… 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest for ever, in the order of Melchizedek.

 

This movement includes the encouraging call to the body of Christ on earth to advance powerfully in royal priesthood on the spiritual level as well as to enter into the depths of God in sanctification (cf. Matthew 24:27 i.c.w. Hebrews 12:14).

 

27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

 

14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no-one will see the Lord.

 

We already know that Jesus Christ bought us with His blood to become kings and priests.

But it is precisely for this reason that it is important for us to reach the maturity of kings and priests, which is associated with (Note: more) responsibility and opportunities for action (cf. Revelation 1:5-6).

 

… 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father – to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

 

 

Jesus’ statement in which He speaks of His coming, which is like lightning discharging from the east to the west, makes the high priest’s path of service very clear. It corresponds to the direction of the priest when he carried out his service in the temple or in the tabernacle by going from the entrance in the east to the west, where the Holy of Holies was located.

 

The biblical passage from Matthew 24:27 not only contains the revelation about the return of Jesus but is also a revelatory call to us as saints in the spiritual dimension of the body of Christ in the structure of the royal priesthood.

 

This is the apostolic authority given to us by God to walk in relationship with Him as well as in the spiritual realm. Only in this walk is it possible for us to reveal the manifold wisdom of God to the powers and authorities (cf. Ephesians 3:8-12).

 

8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

 

Since lightning usually discharges in the atmosphere and Jesus’ statement speaks of the discharge of a horizontal bolt of lightning, God’s call to us as His people is clearly recognizable here. The Father wants to see us walking in the spirit realm in Christ on a higher relational level in order to be sent out in power from His throne in this way, similar to the lightning that emanates from the throne of God (cf. Ephesians 2:6 i.c.w. Revelation 4:5a).

 

6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, …

 

5a From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings [Note: voices] and peals of thunder. …

 

 

Since the lightnings emanate from the throne of God, an apostolic power can be recognized in them, which is sent out from there, because the ‘apostolic’ is connected with the ‘being sent out’. The Greek word is the process of being sent out, ‘apọstolos’ or ‘apostẹllō’. (Note: taken from the Elberfelder Study Bible with the word key numbers: 641 and 644)

Jesus Christ always moves in accordance with the will of the Heavenly Father, which is why the ‘lightning movement’ of the Son of Man conceals the sending of God (cf. John 5:19).

John 5:19:

19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

 

God desires to see His people align with the advancement of the ‘body of Christ’ in the spiritual realm in order to be a part of the lightning-like royal-priestly movement. This movement carries supernatural acceleration and power, whose end is the depths of God, which can be equated with the place of the Holy of Holies which is located in the west.

 

Based on the list from Revelation 4:5a of the ‘apostolic impulses’ mentioned in the form of:

 

which emanates horizontally from the throne of God the following difference is discernible to the sequence of manifestations according to Revelation 8:5, which are vertical-circular:

 

5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings [Note: voices], flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

 

Thus, the second sequence from Revelation 8:5 makes it clear to us that the focus is on communication, which is followed by the revelatory power of God.

 

This arrangement has its origin in ascending communication, namely the prayers of the saints, which is why it is no coincidence that thunder and voices come first, followed by the lightning and the earthquake.

 

The first sequence in Revelation 4:5a, on the other hand, has its origin in the reigning and royal eternal being of God.

 

 

In addition to the second sequence, the reason for a different sequence and the addition of an earthquake lies in the fact that the manifestations mentioned are connected with the ministry or transmission of ‘another angel’ who ‘commutes’ between heaven and earth in the ministry before God. This carries the sound of the voice of the saints in the form of their intercession on earth mixed with the essence of God as fire from the golden altar (cf. Deuteronomy 4:24 i.c.w. Hebrews 12:29).

 

24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

 

… 29 for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’

 

Here there is a correlation between temporary time and eternity and between heaven and earth.

 

The mention of the earthquake can serve as a reference to the process of spiritual travail to bring forth the new time of the breath of God (Note: Spirit), for after this event within the seventh seal, the seven angels prepared to blow their respective trumpets (cf. Revelation 8:6).

 

6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

 

It is therefore the intercession of the saints in accordance with God’s will that contributes to a new sequence of revelation or manifestation of God on earth and in the atmosphere above it, so that, among other things, the prince of the air is also shaken with his powers (cf. Ephesians 2:2).

 

2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

 

Spirit-filled intercession includes prayers prayed in accordance with God’s will, in which those praying is out of their own self-centered will, demanding or requesting something from God, but it is intercession released by faith. Such intercession is akin to prayer mingled with incense, as we can see from Revelation 8:3-4.

 

3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne.

4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.

 

It was incense that was added to the prayers of the saints on behalf of God, so that the commissioned angel offered the prayers with the added incense in the form of incense in the censer on the golden altar before the throne.

 

As a result, the sound of the prayer rose up to God with the scent of incense from the angel’s hand. Incense is therefore also representative for us today as an indication of the prayers prayed in the will of the Father.

 

Furthermore, in this spiritual process there is a mingling of fragrance – incense as holiness of the heart with sound as the intercession of the saints and the passion of God in the form of fire from the altar. Only this results in God’s response and intervention in the form of His powerful manifestation on earth and the realm of the air above it.

 

Saints may understand some things by the commission in the apostolic sense, but what is decisive is the sending forth from the realm of the throne room of God Himself, which cannot succeed without our focus on sanctification and submission to His will. Let us therefore heed these instructions from the Holy Spirit and apply them in our daily decisions and prayers.

 

Amen and Amen.

 

In His Wisdom,

 

Daniel Glimm