Lesson 30 Sagittarius - Scorpio

 “The Heavenly Revelation of the Son of the Eternal Covenant”

                                               The Kingdom Consummated

                                        Sagittarius - Scorpio

In the eleventh sign we have come to the eleventh hour of the Kingdom Age, so to speak. At the end of the 1,000 years God will have built His earthly Kingdom, having filled the earth with sons of God, born of the incorruptible Seed, the Word of God who lives and abides forever (1 Pet.1:17-23).

When the 1,000 years are ended, it is the end of time. The everlasting Kingdom of sons of God is at the dawning of a new day, an eternal day of righteousness and peace and harmony and joy forever. Each son one with the God and Father of us all.

The last two signs, the eleventh sign, Sagittarius (“the Archer”), and the twelfth sign, Scorpio (“the scorpion”), are inextricably woven together. They cannot be separated. It is the end of time, but not a twenty-four hour day. It is the “little season” shown to John the apostle in “The Revelation of Jesus Christ,” the little season when the Dragon will be loosed from his bonds and loosed out of the pit of the abyss for God’s final purpose for the Dragon, and the final proving of the heart of the Dragon and his angels, as well as all those born of man’s seed during the Kingdom Age (Rev.20:1-3, 7-10).

Every heart will be exposed. The thoughts of the imagination of the heart will be seen. Each true son of God will be known by his fruit, as a tree is known by its fruit (Mt.7:15-20). Each son of God is a tree of righteousness (see Is.61:3b). A righteous son is known by his peaceable fruit of righteousness, the fruit of his “spirit being” - love (see Heb.12:11; Jas.3:11-18). Each one bears the image of the heavenly: the image of salvation of Him who is their salvation, of Him who is their sanctification. Each one bears the image of glorification. Each one is made known to be a son of God, a born son of God, birthed of the seed of the Anointed Son.

In the final proving of the heart each rebel of the creation of man who has refused to take his exodus out of the mere creation of flesh and blood will also be exposed as at enmity with God in his mind. Each one having chosen to not obey the truth and be born of the incorruptible Seed, the Word of God, is not a born son of God. He did not receive the gift of eternal life for the body of eternal flesh and blood to be raised up out of his dead mortal body. Each one, in not choosing to enter the Kingdom of God through the birth from above, will have excluded himself from the everlasting Kingdom of sons of God (see Jn.3:3-7). Each one must be lost to God, who brought him into being to become a son of God. Forever lost in the lake of fire prepared for the Devil and his angels (Mt.25:41). How heartbreaking to his Creator-Redeemer, who would have saved him, but he, the one losing his own soul would not be saved.

No time is given for the “little season” for which Satan is loosed to go out to deceive the nations, which are in the four corners of the earth, to gather them to battle to take Jerusalem, the crown city of the King-Priest, Jesus Christ (Rev.20:7-9).

God’s Eternal Covenant is based upon a numerical system. The number “40" is the number of the testing of man’s responsibility to the God of his salvation. This is seen in the Old Testament Scriptures (see Ex.16:32-36; 24:3-18; 34:27-28; Num.13:1-25; 14:20-38; 32:6-13; Deut.2:1-15; Ps.95:10; Ezek.29:1-16). After His resurrection Jesus was seen for 40 days speaking of things pertaining to the Kingdom of God before He was taken up into heaven (Ac.1:1-11). And ten days later, when Pentecost had fully come, when they had come up to Jerusalem for Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, the hearts of men, devout men from every nation under heaven, were tested in being faced with having delivered up the Holy One of Israel to be slain (Ac.2).

The very first two hearts to be proved were those of the first man, Adam, and his woman, Eve, in the very beginning. When the deceit of their own desire and the lawlessness of the heart was made known to them through the disobedience of each one to the command of Jehovah Elohim, each one immediately repented and received the Propitiation of the Son of God’s Eternal Covenant (see Gen.3:1-21).

With the first testing of the heart of mankind of the families of Adam and Eve, God gave man 120 years to repent (Gen.6:3). (120 years is 3 times 40.) When man did not repent, God took away the breath of His creation of man, who had refused to take the exodus out of the creation of flesh and blood and be born of the incorruptible Seed, the Word of God. God began again to build His Kingdom of sons of God with one family of eight souls (Gen.7:1-9:1; 1 Pet.3:18-20).

“When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, become of a woman, become under the Law” (Gal.4:4). Before Jesus began His public ministry He was tested for 40 days and 40 nights - by the Devil - the old deceiver of men. Jesus, being found without sin and only speaking the word of God, the Devil left Him (see Mt.4:1-11; Mk.1:12-13; Lk.4:1-13).

God has foretold of the next proving of the heart of mankind through a fiery trial coming to try all inhabitants of the earth, all the dwellers in the four corners of the earth (Rev.3:10; 2 Pet.3:10-13). Then He will again make all things in heaven and on earth new for His Kingdom Age (Rev.21:1-5). In the last “little season” of the Kingdom Age will come the final proving of the heart of man.

When we come to the eleventh sign in “The Heavenly Revelation of the Son of the Eternal Covenant,” the Lion King, the Judge of all the earth who only does right, is seen as again preparing for war, after almost 1,000 years of righteousness and peace, with all mankind under His care and protection and provision as the Shepherd King.

During the Kingdom reign the King will make Himself known to His people as the Son of God begotten out from the dead and crowned with glory and honor to inherit all things made by Him. There will be no question as to who He is. Each one having entered the Kingdom of righteousness and peace at the beginning of the 1,000 years and each one having been born of the seed of man in a body of human flesh during the Kingdom Age will be taught the revelation of the King - the only begotten Son of God. Everyone will know who He is.

In the eleventh sign of “The Heavenly Revelation of the Son of the Eternal Covenant,” the sign of Sagittarius (“the Archer”), for the second time we have the figure of a man on a horse, the sign of a mighty conqueror. The first figure of a mighty conqueror seen as a man on a horse is the second decan in the sign of Virgo. There, as Centaurus, the One coming to be born of the virgin, is coming to conquer sin and put it away once for all and to overcome death with eternal life.

In “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” as signified to the apostle John, there is prophesied one final battle on earth to take place after Satan is loosed from his prison to go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth. These nations will all have been under the jurisdiction of Jesus Christ and His head nation Israel for 1,000 years. When the 1,000 years are ended, Satan is loosed from the pit of the abyss and goes out to gather Gog and Magog together to battle to take Jerusalem, the city of God and the capital city - the joy of the whole earth (Ps.48:2; Rev.20:7-9).

