OUR INHERITANCE OF ABRAHAM’S PROMISES THROUGH CHRIST
…and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son–blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (Gen. 22:16-18).
When the commanded blessing is released, the promises given to Abraham become an experiential reality in the lives of those who are in Christ. The blessings promised to Abraham include physical, mental, emotional, financial and family prosperity and blessings, as was demonstrated in the blessing of the Lord upon Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all their progeny. But there is another blessing promised to Abraham that all those in Christ have available to them: complete dominion over every enemy (“your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies”). This means there remains a promise yet unfulfilled that the Lord Himself said would happen.
In Matt. 16:18, the Lord Jesus said that “gates of Hades” would never prevail against His church. This tells me that if the enemy is prevailing over our lives and churches, then they do not belong to the Lord Jesus, but to the doctrines and philosophies of men. (Mark 7:13.) Setting ourselves and our corporate churches aside to the Lord to truly become a “house of prayer,” we will see the church begin to be clothed with the priestly garment of bridehood. From this place of intimacy with the Lord, His kingly anointing and authority will begin to flow down over the whole body. The powers of darkness will be broken and the commanded blessing of the Lord will begin to transform our lives, churches and the areas in which we live.
FAMILY, CULTURAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL BLESSINGS
When the commanded blessing of God begins to flow, family, cultural and geographical blessings, anointings, mantles and authority will be ignited and begin operating. There is an indigenous governmental mantle that the Lord has placed on people groups and cultures.
And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us… (Acts 17:26-27).
This means that the people groups that are indigenous in their countries and lands have primary authority over those lands. When other cultures or people groups come into a land or nation, much like the European settlers did in this country, and unrighteously take ownership of the people or land, then God’s original intentions and authorities have been usurped. I believe it is God’s intention to have every tribe, nation, ethnic and cultural people group and expression worshipping Him. (Rev. 5:9-10.) This is the full expression of the bride of Christ in her priestly role and garments. When one group usurps the authority of another, then they have lawlessly seized God’s promises for themselves, and this brings the wrath of God upon them and the land. The only time this was not true was when the Lord allowed Babylon to come and take possession of the land as judgment upon Israel and Judah because of their rebellion and idolatry. When God’s people repent and make restitution for sin, idolatry or unrighteous wounds or acts, He promises to release His grace from heaven to heal the people and the land. (2 Chron. 7:14; Lev. 26:40-41.) The land, itself, begins to experience the grace of God, and it brings forth the promised fruit of God. Cultural blessings upon every ethnic group will begin to emerge, and blessings and promises upon family lines will be released and families will prosper.
ENTERING INTO THE BRIDAL/PRIESTLY GARMENTS
According to Psalm 133:2, the anointing of unity that brings the commanded blessing of God flows down from the Head to the body. To receive the kingly anointing that flows from the Head, the Lord Jesus, we must humble ourselves. The anointing flows down. In my own life, I have had the Lord deal with me, showing me that unless I humble myself and get in a position to receive and hear from others, then I will not come into the fullness of what He has destined for me.
We have many well-known apostolic and prophetic ministers come to East Tennessee and minister. I am grateful for the generosity and friendship of all of those who honor us with their presence, ministry and anointing. Each minister reflects a different aspect of the Lord Jesus and His ministry, and this we need, as we want to grow up into all aspects of Him. (Eph. 4:11-16). Pride, being very much alive in me, rears its ugly head at times when I am fellowshipping with some of these wonderful men and women of God. When I begin to hear about the wonderful and awesome prophetic experiences that they are having and enjoying (many who “go to heaven like we go to Wal-Mart”), I sometimes have to begin to tell of some of the experiences that I have had. The question the Lord asked me one day is “Why do you need to do that?” Why, indeed? I don’t. I have done it because I feel a need to show everyone that I am, at least, at their level, which I am not. My ego needs to be validated, but all it ends up doing is making me look self-promoting and leaving me more empty because of the self-exaltation. Jesus said to humble ourselves and He would exalt us, but if we exalted ourselves, we would be humbled. (Matt. 23:12; Luke 14:11.) It is not fun having the Lord humble you. Humbling the self is not His job, it is mine. It is not good to try to make God do your work for you! If I voluntarily place myself in a lower position, then the anointing upon the life of the minister the Lord is using will flow down to me and then I can partake and benefit from that anointing in my own life. Humility is a key to entering into the fullness of our inheritance – the commanded blessing of God.
Putting on the bridal/priestly garment is also a necessity. The anointing from the Head, the kingly anointing, will not come if we are not clothed in this garment. The Lord told Moses that the anointing oil was never to be poured on man’s flesh. (Ex. 30:32.) There has only been one Human upon which the anointing could come and that was the perfect Man, the Lord Jesus. In Psalm 133:2, this kingly anointing comes from the Head and flows down over the body, but the body has a priest’s garment upon it. (Aaron was the high priest; Jesus is the Great High Priest of the New Covenant – Heb. 7, 8, 9.) The anointing oil first comes from the Head upon the beard, which speaks of the fact that there must be a level of maturity in the leadership of the body of Christ, before this level of grace and power can be released. And then, the body must be clothed, with no open flesh, with the bridal/priestly garment. Before the priests could be anointed, they had to have the correct garments, but before they could put on their garments, they had to go through a sanctification process. The priests were brought before the whole congregation, stripped naked, washed with water from the laver, clothed by the leadership, and then sacrifices were made before the anointing oil could be released. (Lev. 8:1-12.) When the requirements were met, then Moses clothed the priests in their garments, which would be passed down to every successive generation.
And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons’ after him, to be anointed in them and to be consecrated in them. That son who becomes priest in his place shall put them on for seven days, when he enters the tabernacle of meeting to minister in the holy place (Exodus 29:29-30).
The garments were passed down generationally. The anointing that was upon the father stayed in the garment. The successive generation not only got a fresh anointing of their own, but they also inherited the previous generation’s ministry, anointing and promises. With each successive generation there should be a greater release of anointing, power and grace, because it should be joined to the previous generation’s anointing and promises. Each generation should be experiencing an exponential increase in power and blessing, but this will only happen if the present generation recognizes, honors and embraces the previous generation’s worth and work. The bridal garment is inherited from the previous generations. This is very important to understand, because unless the hearts of the children turn to the fathers (Mal. 4:4-6), the full blessing, power and demonstration the Lord desires for His bride will not be accomplished. If each successive generation would submit to the consecration process, and then be joined to the previous generation in desire and spirit, then the present generation would receive the previous generation’s anointing, mantle and blessings, plus they would have new ones added. There is a spiritual “trust fund” of anointing, authority, blessing, power, prosperity, revival, ad infinitum, laid up for a final, end-time generation that is willing to enter into the consecration process and obey the Lord. Jesus consistently told those who desired to follow Him to count the cost. The cost of entering the fullness of what He has promised will cost us everything.
Questions for Reflection:
What is the commanded blessing and how will it be released?
How are we to enter into the bridal/priestly garments?