Intercession for the Church: Part 3

I showed in the first part how the Church aborted and miscarried the Manchild and how God separated His overcomers into a new group which, in the records of the divine court, was a separate body from the Church. He did this in order that the overcomers (i.e., "barley" company) would not be held liable for the decision of the Church in 1985 to abort the Manchild.

Thus, since that time, believers are either barley or wheat, but are not planted in the same "field," as the law specified. The law is prophetic, because it reveals the divine plan as well as the way that God would deal with people and with nations. So at some point in time, this law would have to be fulfilled in the history of God's "vineyard," or His Kingdom.

God then began to work with a much smaller group called overcomers in order to bring forth the Manchild in them. While I do not know how long this will actually take, I am confident that it will happen at some point soon. I believe that this will take place on the first day of the feast of Tabernacles in some year. The overcomers will be made immortal on that day, leaving the realm of death. Then they will be presented to God on the eighth day of Tabernacles, after the law of cleansing has been fulfilled.

This will mark a new administration of God's Kingdom in the earth. It will not be a political administration, but will be done through spiritual authority--the kind that Jesus exercised when He walked the earth 2,000 years ago. The rest of the believers, the wheat company, will see this and will rejoice, once they get over the shock that they were "left behind."

Fortunately , the scenarios created by modern eschatology will prove to be largely groundless. It will not be a "rapture" per se that takes place, followed by a horrible tribulation under a cruel antichrist. Instead, it will be the fulfillment of the feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the feast of Tabernacles. For a little longer study outlining these events, see my Foundation For Intercession bulletin dated September 2005. It is posted online. For a longer study, see my book, The Laws of the Second Coming.

Thus, the Church as a whole will not be caught away, nor will they be presented to the Father on the eighth day. Neither will most of the Church in past generations be raised from the dead at this time. Only the overcomers will be raised in the first resurrection, as we read in Rev. 20:4-6.

Yet the Church will certainly benefit from the raising of the overcomers. Not only they, but the whole world will begin to see tremendous blessings poured out. It will be the greatest time of "revival" and world evangelism that the world has ever witnessed.

The "Stone" Kingdom of Dan. 2:35 will grow and fill the whole earth. The earth will begin to be renewed and restored. New technologies will burst forth, no longer restricted by the current Babylonian system. New sources of unlimited energy will come on the scene, and the era of fossil fuels will be a thing of the past. Pollution will be eliminated. Life spans will be increased, for Isaiah 65:20 tells us that if men die at the age of 100, they will be considered to be a child (very young).

This will be the Great Sabbath in the earth, the 7th Millennium. The earth's slave labor under Babylon will end. The earth will enter into a "rest" period of 1,000 years in preparation for the general resurrection of the dead at the Great White Throne.

The distinction between these two resurrections--one at the beginning and one at the end of the thousand years--is clearly seen in Scripture. Rev. 20:4-6 describes the first resurrection as LIMITED in scope. It clearly says that only believers will be raised in this resurrection, and that "the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished."

What is unclear from this passage is whether or not ALL believers will be raised at that time. The fact that ONLY believers will be raised does not address this question. Thus, we must turn to John 5:28, 29 to fill in this detail. Jesus said here:

"Marvel not at this; for THE HOUR is coming, in which ALL that are in the graves will hear His voice and will come forth: they that have done good unto the resurrection of LIFE; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of JUDGMENT."

In other words, Jesus was NOT talking about the first (limited) resurrection. He was describing the second, which would include ALL who were yet in the graves. And it is clear that in that resurrection, some would be given LIFE, and others JUDGMENT. It is not difficult to see that believers will be included in this second resurrection at the end of the thousand years, because ONLY BELIEVERS will be given Life.

In view of this fact, it is in a believer's interest to be part of the barley overcomers, rather than of the wheat Church. Being an overcomer does not give a person salvation, but rather a position of spiritual authority (rulership) in the Kingdom. The second benefit is that the overcomer is raised a thousand years sooner and will be alive on earth in an immortal, "heavenly" state, to minister to the rest of humanity--including the Church.

The overcomers of the Old Testament (listed in Hebrews 11) endured the tribulations of life in order "that they might obtain a better resurrection" (11:35). In other words, they wanted the first resurrection, not the second.

The law prophesied of this in Numbers 10, where Moses was told to make two trumpets. One trumpet called the rulers and leaders of the people; two trumpets called the whole Church (kahal, "congregation"). This was prophetic of the feast of Trumpets, which prophesies of the resurrection of the dead.

It is clear from Paul's writings that the resurrection that interested him most was the resurrection of the leaders--those who would rule with Christ in the first resurrection. Thus, he speaks of the "trumpet" sounding which will raise the dead. "Trumpet" is always singular in Paul's writings. See 1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16.

So we see that the law itself makes this distinction between Church and rulers, and the New Testament has two resurrections to reward them separately. It is therefore no great surprise that the Church would abort the Manchild and disqualify itself from the first resurrection. It was meant to be. At the same time, however, God has raised up overcomers from every age in the past and present for the purpose of leading the Church by word and by example, so that the Church will know the love of Christ which passes understanding.

Since the Church itself has refused to bring forth the Manchild, God is raising up a company of overcomers to do the job, according to the principles found in the law of the Manchild (Deut. 25:5-10). That way, all was not lost, even after the 70th generation. These overcomers will lead the way by example and by teaching, so that Jesus Christ does not lose His inheritance in the earth (Deut. 25:6).

Meanwhile it is part of the duty of overcomers to intercede for the Church and for the world itself until He brings all things under His feet.