In “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” we see that the battle is doomed to failure long before it would ever come to pass in the imagination of the hearts of men born into the Kingdom of righteousness and peace under the reign of Jesus Christ. In verse 9 of Revelation 20 it is recorded that fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. “God is a Consuming Fire” (Ex.24:17; Heb.12:29). Fire came down from the throne of God, where the Lion of the tribe of Judah is enthroned in the New Jerusalem, where He holds the scepter of justice. All is foretold in “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.”

In the eleventh sign of “The Heavenly Revelation of the Son of the Eternal Covenant” we see in figure the King, as Sagittarius, is prepared to do battle. The bow in the hand of the Archer is strung with an arrow aimed at the heart of the scorpion. The aim is to take the scorpion out, put it to death. Here is where we see the interconnecting of these last two signs of the “little season” for which Satan is loosed.

While Sagittarius is the eleventh sign, Scorpio (“the scorpion”) is the twelfth sign. In the decans of these two signs we have further details of the “little season” at the end of the 1,000 years of time.

The first decan in the sign of Sagittarius is Lyra (“the harp”). Its brightest star is one of the most glorious in heaven, with the white splendor of white luster. It is called Vega (“He shall be exalted”). “In some of the old uranographies this constellation is marked by the figure of an eagle or hawk, the enemy of the serpent. From this, many of the modern atlases represent the figure of this constellation by an eagle holding the harp or a harp placed over the eagle.” (The Gospel in the Stars, Joseph A. Seiss)

Both the prophet Ezekiel and the apostle John describe a vision of a throne scene in heaven and living beings with four faces (Ezek.1:3-28; Rev.4:1-9). In John’s account the first living being was like a lion, the second living being like a calf [bullock], the third living being had a face like a man, and the fourth living being was like a flying eagle. The living beings are ministers in the government of Jehovah Elohim (Ps.104:4; Heb.1:14). In the faces we see the special ministers to Christ Jesus in His role as the Son of the Eternal Covenant during His earthly ministry.

We see these four faces in the Gospel records of the work of the Covenant done in Jesus Christ. In Matthew we have the Lion King. In Mark we see the calf [bullock] as the Servant of Jehovah. In Luke we see Jesus as the Son of Man - God, “the Word” become flesh. In John we see the eagle - the Son of God, the glory of the only begotten of the Father (Jn.1:14).

We see these four faces as well in “The Heavenly Revelation of the Son of the Eternal Covenant.” In the sign of Leo we have the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He is triumphant over His enemies and His Kingdom is come - established upon the throne of David in Jerusalem. In their rage the nations of the earth had imagined a vain thing - that they could take the inheritance of the Lamb, the begotten Son of God (see Rev.17:12-14). Yet God has set His King upon His holy hill in Zion (Ps.2:1-8).

In the sign of Taurus we see the calf [bullock]. Here is Orion, the Glorious Prince, come, saying, “Arise, shine, your light has come” (see Is.60:1-3). This is He who, as long as He was in the world in the flesh of the likeness of man, said, “I am the light of the world” (Jn.8:12). That was the true Light (Jn.1:9).

In the Gospel of Luke we see Jesus shining forth the glory of His Father to His people, doing the Father’s works, speaking the Father’s words. In the sign of Aries we see Him as Perseus, the Breaker, the Son of Man come to put away sin and death, to ransom man from the bondage of sin, and redeem the body from death (Mt.20:28; Mk.10:45; 1 Tim.2:3-6; Tit.3:4-7). The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world is the firstborn son of the virgin Mary (Lk.1:26-35; 2:21-24). Luke gives the genealogy of Jesus back to Adam (Lk.3:23-38).

In the Gospel of John we see the eagle, the Son of God. In the sign of Pisces we see the eagle, the Son of God. In the sign of Pisces we see Him as Cepheus, the crowned King, seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High, who is His Father (see Heb.1:1-3).

When the Son of the Eternal Covenant had come in the flesh, born the Son of Man and in His obedience to the death of the cross, Jesus had finished the work His Father gave Him to do, He was begotten out from the dead in a body of flesh and bone of eternal life (Lk.24:33-43; Jn.20:19-27; Rom.1:2-4; 1 Cor.15:35-54; Phil.3:21).

The Father had seed of eternal life for the much fruit of bodies for the many who would receive life and immortality in the begotten Son (Jn.12:23-27). At that time Christ Jesus ascended back to heaven to wait for His enemies to be made His footstool (Heb.10:12-13).

As Leo, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus will have put down all enemies as prophesied in “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” All of His creation will then be subdued under Him. In the signs of “The Heavenly Revelation of the Son of the Eternal Covenant” which signify the Kingdom Age we see the same King in His various works of righteousness and justice.

As was prophesied in “The Revelation of Jesus Christ,” at the end of time there will be the final enemies who must be put to the proof of the heart - to expose the enmity of the mind, that they might be justly judged and receive a judgment of a just retribution. We have this prophecy first in “The Heavenly Revelation of the Son of the Eternal Covenant” in the last two signs, the eleventh sign of Sagittarius and the twelfth sign of Scorpio.

With the first decan of the sign Sagittarius being a harp over an eagle we have a figure of praise for the Great Eagle of heaven - the Son of God. Psalm 72 is the last prayer of David, the King of Judah as the king over a united Israel, the king after God’s own heart (Ac.13:22). The Psalms, Israel’s hymn book, is filled with praise and reverence for Jehovah, with thanksgiving.

Psalm 72 is a prophetic picture of the Kingdom during the 1,000 year reign of the Anointed Son of God. In the Kingdom Age David, having been raised up out from the dead in The Resurrection of Life, will sit on the throne in Jerusalem to rule as representative of the Anointed Son, Messiah (Jer.30:9; 33:20-21; Ezek.34:23; 37:24-25; Hos.3:5). The Anointed Son Himself, Christ Jesus, will be on the throne with His Father in the New Jerusalem above (Rev.21:22; 22:3).

David is called “the sweet singer of Israel.” It stands to reason that David would write new songs of praise to the glory of Jehovah in the Kingdom Age. We can understand that it is fitting that the first decan in the sign Sagittarius should be a lyre, a harp, placed over the figure of an eagle, symbolic of “the praise and honor of the King and His glorious Kingdom of righteousness and peace for all the families of the earth.” Here is the fallen Eagle of the sign Capricorn now upright and exalted and praised and praising. The King is greatly rejoicing in the strength and salvation of Jehovah.

In his day David wrote Psalm 21 prophetic of this sign of Sagittarius. In Psalm 21 the King is joying in the strength of Jehovah and greatly rejoicing in the salvation of Jehovah. Jehovah had met the King with the blessings of goodness and had set the royal crown upon His head. The King asked life of Jehovah and Jehovah gave it to Him, even length of days forever and ever. The King’s glory is great in Jehovah’s salvation and, in honor and majesty laid on Him, Jehovah has made the King most blessed forever and made the King exceedingly glad with Jehovah’s countenance (see Ps.21:1-6).

