KINGS: CHILDREN AND SONS

(Part 1)

Contents:

WHEN CHILDREN ARE KINGS

THY PRINCES EAT IN THE MORNING!

"Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!" (Eccl 10:16-17).

When a child rules in Jerusalem, there is little hope in the land. The entire kingdom is at the mercy of one whose mandates are birthed from childish whims, youthful imaginations, and inexperience. Knowledge and wisdom are lacking, and his ideas are seldom the best for the people.

Ah, but when the king is full-grown and of noble blood, how blessed is the kingdom. From the least to the greatest prosperity abounds. What a difference!

We talk of coming into maturity, of ruling with Christ, doing exploits, and of setting creation free from the bondage of corruption; yet, not much of it has been known in the world. What we have mostly seen has been woes upon the land. The church is powerless, the mass of humanity is unsaved, diseases are running rampant, mental illness holds hordes captive in their own minds, drug and alcohol addictions flood the world, crime sweeps through cities like pounding tidal waves, prisons are overflowing, human life is not worth the price of a pair of shoes, children are murdering children and their own parents, young mothers are killing their newborn babies. Truly, the love of many has waxed cold. So we ask, is this the fruit of God's Kingdom? Reluctantly, we answer, yes, but only because children reign in Jerusalem.

Some believe the woes of the world will increase now since the page of the calendar was turned a few days ago and the date changed from 1999 to 2000. Although our God is an eternal God who is unaffected by time, they assume He is somehow bound by manmade dates. Dates, however, are for the service of man, not God; for Adam is a creature of time. He couldn't function without a time-table. From the core of man's being he is bound by time. It says that God "...set the world (Heb. 'owlam, eons, or ages) in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end." (Eccl 3:11). Until Christ releases them from those chains, men will remain ground-bound creatures of time wherein they rule with the sense of temporary and passing fancies.

God does things in the sphere of time; but that is for man's sake and not His. He manifests both good and evil during a given time-period; but what we see for a moment has always been. Furthermore, if we are permitted to peer from the heavens, we can see it being swallowed in the whole of eternity. Proper perception will come, and then we will see how all things, small and great, fit together perfectly irrespective of time.

Therefore, let us not be so consumed by calendars, for like the trees men cut in the forest, carve, and deck with gold, they have no power over us. And perchance evil is ushered into the year 2000 in unprecedented proportions, it will not be due to the power of the year, but because children are ruling in Jerusalem.

The previous century was filled with such horrendous things that many believed it was the end of the world. World War I, the war to end all wars, swept like a cloud of death over Europe from 1914 to 1918. This was fourteen years after the turn of the century as corrupt men ruled in the world and children ruled in the church.

Was it man's calendar or man himself that caused it? It was the greed of man, his ego, and germane politics. The calendar had nothing to do with any of it. The children of the King ruled in those days, while His nobles remained in the shadows.

Twenty-nine years after the turn of the century, the Great Depression hit. Overnight, the economies of the world came crashing down, and what do you suppose brought it on? Was it man's calendar or was it man himself? I believe the answer is obvious. It was man himself, for children of the King were still ruling.

Soon afterwards World War II broke out in Europe and the south Pacific where millions were killed. At least six million Jews, three million Christians, and countless gypsies were starved, medically experimented on, and exterminated in Nazi concentration camps. Was it in the name of the calendar or in the name of man these atrocities took place? The war and the holocaust took place during five or six calendar years; but man had his indelible seal in every drop of blood shed.

Ask all the casualties of every war since: those of the Korean and the Vietnam wars, Bosnia, Kosovo, to name a few, and see what they say. Even in our lifetime we have known no time that war was not raging somewhere in the world. Go ahead and ask the victims and see if they will tell you the wars were the ill-fated events of the calendar, or they were products of the greed of man. I believe the answer will be the latter; for unto this day the children of the King rule, and woe to the land when children rule and not the nobles of the King. Not only does the church suffer, but the whole world as well.

WHEN CHILDREN ARE KINGS

You won't find much argument from the congregations of the church system about being the children of God. When a man or woman is questioned about what they are, the answer will be one of two things: "I am just a sinner saved by grace," or "I am a child of God."

Either my memory fails me or there is no place in the Bible where it says anything about people being sinners saved by grace. Paul wrote, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." And, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Rom 3:23 & Eph 2:8). But there is no place that says anyone is a sinner saved by grace. Moreover, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (1 John 3:9). If you disagree, take it up with He who inspired the verse.

