing many lives to eternal life.

Therefore, the Church, a heavenly institution, is a type of Jesus Christ, the firstborn by God's choice.

Israel, like Esau, despised the birthright, which Jesus acquired for us, at the price of His blood.

The Sorry Son

This is the birthright blessing, once again falling on the second child.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son confirms this Biblical argument on the birthright, which is carefully woven and interwoven throughout the Word of God.

The eldest son, or first child, typifies the Jewish people, hardened in their sins, with no prospect of repentance, clinging to his self-righteousness.  They felt they were just: the children of Abraham with an automatic right to all the promises. Sinners, according to their concept, (the Gentiles nations), could never be worthy of forgiveness from the father.

Luke 15: 29 – But he answered his father, Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!”

There it is! Actually Israel was subject to the laws of Jehovah for two thousand years. Without grace, without the party.  Then came "this thy son", a clear expression indicating that the elder did not consider the other as a brother.  He was resentful because the father had to kill "the" fatted calf, (Jesus), who was being prepared for the occasion of the repentance of the younger son.

The prodigal son (Gentiles), ie, the wild son, was living grossly without any concern.  He was prostituting himself to the world at large. Suddenly, he decided to repent and the Father gave him the best robe, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

The youngest son, the second son, a sinner assumed, moved with his father's heart and in return received the robes of justice, the ring of authority and the sandals of power (to crush the head of the serpent).  This is the birthright blessing, once again falling on the second child.

Egypt x Israel

"Manasseh, the earthly man. Ephraim, the spiritual. "

In Genesis, Chapter 48, we'll see a very interesting passage, when Israel decides to bless the two sons of Joseph.

Verse 10 reads: Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.

Jacob (Israel) had lost his natural vision, but his spiritual vision was wide open.  Joseph stood Ephraim and Manasseh before him to be blessed.

The firstborn, Manasseh, was at the right hand of Israel to receive the proper blessing, but wisely, he crossed his hands and put his right one on the head of the younger, Ephraim. 

Verse 18,19,20 – Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too
 will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.” He blessed them that day and said,

“In your name will Israel pronounce this blessing: May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.”So he put Ephraim ahead of Ma
nasseh.”

Here we see the same principle being followed: the second son blessed with the birthright.

We do not know more details about when the sons of Joseph would have been born in Egypt. The truth is that the first received an Egyptian name and also received as spiritual legacy all the Egyptian heritage.  His spiritual DNA came straight from the lineage of the pharaohs, as is expected for the firstborn.

Manasseh in Hebrew means ‘to make one forget’ (Genesis 41:51).

A sense of his name may have relationship with his father Joseph, who was building a new family, forgetting the family that betrayed him and abandoned him.  Another meaning of the name suggests, the people, because they were under his leadership, could not forget the time of bondage in Egypt, but could also forget the powerful signs that God worked to rid them of their status as slaves; forget that they were the chosen people, set apart by God for His glory.

The second son of Joseph, received the Hebrew name Ephraim.  A name in Jewish culture is a lot. His grandfather's name was changed by God from Jacob to Israel (Genesis 32:28). Ephraim means fertile or fruitful, partially fulfilling the prophecy of what would become the father of many nations (Genesis 41:52; Jeremiah 31:20; 49:22).

This brings us once again to the Church’s reality, who as Ephraim, shall be a blessing for all peoples. The church inherited the birthright in view of the prevention of Israel.

After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree… the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree! (Romans 11:24). The ministry of the Church is to reach all nations and itself is composed of different peoples (Matthew 28:19,20).

Egypt is the figure of the world and its values (Revelation 11:8). It represents the carnal man, involved with the earthly dimension. If Manasseh retained the birthright, it would represent  the primacy of Egypt over Israel, the flesh over the spiritual.

In other words, if it happened, earthly values would prevail over the values of the kingdom of God's people, the unbelieving, unconverted receiving the blessing instead of the child.

The birthright of the tribes of Israel went to Ephraim, while Judah was the channel of the promised Messiah; Judah took a higher place than his brothers Reuben, Simeon and Levi, all of whom were older than him.

In contrast, the Jewish nation (the 10 northern tribes) was called Israel or Ephraim, retaining the national prestige.