The second and third decans of Sagittarius figure the conflict for which the warrior King is prepared. Though for 1,000 years there will have been only praise and worship and reverence for the glorious Anointed Son of the Covenant, the King Jesus Christ, the second decan is an ominous figure.

The name of the second decan is Ara (“the altar”). The figure for the symbol is more accurately a “burning pyre.” The altar is covered with fire and, very significantly, the fire is pointed downwards toward the earth, as the alter is upside down.

The Greeks used the word ara sometimes as a prayer, but more often it was used as an imprecation in the sense of a curse, or the effect of a curse, bain, ruin, destruction. This connects with the Hebrew name mara or aram, which means “a curse, utter destruction.” The Arabic name, Al mugamra, has the meaning, “the completing or finishing.” As has been said, this final destruction of those at enmity with God in the mind will take place in the “little season” after Satan is loosed at the end of the 1,000 years (Rev.20:7-9).

In the middle of Psalm 21 David prophesies of this little season: “For the King trusts in Jehovah, and through the mercy of the Most High He shall not be moved. Your hand shall find out all Your enemies; Your right hand shall find out those who hate You. You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger; Jehovah shall swallow them up in His wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their fruit You shall destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men. For they intended evil against You; they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform. Therefore You shall make them turn their back, when You shall make ready Your arrows upon Your strings against the face of them. Be exalted, Jehovah, in Your own strength; so will we sing and praise Your power” (Ps.21:7-13).

Here is prophesied the final destruction of the cursed enemy, the scorpion, and their leader, the Dragon, and the final blessing of the King with a Kingdom of sons of God - each one become the righteousness of God through faith in Christ Jesus, each one bearing the image of God forever (Rev.20:7-10; 2 Cor.5:21; 1 Cor.15:44, 49-57; Phil.3:21; Col.1:12-22).

The final decan in the sign of Sagittarius is Draco (“the dragon”). As would be expected, it is in this last picture of “The Heavenly Revelation of the Anointed Son of the Eternal Covenant” that we have the symbol for the Dragon . It is also in the last book of Scripture that the serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, is brought forth as the Dragon, who is in collusion with the rulers of the earth.

It is not surprising that the figure of Draco is very similar to that of Hydra. In the figure of Draco we have another long serpentine constellation. The brightest star in one of the latter coils is called in the Hebrew, Thuban (“the subtle”).

Here in Draco, the Dragon, is another lawless creature who chose to have his will over the will of his Creator. For the most part, the Dragon is an unseen, silent partner, behind the scenes of the activity of the world rulers of darkness. We would have no knowledge concerning him except for two prophecies through two prophets of Israel. Two prophets take us behind the scene of the activity of a world ruler in their day.

One prophet, Ezekiel, takes us to the beginning of the Dragon (Ezek.28:11-19). Though he does not name him, Ezekiel informs us that he was an anointed cherub, that is, a creation of the angelic order of cherubim who were anointed to be protectors of the Son of the Covenant during the time of His public ministry of His first coming to earth in the likeness of man, calling Himself the Son of Man. Jesus came to make His Father known and to be obedient to the death of the cross (Jn.1:18; Phil.2:5-8).

Beginning in verse 11 of Ezekiel 28 we have Ezekiel, at the request of Jehovah, taking up a lamentation against the king of Tyre. Actually the lament in verses 12 through 19 is against the cherub whose destruction Jehovah laments, but justice must be done. The cherub [Satan] and the real person of the king of Tyre are one and the same in their thinking and are in collusion in their doing of lawlessness. See the great kingdom they have built together in chapter 27. And compare the lament of Jehovah against the man of lawlessness, the prince of Tyre, in the first 10 verses of Ezekiel 28.

What do these two, the prince of Tyre and the anointed cherub, have in common that they should act together through a secret agreement for a wrong purpose? Each desires to be like God (Ezek.28:2; Is.14:13-14).

Man or cherub, in his desire to be like God, sets him up for seeking to have his own will and go his own way. Man’s motivation for choosing to have his will over the will of his Creator-Redeemer is his desire for self. That is lawlessness. Man’s need is righteousness, for power to overrule the lawlessness of the deceit of his own heart.

The righteousness of God to meet the need of His creation of man is set forth in the Propitiation, Christ Jesus, in whom is the redemption of the dead body. Through His blood shed in death is the putting away of sin, the lawlessness of self-will, and the raising up of the dead body through the eternal life freely shared with whosoever will believe in the righteousness of God and receive the begotten Son freely given to be freely received (Rom.3:21-26). Man is without excuse.

The lamentation against the anointed cherub begins in verse 12 of Ezekiel 28: “You seal up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.” The “seal” is that in which “something is enclosed.” The “sum” is “the measure, the proportion or measurement of that which is securely enclosed.” That which here is securely enclosed is wisdom and beauty. “Fullness of wisdom,” wisdom filled up, securely enclosed. And “perfect beauty.” “Complete beauty, the beauty of holiness.”

Wisdom filled up and perfect beauty complete wholly beautiful, perfectly beautiful, wisdom and holiness secured, sealed. Where? In God’s Anointed Son of the sealed Covenant - God’s Eternal Covenant. Where did the anointed cherub come to the knowledge of fullness of wisdom and complete and perfect beauty sealed and secured?

The anointed cherub is a created being. What did he know when he was brought into being? Nothing. He had nothing of himself - of his own. His very being was shared to him by His Creator God. The sealed Eternal Covenant, filled full with wisdom and wholly beautiful, perfectly beautiful and absolutely secured in the seal of the Covenant Son in whose blood it is ratified was made known to the angelic beings as seen in “The Heavenly Revelation of the Son of the Eternal Covenant,” His glory declared in the heavens (Ps.19:1-6; 97:6).

As a creation of ministering spirits, the angels are sealed in the Covenant and secure in their estate as minister spirits and in their habitation with the Most High (see Ps.104:4). Each one was created upright and blameless - for their ministry. Each one a spirit being with intellect, to think and to understand the things of God and the things of spirit being. Each one with emotions and desires, that each one might freely choose to do the will of their loving Creator, or choose other than that for which they were created and secured in the Eternal Covenant by their Creator, the Most High. The security of the angelic host is in obedience to the truth of the purpose of their having been brought into being. As ministers of Jehovah Elohim, the Most High, each one is eternally secure if he chooses to keep his place and chooses to dwell with Jehovah in heaven.

