The Dimension of the Hand of God -Part II of II-

Note:
The following message is the second part of a teaching that consists of two parts.
It is recommended to read the message chronologically.
 
Thus, it is just as not coincidental that Jesus Christ called some disciples who were fishermen to the apostolic discipleship, who were, among others, two pairs of brothers. These were Peter and his brother Andrew, and the two sons of Zebedee, namely James and John, who were also known as the ‘sons of thunder’.
 
Matthew 4:18-22:
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
 
These two pairs of brothers are already a reference to the aforementioned depths and heights of God, since, according to the naming by Jesus, Peter is the rock – due to his made statement about Christ Jesus – and the sons of Zebedee are, as just mentioned, the connection to thunder (cf. Matthew 6:17-18 i.c.w. Mark 3:17).
 
Matthew 16:17-18:
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
 
Mark 3:17:
17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), …
 
A rock is geographically on the earth and a thunder sounds in the atmosphere or in the sky.
 
It was Jesus Christ who transformed His disciples from fishermen to fishers of men, which also means that the mentioned disciples as fishermen were familiar with the ‘dimension of fish’ and the Fish Gate in Jerusalem in order to reel in the great catch of men from this knowledge on the behalf of Christ (cf. Luke 5:9-11 i.c.w. Nehemiah 3:3).
 
Luke 5:9-11:
9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.”
11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
 
Nehemiah 3:3:
3 The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid its beams and put its doors and bolts and bars in place.
 
The Fish Gate and the Higher Spiritual Level
 
It was the Fish Gate that was restored by the sons of ‘Hassenaah’ on Nehemiah’s behalf so that the opportunity for ‘the great catch’ could be secured. Through the Fish Gate the caught fish were brought to the city of Jerusalem.
 
Based on the name ‘Hassenaah’ (Note: means ‘the hated population, to sting, thorny’) it shows us that these are true followers of Christ who speak the truth and don’t keep silent, even if they are hated as well as rejected by society because of their words (cf. Matthew 5:11 i.c.w. John 15:19).
 
Matthew 5:11:
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. …”
 
John 15:19:
19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
 
We are not called to make ourselves attractive to the world as the church – ekklēsia, but we should rather look to be attractive only to our LORD Jesus Christ in the form of true discipleship and authentic commitment.
 
After Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared, among others, to seven disciples at the Sea of Tiberias who were fishing, and addressed them from the facet of the Father, since there He addressed them as ‘children’ (cf. John 21:1-5).
 
John 21:1-5:
1 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee (Note: also Tiberias). It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together.
3 “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
5 He called out to them, “Friends (Note: children), haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered.
 
Peter took the leading role with his intention to go fishing. In this, the sons of Zebedee, Thomas, Nathanael and two other disciples accompanied him.
 
Jesus spoke from the facet of the Father and also the Sea of Galilee at this point in the Word titled as the Sea of Tiberias (Note: derived from the Roman ruler Tiberius), which is also called the Sea of Genezareth, to show that it was Jesus’ intention to draw His disciples or apostles to a higher level.
 
This higher level is connected to His government and understanding about the living catch in the form of ‘the sonship of God (Note: 153 fish), the truth of God (Note: Peter), real faith (Note: Thomas), the movement of angels (Note: Nathanael), the righteousness of God (Note: the sons of Zebedee)’ as well as the yet ‘unknown realm (Note: the two nameless disciples)’.
The Father is the highest spiritual authority and it was Peter alone in this case, who pulled in the 153 fish on Jesus’ behalf, whose numerical value carries the phrase ‘Sons of God’, and it is Jesus Christ who is the one sitting at the right hand of God as the Son. This reveals that Jesus wanted to pull the already established truth in Peter to a higher spiritual level.
 
The Heavenly Father wanted them to mix and absorb their wisdom and knowledge in Christ with His present higher wisdom and knowledge, since these were already in the form of the fish on the campfire (cf. John 21:9-13 i.c.w. Colossians 2:2-3).
 
John 21:9-13:
9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”
11 So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.
12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.
13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.
 
Colossians 2:2-3:
2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
 
The reason for this is, that in this Scripture two different Greek words for ‘fish’ are mentioned, which are on the one hand the word ‘ichthỵs’, which means a ‘fish’ in itself, and on the other hand the second word ‘opsạrion’, which describes a ‘prepared fish’ in the sense of a prepared meal. (Note: Word explanation from the Elberfelder Study Bible on the Greek words for ‘fish – ichthỵs, opsạrion’ with word key number: 2456, 3647* and Strong’s Concordance with word key number: G2486, G3795).
 
From these word explanations, it is evident that God is eager to see that we bring our experiences to the center of His Son’s resurrection power and allow the Holy Spirit to move our knowledge to a higher level in order to walk in it.
 
The Proper Positioning of Made Experiences and the Right Side
 
When we bring our past experiences with Christ Jesus into the light of His experience, we begin to recognize the revelatory truth for this time and the time to come and to align ourselves accordingly (cf. Psalm 36:9).
 
Psalm 36:9:
9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
 
It is also noteworthy that the seven disciples were instructed by Jesus to cast the net to the right side. Therein lies a deeper insight involving, among other things, the realm of governmental dominion in the sonship of God and walking in the revelatory truth of the Holy Spirit as well as the fear of the LORD.

The face of God in the facet of the lion is associated with the right side in the Word of God and points to His eternal kingship (cf. Ezekiel 1:10).
 
Ezekiel 1:10:
10 Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle.
 
The right side, according to the Word of God, is associated with the south and the burning Menorah and the seven burning torches before the throne of God (cf. Exodus 40:24 i.c.w. Revelation 4:5).
 
Exodus 40:24:
24 He placed the lampstand in the tent of meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle …
 
Revelation 4:5:
5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.
 
The seven burning torches are connected with the dimension of the Heavenly Father, since God is a consuming fire (cf. Deuteronomy 4:24; Hebrews 12:29).
 
Deuteronomy 4:24:
24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
 
Hebrews 12:29:
… 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”
 
In addition, the right side is associated with the true followers of Christ in the form of sheep, representing humility, and the positioning of the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad, who encamped around the tabernacle on the south side (cf. Matthew 25:33a; Numbers 2:10a.12a.14a).
 
Matthew 25:33a:
33a He will put the sheep on his right …
 
Numbers 2:10a.12a.14a:
10a On the south will be the divisions of the camp of Reuben under their standard. …
12a The tribe of Simeon will camp next to them. …
14a The tribe of Gad will be next. …
 
The dimension of the aforementioned tribe unit is indicative, among other things, of the ability to recognize Jesus Christ in everyday life (Note: ‘Reuben’ means ‘Behold, a son!’), to hear His voice (Note: ‘Simeon’ means ‘hearing in form of an answer’), and to prevail in His righteousness in spiritual warfare through His triumph on the cross in the face of opposition (Note: ‘Gad’ means ‘good fortune’ or ‘plight’).
 
The wind of the south carries the revelation of God’s fire (cf. Job 37:17; Luke 12:55).
 
Job 37:17:
17 You who swelter in your clothes when the land lies hushed under the south wind, …
 
Luke 12:55:
55 And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is.

Thus, the right side (Note: south) can also represent the revelatory words of God in the form of correction and exhortation that develop from His love for truth.
 
The south wind, symbolizing fire and heat, gives boldness to preach, just as the flames of fire on the heads of the saints at Pentecost/Shavuot revealed (cf. Isaiah 6:6-8 i.c.w. Acts 2:1-4).
 
Isaiah 6:6-8:
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
 
Acts 2:1-4:
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
 
Amen and Amen.
 
In His Wisdom,
 
Daniel Glimm