Women Seduction

"The man loses the blessing, and blame the woman."

The woman was created to help meet for man. That is, their role was complementary, as woman, something that was missing the man. But she was the target of a spirit of seduction.The serpent tricked and seduced her (Genesis 3:6,12), using to deceive and seduce the man.

Since the fall, the woman is reversing its role and causing the fall of man. The woman redeemed resumed his position as a help in building their companion and their relationship.But while in sin, it has been a powerful instrument in the hands of the devil to make a man miss the blessing. This "spirit of deception and seduction" continued to operate throughout the ages, always trying to invalidate the Word and God's plans.

Many lost their birthright and others, the blessing and position in God because of the woman-serpent.

The conflict arises between the virgin bride and the prostitute and adulteress and will permeate the entire biblical narrative from Genesis to Revelation.

The Virgin Mary brought the blessing of God to the world, used as an instrument of salvation. But the woman in this spirit of deception and seduction, is the Queen of Heaven, (Jeremiah 7:18), also known as the Great Babylon, Jezebel, Ashtoreth, and more that refers to the “Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and of the Abominations of the Earth.”

The devil in Genesis already, used Eve as a tool to seduce Adam, inducing him to error.

Genesis 3:12,13 – The man said, "The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it. Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

The story follows and we see Abraham almost losin the promise of God through the influence of Sarai.

Genesis 16:2 – “So she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said.

Once ahead we read about Lot. This is another one that was almost destroyed and it would have been burned alive or turned to salt if it were behind the advice of his wife.

Genesis 19:16,26 – When he heisted, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safety out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.

But Lot’s wife looked back and she became a pillar of salt.

Esau is notorious for losing his birthright.If you remain in this position of leadership, he would create a nation not fearing God, thanks to his involvement with women Hittites. After 40 years, should be mature enough to take the right decision, God-centered, but seemed unprepared and spiritually insensitive to assume its role of directing the destiny of the nation instead of his father.

Genesis 26:34-35 – When Esau was forty years old,  he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Bashemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.

They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

The next to lose his birthright was Reuben, the oldest of twelve children of Jacob. He had sex with his father's concubine in an attitude of great disrespect that cost him a special blessing of God upon your life.

Genesis 49:4 - Turbulent as waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father’s bed, onto my couch and  defiled it.

Simeon and Levi were the next in line for the birthright, but also lose the blessing to be surrounded by a feeling of revenge because of his sister Dinah.

Genesis - 49:5 - Simeon and Levi are brothers -  their swords are weapons of violence.

Since arriving in the Book of Numbers witnessed the deaths of 24 thousand men for a plague that was raging in the camp of Israel. The reason: the daughters of Moab, which lay with the Hebrew men.Moab is the son of the primordial Lot with his own father, result of seduction by the father's daughter.It is easy to understand how much of the spirit of seduction should be these women of Moab.

Numbers 25:1 – While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women.

Our next man to fall in the webs of female seduction is Samson: so strong and so weak in their passions.

First fell in love with a Philistine woman in a relationship that ended in tragedy. After cohabited with a prostitute and finally fell into the clutches of the villainous Delilah, that typifies very well the kind of woman to whom we are referring. Delilah gives a good lesson on how to settle a man wearing of cunning and deceit.

Judges 14:2 – When he returned, he said to his father and mother, “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnath;  now get her for me as my wife.

Judges 16:1 – One day Samson went to Gaza, when he saw a prostitute.He went in to spend a night with her.

Judges 16:4 – Sometime late, he fell in love with a woman in the Soreque Valley, whose name was Dalila.

The children of the priest Eli, Phinehas  and Hophni turned from the priesthood and drew curse on Israel, and they are even directly responsible for the loss of the Ark of the Covenant.All this because in addition to practicing corruption, had sex with women in the temple.

I Samuel 2:22- Now El,i who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

The next woman-seduction that comes in is surprisingly Bathsheba.She involves King David with her beauty, yet she had no such intention. He ended even killing his friend and faithful warrior Uriah, to escape the consequences of adultery with his’ wife. His actions attracted much suffering and curse on his life and reign.

II Samuel 11:2 - One evening David got up from his bed, and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful.