Ezekiel records that this one anointed cherub was “perfect in his ways from the day he was created until iniquity was found in him” (Ezek.28:15). The anointed cherub was perfect in his ways, blameless, until his heart was lifted up because of his brightness, his shining forth, his splendor which was shared with him by the Most High. In exalting himself above his Creator, the anointed cherub corrupted his wisdom. The anointed cherub changed the fullness of the wisdom of the Eternal Covenant which had been revealed to him that he might be faithful in the service of his God-given estate as a minister of the Most High (v17).

Ezekiel does not tell of the lawlessness of the heart of the anointed cherub, but the prophet Isaiah does. Also Isaiah gives us his name. Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the anointed cherub is sandwiched between the future destruction of Babylon by the Medes in 539 b.c. and the final destruction of Babylon once and for all at the end of the age during the Great Tribulation.

Isaiah prophesied of the bringing down of the anointed cherub. “How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are you cut down to the ground, who did weaken the nations! For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides [extremity] of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the sides of the pit. They that see you shall narrowly look upon you, and consider you, saying, Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who did shake kingdoms, who made the world like a wilderness, and destroyed its cities, who opened not the house of his prisoners?” (Is.14:12-17).

In “The Heavenly Revelation of the Son of the Eternal Covenant” the symbol for Lucifer, the anointed cherub, is “a dragon,” and is associated with his lawlessness. There are 80 stars in this long serpentine constellation of the decan of Draco, the Dragon. The brightest star, in one of the latter coils, is named Thuben (Hebrew) (“the subtle”).

Some 4,620 years ago this star was the Polar Star, also called the Pole Star. It has been a very important star in nautical reckonings, guiding the commerce of the sea. In the figure of the Zodiac sign the serpent Dragon is represented as “winding his contortions around the pole, the axis of the earth, as if indicating his subtle influence in the affairs of this world all around the earth.”

The next brightest star, located in the head, is called by the Hebrew name Rastaban, and means “the head of the subtle.” The next star, also in the head, is called Ethanin (“the long serpent or dragon”). Here is the key to the Dragon of Revelation 12 as shown to the apostle John, identified as “the serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (v9).

Ezekiel identifies the subtlety of the self-will of the serpent Dragon as the multitude [the abundance] of his merchandising. “Subtle” has the idea of “elusive, sly, crafty or tricky.” The merchandising is cunning in design and insidious in operation. This was Lucifer’s sin, trafficking in the trade of the world (Ezek.28:16). For this he earned the title “Leviathan, the piercing serpent, that crooked [twisting] serpent, the sea monster in the sea,” which we see from Isaiah 27:1. The twisting serpent and the sea monster, the world system of Babylon, are in collusion. The serpent of old is the self-declared god of this world (see Job 41).

Isaiah is prophesying of the Day of the Lord [Jehovah], when Jehovah will punish Leviathan, when He shall “come out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity” (Is.26:21).

In “The Revelation of Jesus Christ,” in chapter 12, there appeared a sign in heaven, “and, behold, a great red [fiery] Dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads” (v3). In verse 9 he is identified as the “serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” In chapter 13 John was shown a “beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which [John] saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion, and the Dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great authority” (Rev.13:1-2).

In Revelation chapter 17 we have the explanation of “Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots, and the abominations of the earth” - the great world city - the monster in the sea of humanity. The seven heads of the beast and the Dragon are explained to John as being seven world kingdoms down through the ages, built to achieve a world utopia of a global economy.

In Revelation 13 the timing is the middle of Daniel’s seventieth week as prophesied in Daniel 9:24-27 and the final building of the great city system built through merchandising. Merchandising is the downfall of lawless mankind and of Satan and his host as well. The time has come to punish the inhabitants of the great city of politics, economics and religion, and to destroy the great city once and for all. And to put the old deceiver in the pit of the abyss, bound and shut up, with a seal put to secure him in the pit of the abyss for 1,000 years, that he should not deceive the nations (Rev.20:1-3).

When Lucifer, the anointed cherub, would come to be known as the serpent in the sea, the Dragon, called Devil (“deceiver” and “accuser”) and Satan (“adversary”), we are not told. We have no record of when Satan and his angels rebelled against the Most High. We have no record of when the lawless cherub and his followers began to secretly conspire together and plan together with lawless mankind through fraud and deceit to have the kingdom of this earth for their own. We do have a record of the very first man born having been proved to be lawless. Refusing to receive the righteousness of God for power over sin, Cain, the firstborn of Adam, went out from the presence of Jehovah and built a city. He called the name of the city after the name of his son, whom he named Enoch. The name “Enoch” carries two themes. One, “dedication,” the other, “initiation” (Gen.4:1-17; 1 Jn.3:12).

The “city of Enoch” was a new thing upon earth, a thing not initiated by Jehovah Elohim [Lord God], but by Cain, who was at enmity with God in his mind. Cain built a way of life initiated in the imagination of his own heart, and he dedicated himself to building his city. The Hebrew word for “built” carries the meaning “kept on building.” The city of Enoch was the very first city upon earth. As we see in the record of the family of Cain’s seed, they were men of self-will, at enmity with Jehovah Elohim in their thinking. They named their children in reference to the city.

We see a picture in the names and occupation of these men in the line of Cain (Gen.4:18-22). We see the theme of merchandising to build the city with the livestock trade, and the entertainment of musical performance. In the industrialization, in the forging of bronze and iron, we see men making progress in their discoveries of natural laws, thinking to have a greater civilization. And we have a man of God, Methushael, for religion to satisfy the void in the spirit of man. His father’s name was “Mehujael,” which means “blot out Jah [Jehovah] is God.” In this name we understand the worship of the city was of other gods. All religion is false. Religion is man seeking a god of his own pleasing. Christianity is God seeking to make Himself known to man.

And it is a city of politics. The man of God named his son “Lamech” (Gen.4:18). His name means “unto bringing low.” How would Lamech bring low? By lifting himself up. Note in verses 19 through 22 of Genesis 4 that the merchandising of the city is all in one family. Who then would have the political power in the city? Note also the proud boast of Lamech to his wives concerning a young man who wounded him (vv23-24). Nothing is recorded in what way Lamech was hurt. Was it physical, or merely his pride?

There was a Lamech in the line of Adam’s son Seth also. His father was Methuselah and the meaning of Methuselah, “he dies, it is sent” (Gen.5:25). This was in reference to a coming judgment upon the world city being built by men at enmity with God in the thinking of the imagination of the heart (Gen.6:5-7).

The men in the line of Seth were holy men who had received the Son of the Covenant set forth as the Propitiation, to be their eternal life. They were prophets of God, inspired by the Spirit of God concerning the truth of the word of God. They prophesied concerning the coming judgment, which did come and destroy the city (see Lk.1:70; Ac.3:21; 1 Pet.1:11-12; 2 Pet.1:21).

