PART  V  –  ASSOCIATIONAL ASPECTS OF THE LAMPSTAND MODEL

SUBPART B – The Trumpets/ Witness of the Spirit Corollary

Article 5  –  Resonance & Dissonance

Section (a)  –   Agreement With, & Unity Within the Spirit of God

By Daniel Irving

i.   The Precious Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace

ii.  The Forfeiture of Glory 

iii. The Price Paid for Peace

iv. Hatred of the Spirit of Peace

v.  Peace Through Exchanging Our Own Strength for the Strength of Our Creator

Section (c)   AGREEMENT WITH, & UNITY WITHIN THE SPIRIT OF GOD

i.  The Precious Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peaceaa

The witness of heaven identified as the Word (I John 5:7) shall have the effect of bringing the member’s of Christ’s body into subjection to Christ, establishing each member in an abiding posture within His Spirit.  The proclaiming of the true and complete Gospel of God shall have the effect of bringing the true unity of the mystical body of Christ in the earth.    The effect of such unity will be peace; the keeping of which shall further the sanctification of each member.  Paul exhorts the Church to walk worthily in regard to one another “with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love . . .”

Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.    Eph. 4:3

Unity of the Spirit is a rare and precious thing.  Through unity of the Spirit we have the peculiar presence of Christ in our midst, Who is our Baptizer, our Healer, our Sanctifier, our Counselor, our Deliverer, our Lord.  The presence of Christ in the midst of His body in the earth, is the difference between dead religion and attainment in the kingdom of God through the effectual agency of the Holy Spirit in our midst.  His peace comes to us in the Person of His Spirit.  Through the abiding of His presence, His convicting work is accessible to sinners, His holy image is accessible to the redeemed unto their sanctification, and God’s judgments may go forth which brings forth the kingdom God in humanity.  Through His abiding presence, God becomes manifest to men.  This works salvation for those who believe, but only for those who believe.

God’s nature is peaceable.  Through our waiting upon Him in order to abide in the Spirit He brings, God may mortify sin, cleanse the heart, teach our heart and our mind, and prepare us for what must yet come that we may be perfected in the image of His Son.  His peaceable nature becomes ours.  In this way we become children of God.  But this requires the presence of God.  Therefore we are cautioned to guard the sanctity of His presence.  We are directed by the apostle to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  This requires a mind to value the presence of God above our own personal concerns in this life.  But if we are faithful as guardians of the peace, there is a rich reward in God’s presence, which is His sanctification and redemption.  With this understanding, we begin to perceive the meaning of the beatitude:

Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God.                                                                                      Matt. 5:9

ii.  The Forfeiture of Glory

Sadly, prophecy foretells of those who, through the unbelief of indifference, did not value the presence of Christ in their midst.  For instance, in the Psalms we read:

Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:                                                                                      Ps. 106:24

That witness of heaven identified as the Word must be responded to by faith.  Only by believing can walk worthily in the presence of God.  Faith perceives the presence of God.  This is why His children are peculiarly empowered by His presence to regard others “with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering.”  This is why the children of the Devil particularly transgress in the presence of God.  They cannot believe, and so, His glory to departs from them.

We read in the prophecy of Isaiah:

For thus hath the Lord said unto me, “Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail:”           Is. 21:16

The Hebrew word translated fail,[1] simply means to end, or to terminate.  We find it used elsewhere as follows:

Gen 2:1       Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

Gen 2:2       And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made;

Gen 17:22   And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

Gen 18:33  & the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham:

What is the “splendor of Kedar” that shall come to an end? The first mention of “Kedar” is the geneology provided us in Genesis relating to the descendants of Abraham.[2]  From this, we learn Kedar was the second son of Ishmael:

Now these are the records of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham;  and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations:  the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, and Mishma, and Dumah and Massa, Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish & Kedemah.  These are the sons of Ishmael & these are their names, by their villages, & by their camps; 12 princes according to their tribes.    Gen 25:12-16