There are, however, scriptures which refer to believers being children of God, so claiming to be a child of God can be a true statement, and we rejoice because of it. God has so many children that only He knows the number. They are in every denomination and non-denomination of the world, in every sect and walk of life. He knows no borders when it comes to birthing children into His Kingdom. He is a true Father. However, let us not be deceived into thinking He turns over the scepter of the Kingdom to His unlearned children. Regardless of how much God loves them, children are never recognized by Him as rulers. He didn't even set Jesus upon His throne until He was thirty years old. At the age of twelve, Jesus knew He was the Son of God; but it took eighteen more years of preparation before He was inaugurated and for those eternal words to be trumpeted into the realm of time -- "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him." (Mat 17:5).

He was adopted (placed) as a Son at that moment in time. He had always been a Son, even before the world was (John 17:5, 24), yet it was not until then that He was manifested as such. The Eternal entered openly into the realm of time.

People try to figure out things that cannot be figured. They pore over the scriptures and historical records, they calculate, and finally pinpoint dates on the calendar when certain things might have taken place. They then deck those dates with gold and silver, they secure them with the nails of devotions, creeds and dogma, and then worship those dates. They give themselves to the figures they themselves have fashioned. In so doing they miss the eternal Son of God who has always been, who is, and shall always be. They worship the date they designated as when He was crucified, yet for the record, it says that He, the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8).

From the foundation of the world is something to which man will have trouble assigning an exact date; but if it were possible, I am sure they would do it. They would then lay out that segment of time, overlay it with gold, and worship it.

Men are date happy. If they can't find enough holy days to give themselves to, they will exalt men of their own stature and stamp the calendar with their names. Today, as I write these few words, I can't go to the post office and check my mail. I can neither receive nor send mail on this special day of worship. The banks have shut down, along with every federal, state, county, and city offices in the country. This day has been designated as a special day wherein we pay homage to it in the name of Martin Luther King, Jr.

There is no doubt in my mind that he was a chosen vessel of God. Men do not rise up as did he without the endorsement from one high. He was a driving force and powerful tool who gave his life with hopes of stemming the tide of slavish imprisonment of his people. As human standards go, he was a great man, a martyr; but why do we need a day in his honor, or any man's honor, to worship? My questioning in no way distracts or eliminates him from being one of God's anointed. That is a simple fact which would be difficult to refute. Nevertheless, regardless of whether one believes he was chosen of God or not, we want to note that nowhere in the Bible are we ever encouraged to pay homage to any of the days of our Lord.

Even though there would be no atonement without the death of Jesus, the Bible is silent when it comes to pinpointing the precise date. There is no place in Holy writ where it even suggests we should observe that day as one to which we give ourselves. Since this is so, why would we take mere men of dust and honor them with days on a calendar?

There were holy days practiced in the Old Testament; such as, Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, and many more. Yet, don't we realize they were instituted by God as shadows of those things to come. They foretold of what we would enter into by the Spirit of Christ. They spoke of things in picture form so we could get a glimpse of them in the spirit. The lamb slain on the altar spoke of the crucifixion of Jesus, and His crucifixion pointed on to the death of the old and new man in us.

When that to which the shadow referred came, the shadow ceased. That is why there are no more animal sacrifices to atone for our sin. Jesus fulfilled Passover. He died once -- for all. Passover came to a full head in Him. And to make sure men knew the shadow had ended; He sent His angels, Titus and his army, to destroy Jerusalem and the temple (Matthew Chapter 24). The first time he cleaned house was when He drove out the money changers with a scourge, the second time was with the scourge of Rome. He brought an end to those days of sacrifice, and likewise with the other holy days. He brought them to an end by filling them up with Himself, and they have all been, and are being fulfilled in us.

Therefore, my friends, why do we continue marking our calendars and worshiping those days? I can only conclude that the feast days have not become realities in our lives. If they were real, the outward practice would surely cease.

And I might add -- there is no amount of practicing those holy days outwardly that will bring them to pass in anyone's life or in the church as a whole. We simply cannot do anything carnal that will manifest the Spirit.

