As the Day of the LORD (Yahweh, Jehovah) progresses we will see two things happening at once.  One will be the fall of man’s kingdom, which is Mystery Babylon and the beast upon which she rides; the other will be the rising of the Kingdom of God.  God’s overcomers shall be installed over various regions and cities of the world and will rule with a rod of iron.  The rod of iron is God’s Law tempered with perfect justice and mercy, for in the overcomers God has written his Law.  In them justice and mercy have kissed to enable the bringing forth of perfect order.

The Ark of the Covenant, built by Moses at the time of the Exodus, represents, or typifies, the overcomers, the manifested sons of God.  These are those whom God calls elohim in the Old Testament. The Ark was built of quality hard wood and overlaid with pure gold.  Wood represents man for men are as trees walking alludes the Scripture.  Wood, like man, consists of the dust of the earth and only lives by sun (the Son) and water (the Word of Life).  When God glorifies man he becomes as wood, the creation of God, clothed in righteous, that is, covered with gold.  Within him dwells all the contents of the original Ark of Moses, the manna, the rod that budded, and the tablets of the testimony.

The manna represents the bread of life, Jesus Himself.  Jesus is the Word become flesh.  Overcomers, all of them, are men of flesh who consumed the bread of life during their earthly sojourn.  They did not complain as did all Israel in the wilderness, saying, “We’re sick of this worthless bread.”  No, they willingly consumed it, chose it, and made it their being.  The bread became them.  They, in turn, become the bread of life which Jesus, after the parable, will divide and feed the many thousands.

The rod that budded also represents the overcomers, mere men of flesh who, from the death of their carnal nature give birth to glorified life which bears fruits that remains.  Please see the series called The Two Rods in the May 2010 archives of this site for more information on this.

The tablets of the testimony are the stone tablets upon which God wrote his Law, the Ten Commandments. The Law dwells in the midst of the Ark.  This represents the fact that God writes his Law upon the hearts of his overcomers.  The mercy seat sits upon the Ark and covers it.  This represents the unification of mercy and justice, or law.  Mercy and justice perfectly mix and blend within the sons of God.  Thus they become qualified to rule with the rod of iron.

In Revelation 11:19 we see God’s temple in heaven opened.  Within the temple we see the Ark.  This shows the sons of God in God’s presence, now perfected and ready to do their work.  And what is their work?  To bring the wrath of God to the earth.  The wrath of God, justice perfectly tempered with mercy. This is the rule of the Rod of Iron. And what is the goal of their rule? That others will learn to become as they are! That all the earth, as the waters cover the seas, will become sons of God, men created in the full image of God.

We have had quite an extraordinary event occur around our house this weekend, our third grandson was born Friday, March 12, and his name is Jeremiah Clive.  Now, we do  not take big events like this lightly around here.  We see God at work in all things and especially in the birth of babies!  We had all begun to read through the Bible again on January 1 and I noticed that I had no “fresh bread” for our weekly family Bible reading today.  I asked if anyone else did and, no, no one did.  So, I suggested, in light of our big event, that we begin reading the book of Jeremiah.  Everyone agreed.

I do not claim that Jeremiah Clive’s birth means anything prophetically with respect to the world, our nation, or even any family beyond my own, but it might.  God has not spoken an audible word to me telling me so, but it may yet be so.  We live at the beginning of the third and seventh days of God’s creation, and many prophecies deal directly with this day, the Day of the Lord.  So we read the first few chapters of Jeremiah this morning … and I could smell the bread begin to bake….

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. (Jeremiah 1:5-6 KJ2000)

God sovereignly chooses and appoints his prophets.  Jeremiah himself prophesied to the nations, not just to Israel and to Judah, but to the nations.  His words yet resound to the nations because they have not been fulfilled.  Only some of his many prophecies have come to bear fruit and I believe the remaining ones will shortly bud, blossom, and bear.  When God called him Jeremiah answered, “Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child.”  What type of child cannot speak except for a very young one, indeed a baby?  Could this itself prophesy a day when God calls another Jeremiah forth, one who literally cannot speak? Could this be the day when Jeremiah’s prophecy truly unfolds?

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what see you? And I said, I see a branch of an almond tree. Then said the LORD unto me, You have well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it. (Jeremiah 1:11-12  KJ2000)

Exactly nine years ago God led my family and I to resettle from Kansas City to Salem, Missouri.  When we arrived we bought a Christian bookstore and promptly renamed it The Almond Branch.  After buying and moving into the building my daughter drew a lovely almond branch on the west inner wall and wrote the words from Jeremiah 1:11-12 in beautiful calligraphy around the branch.  You see, in 2001 we fully expected to see God “hasten his word to perform it.”  After six years the bookstore closed, but the building remains my office, it still bears the name The Almond Branch, and we still expect to see the fulfillment of God’s prophetic word very, very soon.

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