Notice this geneology is preceded by the statement that Ishmael was born of “Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid.”  Therefore it is clearly emphasized these are the descendants of the bondwoman, Hagar.  This calls to our attention the explanation given us by the apostle Paul regarding the symbolism behind Hagar as bringing forth “children who are to be slaves.”[3]  Curiously, just as “twelve tribes” arose from Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, so do twelve tribes, described as princes, arise from the son of the bondwoman, Hagar.  This suggests a sort of parallel to that of Israel. Recall a prophecy concerning Ishmael:

And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man,  and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.        Gen. 16:12

If we summarize what is prophesied as the essential nature of Ishmael’s descendants in one word, that would be “unpeaceableness.”  Ishmael was not a man of peace.  He is prophesied as one given to strife with men; the opposite of peace.

What does it mean that Ishmael “shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren?”   We find this statement also translatable as he will “live to the east of all his brothers” (NASV) or he shall “live before all his brothers.” (Interlinear Version).  The Hebrew term at issue is al,[4] alongside the word “paw-neem’”,[5] which seems to mean “in the face of” or “in the presence of.”  We find it elsewhere as follows:

Gen 1:29  . . . which is upon the face of all the earth.”

Gen 3:8      Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God.

Gen 4:6       the LORD said unto Cain, “Why art thou wroth? & why is thy countenance fallen?

Gen 16:6    and when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.

Gen 25:9   . . . in the field of Ephron . . .  which is before Mamre;

The word can mean the literal “face,” and can be used figuratively as to stand before, be cognizable to, or to be in the presence of a person or thing.  However, we also have a very apt verse for assisting us here. That verse regards the death of Ishmael, and uses the same word paw-neem twice, even employing the same phraseology, and dealing with the same subject matter, ie. Ishmael.   Here is the verse:

and they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren.    Gen 25:18

Israel left Egypt as a symbol for leaving the unbelief of this world.  When Israel was later removed from belief through idolatry, the nation was taken into Assyria as a symbol for sin’s dominion.  Therefore describing Ishmael’s dwelling as being on a route between Egypt and Assyria may suggest a parallel path that is taken by those of the law which emulates the true path to the knowledge of God taken by God’s holy nation.

It was prophesied that Ishmael would “dwell in the presence of all his brethren” and ironically, we find he also “died in the presence of all his brethren.”   However, the Hebrew word translated died[6] by the King James Version is never the word for “died,” but it is the primary word translated as fell or to fall in the King James Version.  A few examples of its occurrence are as follows:

Gen 2:21    And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam,

Gen 17:3    And Abram fell on his face:

Ex 21:33  . . or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein;

Num 14:32  . . . your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness.

This led the NASV to reject the King James translation and render the sentence rather as “he settled in defiance of all his relatives.”  Nonetheless, the plain statement is that Ishmael “fell in the presence of all his people.”

Ishmael lived a life of unrest with, “his hand [being] against every man”.  He lived a tribal existence, and his end was where his loyalties lied, ie. within the commune of his own tribe. His “fall” (whether this be a euphemism for death or an allegory for loss of spiritual life) was just as he lived, aloof from the promises made to his father, Abraham.

We find the next reference to “Kedar” to be a matter of prophecy:

In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and He heard me.  Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.  What shall be given unto thee?  Or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?  Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.   Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!  My soul has long dwelt with him that hateth peace.  I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.          Ps. 120

Bear in mind, this is the testimony of the Spirit of Prophecy.  These are the words of the Holy Spirit, and presumably it is the Spirit that speaks through him within whom the Spirit dwells, saying, “My soul has long dwelt with him that hates peace. I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.”  Thus Kedar persists in the way of his father, Ishmael, as a type for unbelief in the presence of God; demonstrated in his choosing to contend at a time God’s Spirit would bring healing and peace.