Amnon was the next in this family to lose their minds because of a woman.He was mad with desire for his half sister Tamar. After forcing Tamar, humbled her, provoking the wrath of his brother Absalom. He eventually kills Amnon.

II Samuel 13:14,15 - But he refuse to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, raped her.

Then Amnon hated her with an intense hatred.

Absalom, after murdering his brother, tries to usurp the reign of his father, David.He disgrace himself because of his sister and then just signed his death sentence, when they before them all, cohabit with his father’s concubines.

II Samuel 16:21-23 - Ahithophel answered, “Lie with your father’s concubines, whom he  left to take care of the palace. Then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself stench in your father’s nostrils, and the hands of everyone with you will be strengthened.

So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he lay with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

Now in those days the advice Ahithophel gave was like that one who inquires of God. That was how both, David and Absalom regarded all of Ahithophel’s advice.

Another famous figure in our history is Jezebel.This handles the King Ahab away from it all the way to God, and uses him to destroy Israel and the prophets of God. He seduce Ahab, but fight opposes Elijah, who filled with God’s power, confronts his evil spiritual influence.

I Kings 16:31,32 –  He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nabat,but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him.

He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria.

I Kings 19:2 - So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be  it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”

From the Gallery of the most evil types, comes the Queen Athaliah.To take the power she kills all the descendants that could threaten his position and only the small Joaz escapes to end his reign of evil (II Chronicles 22:10-12).

The story of Solomon is another classic case of a man, excellent for his great wisdom, which is led by the antics of the feminine spirit.His thousand women end up seducing him to walk after other gods. The consequence was the division of the Kingdom of Israel and a weakening of the nation.

I Kings 11:1,2,4 – King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s  daughter -  Moabites, Ammonites, Edom, Sidon, and Hittites.

They are from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelits, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.

As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully faithful devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.

Nehemiah 13:26 – Was it not because  of marriage like these that Solomon king of Israel, sinned? Among many the nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women.

The very nation of Israel also, almost returned to captivity in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, because of the prohibited marriage between Israelis and foreign women.

Ezra 10:11,14 – Now make confession to the Lord, the god of your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives.”

Let our officials act for the whole assembly. Then let everyone in our towns who has married a foreign woman come at a set time, along with the elders and judges of each town, until the fierce anger of our God in this matter is turned away from us.”

Nehemiah 13:23-26 –Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab.  Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of Judah. I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take oath in God’s name and said, “You are not to give your daughter sin marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves.

Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women.

In the Prophetic Books we find the woman of Job in a performance worthy of the kind of woman, that far from being the helper designed by God, becomes the worst enemy of man.

Job 2:9 – His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to  your integrity?Curse God and die!”

In the Book of Zechariah Chapter 5 we read about the vision of the woman in the basket.She represents the unfairness across the land. A woman was sitting inside the basket, and she was the wickedness and his house would be built in the land of Shinar, another name for Babylon.This is the woman that we have spoken, and she builds her reign in that civilization rebellious against God.

In the New Testament we find only one woman such as we are referring to.She, Herodias, and Salome, her daughter, aged 15, decided to ask the head of John the Baptist on a platter.

Herod, dominated by the seduction of the girl, offers more than he could fulfill, and ends up being forced to do something contrary to his will. Sends for the head of John as a gift for his niece.

Matthew 14:6-8 – On Herod`s the birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased  Herod so much that he promised with oath to give her whatever she asked.  Prompted by her mother, she said, ‘Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.’

In Chapter 17 of Revelation, we'll wind up with the great whore, who have committed fornication with the kings of the earth.

Verse 5 - On her forehead was a name written, Mystery Babylon, The Great, The Mother of Prostitutes and the Abominations of the Earth.

Revelation 18:23,24 and 20 –“ ... Your merchants were the world`s great men. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.

In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth.

Rejoice over her, O heaven!, Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets!  God has judged her for the way she treated you.”

And that is how it ended

"Why is  the earth round?"

Because the earth is round?

Have you asked that question to his mother as a child? My son, yes.

In our finite mind all things must have a beginning, middle and end. So is this book that may well start with: Once upon a time, long ago ... and end with: "And that is how it ended." This would be the title of our last chapter, but is it really the outcome, the end of the story of man with God? I do not know if we can say that the story ended here, but surely, our last sentence will be: and they lived happily forever.If you have something in our world of illusions that is very real, is this story of love and no doubt happy ending.