Though there is nothing on record concerning the Cainitic civilization being built in collusion with the serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, the history of the future world cities of the harlot system, “Mystery Babylon,” would lead us to believe so (see Rev.17).

Though Mystery Babylon will be destroyed before the beginning of the 1,000 year Kingdom reign, and though there will be no deceit during the 1,000 year reign, we have foreknown and foretold in “The Heavenly Revelation of the Covenant Son” the scorpion and the Dragon to be in collusion to take the Kingdom of this world from the rightful Heir at the end of the 1,000 years. This is also made known in “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” (Rev.20:7-9).

Following Sagittarius is Scorpio. In the sign of Scorpio we come to the final sign of “The Heavenly Revelation of the Anointed Son of the Eternal Covenant.” This large constellation of 44 stars is figured in the star picture of the Zodiac as a gigantic scorpion. The Hebrew name of this constellation is Akrab, which is the name of “a scorpion,” but also has the meaning, “the conflict,” or “war.” The Arabic name is Al Akrab, which means “wounding Him who comes.” This is the scorpion at whose heart Sagittarius has His arrow aimed.

The brightest star of the constellation marks the heart of the scorpion and shines with a deep red light. This star bears the ancient Arabic name Antares, which means “the wounding.” The star in the sting of the tail is called in Hebrew Lesath and in Chaldean Lesha, which has the meaning “the perverse.”

The perverse have it in their heart to wound the Lion King and then have His Kingdom, but it is the perverse who will be wounded to death in their conflict. The final conflict will take out all enemies in the Kingdom (see Rev.20:7-10).

These last two signs of Sagittarius and Scorpio are inextricably interwoven to show one picture of the end of the Kingdom Age when Draco, the Dragon, is loosed from the pit of the abyss for a little season.

There will have been 1,000 years of a rule of righteousness and peace. With the armies of the nations having destroyed one another at the end of the Church Age, war ended. All nations having come under the jurisdiction of Christ Jesus, the Lion King. There is no military in the Kingdom Age. The nations will learn war no more (Is.2:4).

The earthly realm is under the head nation of Israel, with David sitting the earthly throne in Jerusalem (Deut.26:19; 28:1, 13; Jer.30:9; Ezek.37:11-28). The ministers in His government having dominion over countries and provinces of all ethnic groups will be the resurrected Old Testament saints. All is under the rule of the iron rule of the Lion King (Rev.12:5).

In the Kingdom all is peace and prosperity. All is at rest. The lawlessness of man’s heart to choose to have his own will over the will of the Creator-Redeemer is fully subdued. The lawlessness of man choosing to do his own will is seen as lawlessness and as we have seen, figured in “The Heavenly Revelation of the Son of the Eternal Covenant” as a great serpentine constellation named Hydra.

In the Kingdom Age man must yet be permitted his freedom of choice. God will not rescind that which He has given. He will not override man’s freedom of choice. The purpose of the 1,000 year reign being to fill the earth with sons of God for His everlasting Kingdom.

The word of God, the truth to be obeyed, to be born of the incorruptible Seed, the Word of God, who lives and abides forever, will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Is.11:9). There will be no false prophets and no lies of deceit. There will be no perversion of “The Heavenly Revelation of the Son of the Eternal Covenant.”

Everyone going into the Kingdom and all born during the 1,000 years will be invited through the gospel of Christ Jesus to be born a son of God to enter the Kingdom of God (Jn.3:3-5). No one will be coerced to become a son of God. Each one born of the seed of man in human flesh must freely receive the Gift of eternal life in the begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ.

During the Kingdom Age man may be at enmity in his mind and refuse to believe into the Covenant Son and receive eternal life, but he may not act out the lawlessness of his heart. Nothing will be allowed to disturb the peace of the righteous rule of justice. The sentence for lawlessness will be death.

Lawlessness is rebelling against the Lion King. When a lawless act has been committed, the death sentence will immediately be carried out (see Is.65:20; 66:24; Jer.31:27-30; Ezek.18:4, 20). This will be the real restraint of lawlessness - the rod of iron - the unbending justice - a just retribution to the one having made the choice to act out his will in rebellion to the will of the Lion King, who is God and whose law is right and good.

In this final picture of the interweaving of the eleventh and twelfth signs we see three figures of the Son of the Covenant and three of the Son’s enemies. In “The Heavenly Revelation of the Son of the Eternal Covenant” any figure of a man is the figure of Him, the Son of the Covenant, as seen in some aspect of His person or work in His carrying through God’s Covenant on earth.

In the sign of Sagittarius we see that, after almost 1,000 years of peace and righteousness, the Lion King has again taken up a weapon and He has a bow strung and the arrow is aimed at the heart of the scorpion.

The other two figures of the Son of the Covenant are in the sign of Scorpio. The first decan is Ophiuchus (“the Serpent Holder”). The first and second decans are intertwined as the second decan is Serpens (“the serpent”). Ophiuchus has the serpent fully restrained and held immobile, a picture of the Lion King’s power over the lawlessness of man acting out his will at enmity with the righteous will of God practiced in the Kingdom.

Ophiuchus is the Greek name taken from the Hebrew and Arabic name Afiechus, which means “the serpent held.” The brightest star, Ras Al Hagus (Arabic), located in the head, means “the head of Him who holds.” Other Hebrew names of stars, not identified, are Triophas (“treading underfoot”), Saiph, in the foot of Ophiuchus, (“bruised”), Carnebus (“the wounding”) and Megeros (“contending”).

The third and last decan in the sign of Scorpio is the strong man Hercules (“the Mighty One”). He is bending on one knee with his right heel lifted up while he has his left foot over the head of Draco (“the dragon”), picturing the Dragon bound and shut up and sealed in the pit of the abyss, that he should not deceive the nations until the 1,000 years are fulfilled. After that he must be loosed a little season (Rev.20:1-3).

The Mighty One is pictured with a lion skin around Him, that He might be seen as the Lion of the tribe of Judah (see Gen.49:8-12; Rev.5:5). In His right hand, the hand of power, He wields a “mighty club,” a symbol of His “rod of iron” (Rev.2:27; 12:5; 19:15). In Arabic He is called Al Giscale (“the Strong One”). The brightest star, in the head, is named Ras al Gethi (“the head of Him who bruises”). The next star, in the right arm pit, is named Kornephorous (“the branch, kneeling”). The star in the right elbow is called Marsic (“the wounding”). The star in the lower part of the right arm is Caiam, or Guiam (“punishing”), and Arabic (“treading underfoot”). The star in the upper part of the left arm is named Ma’asyn (“the sin offering”).