We can beat drums all day long. We can chant, rant, and rave. We can fast and make all kinds of promises. We can beg and plead, and we can cut ourselves til we bleed; but the fire of God will not bow to man's theatrics and consume the evening sacrifice. It is when Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles have been fulfilled in our lives that the fire from heaven will devour it and lick up the twelve barrels of water in the trench round about it. Acting Pentecostal, or observing Tabernacles, will not impress God or prompt Him to act. He is not obligated by what we do or don't do in the might of our own religious imaginations, for it is done in the natural. And that which is natural comes from the reign of children and not from the noble sons of the King. And "Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! THY PRINCES EAT IN THE MORNING!

We may question why there would be a problem with the princes eating in the morning, especially since we are told by nutritionists that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. When read from other translations we soon see it is speaking of more than merely eating breakfast. All the other versions I have checked use the word feast rather than eat. The Hebrew word ('akal) can be used with a great deal of latitude, depending on the context of the verse. And here, it is clear that the eating is feasting, and it is not for nutritional purposes, but for drunkenness, which verse 17 brings out.

Do you suppose there is drunkenness with the princes, the high-ranking officials of the church? Absolutely! There's no question about it. Not only in the natural sense, but especially in the spiritual. They are feasting continually -- morning, noon, and night, and it is for the purpose of getting drunk. Their drunkenness is not so much on natural wine and strong drink as it is the spirit of things.

You see, the spirit of something is its life, which can be a number of things. The crushing and aging of the fruit of the vine releases its hidden life in the same way the crucifixion released the hidden life of Jesus. Until then, His life was locked within Himself. No one else could partake of it. He was sweet to be around, like a cool glass of grape juice; but after His death and resurrection, His life could be taken in by every soul. The New Wine of the Kingdom filled men's souls in a new and living way. His Spirit became their lives. And so it is today. The sons feast and drink in due season, while others feast in the morning, and it is not for strength but unto drunkenness.

You may have seen it yourselves -- children without understanding ruling in the church, and the elders, and congregations alike, eating and drinking the word and Spirit of the Lord unto drunkenness. That which they consume may or may not be true doctrine. Either can induce intoxication. There is a spirit in both that a man can drink. The true doctrine can have the Spirit of Christ or the spirit of man. Just because the doctrine is accurate does not necessarily mean it is accompanied by the Spirit of Christ. A carnal child of God can parrot a truth by the power of his own spirit, and those who drink it can be lifted in their spirits by that wine. Drink enough, and they can become intoxicated. They may do all sorts of Pentecostal things, so called, while under the influence of that wine. And woe to the land when that happens.

This takes place in every rank and file of the church. Man's wine flows freely in the morning when they should be serving grits, oatmeal, and cornflakes. Rather than strengthening men and women with a pure Word and Spirit in due season, they are encouraging them to drunkenness. They stagger around under the influence of teachings on the Rapture, the Trinity, Water Baptism, Holy Ghost Baptism, Baptism by Fire, Holy Mary Mother of God, Worship of Saints, the Sabbath, Holy Days and No Holy Days, Kingdom of God, The Sons of God and ad infinitum.

Some of the above are doctrines that should be taught and the others would be better off buried in the salt beds at Carlsbad, NM, 2000 feet underground at the Waste Isolation Plant with the rest of the world's toxic waste. I won't tell you which ones belong there; but I will say that any teaching can cause intoxication, depending on who receives it, when and how it is taught, and by whom. There are varying factors involved that determine whether a teaching brings life and strength or drunkenness and death. And when received wrong -- woe to the land, inwardly and outwardly!

When children are kings, they like to play church, rather than being the Church, and there is a vast difference. Do you remember as a child when you would play house with your brothers and sisters, cousins, or friends? The little boy would be the father, the girl the mother, and one or two others would be the children. If there was a shortage of playmates, dolls were the kids. The mother would pretend to cook up a meal, while the father would be off to work. And, of course, both the mother and father would boss and scold the children with great authority, even make them stand in the corner from time to time, or feign a spanking. On occasions the spanking became too real, and the real Momma heard about it.

Most of us as children played house or doctor. Those were a couple of things we could do in terms of adulthood, make-believe. Since it was an impossibility to be adults, we had to pretend that we were grown, and it was fun. However, once we reached maturity, we no longer had to pretend. We were what we had pretended to be as children. When we became of age, it was impossible to pretend to be grown; for we had reached our destination. Pretending would have served no purpose. It wouldn't be fun anymore if we went through the motions, and we would certainly feel ridiculous. Maybe that is why you are so miserable when you try to find fellowship in various churches and go through the rituals with the congregation.

