1 Kings 12:25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel. 26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: 27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. 28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
The king must protect his own kingdom. He must lord over his subjects and bring them into complete obedience in order to promote the riches of his realm. As we continue to search for what the Lord wants in our lives we will see this spirit of Jeroboam which almost sounds like Rehoboam (the true king) fight to maintain his position and kingdom. Many of the hirelings ruling over God’s people have benefited greatly from their subjects coffers and these leaders are not about to relinquish their hold. It is always about the money and the power but in the kingdom of God it is not so. He that is great among you shall be your servant. These leaders like Jeroboam will stop at nothing to keep their power. They will feed on the people’s need for a king and build a plan of worship to keep them occupied as long as possible. These leaders are like parasites that suck out the lifeblood and will not let the sheep enter into the kingdom. It is a shame that Christians throughout the word are so venerable to allow themselves to worship calves or doctrines made by the hands of man. Many will support T.V. ministries with their substance yet neglect the gift that is in them. 30: And this thing became a sin; for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. When we stray from the word of God we build our own places of worship and guide ourselves our own with conscience. How the children of Israel could have believed that the two calves brought them out of Egypt is a mystery of iniquity. How God’s children in this day can follow strange doctrines and worship under the commands of dead men walking is another mystery.
1Kings 12:31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. 32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places, which he had made. 33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.
Jeroboam made up his own holiday and prepared his own priesthood. This story is like reading the current newspaper for it depicts exactly the day we are living. The church has developed its own times of celebration and holidays, its own places of worship, its own priesthood and the places to train them. Bible schools and seminaries indoctrinate the students into the priesthood and then send them out to control the churches. The leaders are imported based on their ability to lead. However, in the early church we do not see this hierarchy. In the early church we see a vibrant group of elders leading the way and appointed by the Apostles. The ministries chosen by God and are taught by the Lord in a given local church ordain by God. They rise out of the body of Christ for they must be borne by his word not from the heart of a denomination or the whim of man. He is raising up his body and not a man.
1Kings 13:1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign, which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. 4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. 5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign, which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.
This is the time to leave the altars made by the hands of man. This is the time to leave the worship places not chosen by God. This is the time to come out of her my people! Leave the false doctrines the false teachers and the false leaders of today and hear the word of the Lord. The set time to favor the stones is now. The hand ministry of man is come to an end and dried-up. A new order of worshipers and leaders is emerging created by the word of God. The time to build according to the pattern is today. We must cease from rejecting the commands of the Lord to keep our own traditions. Forty generations have walked in this disobedience without regard to the ways of God. This is a desperate time we are living in and we must cease from man and lay hold of the things of God. The abominations of this generation are too much for the shoulders of one prophet. If this generation does not hear the words of the Lord we will enter into darker times then we can imagine. There will be no ark to follow or an ark to get into for safety. Let us not send an old prophet from the old order to deceive the prophet and get him to eat bread in the land that is defiled. Imagine if Noah had not built the ark. Or perhaps he decided to use a different wood or change the plans that God had given to him. The ark was forty day and forty nights in some of the greatest physical changes the earth had ever known. Yet the ark kept the eight souls safe from the storm. Noah was faithful and built according to the pattern. The church must do the same in this hour if we are to save ourselves from this crooked and perverse generation. We must realize that our whole life depends on the power of the church as an ark of safety for our children and us.
Deut. 12:13 Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: 14 But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee. Let us face it not every place that names the name of Christ is necessarily the place the Lord has chosen. This is the day deception has gripped the hearts of many believers. They worship on Sunday after Sunday and offer their sacrifices in places that are not the chosen of God. America has carved its own Jesus for the world to see. Denominations have carved out a graven image of Christ and placed it in their own tabernacles. We have not done all that the Lord has commanded us to do. Instead we have little Lords lording over the people of God. We have built our own homes but the temple of the Lord remains in ruin.
For this cause, many are sick not discerning the Lord’s body. If we continue to worship in the manner that avoids the expression of the body of Christ in each locale we are not discerning the Lord’s body. We are outside of the will of God performing our religious duties unto ourselves and not unto God waking divided in the cities we live ignoring each other as if we do not exist. In the Old and New Testament believers were together and expressed the body of Christ corporately in each city. The book of Revelation addresses the seven churches all named by the location the body of Christ resided.
Rev 1:11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
Let there be the church of Auburn, Kent, Sumner or Seattle, etc. Paul addresses his letters to each church with in a city unto Colossians, the Romans, etc. The book of Acts refers to the church of Jerusalem and Antioch. Churches were named by the city the believers lived. There is no Church of Paul or Peter or John. There was no church of the lasted reform, testament, tabernacles, sanctification or Passover. Churches were not even divided based of nationalism. We do not read of the Jewish, the Italian, Grecian or Mexican church. Nowhere does the spirit testify to such places. Yet all over the world this is all we see and hear. The tabernacles made by the hands of man dominated the structure of Christendom throughout the earth. We cannot offer the sacrifice of our lips in the places of rebellion each Sunday and think we have done the will of God.
“Oh people which are called by my name humble yourselves before men, become obedient to my word and I will heal your souls. Your land shall yield the fruit of righteousness. The voice of the turtledove you will hear and I will return to you in power and my glory I will revel in you. You will become the head and not the tail. All my blessing shall overcome you and the knowledge of the Lord will cover your city. The heathen will fear and thy enemies shall not come night thee. The joy of my substance shall sustain you and you will manifest my glory for I will be in you and seen through you.”
Acts 16:4:4 And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. 5 And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.
The true Feast of Unity is the gathering of his church in every city. He is our booth. As much as many would like to avoid structure we need to look at the structure laid down before us by the master. There must be two or more gathered and this gathering must be in his name unlike the gatherings we witness today the gathering of the Baptist, the Protestants, the Catholics, the non-denominational, the Methodist, Lutherans, Mexicans, Romanians, Russians. Each group promoting the truth handed down throughout the ages. Now we have been doing this for centuries. The only gathering is in his name there is no other criteria. Will we continue for another 2,000 years doing the same thing only adding more denominations as we proceed in this continued process of disobedience? Brother and sisters it is time to hear the trumpet blowing in Zion, the Day of Atonement is here. It is time to build the churches of God and leave the religion of Babylon. The place of many different languages, which have caused centuries of confusion, must end in our hearts. We must leave these places of religious traditions and conform to the obedience of the Holy Spirit. Give the church back to the Holy Spirit. Cease from the carnal man and raise the tabernacle of God, return to true worship.
I’m raising up in your house again...Bringing salvation without sin...Tearing down that carnal man...In every temple where he stands I am raising up in a brand new word... In a voice you have never heard. I am raising up I am raising up in the house again.
the voice 1998
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The Place I have Chosen: return