iii.  The Price Paid for Peace

The Holy Spirit is gentle.  He is the true Spirit of Peace, although false spirits are often so-called.  His coming unto men is heralded as the “Gospel of Peace,” and His promise to us of peace is even the good news that is preached![7]  When we reject peace, we reject the Gospel of God.  For this peace (which we are free to receive or to reject) was even purchased by the blood of Christ:

 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross,  by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.    Col. 1:20

For it was by the “blood of His cross” the peace of God may enter and find place in men.  This peace is not a thing in the abstract.  The peace is Jesus Christ Himself, coming unto us in the nature of God:

  For he is our peace, who has made both one,  & has broken down the middle wall of partition between us;     Eph 2:14

His peace is His presence, which He imparted to His disciples:

  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.   Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.     John 14:27

His peace comes to us in the Person of His Spirit and is even His very nature as the Son of God.  For God’s nature is “peaceable,” and through His abiding Spirit of Peace, He is able to mortify the enmity of the flesh, transforming the human nature into one of peaceableness.  We are sanctified by the God of peace, and so Paul writes:

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit.  I Thess. 5:23

 Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means.    The Lord be with you all.          II Thess. 3:16

This peaceable nature of God’s Spirit is expressed by James, when he writes:

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality,and without hypocrisy.  James 3:17

God, in His gentle and peaceable nature, has consented to dwell with us via the blood of the cross.  In so doing, we make a home for that Peace, thereby we learn His peace, with the fruit that we are sanctified.  Therefore James continues on:

 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.                                                                                      James 3:18

And Paul agrees, telling us that this is the “fruit of the Spirit!”

  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Gal 5:22

Therefore we must keep the objective of peace continually in our conscious thoughts and give our energies to this principle that we are to pursue peace with all men, and particularly those in the Lord:

Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  Eph. 4:3

Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace,  and things wherewith one may edify another.    Rom 14:19

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:   Heb 12:14

For in giving diligent effort towards the cause of peace, we have a promise that God will continue to be with us, renewing and imparting the peace that comes from His presence:

 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.   II Cor. 13:11 

And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.     Philip. 4:7  

 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.    Col. 3:15

When we begin to understand that this is our call, ie. we are called unto peace, we will give much more conscious effort to perfecting harmony with all men and striving to make a good home for God’s Spirit.  We will even; “seek peace and pursue it” as we are exhorted by the apostle Peter.[8]  And in the end, our eternal disposition will even be decided in terms of our accommodation for peace as a sign of our hospitability to the presence of God:

Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things,  be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.    II Peter 3:14 

iv.  Hatred for the Spirit of Peace

How peculiar the thought, that He Who is even called the “Prince of Peace” should be hated.  What then shall we say of those in whom the Lord has consented to dwell, that do not learn this elemental principle of relating to the Spirit of God, and to one another?  Whatever can be said, the Spirit of God says:

“Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech,[9] that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!”                                                                                      Ps. 120:5

What is implied in the Spirit of God’s lament that He “has long dwelt with him that hates peace”?  What is the implication, except that God will discontinue striving with such a one!  Just as God declared prior to the flood near the time of Noah, “My spirit shall not always strive with man.”[10]

The last statement of Psalm 120 is; “I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.”  Again, this is presumptively the testimony of the Holy Spirit, Who while speaking peace, is turned upon with a spirit of violence.  This is what Christ truly experienced when speaking to those in Jerusalem who established themselves as spiritual “Ishmael,” as children of the flesh; of whom Paul referred as belonging to “Jerusalem which now is,” as opposed to “Jerusalem which is above.”[11]  Jesus told such as these:

