THE BRIDE,

HER JOURNEY AND DESTINATION

(Study Notes)

STUDY NOTES FOR THE BRIDE, HER JOURNEY AND DESTINATION

©2011 Copyright Cheryl McGrath, Great South Land Ministries www.greatsouthland.org
This article may be freely copied and shared but not altered. Kindly leave copyright notice intact so that those wishing to may find more of our teachings.

All scriptures NKJV unless otherwise stated.

PART ONE: Who Is The Bride of Christ?
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Rev. 21:10,11

So who is this Bride, the Lamb's Wife? Some relevant passages:

*SHE BELONGS SOLELY TO THE BRIDEGROOM
He who has the Bride is the Bridegroom (John 3:29) Has = G. ‘echo’, means to hold,, possess, keep.

Paul wrote: For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present [you as] a chaste virgin to Christ. 2 Cor. 11:2
The job of apostles is to present the Bride to the Bridegroom, not to try and own, control, abuse or use her.

*SHE IS GROWING IN HOLINESS
Ephesians 5:27: that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she should be holy and without blemish.

Without Spot= Greek ’aspelos’, SPEAKS OF SIN stain, free from moral fault, sin.
Wrinkle= Greek ‘rhutes’ SPEAKS OF ERROR, WRONG THINKING flawlessness, without error.
Blemish = Greek ‘amomos’, SPEAKS OF CHARACTER: meaning innocent, blameless in character and conduct, i.e. bearing the fruits of the Spirit.

*SHE IS OVERCOMING
1 John 5:4 whatever is born of God overcomes the world

Rev. 3:12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.

Rev. 3:21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

Overcome what?
Overcome the world (1 John 5:4)
Overcome temptation to evil (Rom. 12:21)
Overcome the wicked one (1 John 2:14)
Overcome accusation (Rev. 12:10,11)
Overcome tribulation by remaining faithful to the end (Rev 2 & 3)

The Bride does not circumvent the Cross. She will follow the Bridegroom anywhere and everywhere. She must be where He is. She must know Him in every place in which He has walked.

Without spot, wrinkle or blemish does not mean without the signs of battle. Bride is a veteran of the many battles in which she has been taught to be an overcomer.

Battle scars should not be confused with wounds. Wounds are emotional, of the soul, and need healing, but battle scars are in the spirit and need wearing. Wounds are the signs of an unhealed heart and cause us to walk in the flesh. Battle scars are signs, not defective, they are badges of honour. Jesus has battle scars on His physical Body which will be there for all eternity as a sign (John 20:27) The Bride should not be ashamed of her battle scars, they are signs of battles won, not averted, and are feared by the enemy. They are signs of the Cross, the signs of an overcomer, a seasoned warrior.

We decorate our bravest and most valiant soldiers with medals to be worn as signs of having come through some ordeal on the battlefield as victors. Have you suffered unjustly for the Name of Christ?

The Bride has such signs on her but they are spiritual, not physical. They say ‘this is an overcomer’. Paul said “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” Gal 6:17 In those days it meant a mark pricked in or branded upon the body.

“To ancient oriental usage, slaves and soldiers bore the name or the stamp of their master or commander branded or pricked (cut) into their bodies to indicate what master or general they belonged to, and there were even some devotee's who stamped themselves in this way with the token of their gods” (Vines)

*SHE IS HIS WITNESS
Biblical principal: by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. (Deu. 19:15)

The apostles to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish authorities: And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him." Acts 5:32 i.e. two witnesses on the earth, the Holy Spirit and the Bride.

Bride’s Presence on the earth bears constant witness to the resurrection of Christ; a constant thorn in the side for the enemy because her very presence in the world testifies that Christ rose and lives.

This witness is not handing out Christian tracts or street evangelising, though they may be outworkings of it. The witness is within her, it is resurrection life. She is both the witness and the evidence on the earth of Christ’s resurrection. The earth is currently Satan’s domain.
When Satan looks at the Bride he is reminded of the resurrection. Therefore she is persecuted.

A witness has a testimony. Each member of this corporate Bride has an individual testimony, a story.

John 19:35 John wrote about his own testimony: And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.

A witness bears witness to something he/she has seen and knows, his witness is genuine and firsthand and not contrived, not hearsay, not read in a book or seen on TV.

1 John 5:10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness (Greek “martyria”) IN HIMSELF; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony (martyria) that God has given of His Son.

The Bride BEARS witness, she carries it as part of her. She carries her own story, her own testimony of Christ the Overcomer. To doubt the witness that the Bride carries and the Bride gives of Jesus Christ is to call God a liar. God backs her up.

Three characteristics of the overcoming Bride: Rev. 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, (MARTYRIA) and they did not love their lives to the death.

1. The Blood of the Lamb: She knows her worth. She understands what it cost the Lamb to redeem her. She is clothed in humility but not held back by a sense of worthlessness. She has allowed and continues to allow the Blood to be applied to every part of her being and she is fully assured of its effectiveness.