In His left hand the Mighty One, the Lion King, has a triple headed serpent in His grasp, called Cerberus. We have no stars to give information of the figure Cerberus. There are several myths concerning this figure. The popular Greek myth claims Cerberus was a three headed dog, the figure of a mythological dog Satan supposedly had guarding the gates of Hades. However, the early Zodiacs have Cerberus figured as a “three headed serpent,” which perfectly fits that pictured in the last two signs of “The Heavenly Revelation of the Son of the Eternal Covenant.”

As already stated, in the intertwined picture of the signs of Sagittarius and Scorpio we not only have three figures of the Covenant Son, but we have the three figures of the Lion King’s final enemies.

In the third decan of Sagittarius we have the first enemy, Draco, the Dragon, to be loosed for “a little season.” God has a purpose. This will serve God’s purpose. The second enemy is Scorpio, the scorpion, a collusion of lawless men at enmity with God in their mind, who are awaiting their opportunity to throw off the restraints of the Lion King. We have no details concerning how these rebels came to have come together with their malicious intent of a deadly sting to the Lion King to take His throne.

“The Heavenly Revelation of the Son of the Eternal Covenant” ends the way the record ends in “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” That is, with a collusion of ungodly, wicked mankind making an attempt, under the Dragon, to take Jerusalem, the city of the King (Rev.20:7-9). The time is “the little season” at the end of the Kingdom Age when the Dragon is loosed from the pit of the abyss. For this purpose the Dragon is bound and cast into the pit of the abyss rather than being cast into the lake of fire with his cohorts, the beast and the false prophet (Rev.19:20). The purpose being that, when he is loosed, he will gather all the rebel enemies in the Kingdom together that the Lion King may take them all out together.

The third enemy of the Lion King in this one picture is the serpent. In this picture Hydra is called merely the serpent, Serpens, as it represents both the self-will of the scorpion and the self-will of the Dragon.

In the figures of the stellar constellations being shown in symbols, it is imperative that each symbol represents only one object and also it is imperative that the symbol does not change meanings. Otherwise there would be confusion as to what is being pictured of the Person and work of the Son of the Covenant.

In Hydra the serpentine constellation as a symbol of the “lawlessness of man’s heart” to choose to go his own way and have his will over the will of his Creator-Redeemer figures “the enmity of the mind of the flesh,” which God must deal with in His creation of mankind.

As the serpentine figure stretches from Libra to Cancer, we are shown that in eternity past God made provision for the lawlessness to be put away in the Propitiation set forth in the Eternal Covenant. This is seen in the sign of Libra.

As the serpent continues through the ages, signified in Virgo and in Leo and the secured Kingdom Age of Cancer, we are shown that the lawlessness of the enmity of the mind of men as a creation of human flesh will extend into the Kingdom of righteousness and peace, when Ophiuchus (“the Serpent Holder”) has it fully subdued, under the sentence of death for any lawless act.

Through the 1,000 year reign men and woman will be born of man’s seed, born of the flesh of humanity. They will be called to become a son of God, but they have their freedom of choice to believe God and become the righteousness of God through faith in Christ - or - choose not to believe the truth and not to obey the truth to be born of the incorruptible Seed, the Word of God.

Draco, a symbol of a dragon, is a symbol for the rebel cherub Lucifer of the angelic creation who said in His heart, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides [extremity] of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High” (Is.14:13-14).

In “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” is the record of Lucifer’s end. He became a great fiery Dragon, known as “the serpent of old” (see Rev.12:3-4, 9). He is known for “the serpent in the sea,” a reference to his merchandising in the sea of humanity (see Is.27:1; Ezek.28:11-18). The serpent of old, the Dragon, is called the Devil (“deceiver, accuser”) and Satan (“adversary”).

In the sign of Scorpio the serpent figures the lawless enmity of the mind of the collusion of the Dragon and the scorpion. They have it in their mind to take the crown city of Jerusalem.

With the Lion King setting up His Kingdom in Israel as the head nation and Jerusalem the capital of the universe, the prophecy of Isaiah 62:3 will be fulfilled: “You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of Jehovah, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.” Also will be fulfilled Psalm 48: “Great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King” (vv1-2).

In the sign of Scorpio the serpent is to be construed with the collusion of the Dragon and the scorpion. The one explains the other. The serpent in the sign of Scorpio is figured with his head stretched forth to seize the crown. The brightest star in the serpent is in the neck. The Hebrew name is Unuk (“the encompassing”). Here is the heart of the scorpion - the collusion of lawless rebels under the lead of the Dragon in his little season after being loosed from the pit of the abyss.

The tail of the scorpion, with its sting, is pointed at the heel of Ophiuchus, the Serpent Holder, who has His left foot on the heart of the scorpion until the Dragon is loosed from the pit of the abyss. Sagittarius, the Archer, has His arrow aimed at the heart of the scorpion while Hercules, the Mighty One, has His left foot set directly over the head of the great Dragon.

The little season is timed by the Almighty One, the end of the 1,000 years of the Kingdom Age. One last time the ungodly, lawless, wicked enemies of our Lord and His Christ will be permitted to bring their own destruction upon their heads. All is foreknown of God. The King is prepared for their war. The conspiracy will be used to gather all rebels out of Christ’s Kingdom of sons of God.

We have the record of this last “war” with the Lamb of God in the book of “The Revelation of Jesus Christ,” when Satan is loosed out of his prison. The coalition of Gog and Magog, which he gathers together from the four quarters of the earth “to do battle, went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints [the tribes of Israel, the regenerate nation], and the beloved city, Jerusalem; and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them” (see Rev.20:7-10).

This is the same conspiracy as seen in the last picture in “The Heavenly Revelation of the Anointed Son of the Eternal Covenant” - Jesus Christ. The multitude, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea is the scorpion, the collusion of the unregenerate, lawless wicked in their secret agreement with the Dragon to take the city of Jerusalem. The fire of the burning pyre, Ara (“the altar”), seen in the second decan of Sagittarius will come down from God out of heaven and devour them, as God has said in His word.

To have an everlasting Kingdom of righteousness and peace, the enmity of the mind of the flesh must be put to an end. Taking out the rebels at the end of the Kingdom Age will accomplish this. It is a just retribution. They refused to believe the truth of the gospel of Christ Jesus. They refused to receive the eternal life for the body to be raised up out from the dead, immortal - deathless, and glorified - a forever living body for a son of God.

Having refused the righteousness of God through faith in Christ Jesus and having refused the eternal life for the body, each one will be left defiled, unclean, and without purpose for being, and therefore they must be destroyed. They cannot be permitted to defile the everlasting Kingdom.

