BLOG

The Bondwoman to be Set Free

Christians in Denver are stunned today to find that the leader of the National Association of Evangelicals has resigned over allegations of homosexual relations over the past three years with a man named Mike Jones. He denies the charges, though according to the news accounts he has not denied some unspecified indiscretions. The AOL News report reads this:

"Haggard, a married father of five who has been called one of the most influential evangelical Christians in the nation, denied the allegations, telling Denver's KUSA-TV late Wednesday: 'I've never had a gay relationship with anybody, and I’m steady with my wife, I’m faithful to my wife. So I don't know if this is election year politics ... or what it is'.”

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/evangelical-leader-accused-of-gay-affair/20061102182309990027?ncid=NWS00010000000001

Right now the voice mails are being analyzed to see if "Art" is really Ted Haggard of New Life Church in Denver.

My interest in this case is not to accuse him of anything, but to report on the accusation and to comment on it as a sign of the times. It is quite possible, with the political situation today, that a group of well-heeled men have engineered a false accusation for their own purposes. On the other hand, with so much corruption going on even in the Church, and with other Christian leaders getting caught in gay affairs, that the accusations could be true. At this point, there is no way for the average person to know. The best way to handle it is not by accusation but by prayer and asking God what His plan is in all of this.

At the end of yesterday's weblog, I stated my belief that we would soon see great ministries fall. This was based upon the type and shadow of King Saul, the primary Pentecostal type in the Old Testament, who represents the Church in the Pentecostal Age. I had no idea, of course, that the Haggard accusation would occur that same day and then be all over the news today.

I had mentioned earlier that November 1st was a "watch date," because it was the day that Noah entered the ark. The flood began on Chesvan 17 (Gen. 7:11), which is November 8 this year, and Noah entered the ark seven days earlier, which I presumed was Nov. 1st. However, the Bible usually counts the days inclusively, so I wondered if perhaps we ought to watch Nov. 2nd, rather than the first. If Nov. 2 was the first day, then Nov. 8 is the seventh day.

I believe that events have proven that Nov. 2 was the actual day to watch and that the Haggard allegation is the sign of the impending flood. There was a water sign that occurred yesterday, witnessed by five of us, which had already convinced me of this date. Yet I was planning to let it pass without comment, because that sign was not something that most others would understand and would take too much time to explain it here. The Haggard sign, however, is quite clear and is for the public to recognize.

The sign simply points to the fall of Church leadership from positions of authority. As I showed yesterday, it speaks of the fall of King Saul, who was replaced by David. But it also speaks of Noah's withdrawal from society in his day as he went into the ark with his family. It was the day that Noah stopped preaching, for he was a "preacher of righteousness" (2 Peter 2:5) until he withdrew into the ark.

Another major sign of Pentecost and the feast of Tabernacles is the story of Ishmael and Isaac. I showed this more completely in chapter 5 of my book, The Wheat and Asses of Pentecost." Ishmael and Isaac serve as types and shadows on two main levels of prophecy. The first is covered by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 4:22-31, where they are children of the Old and New Covenants.

Ishmael is the son of the bondwoman, Hagar, who represents the Old Covenant and the physical city of Jerusalem. Isaac, is the son of the freewoman, Sarah, who represents the New Covenant and the New Jerusalem. In this setting, Ishmael is said to be the persecutor of Isaac, even as the priests of Judaism in Jerusalem persecuted the early Church. And in today's setting, the physical city of Jerusalem has once again become the "mother" of a great portion of Christian people, who are honoring their "mother" by making Jerusalem the capitol of the Kingdom of God.

But there is another layer of meaning to this as well, in that the angel revealed to Hagar in Gen. 16:12 that her son would be a pareh awdawm, "a wild-ass man." I showed in my book that in biblical symbolism, a donkey represents Pentecost, while the white horse represents Tabernacles. That is why Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey at that time (Matt. 21:7), while in His second appearance He is said to come on a white horse (Rev. 19:11).

His first appearance was under the Old Covenant, while the second is under the New Covenant. Likewise, the first time He was taking steps to introduce Pentecost and the Pentecostal Age, while the second time it is to introduce the feast of Tabernacles and the Tabernacles Age.

Paul quotes from Gen. 21:10 in Gal. 4:30, saying, "Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman."

This has two applications. First, it indicates that the physical Jerusalem is to be cast out and will not inherit the Kingdom. The New Jerusalem is the heir, and the children of the New Covenant are the heirs of the Kingdom. Secondly, the "children" of the physical Jerusalem, including those who view that city as their spiritual "mother," will not be heirs with the "children" of the New Jerusalem. They will be "cast out" of their positions of authority.

Two millennia ago, the temple priests in Jerusalem lost their authority over the Kingdom when they rejected the King and persecuted the Isaac company. In our day, this is being repeated through the Zionist state, but this time it also includes the Evangelical Church as a whole, which has largely supported Hagar, physical Jerusalem, in its zeal for Zionism. In doing so, it has proved itself to be of the Ishmael company, spiritually speaking. And thus it has persecuted the Isaac company of overcomers, relegating them to the status of "cults" destined for the fiery torture pits of eternity.

The Pentecostal Age is giving way to the Tabernacles Age. Those who cannot go beyond Pentecost into the experience of Tabernacles will lose their spiritual authority in the earth--and, indeed, have already lost it in the eyes of God. It is not that Pentecost is bad, but rather that it is inadequate to rule the Kingdom. It is a leavened feast (Lev. 23:17) to show its imperfection and inadequacy.

Yet at the same time, the overcomers are called to take the lead in bringing the flood of the Holy Spirit to the rest of the earth--including the Pentecostal world (Ishmael). This is part of the revelation that we received last night when the Father spoke to us two passages: Gen. 21:13 and Romans 8:21-24. The first is about the bondwoman's son, Ishmael, who was to be made a great nation. The second is about all of creation being currently in bondage (Ishmael), but which has the promise of God to be set free in the glorious liberty of the children of God (Isaac).

Thus, God related Ishmael to all of creation and showed us the purpose of the flood of the Holy Spirit that is shortly to come upon the earth. Casting out the bondwoman on all levels is ultimately for a good purpose. It is to set the people free, not destroy them. And, yes, we were led to pray Romans 8:21-24 as a prayer last evening, November 2.