Every aspect of her is immersed in the Lamb’s Blood. The enemy can find no foothold in her because she has come out of condemnation. If she falls she knows His faithfulness to forgive and restore because of His Blood.

She knows the power of His Blood to continually cleanse her. His Blood continually flows to her and is made available to her from Heaven enabling her to live a holy life in the midst of perverseness and wickedness.

The Blood is the symbol of the Bride’s communion with the Bridegroom. His word nourishes and keeps her, and His Blood enables her.

2. The word of testimony: Testimony is not of salvation alone. Testimony is much more, it is Christ in us in His resurrection Life lived out daily. That’s why it’s dangerous to the enemy, to the world which has rejected Him and to the apostate church. The Bride’s testimony is that she is proof that He lives. We all have our individual stories, but corporately we carry THAT story.

3. Loved not their lives (Greek: psuche) unto death.

Two major Greek words in the N.T. for life: there is “zoe life” which is the Christ life in the believer, Colossians 3:4 ‘when CHRIST WHO IS OUR LIFE appears, then you will appear with Him in glory.” See also:

Jesus is the Bread of Life (zoe) John 6:35 It is spiritual life, the breath of God. It is the eternal life that the Father and Son both have. (John 6:40). For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:26) I came that they may have life (zoe) John 10:10. John 6:63 The Spirit gives this life, “the words that I speak to you are Spirit and life”. (zoe).

Then there is the word ‘psuche’, meaning the individual natural life, the flesh life, the heart, mind, body, personality, or soul. It is this that the Bride does not love unto death.

e.g. The Good Shepherd lays down His life (psuche) for the sheep (John 10:11)

She has experienced the crucifixion of the flesh life and lives by the power of Christ’s life in her. She is being conformed to His death. This is what Paul meant when he said:

Gal. 2:20 KJV version: I AM crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me and the life (zoe) which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God....

Note: not as some versions say I have been crucified but I AM, IT IS PRESENT AT THIS MOMENT AND CONTINUAL, and not faith ‘in the Son’, but I live by the faith OF THE Son....)

So her life is drawn from Christ and not from her own flesh or soul life. She is dying to this world and living in it by Christ within her. In herself she is already laying down her life daily.

This is not necessarily about martyrdom, though it can include martyrdom. It is about living for Christ by dying to ourselves as a lifestyle. This is WHERE the Bride lives and HOW she lives. She is not loving and nurturing her individual life, she is loving and nurturing His life within her.

These are some important aspects of what the Bride will look like when she has made herself ready (Rev. 19:7), but we are here to talk about the Bride’s JOURNEY.

CALLED, CHOSEN AND FAITHFUL

MATTHEW 22:1-14 Parable of the wedding.
Culture Note: It was the custom for wealthy rulers to give out wedding garments to invited guests.

V.11 See: Greek word (‘theaomi” here for see is not the normal ‘see’, just casually looking. It means “an earnest contemplation, a careful and deliberate vision which interprets its object," (Vines). This great King is INSPECTING the guests at His Son’s wedding.

What does this parable establish?
*First, there will be a wedding. Those who attend this wedding will be given a wedding garment, Christ. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. Rom. 13:14 That word in the Greek for ‘put on’ literally means to ‘sink into’, ‘to be clothed with’.

*Second, that the King Himself, the Father, will inspect the guests to satisfy Himself they all have a right to be there. Anyone who is called to the wedding will be wearing the wedding garment (Christ). The man was still living in his flesh.

*Third: Many were called to this wedding event, but many took it lightly. Only those who responded wholeheartedly were given wedding garments. Speaks of commitment.

Those who were given the wedding garments responded to the invitation, to the call, with thorough commitment, valued the invitation above all else, understood they were there at the King’s initiation and not because they had a right to be there. Therefore they were chosen by the King as worthy to receive a wedding garment.

Then Jesus says at the end of telling this story: Matthew 22:14 Many are called, but few are chosen. Let’s look closer at this ‘called and chosen’.

CALLED: Church = Greek ‘ecclesia’ means ‘called out ones’.
The church is made up of ‘called out saints’. Romans 1:7 & 8. Paul to the church in Rome addressed them “the called of Jesus Christ, called to be saints”

Matt 4:18 & 21: He called them (Peter, Andrew, John, James) ‘they immediately left their nets and followed Him”; and ‘immediately they left their boat and their father, and followed Him.” And They LEFT : G. aperchomai, means to “depart, go away, give up, keep no longer”. It’s total, complete, not half-hearted.

Mark 3:13 “And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted.

Matt. 10:1, when He had called His 12 disciples. Called=G ‘kaleo’, from proskaleo, has the main meaning of ‘invite’, to call to ONESELF in a personal sense. Not to an someTHING like organisation, meeting, event, but someONEpersonal, to oneself.

So first there must be a calling out, away from something. Called out of what, away from what?