But back to our question, we turn also to the response. God is the creator of the earth and all  the universe. The essence of the Creator is in all things created by Him. And unlike man, God has no beginning, middle and end. We went into a story that had already been written long ago, a time when only God created, and created according to their concepts. Created us with the idea of eternity in your mind, but man has introduced its own way of thinking, and with it, cames death, the end of something very precious to us: life.

God is eternal, so he created the earth, the sun, the moon, everything round, cyclical, in continuity, going concern, without beginning, middle and end, life flowing ... The man interrupted the harmony with your sin. So the Father sent his son, Jesus.

Ephesians 2:14-16 - For he himself (Jesus) is our peace, who has made the two one, and has destroyed the barrier, the divide wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulation. His proposal was to create in himself one new man, out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.

This text is tremendous to give us the outcome of the story between God and men. Jesus broke down the wall that separated, the reason for the hostility established between flesh and spirit, law and grace, carnal and spiritual man. He created a new man, neither Jew nor Gentile, but a child of God, now reconciled with his father. Through the cross was destroyed enmity, horizontally and vertically.

The two thieves: what's the point?

Lucas 23:32,33,39-43

On one side was the bad thief, a kind of Cain, the tree of confusion, on the other hand the thief  "good", that is, a sorry thief, typifying Abel, and the fruit of the same tree. With open arms, Jesus spreads its branches showing that the cleansing of sin and restoration of harmony, was about to happen at that time.

No more the fruit of good and evil, Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, slave and free, Jew and Gentile, Israel and the Church, law and grace, spiritual man and carnal man. With open arms he reconnected, destroyed the separation between the two poles, restored the unit destroyed the tips, the sting of death. Disposed ends lateral tips emerged from the break between the brothers, the breakdown of human relationships, now it also eliminated the points that had emerged in the vertical by the breaking of relationship with God, between earth and sky. Jesus relink as an intercessor, taking into his own body, absorbing in himself all the impact caused by the separation, by the disorder. Jesus restores the peace, order and the harmony.

In Genesis 1:4 the Word says that ...(God) has separated the light from the darkness.

In the beginning, God had put an end to chaos and restored order and harmony on earth. But Eve, by eating the fruit of good and evil, mixed dark and light again by installing again the confusion and chaos. Mingled again the holy and the profane. So God will do new heaven and new earth where only be allowed to enter the holy.

So, is like that, a perfect circle is restored, without beginning, middle and end: eternal. Our union and harmony in a world with no tips, no edges, rounded and surrounded by the love of God.

God Reconquer The Friendship

"An alliance, a friend"

God, in His sovereignty, decided to remake the broken covenant with the man.

 In Exodus 33:11 says that ,the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

The Lord made a covenant, an unbreakable friendship with his servant Abraham. An alliance implies that all that is mine is yours and all that is yours is mine. God wanted to return to man all that he had lost through the sin of Adam and Eve.

In Isaiah 41:8 God reaffirms his status as a friend of Abraham: “But you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend,”

Jesus himself reinforces this idea, making a point of calling his disciples, friends: John 15:13,14 – “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.”

Continuing in verse 15 the Lord explains: "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you."

Abraham could be called God's friend because they fulfilled the necessary conditions: obey what the Lord commanded him to do and God told him everything was going to do. Thus when God told him that he would wander into Canaan and that his descendants would be taken 400 years for the captivity, and only then would receive the land by inheritance. She also told him before when he decided to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because he did not hide his friend Abraham that was to do.

James 2:23 – “and the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.”

Friendship speaks of mutual trust, and through this patriarch God was restoring the mutual trust in His relationship with men.

Even in James 4:4,5 we read: “You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?”

Friendship requires loyalty, store faithfulness. Thus we have the true bride, the Church of Christ, loving, obeying and walking in faithfulness to the Bridegroom Jesus.

A Fresh Start, Something New

By eating the last Passover meal and celebrate with his disciples, Jesus Christ gives us the right perspective on what is an end of history that actually speaks to a better start.

