Most Holy Call to Pray (CTP, 15th April, 2021)
Topic: : Overcoming Iniquity by the Books (Part 2)
Minister: Rev. Kayode Oyegoke
“And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.” (Zech. 3:1-3). This is a vision of Zechariah in which Joshua was caught up to heaven; but Satan withstood him. It took the intervention of the angel of the Lord to deliver him from the resistance of the adversary. Satan is an adversary but our Lord Jesus is an advocate. One who knows the law governing a place or a thing can either be an advocate or an adversary. Satan was an adversary who stood against Joshua, the high priest.
The vision Zechariah saw was about a coronation ceremony that was going to take place in the realm of the spirit. Joshua was a high priest on earth, but he was yet to be coronated in the realm of the spirit because of his filthy garments. What makes a man a high priest is the stature he possesses; and this is a prerequisite to wear the garment of the high priest. Joshua was called by God to be a high priest but his garment was still filthy.
The priestly garments are for glory and beauty. However, the filthy garments Joshua was wearing were the glory garments that he unknowingly got from Babylon. He probably may not have been in love with the garments, but perhaps thought to use them. These garments were not physical garments; they were dispositions or thoughts that he accepted from Babylon. Thus, some thoughts are clothings in the spirit. Joshua must have been living by a wrong mindset or principle without knowing. It took the protest of the angel of the Lord to cause his filthiness to be taken away from him.
“And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.” (Zech. 3:4). Being clothed with a change of raiment typifies a change of glory. When a man is adhering to some things, it causes certain types of garments to be placed upon him in the realm of the spirit. Garments have smell in the realm of the spirit; and sometimes, we do not even know the kind of garments we are wearing in the spirit. Some things we wear in the spirit can overshadow our countenance, causing it to be lifted high and not bowed down. These are the things that are not allowing us to fix our gaze on the Lord.
Satan cultures the feast of his mountain with the sin of pride. It takes renouncing the hidden works of dishonesty not to fall prey to the temptation of Satan's feast of pride. Our hearts must be well girdled against pride because anyone with the garment of pride will not be allowed to come into God’s presence. This means that there are sins that must be dealt with in our souls before our garments can change.
There cannot be remission of sins without eyes (sight). This is because eyes are needed to deal with iniquity. “For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.” (Zech. 3:9). Without these seven eyes in the soul, reconciliation or removal of iniquity cannot take place in the soul. “I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day” speaks of a time when the light of the day of God will dawn in the heart to remove iniquity so that the day star can arise (2 Pet. 1:19). What Zechariah saw was a vision of what the light of everlasting life would do in a man.
The building of each stone with seven eyes delivers the implantation of judgement for the purpose of removing iniquity in the soul; and this is what the books entail (Rev. 20:12). This means the only way to deal with iniquity is to deliver judgement to the soul. Judgement speaks of how the soul sees. However, this cannot happen until there are engravings of judgement/discernment in the soul of a man. God's engravings of judgement are the writings of eyes called books. The 'books' contain the wisdom, judgement and ordinances of how to get the 'book' of the Testimony. The soul will do the works of judgement needed for the Testimony to be delivered into it.
Books of judgement are eyes in the spirit which a man must possess to break free from iniquity. Cherubs are also a type of books that have been written on by God so that they can judge/discern. This is why they have eyes of judgement within and without (Rev. 4:8) such that no iniquity can come near them. These eyes are their inheritance and it informs a nature that keeps them holy. If their eyes of judgement implants a holy nature in them, it is clear that iniquity (an evil nature) is also a judgement/discernment. This is why evil is also a sight; it is an opposite of everlasting eyesight.
If the cherubims around God possess this nature of eyes, how much more God Himself! When scripture speaks of His appearance as Jasper and Sardine stone (Rev. 4:3), it is referring to His eye and nature. Jasper is a big Eternal eye; and it is the glory/light that witnesses to God’s nature. This means every eye is a light that informs a nature. Light speaks of illumination and it is for a man to see. This is why scripture says: "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." (Matt. 6:22).
The formation of the books is characterized by the making of high and holy thinking patterns in the spirit. Therefore, when God builds up a man with the books, He gives him things that will turn him into an eye (a light) for the purpose of having a high and holy thinking pattern in the spirit. This is how God brings a soul closer to Himself. It is in the books that we find our path to being sealed. To be sealed is to have a breakthrough in sight. When a man can see the way God wants him to see, he would see beyond the limitations of the heavens and the earth. When scripture says "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8), it means our hearts must be purified so that we can see God as the everlasting Father and the Eternal God.
The books are the carriers of God's thoughts and they are to be poured out in our hearts via writings until they form an identity of judgment. Books are a body of the law called the Testimony. This is why we must do all the statutes and ordinances of the books to be able to carry the Testimony. When we have the law called the Testimony, we have the power to make an agreement with God. God would only draw an agreement based on His law. However, we need stature to carry the law. This is why the tabernacle/ark is a building. A baby of everlasting life cannot make an everlasting covenant with God; one must be a full grown father of everlasting life to make a covenant with the Eternal God.