RULING AND REIGNING WITH GOD

Part 18

 

 

November 27, 2020

 

 

Last week, I had intended to branch off for a bit into a discussion on faith that wasn’t a part of where we had been, but because of time constraints, I decided to leave that discussion for today instead.

 

In past discussions, I have commented about the number of man being 6.

 

That, of course, is something we've known as Christians because it is interwoven throughout Scripture.  Numbers have always been significant in God's economy, and numbers have specific representation of various characteristics, power and authority within the framework of all that God has done, is doing, and will do.

 

We know, for example, that the number of the Father in Scripture is 7.  The number of Jesus is 8.  The number of the Holy Spirit is 9.

 

Consider, then, David's prophecy in Psalm 8:4 - 6:"What is man that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man that thou visitest him?  For thou has made him a little lower than (Elohiym) God, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.  Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet."

 

Even numerically, we see the accuracy of what David writes.  The number 6 is just below 7, or 8, or 9.  Anyway, let's don't get too sidetracked with all of that.  That is entirely another discussion.  Let's get back to the number 6, and its significance in man.

 

As an engineer and a past member of the scientific community, one of the facts known to science is that it takes various combinations of sixes for the human frame to retain or activate certain things.  Let me illustrate.

 

As an audio engineer, I proved out the theorem that it requires a person hearing something repeated six times in order to retain it permanently in memory.  Every multiple of 6 thereafter reinforces and imprints it in a person's subconscious and conscious memory.

 

Our electrical power that energizes our homes operates at 120 volts @ 60 hz.  

 

As a television engineer, the number 6 is used repeatedly when it comes to visual clarity.  The horizontal scan frequency of the old TV sets, 15,750 hz, is a 6X multiple of the number of times an electron gun sweeps across a television screen to create a single field.  Two fields of 30 scans (or 60) make one frame of a television image in the old NTSC format.

 

In today's High Definition formats, you have 420p (420i is the number of interlaced lines you actually see on an old conventional NTSC television set) -- meaning that the lines are progressively scanned, creating a cleaner image; you also have 720p, 1080i, 1080p , the new 4K and 8K, (I’ve rounded these out without getting into the specific numbers) for a dazzling Hi-Def picture.  More importantly, every one of these numbers are multiples of 6.

 

Why 6?  Because it is the number at which the human eye best responds.

 

Consider this.  The U.S. Department of Health some 32 years ago or so published a 600+ page study on the frequencies radiated by plants, fruits and vegetables in conjunction with the body frequencies of healthy men and women.  What makes this particular study fascinating is that they found certain combinations of fruits and certain combinations of vegetables which, when combined, provide a frequency between 55 and 65 hz.  As part of the human diet, these combinations either aid good health or detract from it.

 

This study also found that when the radiated frequency of a man or woman drops into the low-50's, they are prone to cancer and other diseases -- that all diseases are a byproduct of a sub-60 Hz condition within the human neural system.  Naturopaths and health professionals who rely on natural remedies often draw from this study in making their recommendations.

Now, I've said all that to say this: the number of man has been played upon by Satan and his demonic forces to be used against him in a direct battle against faith.  Images used by ignorant (and knowing) advertisers under the control or influence of Satan to promote their products on radio, on television and in the entertainment industry are used to entice, to encourage lust, greed and selfishness, to promote the "man is God" theme, and -- most importantly -- to induce doubt, fear and unbelief when it comes to the things of God.

 

Anyone who watches very much television, or listens to the radio, or listens to the popular music entertainment of the day gets hammered repeatedly with images and messages that instill doubt, spawn fear, and programs them mentally in such a way that a person is flooded with unbelief when it comes to just about anything God says in His Word.

 

666 is the number of today's mainstream media and entertainment industries.  Why do I say that?  Because "666" is a Hebrew metaphor for "man setting himself up as God."  It is the "mark," or symbol, or identifying characteristic that denotes "the Beast."  Today's mainstream media does everything in its power to tell a (not-so-) carefully couched lie that righteousness is nothing more than bigotry and racism; that any leader who promotes righteous values is a terror in our society.  The entertainment industry fills our theaters and homes today with stories, images and sounds that belittle faith and trust in God, and specifically the Lord Jesus Christ, and hammer home themes unequivocally stating that Man has ALL the answers to everything Man needs.

