Finishing the Family Tree
Having heard many amazing testimonies at Perth Prayer (https://www.facebook.com/PerthPrayer/) I have often pondered why a disproportionate number of these originate overseas. This week I sense a reply in the Spirit..
Introduction
Last Tuesday an animated Spirit-filled brother prayed from the end of 2 Chronicles (36:23), “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, “‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up.’” James’ heart is with Jesus in Mongolia, so the Spirit began to direct me to the final spiritual links between this old covenant text and Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. As 2 Chronicles is the last book in the Hebrew Bible it would be a subconscious presence in the mind of early readers as they came to this first Gospel.
Foreshadowed and Unfolded
As Chronicles commences with 9 chapters of detailed genealogy, Matthew is “The book of the genesis (literally) of Jesus Christ” (1:1), 16 verses of ancestry follow. The Gentile forbears (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Uriah) in this royal genealogy prepare the reader for the missions thrust of the book. Prior to the internet (ancestry.com) few Western readers showed little interest in their family tree, but with recent quests for certainty about identity around sexuality, aboriginality, convict origins and the “Hebrew roots” movement this has changed. All people need honour and glory in relation to origin and/or destiny. (https://www.sbs.com.au/programs/who-do-you-think-you-are). Whilst in scripture a person’s descendants usually come after the phrase “the book of the generations of” (Gen 5:1; 10:1), in Matthew it is Jesus’ forebears who are listed because they depend on his coming for their meaning! The Church, often confused today about her identity, needs to understand who she is solely through the revelation of Christ.
The Anointing
Cyrus appears in Isaiah (Isa 44:28-45:1) as someone anointed to restore Jerusalem, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’” Cyrus, God’s Instrument 45 Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed:”. As God’s “anointed” (Hebrew mashiah Greek Christo) this heathen king’s almost effortless victories are prophetic types of the coming triumphs of Christ. Throughout the Ancient Near East the highest vocation of a king was to construct a temple for his God/gods.
A Temple Made By Men
As Israel’s identity as God’s people is tied to the gift of land, the peak of Israelite kingship is David/Solomon building the Jerusalem Temple (1 Chron 25-2 Chron 7). The destruction of God’s house with the deportation to Babylon was an unprecedented act of divine judgement that spelled the death of the nation (Ezek 21:3; 37:11). Cyrus’ pronouncement of restoration and reconstruction of the dwelling of the Lord of all the earth (2 Chron 36:23) is therefore a declaration of resurrection life (Isa 26:19; Ezek 37:11-14.; Dan 12:1-12). This anticipates All the end-times conversion of the Gentiles who would travel up to Jerusalem to worship the one true God (Isa 2:2-3; 56:7; Zech 8:20-23).
The Temple God Makes
Jesus knew through his death and resurrection the Jerusalem temple must be rendered irrelevant so the end time movement would be a movement to him as the tabernacle of God (John 1:14). Two proclamations of Christ as God and King (John 1:49) declare how this will happen.
Peter testifies, ““You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”” Jesus replies, ““Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”” (Matt 16:17-19) Peter symbolises the confessing Christian/Church who will extend God’s rule globally. This Church, built through the gospel of the King, is indestructible. She is the new Temple filled with eternal resurrection life. It is this dynamic which Jesus commissions at the end of Matthew, ““All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” (Mat 28:18-20). As Cyrus was anointed to rebuild the city of God and the house of the Lord (Isa 44:28-45:1), Jesus is the Anointed one whose followers will build the new house of the Lord, the Church. As the decrees of a mere earthly king led to the restoration of a broken nation, so the command of the King will restore to humanity her corporate glory in the Church as his permanent dwelling (Eph 2:22).
Finishing Jesus’ Family Tree
Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus looks back to his ancestry because his spiritual heirs will be created through the fulfilment of the Great Commission. Our full and final identity as the children of God and Christ (Heb 2:13; 5:10) is wholly future. The day is coming when in the Church in Perth those of Persian, Burmese, Indian, Chinese, African, Indigenous or European origin (etc.) who follow Jesus will recognise their perfected identity is found as living stones held together by divine love in the one eternal temple of the Spirit (Col 3:14; 1 Pet 2:5-9). This emergent kaleidoscopic/multifaceted Body (Eph 3:10) will have a single unified global vision. It will recognise that the family tree of Jesus is now being built “from every tribe and language and people and nation” who together in perfect harmony are worshipping the Lamb of God (Rev 5:9). By sheer grace the heathen Cyrus was a global forerunner of Jesus, but his conquests and the temple built through his authority lacked an essential component. A component gradually being unveiled to the Church in Perth today. Not only do people from across the world glorify the Lamb in prayer and praise, they are most united in shedding their blood for his glory (Rev 13:5-10). Voluntary sacrifice is the adhesive which in love binds us together in union with the temple of the broken body of Jesus laid down on the cross. This is the measure of anointing Cyrus never possessed.
Conclusion
In a time when beasts (pandemics, dictatorships, coups etc.) prowl the earth (Rev 6; 13) we must realise that the Great Commission is far more glorious than sins forgiven and getting to heaven. It involves the completion of Jesus’ own identity through the ingathering to him of all nations in the eternal Temple of the Church. In this Temple, ethnicities are not destroyed but perfected in a fuller love for all Christ’s brothers and sisters. This is the great call confronting us today and one for which we must earnestly pray.