Dear Beloved in Christ,
I hope this word encourages you today.
.
Also, I just wanted to clarify that when I post something on
Five Doves website, I always use my name. Articles that have
been posted from an individual with the initials "TH" have been
submitted by another person, and not myself.
Blessings to all,
Terri Hill
BREAKTHROUGH
And REDEMPTION Are Coming
SING,
O barren,
you are about to give birth to that which you have longed for;
Isaiah 54:1-4.
The woman Tamar, was a childless widow. She was married twice
and promised a
third husband, but her promise did not become a reality. Tamar
is a type of the
Church, one who became desperate in her desire to produce a
“son”, even to the
point of becoming a “veiled prostitute”; Genesis 38:14-15. She
was the
daughter-in-law of Judah (name means “praise”), and like the
Church, has
endured seasons of reproach, barrenness and rejection. Tamar has
suffered some
things partly because the “men” in her life have failed to
fulfill their
responsibilities, leaving her a childless widow; see Genesis
38:1-30. Her
natural and spiritual “fathers” (those who raised her), have at
times, failed
in their responsibilities. Her “husbands” (that with which she
has been
intimate), were displeasing to the Lord, and therefore were “cut
off” from her
life; Genesis 38:7-10. These former husbands could not produce
the “promise”:
1. “Er”, who was
of Canaanite and
Hebrew descent, was a wicked man, whom God killed because of his
sins (He cuts
off the sinful mixture); Nehemiah 13:3.
2. “Onan”, who
“spilled his seed”
on the ground, did not want Tamar to bear children, nor did he
want the
responsibility of raising them; Psalm 127:3-5. Onan was also
slain by the Lord
(He cuts off the disobedient).
Tamar,
like
the Church, has been desperate for a child, a “son”: a Holy
Spirit-filled
ministry; an inheritance; a promise fulfilled. Eventually the
“Woman” becomes
pregnant by a “Man” (Judah, “praise”; Jesus is from this tribe),
who gave three
TOKENS (signs) to her, which are a mark or pledge of HIS
IDENTITY; Genesis
38:18:
1. A signet
– symbolic of
His kingly authority; a seal of the Holy Spirit or “power of
attorney”; Haggai
2:23; 2 Corinthians 1:22
2. Bracelets
– symbolic of
His beauty; “adornment” with gifts for His Beloved; Genesis
24:22-38; 1
Corinthians 12:1-11.
3. A Staff
– symbolic of
His government, sceptre, rod, order and guidance of a Good
Shepherd; Hebrews
1:8; Revelation 12:5
At the appointed
time, Tamar
becomes pregnant with twins; for her shame, she came to possess
“double”;
Isaiah 61:7. When she became intimate with “Judah” (when the
Church comes to
know HIM intimately, true PRAISE and worship; John 4:23-24), she
produces a
DOUBLE PORTION; Zech. 9:12. Tamar gave birth first to Pharez,
whose name means
“breaking forth” (breakthrough), and then Zarah, who had a
scarlet thread
(symbolic of the blood) tied upon his hand, whose name means
“dawning”, “rising
of light” (day of redemption). BREAKTHROUGH comes before
REDEMPTION!
Before the
Church can “break
through” it must first “break off”some things:
a. A previous form
(designed by
men) and traditions (established by religion) which were
conceived by an “old
order” or past generation; Mark 7:8, 9,13. These things are dead
now.
b. An outdated
wineskin, which is
inflexible, and therefore, unable to stretch beyond a previous
move of the
Spirit, a previous structure, or its own boundaries; Luke 5:37.
c. Old patterns
(designs,
habits), that which is inconsistent with the biblical standard,
the pattern
given on the Mount; Hebrews 8:5. The Word, Who is the last Adam,
is the Pattern;
1 Corinthians 15:45-49.
d. A stagnant
mindset, the result
of false doctrine, theories and fables, which cloud and distort
the thinking. A
mind that is not renewed by truth cannot grasp the concepts of
God’s Kingdom,
nor will it move by faith, with the Cloud of His presence;
Romans 12:2.
A
union with
that which is “dead”, forbidden or defiled, cannot give birth to
God’s promise.
A sinful mixture (Er) cannot produce God’s blessing, neither
will disobedience
(Onan) produce a manifestation of the Kingdom. The pattern is
this: when the
mixture and the disobedience are cut off, when there is a union
(joining with)
“praise” (Judah), there will be a change. Having worn her
widow’s garments of
mourning for an extended period of time, finally twins, a
“double portion” was
granted to her; Genesis 38:27. This is based upon the desire
for, and the
pursuit of inheritance on Tamar’s part. Like the Church, Tamar’s
desires may
have been noble or honorable (to perpetuate the “father’s”
name), but her
methods and ways have been immoral at times, not unlike the
practices of the
heathen nations. Yes, Tamar, like the Church, has to some degree
or another,
been guilty of playing the harlot. The influence of an ungodly
culture has
pressed upon us all, and our actions at times, have betrayed our
First Love;
Revelation 2:4. Our methods have been inconsistent with God’s
nature; we have
denied by our actions and our speech the very One whom we claim
to represent.
But
God by His divine election, and by His sovereign choice, has
extended mercy to
us; Romans 8:29-30. He sees the desperate desire of His Church;
He has also
discerned the failure on the part of some “fathers and husbands”
in fulfilling
their proper roles. But our faithful, covenant-keeping God has
already planned
our restoration. He has already taken the necessary action to
salvage that
which is His. The “Woman’s” desire has been to produce a true
extension of the
Father, a true move of the Spirit, a ministry that truly
resembles Him. And God
has perceived those intentions and motives. Tamar, in the
culture of that day,
took a great risk, placing herself in danger; she could have
been killed for
her actions, simply in her desperation to obtain a promise. She
was willing to
take drastic measures to obtain her inheritance and God knew
this.
SIGNS
are
given to those who are intimate with Him. HIS IDENTITY shall be
revealed
through a people who are given a double portion; 2 Kings 2:9.
They shall “break
through” every obstacle in glorious victory (a triumphant
church), and then “redemption”
follows. Jesus is restoring His true Church, removing the
reproach like Tamar,
who was named “upright, palm tree” from the day of her “birth”;
John 3:6-8. She
has been given a divine seal, the gifts of the Holy Spirit and
Kingdom
authority: the pledge of her inheritance; Ephesians 1:12-14.
Though her
background was one of disgrace and humiliation, she became an
instrument to
extend God’s victory and enlarge His praise (Judah), thereby
ensuring the
lineage which produced the Messiah; Matthew 1:3. Jesus takes the
“clay” of
reproach into His hands, and fashions it into His glorious
workmanship. From
the union of the Spirit and human flesh, a DELIVERER is
produced, and this
“child”, the son of the “Woman”, obtains a glorious inheritance:
He is “caught up”
unto God, and to His throne! Revelation 12:5.
Terri Hill