“But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do.”          John 8:40

Those born of the mystical Hagar are children consigned to bondage.  While they lay claim to place in God through a profession of faith, they exhibit a spirit that is contrary to Christ, and grow hostile when hearing the true word of peace.  They cannot abide the words of Christ.  The danger in Kedar is the rising up of the spirit of antichrist in the face of the true witness of God.  Therefore the “Hagarenes” and “Ishmaelites” are listed among the ten nations confederate with antichrist.[12]   When the Spirit of Christ speaks, they react in the hostility of their flesh to the things of the Spirit.  The prophecy states; “when I speak, they are for war.”  Therefore, as the witness of Christ comes to the Church, there is a spirit that arises in the children of Hagar that will toil with, persecute, and ultimately kill the true witness of Christ in fulfillment of the prophecy concerning Christ:

But they have done this in order that the word may be fulfilled That is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’”                   John 15:23-25

Therefore, the testimony of Christ is certainly one of judgment upon the world; not because Jesus came to judge the world, but because they hated Him “without cause.”

v.  Peace Through Exchanging Our Own Strength for the Strength of Our Creator

The time that God is extending His arm to men in the interest of their salvation, is no time to draw back. 

Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him.   But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition;  but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.  Heb. 10:38-39

This is the time of His peculiar presence from whence we draw back through unbelief.  In our unbelief, we transgress.  In our transgression we are judged.  Being judged, our heart grows hard. Thus the waters are parted and a way is made for His elect unto their sanctification.  Those He sanctifies are granted a plenteous redemption, those He hardens are locked without.  But to be locked outside eternal life through hardness of heart did not have to be.  The Holy Spirit says:

Or let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; And he shall make peace with Me.                                            Is. 27:5

The Hebrew word translated, “let him take hold”[13] can mean either to take hold of something, or to hold it fast.  The prophecy exhorts us to take hold of the Lord’s strength.  What is the Lord’s strength?  We know that the strength of Christ is a strength that runs in contradiction to the strength of this world, under Law.

& He said unto me, “My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”  Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then am I strong.               II Cor. 12:9-10

Therefore the “strength” that is Christ, is something of a paradox to the strength of this world.[14]  The strength of Christ is the strength of the Creator of all things; rather, it is the strength of allowing the Creator of all things to act on behalf of His covenant.  The strength of this world is merely the strength of created things; the strength that shall perish.  Not so for the strength of the Lord![15]  This is the strength of our Creator which leads to sanctification:

God is my strength & power: & He maketh my way perfect.                                                                                      II Sam. 22:33

By taking hold of Christ, and allowing His Spirit, we are brought to rest in the strength of God.

Or let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me;  And he shall make peace with Me.                       Is. 27:5

How is “peace” made with God?  Through the processes of entering into the covenant in the blood of His Son and by abiding therein.   His covenant is the “Covenant of Peace.”[16]  This was the work of Jesus Christ; to make peace between God and man through the covenant in His blood.

And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself;  by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.             Col 1:20 

This covenant in the blood of Christ is as broad, universal, and complete as anything we could imagine.  It is an everlasting covenant comprehensive to all aspects of our creation; spirit, soul, and body.[17]  What is required is that we believe what God has wrought through Christ:

  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:      Rom 5:1 

Therefore the peace of God was made through the Person and work of Jesus Christ.  His peace is received through faith, and abided within by virtue of the Spirit’s engagement.   Therefore we perceive the direct correlation between peace with God and the presence of the Holy Ghost.  This is the forgiveness of sins that is the “purifying of our hearts by faith,” which allows the Holy Ghost to abide with us.  This is the life that resides within the blood.[18]  In this way we do gain the sense that it is God Who sanctifies His people, Whose Spirit speaks an almost emphatic refrain to the sinner; “Let him make peace with Me, Let him make peace with Me.”    Through this testimony of God, we perceive that our sanctification is even His will.[19]

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”                                                                                      Luke 12:32

Through faith in the blood of His Son testifying of the Father’s good pleasure in the justifying, cleansing, and perfecting of the elect, we may pass through the most difficult times God has ordained for our preparation for His kingdom.  Our strength is His peace; a peace we must cherish as God Himself.

Finally, brethren, farewell.  Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.                                                                                       II Cor. 13:11