THE SEALING OF THE 144,000 “And I heard the number of them that were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel” (Rev. 7:4). In order to understand the deep mystery of the hundred and forty-four thousand we must see beyond the veil of the flesh and the mists of the earthly and literal and see right into the very heart of God with the eyes of the spirit. My purpose in writing of these mysteries is that all who read might see WHO ISRAEL IS. There is a marvelous prophetic passage of scripture in the book of Genesis in which is related the experience of the very first Israel of God. “And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince thou hast power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” (Gen. 28:24-28). It may stagger your imagination to hear what I now say, but once you grasp the truth, you will be mightily helped by it. The kernel of truth in the story related above concerns how Jacob became Israel, Prince of God. It’s so very important for those who would lay hold upon the reality of sonship to study the life of Jacob who was first called Israel. For, as a brother we ministered with some years ago has written, “Jacob was not the only Israel, but he was only the first Israel of God! For you see, the word Israel simply means PRINCE OF GOD, and Jacob was only the first man that God called out of the world to deal with him until He had changed his nature from the nature of a schemer and a grasper and a supplanter, which was what his name Jacob meant by interpretation, to the nature of one who no longer went through life and thought to conquer life by his own scheming and grasping and supplanting, but became one who, completely helpless in his own strength, could take hold of God and say, I will not let you go until I get the blessing. And when God had changed Jacob’s nature from the nature of a schemer, a grasper, and a supplanter to the nature of a prince of God, He gave him a new name to fit his new nature! “The Bible says there wrestled a man with Jacob all night long. And toward the breaking of the day, when he prevailed not, the man touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh and Jacob became absolutely helpless and could walk no longer in his own strength. And then the picture changes. No longer is the angel of the Lord wrestling with Jacob, but now Jacob is wrestling with the angel of the Lord! And he takes a fresh hold upon the angel of the Lord, and the angel of the Lord said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. The angel really didn’t want Jacob to let go, he was only testing Jacob to see how hard Jacob could hang on. And Jacob takes a fresh grip, and says, I will not let you go until I get the blessing! And the angel of the Lord says, What is your name? He says, Jacob, — schemer, grasper, supplanter. And the angel says, No, thou shalt no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, Prince of God! For as a prince hast thou power with God and men, for thou hast prevailed. No longer Jacob, schemer, grasper, supplanter, but Israel, Prince of God. And as such Jacob was only the type of all those in every generation that God calls by His Spirit, out of the world, to change their nature from the nature of schemer, grasper, supplanter, that is, fleshly dependency and effort, to a prince of God with power. Then He gives them a new name to fit their new nature! Therefore, Jacob was the first Israel, for he was the first called out of the world that God might change his name and his nature. “Out of Jacob came twelve sons and they were mighty ones, God’s Israel for that generation. Out of them came twelve tribes, and they were God’s Israel for their generation. Then, finally, out of the twelve tribes came Jesus, and while Jesus was in the world, He was God’s Israel, God’s Prince. Then out of Jesus came a generation of enChristed Israel and they were God’s Israel, God’s mighty ones, for their generation. Then over the last 2,000 years have come generation after generation of enChristed Israel. Each out of the previous generation, and they were God’s Israel for their generation and now, we who have been called and chosen by the Spirit of God out of the masses of the world and religious Babylon, that God might deal with us and change our nature, that he might change our name — we are God’s Israel for our generation! “Dearly beloved, this is the place that God has been apprehending you and me for, waiting for us to come to from the day we were born! Yea, the river Jabok, where Jacob camped, is where we have been brought to the place of aloneness with God, separated from the world and religious Babylon. Here we sit completely helpless and the hollow of our thigh has been touched where we can no longer walk in our own strength. No more schemes to depend on, no more of our own thinking, carnal ways, and fleshly effort. The flesh has schemed and worked our way into a corner where we can’t go backward or forward, the only way we can look is up! Then the Spirit of God begins to wrestle with us through that long night of darkness wherein He seeks to change our nature from one who is always seeking to grasp and scheme and push our own way into the things of God, to one who has become completely helpless. No longer able to walk in our own strength, but in prayer and the spirit we take hold of God and say, I will not let you go until I get the answer! There is coming a breaking day for us; yea, our long night of darkness and testing is coming to an end, and the daybreak is coming to us where we’ll become that helpless in our own strength. And God will have finally changed our nature from one who continually tries to grasp and supplant our own way through by self-effort and fleshly striving, to one who, completely helpless, takes hold of the Lord, and in and by the spirit says, I will not let you go until you bless me with that new and greater thing that only comes from you! “When that happens God changes our name and gives us a new name to fit our new nature. Only the new name that He gives us is not just Israel, Prince of God. The name that He gives us is CHRIST — SON OF GOD! For then is fulfilled the scripture wherein Jesus said, ‘Him that overcometh…I will write upon him my new name’ (Rev. 3:12). ‘Thou art the CHRIST, the SON OF THE LIVING GOD’ — that’s who He is, and that is our new name! From that hour forth we have power with God and with men, and prevail over every battle that will ever come against us, for God has changed our nature from one who fights his own battles to one who has become completely helpless in his own strength and ability; one through whom God fights! Then the angel of the Lord says to us, What is thy name? Jacob, schemer, grasper, supplanter? No! From henceforth thou shalt have a new name. Not just Israel, Prince of God, but Christ, Son of God. And thou hast prevailed. Hallelujah!” — end quote. And these, my beloved, as Jacob-Israel of old, ARE THE TRUE ISRAEL OF GOD! “If ye be Christ’s, T-H-E-N are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29). “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE PROMISE” (Gal. 4:28). “For we are the circumcision (Israel), which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH” (Phil. 3:3). That is Israel whose thigh has been touched! Oh, the mystery of it!
Posted on: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 02:08:53 +0000
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