 

With all due respect to my friends in the medical profession and pharmaceutical industries, a concerted effort has been put forth to create the impression that medical science is the answer to all of man's health problems.  Almost daily, we see "new" diseases created and invented, while the pharmaceutical industry promotes and advertises its "latest" development in a pill to cure these "new" diseases.  Well-meaning men and women of integrity become pawns of a system designed to destroy faith and trust in the power and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ over all diseases, afflictions and ailments.

 

Preachers of the Gospel become pawns of the Beast by teaching that "the day of miracles has passed.  It died out with those first apostles."  The promises that Jesus made when He said, "These signs shall follow them that believe..." are rendered as fantastic things of a bygone era and "dispensation" in God's economy.  They effectively teach and preach the same conniving trickery that Satan pawned off on Eve when he said, "Hath God said?" relegating the realm of the miraculous to a few "super-Christians" and depriving the body of Christ at large of its covenanted power and authority in Christ.

 

And yet, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."  (Hebrews 11:6)

 

How about this one?  "Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."  (Hebrews 10:38)

 

In order for the just to live by faith, every day has to be one in which a person stands in faith.  Everything in our society today beats a drumbeat of doubt, fear and unbelief.  It's no wonder that we, as Christians, need complete re-programming.  In order to stand in faith and believe God for anything -- whether it be finances, health, healing, prosperity, healthy and balanced family relationships, prosperous marriages, you name it -- a person literally has to fight his way through a lifetime of pre-programmed doubts and fears, along with getting past the lies of an increasingly liberal mindset in many segments of the church.

 

Writing to the Romans, Paul says, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

Brother!  Is that ever a mouthful!

 

Let me break that statement down for you from the original Greek text.

 

"And be not conformed (óõó÷çìáôßæù-- suscheômatizoô)to this world...."  There's a 64-dollar word for you. Suscheômatizoôis a contraction of two other words, sun, and schema.  Sunis a primary preposition in the Greek language denoting with or union, either by process, association, companionship, resemblance or possession, and generally implies having been completed in that union. Schema(from where we get our word in the engineering professions,schematic, for a figurative drawing or representation) represents a mode or circumstance, an external condition, a figure.

We thus have a picture of one who has co-opted into becoming just like the world in thought process and mindset.

 

And Paul says that change comes by being transformed (metamorphoô -- metamorphosed) through having our minds and thoughts (anakainoôsis -- renovated)made freshly new.

 

Before I finish with Paul's statement to the Romans, let me refer you to his second letter to the Corinthians in which he writes, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;)Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."

 

The transformation of our minds and thought processes, therefore, demands that we cast down the imaginations and lies of this world system, the Beast, Mammon -- by whatever definition you call it: every high thing (thought) that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.

 

Everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God promotes doubt, fear and unbelief.  Everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God says, "Hath God said?"  Everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God says, "Well, maybe it works for some people, but that really isn't for you."

 

Get the picture?  I'm sure you do.

 

 OK, let's finish up with Paul's statement to the Romans.

 

"...that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."  There is a very unique word in the Greek text that occurs in this phrase.  That word isäïêéìÜæù-- dokimazô, and is extracted from dokimon. Being a student of etymology, or the study of the history of words, I found this one fascinating.  This is a word which comes from numismatists -- folks who are involved in the creating of coins, those who smelt gold and silver and other precious metals.  It literally means "to put to the test in the fire," to apply great heat to for the sake of refining, to assay.

 

Now do you understand the framework from which Paul writes?  Nothing could more clearly delineate our need for "standing" in faith.  Everything the world around us promotes and encourages needs to be expunged from the mind.  THAT, my friends, doesn't happen overnight!

 

We are challenged to believe God and take Him at His Word.  We are challenged to believe God for healing, even when the doctors say there is no hope.  We are challenged to believe God for miracles in our lives when society around us laughs at the whole idea.

