Last week we started looking at The New Jerusalem. Jesus’ first mention of the Church was that it was a light and a city – Matt 5:14. The writer of the Book of Hebrews also refers to the same imagery of the Church when he says:
But you have come to Mount Zion, and the City of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and the Church of the Firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkling of blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel – Heb 12:22-24.
You are the City, the bride, the New Jerusalem, and the dwelling place of God. The New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven, we are seated with Him in heavenly places, and through you, heaven invades the earth. Looking at the New Jerusalem, we saw that t has twelve gates, and each gate was a pearl. A pearl is formed through irritation. Each gate was named after one of the twelve sons of Israel. Last week we looked at the first four sons that were born and what their names mean.
Ruben – Behold a son.
Simeon – Ears to hear.
Levi – Unity.
Judah – Praise.
This week we continue looking at the next four sons that were born.
Fifth son: Dan – God judged. Judging is such an essential process for each one of us. Judging is good if it happens without a critical spirit. We must understand the reason for judgment. We cannot condemn when we judge; that is God’s prerogative. Jesus reminds us in the parable about looking to find a splint in your brother’s eye while having a log in your own – Matt 7:1-5. He is making us aware that we are unable to judge a brother or sister, knowing we are imperfect. The irritation for us in this process is giving up our judgment. That is hard because we are so quick to judge people and not the fruit of their lives. Another parable he tells highlights our prejudices. In Luke 18:10-14, a Publican and a Pharisee went to pray. The Pharisee prayed: God, I thank you that I am not like the Publican. I give alms, I fast and do all these beautiful things. The Publican prayed: God forgive me; I am just a sinner. The Pharisee judged the Publican. If we want to excel in the Kingdom, we must allow God to judge. The fifth son also speaks of grace as five represents the number of grace.
Sixth son: Naphtali – Obtained by wresting. Eternal life is a gift. The grace of God is free and undeserved. His mercy is free and new every morning. The price for growing in the Kingdom will cost you everything. Jesus tells the parable of a man that found a pearl of great value. He sold everything he had to buy that pearl – Matt 13:45. Daily I have to fight my old fleshly nature. I do the things I don’t want to do and don’t do the things I need to. Paul admonishes us to die daily and take up our cross and follow him. We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities. Jesus said that the Kingdom suffers violence and the violent take it by force – Matt 11:12. The life we walk in the Kingdom is a struggle sometimes. Don’t fight a shadow. Fight for what will bring you closer to maturity in Christ. When we allow God to judge, He will show us what we need to wrestle with to gain the victory.
Seventh son: Gad – A troop cometh. We are never alone in this fight. God is ready to fight for us. Multiple times in scripture, we see God fighting on behalf of Israel – Ex 14:14, 2 Chron 20. When Jesus is at the end of his ministry and ready to die for the sin of the world, He says to the disciples: I can ask the Father, and He can give me twelve legions of angels – Matt 26:53. A cloud of witnesses and angels surrounds us and are ministering spirits sent to assist the people of God – Psalms 104:4. We are indeed a majority, and if God is for us, who can be against us. We must stop looking at our lack and start seeing our supply. The hard thing is to stop doing it in our own strength and ability. We must begin to trust God. When God fights for us, we fight alongside Him, and He causes an overflow and victory on our behalf.
Eight son: Asher – blessed. We can never earn His blessings. When we do what He asks us to do, when we walk in obedience and follow His voice, blessings come without working for it. Blessings are never what we have but who we have. A faithful man is blessed – Prov 28:20. In the parable of the talents, the ones that were faithful in stewarding the master’s property received double as much. Another key to being blessed is not rewarding evil for evil – 1 Pet 3:9. He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places – Eph 1:3.
First, you receive the son(Rueben); then, you start hearing(Simeon) and obeying. Obedience causes you to walk in unity(Levi) with the Spirit and the purposes of God. Your life is filled with praise(Judah) even as God judge(Dan), and you fight the good fight to obtain what God has promised(Naphtali). God fights for you and assists you(Gad) and blesses(Asher) you in your enemies’ midst.
Next week we will look at the last four gates of The New Jerusalem, the bride of Christ, The Church of the Firstborn, the people of God.