As is seen in “The Revelation of Jesus Christ,” the collusion of the scorpion will go straight to the Great White Throne Judgment to be judged with all the dead of the spirits having been imprisoned in Hades on the other side of the wide gulf, separating them from Paradise, also called Abraham’s Bosom (see Lk.16:19-26; 23:39-43). Not having been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life as having been born a son of God, they must suffer the second death, the lake of fire. And God’s purpose for the Dragon having been accomplished, Satan can be cast into the lake of fire, where his cohorts, the beast and his false prophet, are (Rev.20:10-15).

The serpent must also be destroyed. In the everlasting Kingdom there must be no hearts at enmity with the One who loved them and gave Himself to bring life and light to His creation of man. The creation of mankind born of the seed of man in bodies of human flesh must cease. No more birth of mankind in the flesh to have their will over the will of the Almighty God, the Creator of all. God will be done with His creation of the flesh of humanity. His creation of man will have served His purpose to give Him a Kingdom of sons of God.

This will be the bruising of the head of the serpent as was prophesied in Genesis 3:15. In Genesis 3:15 the Hebrew word has the sense of “rubbing out.” The thinking of one to have his will over the will of God will be rubbed out when no one is born of the flesh ever again.

The prophecy also includes the bruising of the heel of the Seed of the woman. A bruise to the heel is self-inflicted. The bruise is caused by a trauma to the heel when it comes down on and strikes a blunt force, an object that will not give.

In the last sign of “The Heavenly Covenant” we see the figure of Hercules (“the Mighty One”) with His right foot lifted, ready to come down on the lawlessness of the scorpion in collusion with the Dragon when He has loosed Satan and when, as Ophiuchus (“the Serpent Holder”), He has released the serpent that the collusion might seek to carry out the lawlessness of each heart to do the Lion King harm and to take His Kingdom.

Figuratively speaking as is figured in the signs of “The Heavenly Covenant,” the heel of the Seed of the woman, the Covenant Son, will be bruised when, as Hercules, He puts His foot down on the scorpion acting out the lawlessness of its heart in self-will. When His foot strikes the hard-hearted hatred of the scorpion, there will be trauma.

The real trauma will be to the heart of the Seed of the woman who became flesh to do those represented in the scorpion good. He loved them and brought them into being to become sons of God and live with Him in His Kingdom forever. He had suffered them to live in His Kingdom of righteousness and peace where they would learn of Him through His word. He had protected them from lying deceivers who pervert the truth. He gave them hope of eternal life. He shared the great favor of His grace that, through hearing the word of truth, they might have the eyes of their understanding enlightened to the love of God and repent their enmity and change their mind and, with a broken and contrite spirit, receive the Gift of God’s love and be born from above a son of God and enter the Kingdom of God as a subject of the King and a member of the family of God.

In the end it will be He who chose to become the Seed of the woman that He might share His eternal life with each of them who will end up heartbroken at having to leave them outside His everlasting Kingdom, forever destroyed.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death. In his exhortation on the resurrection the apostle Paul gives us the order. “But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruit of those that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive; but every man in his own order: Christ the Firstfruit; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father, when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign, till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (1 Cor.15:20-26).

Let us remember what death is and how it came into the world. “Through one man the sin entered into the world, and death through the sin, and so death passed through to all mankind” (Rom.5:12). Adam, the progenitor of the human race, through the transgression of God’s command, brought the lawlessness of choosing to have one’s own will over the will of our Creator-Redeemer out of his heart into the world.

The lawlessness was acted out in the choice of transgressing the command of God (Gen.2:17; 3:1-11). The act of lawlessness brought the consignment of death to bodies of human flesh born of the seed of man. All flesh bodies were consigned to return to the dust of the ground from which the body, reproducing flesh after its kind, came (Gen.3:19). Death came in the choice of man choosing knowledge rather than life eternal offered in the Son of the Covenant.

Death is absence of the eternal life necessary for the body of flesh to be raised up out from the dead. The first man and woman, named Adam, “man” (Gen.5:1-2), were offered eternal life for the mortal body of flesh and blood. They were offered eternal life in the Propitiation set before them in the word of the coming Anointed Son of the Covenant. The One coming with seed of eternal life for the body is declared in the first sign of “The Heavenly Revelation of the Son of the Eternal Covenant,” the sign Libra.

It was in Jehovah teaching Adam and Eve of the Coming One in the sign of Libra that eternal life was set before them to receive. They did not receive the Gift of eternal life offered in the Anointed Son of the Covenant. They did sin and the lawlessness brought the consignment of the dead body back to the dust of the ground. Not having received the seed of eternal life, each body was absent of eternal life, dead because of the sin (Rom.8:10a).

Like reproduces like; that is, like reproduces after its kind (1 Cor.15:38-39). Every person born of the flesh is born in a body that is dead, absent of the eternal life necessary to raise it up out from the dead.

But it was not too late for Adam and Eve to receive eternal life for the dead body. The law of the spirit of eternal life in Christ Jesus is life because of righteousness (Rom.8:10b). The Anointed Son, though far in the future to their day, was coming to become sin for man that man might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor.5:21; see Rom.3:22-26).

The begotten Son of God, the Propitiation set forth, is the Seed of eternal life. The righteousness of God is through faith in Christ Jesus. If anyone has believed into Christ Jesus, he has eternal life for the mortal body. He has the spirit of life in Christ, the eternal life of Christ that raised the body of Christ out from the dead, that spirit of His eternal life shall also give eternal life to the mortal body of the one who has the spirit of eternal life - which he received in Christ Jesus - dwelling in him (Rom.8:11).

The apostle Paul gives a clear exposition of the Resurrection of Life in his first letter to the Corinthian assembly. In verses 12 through 28 of chapter 15 Paul makes his case for the importance of Christ’s resurrection.

And as already stated, there is an order to the Resurrection of Life: “Christ is risen from the dead and become the firstfruit of those who slept [died]. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. In Adam, all die; so, in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruit; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming” (vv20-23).

It takes two creations for man to become a son of God. All born in Adam of the flesh of humanity die to return to the dust of the ground. In Christ is the eternal life to raise the mortal body up out from the dead.

Jesus, the Christ, was the first birthed Son of God. Born the Son of Man Jesus is God clothed in human flesh. The human flesh was a seed coat. The life of the Seed, Jesus, was His eternal life of spirit being. The Seed, Jesus, eternal life in a human seed coat, would raise up a body of the pre-existing life of the Seed - His eternal life - for a body of eternal flesh and bone. When the Seed, Jesus, died, the seed coat became lifeless. The eternal life in the Seed raised up after its kind - a body of eternal flesh and bone - the firstfruit of a body begotten out of a dead seed coat, an immortal, imperishable body from the pre-existing life of the Seed, reproduced after the kind of life in the seed coat - eternal flesh and bone. In the body of eternal flesh and bone raised up out of the dead God has living flesh and bone for seed to raise up as many bodies as He has sons of God.

