In order to hear and understand what God is speaking in the Scriptures we must be able to delve into the mysteries of the Word. No one can understand what the Lord is saying in the Scriptures without being enlightened by the Holy Spirit. Jesus told the Pharisees, “Moses wrote of Me, and if you do not believe his writings how shall you believe My words?” (John 5:46-47). Did you realize that the writings of Moses were concerning Jesus Christ and His Kingdom? Jesus told His disciples that all things written in Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms concerning Him must be fulfilled. All of this fulfilling of the writings of Moses is yet to be fulfilled. Then opened He their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. Luke 24:44-45.
It is most important that we understand the mystical nature of the Old Testament Scriptures as well as the New. Let’s read what Peter said about the prophets of that day. Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls, of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify (Notice this: it was the Spirit of Christ speaking through the prophets, even in the Old Testament.), when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the Gospel unto you with the Holy Spirit send down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. I Peter 1:9-12. Two things of note here concerning the Old Testament prophets: (1) they were aware that Christ was speaking through them; (2) they were aware that the ministry of Christ through them was a ministry to us. Therefore, if you felt that the Old Testament was mainly a history of Israel and a ministry to Israel, then you need to reread it as a ministry to us in this day. The Gospel of Salvation is a mystery in both the Old and New Testaments.
In this message we are going to look at what is known as the second day of creation and see if we can find something there that ministers to us.
Genesis 1:6-8 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,
and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the
firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament heavens. And the evening and the morning were the
second day.
Everything in Genesis chapter one cannot be explained according to logic. The reason being, I believe, is because God is not interested in telling us how He created the earth and heavens. He did it and He said He did it and that should be enough. Hidden within this first chapter of Genesis is the mystical creation of the people of God, the many-membered Christ. We have talked about this before and have written many messages about it, so this should not be anything new to us.
Let’s first look at this second day, as most people do, according to man’s logic. The waters below would be the lakes, rivers, and seas. The waters above would be the rain that falls from the sky. It is a cycle. The rain falls, the rivers carry that which falls upon the land to the seas. It then evaporates, rising up in the air forming rain clouds, which will rain again. Now there isn’t much distance between the waters above and the waters below, viewing it this way. It is common for airplanes to fly above that area. The firmament, which God called heavens, has to be something much more. And it is not unusual for the Scriptures to speak of something much more than the liquid we call water when it speaks of water. For example, Jesus said, If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He that believes into Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his inner being will flow rivers of living water. John 7:37-38. The Scriptures are full of examples of water representing divine life. Isaiah prophesied, They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:9. Now we can see that the waters above and the waters below are speaking mystically of that which is divine and that which is of man – divine life as opposed to natural life or divine knowledge as opposed to human knowledge. The firmament is the dividing space between God and man. It is the heavens; it is the realm of spiritual activity; it is the realm of the Living Word. For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit… Hebrews 4:12. Now we are going to look at some passages of Scripture that will further enlighten us concerning the firmament of ministry.
Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the Glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.
In Genesis 1:8 God called the firmament heavens, and here the Word says that the heavens declare the Glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork. The firmament is a realm. It is the realm of a Living Word declaring the Glory of God. It is the realm of His handiwork; that is, it is the realm of ministry. It is the realm in which Isaiah ministered when he spoke of the seraphim crying out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory." It is the realm in which Moses, Jeremiah, and the other prophets of the Old Testament ministered. It is the realm in which Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, and the other apostolic ministries of the New Testament ministered, and it is the realm in which the true ministry of God takes place in this day. The firmament is the realm of His handiwork. It is also the realm of worship. Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the firmament of His power. Psalm 150:1.
Ezekiel spoke of those who minister in the firmament realm. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. Whithersoever the Spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the color of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above. And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other; every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of a host; when they stood, they let down their wings. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above it. Ezekiel 1:19-20,22-26.
Daniel 11:32-33 The people that do know their God shall be strong, and do
exploits.
33 And they that understand among the people shall instruct many….
Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise (the instructors) shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
The stars in the realm of the firmament are the “light bearers” that instruct many. The firmament God called heavens is the realm of heavenly ministry.
Copyright © 2006 by Henry DuBose