Matthew 26: 26-30 – “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body.Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom." When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”

Here Jesus celebrated his last Passover, while he was to fulfill their prophetic content: the lamb's blood shed to free the people from death. At the same moment, Jesus, "The Lamb", was from the old to the new covenant from the law to grace. He also instituted at that moment, the Lord's Supper.

Jesus was emphatic in saying that from that moment on would not drink again of the fruit of the vine, which is a type of blood which guarantees salvation.From that moment he was entering upon condenation, for the forgiveness of our sins. His blood would be shed completely taking with him all our sin and our fallen nature.

This blood (wine), had to be exhausted and the bottle mentioned in Matthew 9:17 would be broken.After the resurrection Jesus became a new bottle, his body was glorified; for that reason, he only would return to drink the juice of the grape (wine), "that day”.

The word does not say "drink again", but drink a new wine.So wine will be a new, different, that we will be drink together; a clean blood, from a clean life, pure, redeemed, restored.

New bottles are glorified bodies. And that will happen "that day" when Jesus will be with us again, "in the kingdom of my Father." Another wine, another blood, another body, another life; everything new in the kingdom of God, when you'll dine in the Wedding of the Lamb.

The Tree of Redemption

Wine is sometimes referred to as the poison of prostitution, in Deuteronomy 32:32, or wine of debauchery, in Revelation 17:2.

In Matthew 11 we have an interesting text comparing the ministry of John the Baptist (Law) and Jesus Christ (Grace).

Verses 12.13 – “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.”

Indeed, entry into the Kingdom of God was determined by the effort to fulfill the law. Sin's presence has made obedience a struggle for the Jews and they have not heard Elijah nor John.

In vs. 16.17 continues: "To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn”.

In other words it is as if the Jews say: "You do not do what we expect you to do, you do not want to do our will, to act according to our understanding and expectations."

Following is the text: vs.18.19 – “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”

John the Baptist came as the law to point out, or highlight the sins and the necessity of repentance, the absolute necessity of the Messiah to provide forgiveness.

John did not identify himself with sinners. He did not eat or drink with them or even go into their homes. His food was locusts and wild honey, both elements that did not germinate in contact with the earth. John was removed from everything that smelled of sin.

Jesus, on the other hand, ate and drank with sinners and came in and was staying in their homes. He absorbed and took away all our sins. He took the wine that we were taking and he said he sipped the entire contents of the cup of poison of our condemnation - the wine of human debauchery. Soon after he poured out this wine in the form of contaminated blood, until the end. He ran this fallen life to the last drop, so that new life would happen after his resurrection.

While John was still far from contact with things of this world, Jesus Christ came and took root in this land. He is the true vine planted in the soil of this world.  He takes the organic elements of earth, the dust from which the natural man is made, the substance that makes up our carnal man, and turns it into a substance capable of feeding the spiritual man, which we now have become. In other words, he, as the vine, nourishes us with the sap of the vine, or the life of God that now feeds us.

As we see in Eden the tree of good and evil and the tree of life, we can now envision a third tree that we can call the "Tree of Redemption." In fact the vine is a type of the Church: its roots are stuck in the earth, but its fruits hang from the branches. The church is on earth, but  it is fruitful in heavenly realm, producing spiritual fruit.

The Lord Jesus came, as Galatians 1:4 says: for he gave himself for our sins to rescue (pull up) us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” Another version of the Word says ‘pull up’ - that means to uproot, to pick up from the root. So we do not need to eat more from the things of the world. Jesus Christ himself came to change our corruptible nature into the nature of children of God. Now our roots are Christ himself who feeds us with the sap of the vine.

Our fruit comes from being connected to him and springs spontaneously. Our efforts to fruition with the resources of the earth are in vain.

John 15:5 - "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

This is how we are in this world but not of this world. The earth will swallow what came from the dust, the man's body. But our immortal soul and spirit fly free for the presence of the Creator. In a final act, we can not even say that they close the curtains, as the end of a play.

In fact, for us, the truly saved, the curtain will never close because it was torn from top to bottom in a sign that our separation from the Father is over. We can say yes, the drama ends when the curtain rises on a new scenario, where life swallowed up death forever.

I Corinthians 15:54: When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in VICTORY!”

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