The seed of eternal life in the Son of God sent down from heaven can be planted in the heart of the inner man in the seed coat of the earthly creation of mankind. If mixed with faith, the seed of the truth will germinate, and through receiving the Gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus, one is born again through obeying the truth to be born of the incorruptible Seed, the Word of God, who lives and abides forever. One is born a child of God and, in the redemption of the body, one will be adopted a full grown son and heir with Christ Jesus (Rom.8:14-17).

In verse 23 of 1 Corinthians 15 Paul says, “Christ, the firstfruit; afterward they that are His [Christ’s] at His coming.” Who are they that are His? When is His coming?

Christ came down from heaven to earth to accomplish the body raised up out from the dead as seed of eternal flesh and bone to raise up many sons of God that He should be the first of many brethren.

The coming is to deliver up the kingdom of this earth to His Father after He has put down all enemies of God’s Kingdom and destroyed all Gentile dominion in opposition to God and His Christ (1 Cor.15:24-25). That will be when Jesus comes again the second time down to earth to set up His Kingdom (see Mt.24:27-31; Mk.13:24-27; Lk.21:25-28). At that time they who are Christ’s at His coming (down to earth) will have the body of eternal life raised up out from the dead seed coat of human flesh. This will include all the saints who lived before Jesus’ actual death and resurrection. They lived before Jesus actually ratified the Eternal Covenant with the hope of eternal life - in His blood. They could not be raised up together with Christ as the members of the true Body of Christ Jesus.

The gospel of the righteousness of God through faith in the coming Anointed Son of God [Messiah, Christ] was planted in the heart of each one, to be believed to receive the hope of eternal life and be raised up out from the dead in the resurrection of the righteous. Each one putting his faith in the righteousness of God through believing God’s word concerning eternal life in the Son. The body of each one sanctified together with Christ was sealed for redemption to be raised up the last day of the destruction of all enemies of the Anointed Son - that is the end when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to the Father.

One other group will be His at His coming - that is the Tribulation martyrs. We have the record of their being judged worthy of being given a living body in The Resurrection of Life (Rev.20:4). In the trial to try the hearts of the inhabitants of the earth, each one was willing to die for the faith. They overcame the beast ruler and the false worship through faith in the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony to the righteousness of God through faith in His Lamb, the Anointed Son, Jesus Christ. They did not love their lives in the flesh of humanity to hold onto life in the mortal body. They were willing martyrs to the truth which must be obeyed (Rev.12:11).

In his argument for the resurrection of the dead, Paul does not make mention of the Tribulation saints. Paul’s point is - death and resurrection go all the way to Adam. His point being Christ’s victory over death (see Ps.49:15; 73:24).

David wrote in Psalm 17:15: “As for me, I will behold Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake, with Your likeness.” Job wrote, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after they corrode my skin, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another; though my heart be consumed within me” (Job 19:25-27).

The prophet Daniel spoke of the resurrection as an awakening of many who “slept in the dust of the earth,” his metaphor for the dead body having returned to the dust of the earth, as awaking up to the eternal life as the body raised up out from the dead (Dan.12:2).

When Jesus came in the flesh and was put to death in the flesh and raised up, made alive by the spirit of His eternal life, He was proved to be the Son of God begotten out from the dead (see Rom.1:1-4). But His people did not receive Him as their King-Priest Messiah. The Resurrection of Life must wait. In the day of His power of the overthrow of Gentile dominion His people will receive Him (Ps.110:3).

In his letter to the Corinthian assembly Paul does not go into detail concerning the Body of Christ being gathered together and caught up to be with her Lord. As the Body is many members, but all one Body, the members must be presented to Him at the same time (see 1 Cor.12:12-27). Having gone into detail in his letter to the Thessalonian assembly, Paul briefly mentions the raising of the bodies of the dead members and the changing of the bodies of those who are alive and remain in their mortal body when Jesus comes for His own Body, the true Church, over which He is the Head (1 Cor.15:51-57; see Jn.14:1-3; Ac.1:10-11).

The members of the Body of Christ are baptized into Jesus Christ and buried with Him in baptism of death and raised up with a body laid up in heaven, hidden with Christ in God (Col.3:1-4). They do not have part in The Resurrection of Life. Having been caught up before the trial to try the hearts of the inhabitants of the earth, they will already be with the Lord in their new glorified bodies. Their hearts were tested with the gospel of Christ. Each one obeyed the truth to be born of the incorruptible Seed, the Word of God. Each one born of His Seed - a son of God.

When Christ comes for the members of His own Body, He will bring with Him the souls of spirit life of those whose bodies sleep in Jesus, having been planted together with Him. The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain in the mortal body until the coming of the Lord shall be changed in resurrection, in a moment, the twinkling of an eye. We shall all be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord (see 1 Thess.4:13-18).

The power of the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus is victory over death. The spirit of life in Christ Jesus is power to raise up a body of eternal life out from the dead, mortal body of human flesh and blood (Rom.8:1-11).

“The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” Death as absence of eternal life is an enemy. With all mankind in the flesh of humanity at enmity with God in the mind having been put out of the Kingdom, there will be no more mankind with deceitful hearts bearing the image of the earthy. There will be no more lawlessness in the heart to be acted out in the mortal body, so there will be no more absence of eternal life - no more death. Death has been destroyed forever.

The Kingdom will then have become an everlasting Kingdom of sons of God. Those yet in the mortal body of human flesh and having the seed of the spirit of eternal life will not die. The mortal body will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. The mortal body will put on immortality. All sons in the Kingdom will have bodies in the likeness of Jesus’ body of eternal flesh and bone. Each one bearing the image of the heavenly Lord from heaven. God’s purpose to have man in His image, after His likeness, will be fulfilled (Gen.1:26-27).

With no more need of the earthly creation of the flesh of humanity, no more male or female will be born of human flesh to be at enmity with God in the mind. There will be no more death as an absence of eternal life for the body to be raised up out from the dead.

The Kingdom of sons of God will then have become an everlasting Kingdom of sons of God. Forever and ever there will only be one will in the universal Kingdom. Each son is a willing bond-servant who, for the love of their Lord, serve Him. Their ear is open to His voice. He speaks and they submit. Each one delighting to do the will of God Almighty. They worship in spirit and in truth, rejoicing with Him, who for their sakes endured the cross, despising the shame (Jn.4:24; Heb.12:2). Each one forever at peace, living in the spirit of one’s very being, walking in the newness of abundant life and sharing the glory of God forever and ever without end.

                                 Amen! So be it! It is done! Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.

This concludes our series on “The Heavenly Revelation of the Son of the Eternal Covenant.”