WE MUST CHOOSE TO BE CHOSEN
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy (1 Pet. 2:9-10).
To be the final, chosen generation…we must choose to be chosen. The call to salvation is a general call to “whosoever will.” (Romans 10:13; 1 John 5:1; Rev. 22:17.) Anyone who responds in faith to the invitation of the gospel for redemption through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, believing He died and rose again from the dead, and surrendering to Him as Lord, will receive eternal life. But there is another “whosoever will” extended to those who have been saved. It is the call to discipleship and destiny. We can do nothing to receive salvation except to accept what Christ has done for us. But, we must choose to be a disciple and we must choose to enter into His destiny for us.
Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:25-27).
To enter into the vocational destiny the Lord has purposed for each of us requires us to sacrifice and, if necessary, suffer. Only those who press in to know Him and obey Him, will literally become a chosen generation on this earth. This is the Father’s perfect will for all of His children, but only those who answer and obey the call will experientially enter into it. This “choose to be chosen” generation will come to full maturity and share His governmental rule.
A CONNECTED BODY TO THE HEAD
Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west; I will say to the north, “Give them up!” And to the south, “Do not keep them back!” Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth–everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him (Isaiah 43:5-7).
Biblical translators take meticulous care to make sure they, as far as possible, keep the original meaning, intent and context of the manuscripts. Sometimes the honor of translating scripture is like trying to unravel a puzzle, but we can be assured that most of the translations that we have reflect, verbatim, the meaning of the original manuscripts. In the above passage from Isaiah, it is very important to note that the descendants ascribed to the Messiah are both a “they” and a “him,” with a lower case “h.” Any reference to the Godhead is always capitalized in scripture, so it is incumbent to note that this passage has a dual meaning as to the singular and plural pronouns. The “they” and “him” both refer to the generation about whom this Messianic prophecy was speaking. This is a company, a many-membered body, that has become one, connected with the Head, the Lord Jesus. When the body connects vitally and experientially to the Head, all of that which pertains to the Head will flow to and through the body. This fulfills the vision Jacob had in Genesis 28, commonly referred to as “Jacob’s Ladder.” The interpretation of what Jacob saw is reflected in his statement upon awakening from the dream:
Then he (Jacob) dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it…Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” (Gen. 28:12, 16-17).
What Jacob saw was the church – Bethel, the “house of God.” Jacob saw the end-time body of Christ, with its feet on earth, generationally and vitally connected, extending between heaven and earth, and the power and glory of God flowing from heaven to earth upon it. In Jacob’s dream, the heavens had been pierced, meaning that the powers of darkness had been removed from the “second heaven,” or the present residing place of the “spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:12.) In Jacob’s dream, the church, through the power of agreement in prayer, worship and obedience, broke through the barriers and hindrances of the enemy and entered into their rightful inheritance…the heavenly, or spiritual realm. Heaven and earth joined together. The 42nd generation, bearing His image and likeness, enters into the abiding place of glory for which the Lord Jesus prayed.
And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world (John 17:22-24).
It is the destiny of this last generation to see the Son’s desire come to pass, and that desire is for us to behold His unveiled beauty and glory, and to abide with Him, experientially, in this place of unbroken communion and power. This prayer will be answered!
The Hebrew scriptures reveal Zion as the chosen place of God’s manifest presence. King David erected a tent in Zion and brought the Ark of the Covenant, God’s manifest presence on earth, into the place that God had intended for His presence to rest. (See 2 Sam. 6, 1 Chron. 13-16, and Deut. 12:13-14.) The Tabernacle of David was placed upon Mt. Zion, and for 33 years, 24 hours-per-day, musicians and intercessors ministered to the manifest presence of the Lord there. David’s tabernacle had no veil (1 Chron. 16:4) so the entire nation of Israel, and the people of any other nation who submitted to Jehovah God, could experience the unveiled presence of the Lord. It is prophesied in Amos 9:11-13 that the Tabernacle of David would be restored. Acts 15:15-17 states that with the Gentiles turning in faith to the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit being poured out upon them, that God was, indeed, restoring the fallen Tabernacle of David through the body of Messiah – Jew and Gentile joined as one new man. (Eph. 2:15.) Zion was the place from which the glory of God shone. (Psalm 50:2.) Zion is now that place within the church where the Lord Jesus is extravagantly loved and worshipped, from which His glory and power will be manifested to the world in these last days.
Upon the hill of Zion, David also had a tent erected for his throne. During his reign, there were two tabernacles upon Mt. Zion. One was the worship tabernacle where the priests and the Levites ministered night and day to the Lord. The other tent was where his throne was established from which he ruled. Zion is the place where the priestly and kingly ministry of the Lord come together. Jesus is the King-Priest, and we are a royal priesthood. (1 Pet. 2:9.) Zion was the place from which the presence, power and authority of the Lord Himself issued through those who were submitted to His Lordship.
The 42nd Generation Will Restore Zion
But You, O LORD, shall endure forever, and the remembrance of Your name to all generations. You will arise and have mercy on Zion; for the time to favor her, yes, the set time, has come. For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, and show favor to her dust. So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth Your glory. For the LORD shall build up Zion; he shall appear in His glory. He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, and shall not despise their prayer. This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD. For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven the LORD viewed the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to release those appointed to death, to declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem… (Psalm 102:12-21).
The Lord will appear when Zion is restored. Years ago, the Lord told me that Zion must first be restored in the church before Zion could be restored in the nation of Israel. Jerusalem sat upon seven hills, and Mt. Zion was the highest in elevation of these hills. The hill of Zion does not exist in the city of Jerusalem any longer. The Mt. Zion the Lord refers to now is noted in Hebrews 12:18-24, a passage which was principally written to born again Jews:
For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. (For they could not endure what was commanded: ‘And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.’ And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ‘I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.’) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
Questions for Reflection:
Who is the missing 42nd generation?
What is their purpose?
How will Zion be restored?