 

We take our stand.  We speak what God has spoken in our spirit.  We put feet to our faith.  We confess daily that which we have heard.  Yet the evidence doesn't show up right away.

Do we give up?  Do we accept the lie of Satan that says, "that's just not for you.  It just isn't God's will for you to be healed.  It just isn't God's will for you to be delivered."  Do we then turn to the world's answers having allowed the circumstances around us to defeat our confession?

 

Not this guy!

 

So far we have talked about the foundation of repentance from dead works, of faith toward God, and we spent weeks dealing with the doctrine of baptisms.  This week (and next) we need to talk about the impartation that comes from the laying on of hands.  Let’s take time today to lay some foundations in our understanding as to both the historical and post-Pentecost implications associated with this.

 

In order to properly deal with this subject, we need to get back to the root of Hebrew thought so as to understand where this practice comes from, and the spiritual significance of having hands laid upon someone.

 

Out of several hundred references throughout Scripture, the very first time we see someone laying hands upon another occurs when Jacob lays his right hand on Ephraim, and his left hand on Manasseh — the two sons of Joseph.

 

Genesis 48:13-20, KJV: 

And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him. And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.

 

And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.

 

And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.  And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

 

In case it hasn’t already dawned on you, we have shifted into the third of Paul’s “doctrines to get past:” the laying on of hands.

 

We can infer in each of the previous instances where we see the Blessing conveyed that hands were laid upon the one being blessed, but this is the first time we actually see it happening.

What makes this event so important in our understanding is that we see the laying on of both the right hand — to Ephraim, who was the younger son of Joseph — and the left hand — to Manasseh, who was the firstborn son of Joseph, and normally the one to whom the primary blessing would be conveyed.

 

As Jacob begins the blessing, however, he speaks the same words over both Ephraim and Manasseh (see verse 16: The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitudein the midst of the earth.)  He thus communicates the same blessing with both right and left hand, conveying the onoma of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

 

But watch what happens next.  Joseph knows from family history and from the general practice of the time that the one receiving the greater blessing must have the laying on of the right hand.

 

Jacob, however, has a direct word from the Spirit of the Lord and acts accordingly.  Where we read that Jacob guided his hand “wittingly,” we see the Hebrew word, sakal, which means: to act circumspectly, to act with wise insight and foreknowledge.

 

Interestingly, it also contains the meaning: to cause to prosper.

 

Notice how Jacob differentiates now between the blessing of the right hand, and the blessing of the left hand (see verse 19):

 

And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.

 

It becomes clear, therefore, from this example, that the right hand conveys power, authority, multiplication of the specifically imparted in a manner which is easily seen and demonstrated in the years to come.  It’s not that the blessing conveyed with the left hand is anything to sneeze at (and we will talk more about this later): it’s just that there is a totally different character to the blessing of the left hand.

 

It should also be clear from Jacob’s words that he was describing a blessing that would manifest itself in not just years, but generations to come.  One does not become a multitude of nations in a generation, or two generations, or even three generations!  The Hebrew word translated “multitude” is the word,rob, which literally means:huge, multiplied in number, an innumerable abundance.

 

The blessing and impartation that comes by the laying on of the left hand, therefore, is of great consequence, and not to be diminished or degraded.

That’s where we will leave this today.  See you next week.

 

In case you are missing out on real fellowship in an environment of Ekklesia, ourSunday worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about 10:30AM Pacific.  That conference number is (712) 770-4160, and the access code is 308640#.  We are now making these gatherings available on video usingZOOM.  If you wish to participate by video on ZOOM, our login ID is 835-926-513.  If you miss the live voice-onlycall, you can dial (712) 770-4169, enter the same access code and listen in later.  The video call, of course, is not recorded – not yet, anyway.

 

Blessings on you!

 

 

Regner

 

     

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES

 

RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Temple, Texas 76502

 

Email Contact: CapenerMinistries@protonmail.com

 

All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted –provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are available . Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.

If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: AnotherCoffeeBreak@protonmail.com with the word, “Subscribe” in the subject line.  To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to AnotherCoffeeBreak@protonmail.com with the word “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.

 

CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit: http://www.RiverWorshipCenter.org.