Notwithstanding, the children of the church -- in many ways play church. Rather than being the Church, rather than the feast days having become a reality in their lives -- they pretend. Their rituals tell us that it is so, and the more rituals they have the more it tells how far they are from God in truth and reality.

If what they were practicing was a reality in their lives, they wouldn't be practicing it. Why do you suppose churches eat so many wafers and drink so much grape juice? Truly, it is a hard saying to eat Jesus' flesh and drink His blood, as was before, so they pretend. Why do you think they call Saturday or Sunday the Sabbath Day of Rest? Because they have not entered His rest. And why do those embracing Kingdom truths celebrate Tabernacles every year? Could it be that they have not entered that feast, and like children, they are pretending? It could be with some; but it is not a litmus test that makes it so with everyone.

I might add -- just because people do not outwardly practice feasts or take communion does not mean they have entered the reality of them. For instance, I may refuse to eat a bland wafer; but my abstinence does not automatically make me a partaker of His living word. It could be that I mentally understand the difference between the two and choose not to eat; yet, I can still be void of hearing the Word of the Lord in my spirit. I may refuse to attend meetings called The Feast of Tabernacles, saying I've already entered in and I will not pretend, and I can be farther away from the reality than anyone there.

When you see a flower that looks like a rose and smells like a rose you can pretty well conclude that it is a rose. Or with a skunk, it can be pitch dark, and when one is close at hand, you don't have to speculate about it. You know it. However, with spiritual matters, things may not be as clearly defined as roses and skunks. What you see may not be what is real. With spiritual discernment, however, a skunk can take a bath in rose-water and you will still know what it is.

There are meetings held across the land called The Feast of Tabernacles; but this does not mean that everyone there has not entered in spiritually. We should not be hasty in our judgments. It is essential for us to be keenly aware and sensitive to the Spirit, as was our Lord before us. It was written of Him that "...He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears" (Isa 11:3).

My point is, let us not rely on religious practices as our life, such as natural communion and sundry feasts. Don't we remember, the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink? It is not whether we eat meat or drink wine, wear the proper apparel, or don't wear jewelry. Religious miters, phylacteries, robes, collars, or five-hundred dollar suits do not make the man. None of those things, whether of clergy or laity, can impress God and win His favor.

Actors are admired, even worshiped by man, but not by God. ⁽¹⁾Hypocrites were really the only people Jesus upbraided and spared no mercy when addressing them, yet they are revered more today than just about anybody. If I err not in my memory, the Queen of England gave some of those actors the status of knights and princes. Quite an honor for someone who is openly not real.

In the church most do not realize how many actors there are among them; but in the world it is one of the most honorable and sought after professions. Anyone who stands on an elevated stage before a crowd of people is looked upon as someone special. If they are seen on TV or the movies, they are envied. Their well-known names are literally worshiped. People will clamor to see them in person, to touch them, to get their autographs, and pay millions to own a piece of their junk, a sweaty rag, or glittery clothes.

It is no secret that these people are actors/hypocrites. They have special schools that teach them how to lie; but that doesn't matter very much to the majority. The fact is, the better they are at acting, the more they are paid and revered, so much so, their profession gives the best ones every award imaginable. George C. Scott saw the vanity of this charade when he was nominated and won an Oscar for his role in the movie, Patton; for he refused to attend the ceremony and refused the Oscar. But that is not the norm. The more convincing people are, the greater they become in the world, and if they have a song, it gets better. And it is the same in the church. Except in the church there is the lack of discernment on the laity's part.

Religious actors are also revered and honored; but most people do not realize they are acting. They can't imagine their church leaders being anything less than the right hand of Jesus. To even suggest that they were hypocrites would be nigh to blasphemy and certainly unbelievable -- for, you see, actors are very believable. Some become so accomplished at their hypocrisy that they also believe they are the godly men and women they are pretending to be. I suppose everyone is a little hypocritical to some degree. For example, by acting certain ways to avoid hurting people's feelings, is simply being kind or hoping to avoid embarrassments or confrontations. This is acceptable. But when the act becomes one's profession and religious walk, there is a problem, and such actors do not deserve honor.

Rather than putting on a show and acting the part, let us be absorbed by Christ's life and filled with all the living ordinances of God. We will then be eating and become strengthened in due season. We will not be drunken and hear the terrible words: "Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!"

To be continued...

Elwin R. Roach