THE DEPENDENCY OF THE PRIESTHOOD
MF Blume
January 1, 2012
The priesthood is associated
with the almond BRANCH in the bible.
- Recall the ALMOND branch of
Aaron’s rod that was laid in the holiest before the ark.
- How it resurrected and
supernaturally bore buds, flowers and fruit at the same time, proving
the PRIESTHOOD of LEVI.
- The almond BRANCHES were the
arms of the seven golden candlesticks in the midst of which Jesus stood
in Revelation 1.
The Garden was represented by the holiest of holies.
- Cherubims blocked the
entrance to both – by a sword in the Garden and on a veil in the
holiest.
- And Jesus’ tomb was in
a GARDEN where, like the ALMOND BRANCH, He resurrected.
And we spoke of how the OLIVE OIL was the FUEL for the ALMOND TREE
SHAPED candlesticks.
- The key is that life which is
UNNATURAL to the ALMOND TREE is used to fuel the almond tree
candlesticks.
OLIVE OIL.
Exodus 27:20-21 KJV And thou shalt command the children of
Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to
cause the lamp to burn always. (21) In the tabernacle of
the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron
and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it
shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the
children of Israel.
This is absolutely necessary.
- DAILY we have to keep living
by this UNNATURAL LIFE.
- DAILY we have to depend upon
the LIFE of God for our ministries.
- OR ELSE OUR MINISTRIES BECOME
FLESHLY and not of God any longer.
Every denomination has done this.
- They started out with a move
of God and then fell into the flesh and tried to repeat what they
thought was the key with their flesh, and make a tradition out of it,
and they lost the Spirit.
- The Spirit must always be
maintained and relied upon.
And one thing that is associated with the SEVEN CANDLESTICKS is this
very principle of RELIANCE ON THE SPIRIT.
Revelation 1:4 KJV John to the seven churches which are in Asia:
Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and
which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his
throne;
Revelation 4:5 KJV And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and
thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning
before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
Notice that in Revelation 1:4 the SEVEN SPIRITS ARE BEFORE THE THRONE.
- In 4:5 they are called SEVEN
LAMPS OF FIRE which ARE THE SEVEN SPIRITS.
- So we see the candlestick
involved in this picture.
Notice that seven spirits are mentioned after Jesus is called a BRANCH.
Isaiah 11:1-3 KJV And there shall come forth a rod out of the
stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
(2) And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit
of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; (3) And shall
make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall
not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the
hearing of his ears:
And these Spirits make him of quick understanding and cause him to
judge righteously.
This theme of reliance on the Spirit is found everywhere in the Bible,
associated with the SEVEN EYES or SPIRITS.
2Chr 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro
throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of
[them] whose heart [is] perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done
foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
Notice it says there are EYES of the Lord that run to and fro
throughout the whole earth.
- It does not say how many
there are, just that there are EYES of the Lord.
But…
Zechariah 4:10 KJV For who hath despised the day of small things?
for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of
Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run
to and fro through the whole earth.
So here we are told there is a specific SEVEN EYES – “those
seven.”
- What seven?
- Something must have been
mentioned earlier about seven eyes for this verse to say THOSE SEVEN.
- And it says THEY SHALL
REJOICE WITH THOSE SEVEN.
- What do they rejoice about?
- Seeing the plummet in the
hand of ZERUBBABEL.
- A PLUMB LINE.
- That which ensures things are
perfectly straight according to gravity.
- The temple was being built.
- And its structure must be
MEASURED ACCORDING TO SOMETHING.
- IN RELIANCE UPON SOMETHING
ELSE.
- A PLUMBLINE.
Zerubbabel was a GOVERNOR.
- He and another individual who
was HIGH PRIEST were leading Israel to rebuild the temple.
- The High Priest was JOSHUA
and he was mentioned in chapter 3.
And this seems to be the REFERENCE that THOSE SEVEN makes in chapter 4.
Zechariah 3:8-9 KJV Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and
thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for,
behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH. (9) For
behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall
be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the
LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
In Joshua’s case, the STONE seems to be the CORNERSTONE that
every builder uses as an integral part of ensuring the building is in
its proper position and IS SQUARE and accurately built.
- Wherever the cornerstone is,
that is going to determine where the rest of the building is going to
sit on the land.
Measuring up and building something with a STANDARD to go by.
Notice the eyes of the Lord are looking for something.
- They delight to see things.
Zechariah 4:10 KJV For who hath despised the day of small things?
for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of
Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run
to and fro through the whole earth.
The eyes of the Lord REJOICE TO SEE this sight of Zerubbabel holding a
plumbline as he builds the temple.
2Chr 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro
throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of
[them] whose heart [is] perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done
foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
This chapter is about ASA.
Go back to chapter 14.
2 Chronicles 14:8-12 KJV (8) And Asa had an army of men
that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and
out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and
fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.
(9) And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an
host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto
Mareshah. (10) Then Asa went out against him, and they set
the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.
(11) And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is
nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no
power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we
go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man
prevail against thee. (12) So the LORD smote the Ethiopians
before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.
300,000 + 240,000 = 540,000
But 1,000,000 came from Ethiopia!
- But Asa knew GOD WAS NOT WEAK!
God can give victory to many or those who have no power!
- The SMALL THINGS are of no
concern.
- In fact, God likes to see
SMALL THINGS.
- THEY DEPEND UPON HIM MORE AND
THAT GIVES HIM THE GLORY.
This continued..
2 Chronicles 15:2-8 KJV (2) And he went out to meet Asa,
and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The
LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be
found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
(3) Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God,
and without a teaching priest, and without law. (4) But
when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and
sought him, he was found of them. (5) And in those times
there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but
great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries.
(6) And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God
did vex them with all adversity. (7) Be ye strong
therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be
rewarded. (8) And when Asa heard these words, and the
prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the
abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of
the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar
of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.
He relied heavily on God.
But in ch 16 he makes a treaty with a people, relying upon human
ingenuity.
2 Chronicles 16:7-9 KJV (7) And at that time Hanani the
seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast
relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the LORD thy God,
therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine
hand. (8) Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge
host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst
rely on the LORD, he delivered them into thine hand. (9)
For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to
shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward
him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou
shalt have wars.
God’s eyes trust to SEE PEOPLE DEPEND UPON HIM.
Zechariah 4:10 KJV For who hath despised the day of small things?
for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of
Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run
to and fro through the whole earth.
God’s EYES REJOICE TO SEE someone depend upon Him!
- That is what He looks for!
- Notice it asks WHO HAS
DESPISED THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS?
- Samuel rebuked Saul for
turning away from God.
1 Samuel 15:17 KJV And Samuel said, When thou wast little in
thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel,
and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?
When we are small in our own eyes, we know we have to depend upon the
Lord.
- So we forget about even
trying to use flesh to work for Him.
- We rely totally upon Him.
- But when we get big in our
own eyes, we begin to trust in ourselves.
- We no longer trust in Him.
- And he no longer anoints us.
After we read of Asa trusting in SELF and FLESH….
2 Chronicles 16:12 KJV And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of
his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding
great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the
physicians.
Even after God rebuked him, he still did not seek God for help.
We must minister as priests.
- Anointing only comes when we
REALIZE WE ARE SMALL AND THEREFORE REQUIRE GOD.
- RELIANCE ON GOD is what God
wants to see in us.
Our ministries MUST BE MINISTRIES DEPENDENT ON GOD.
- Katherine Kuhlman would pray
repeatedly for the Spirit to not abandon her but to be with her when
she ministered.
- She said she did not want to
dare minister without HIM.
Too much ministry is being done in flesh.
We saw a PLUMBLINE in the hand of Zerubbabel that had SEVEN EYES.
- We saw a CORNERSTONE BEFORE
JOSHUA with seven eyes.
- NBOT BY MIGHT, NOR BY POWER,
BUT BY MY SPIRIT.
Zechariah 4:2-10 KJV And said unto me, What seest thou? And I
said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl
upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the
seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: (3) And two
olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other
upon the left side thereof. (4) So I answered and spake to
the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
(5) Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me,
Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
(6) Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word
of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by
my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. (7) Who art thou, O
great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he
shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace,
grace unto it. (8) Moreover the word of the LORD came unto
me, saying, (9) The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the
foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou
shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.
(10) For who hath despised the day of small things? for they
shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with
those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro
through the whole earth.
Reliance on GOD to do seemingly impossible things is what MINISTRY IS
ALL ABOUT.
- He spoke of POWER and MIGHT
to a kinglike GOVERNOR.
- He spoke of THE BRANCH to a
PRIEST named Joshua.
- KINGS AND PRIESTS both need
the understand the POWER of the LORD they are meant to rely upon.
Human might cannot cut it while they rebuild the temple, and human
power is not enough.
- IT’S BY THE SPIRIT OF
GOD.
- THE OLIVE OIL INTO THE
CANDLESTICKS.
And we get discouraged when we do not have enough fleshly abilities or
natural life to accomplish a ministry.
GOD LOOKS FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT DEPEND UPON FLESHLY ABILITY.
Zechariah 4:11-14 KJV Then answered I, and said unto him, What
are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and
upon the left side thereof? (12) And I answered again, and
said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two
golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? (13)
And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I
said, No, my lord. (14) Then said he, These are the two
anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
These are the words found in Revelation about the two witnesses.
Revelation 11:3-4 KJV And I will give power unto my two
witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and
threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. (4) These are the
two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of
the earth.
They are ANOINTED because they depend upon another Life.
They are weak instrumentality in themselves.
- They utterly depend upon God.
- The GRACE GRACE that is
shouted to the mountain means divine empowerment.
- Dependence on power they do
not have