1 Peter 2:9 But you [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 1 Peter 2:9 We (the church) are called out of SPIRITUAL DARKNESS

God doesn’t call you out of something unless He’s calling you INTO something else. See Deut. 6:23, He brings us out to bring us in. The Church is:

Romans 1:7, called to be saints, 1 Cor. 1:9, called into the fellowship of His Son, called to peace 1 Cor. 7:15, called to liberty, Gal 5. 13, salvation, sanctification and truth 2 Thess., 2:13, eternal life 1 Tim. 6:12, to suffer for doing good 1 Peter 2:21, to love one another 1 Peter 3:9, eternal glory 1 Peter 5:10.

So we’ve been called out of darkness, called into all these things and chosen as a set apart people, a holy, and royal people. Note this word ‘chosen’ is the exact same in the Greek as ‘elect’ (Mark 13:20). Greek ‘eklektos”.

NOW Turn to Revelation 17:14: These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful."

Those who are with Him are Called, chosen and FAITHFUL. We are beginning to see the Bride. What do these things show us about the Bride? She is called, i.e. saved, having made a commitment to follow, but more. She is called and chosen i.e. saved and in the process of discipleship, but more than that. She is called, chosen and having been tested, she remains faithful.

The Bride is fully faithful because she reflects the Bridegroom’s own nature. Rev. 1:5 and 3:14, 19:11 He is called the Faithful and the True Witness, faithfulness is part of His essential character. He cannot be otherwise.

2 Timothy 2:12,13, if we deny Him He will deny us, but if we are faithless He will remain faithful.
Faithful is He that calls (kaleo) you. 1 Thess 5:24

CALLED AND CHOSEN:
A brief look at two different apostles: Judas and Peter. Both called, both chosen, see John 6:70: “did I not choose you the twelve and one of you is a devil?” Yes, Judas was CALLED AND CHOSEN.

When tested, Judas could not walk in faithfulness. He experienced the same discipleship as the others, had seen the same miracles, heard the same teachings and parables, observed Jesus daily, heard Him pray, seen Him weep, heard what He said about Himself. But when Jesus set His face to the Cross, Judas could not go the distance to faithfulness (Luke 9:51).

Peter was also called and chosen. He said, Lord we have left everything to follow you, and he had (Matt. 19:27). He boasted “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” (Mark 26.35) but when Jesus set His Face to the Cross, we know Peter couldn’t live up to his own boast. He denied Him three times and in the process was thoroughly broken in soul and spirit (Luke 22:62).

Peter found out he had limited faithfulness. The difference? Peter repented and was given another chance. This time he came through.

See John 21. Jesus meets with Peter and asks him three times to affirm his love for Him. See John 21:15 Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?

What’s the ‘these’ in our lives? What would Jesus hold up before us to ask if we love Him more? Family, lifestyle, career, ministry, church, reputation, money, security, tradition, home and country?

It’s not hard to love Jesus. Many people love Jesus. Even the Muslims love Jesus and call Him a prophet. No doubt Judas loved Jesus after a fashion. Many people throughout history have loved Jesus. Many in the church love Jesus. A rich young ruler loved Jesus but couldn’t follow Him all the way. Matt. 19:16-22, Luke 18:18-24 Jesus is easy to love. He’s not always easy to follow though.

THE QUESTION IS NOT DO WE LOVE HIM, IT’S DO WE LOVE HIM MORE? It’s the difference between Saviour and Lord. Three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him and three times Peter said ‘you know I do.” Finally Jesus said “follow me” (John 21:22) And we know that he did to the very costly end. Peter was executed in Rome, crucified under the Emperor Nero. That’s faithfulness.

The point is, BOTH JUDAS AND PETER WERE CALLED AND CHOSEN, ONLY ONE WAS FULLY FAITHFUL. Many are called, that’s salvation, few are chosen, that’s discipleship, and fewer still are faithful, that’s BRIDESHIP. And that faithfulness is full and complete.

FAITHFULNESS
So what is faithfulness? Simply keeping of covenant. Deut. 7:9 Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant.....

Numbers 12:7 Moses was said by the Lord to be ‘faithful in ALL My house....”

Notice Miriam and Aaron were anointed by the Lord, Miriam as a prophetess and Aaron for the role of the high priest, but this did not make them faithful. Anointing, gifting, position, title ARE NOT evidence of faithfulness.

Numbers 12:9 So the anger of the Lord was aroused against them, (Miriam and Aaron) and He departed. It is faithfulness that marks the Bride and sets her apart, even among the called out ones. God does not measure gifting, anointing, or even the level of sufferings....He does measure faithfulness. (Matt. 25:23; Luke 12:42,43)

The faithfulness of Abram....” You are the LORD God, Who chose Abram, And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, And gave him the name Abraham; you found his heart faithful before you and made a covenant with him Nehemiah 9:7-8

Faithfulness is ALWAYS ASSOCIATED WITH COVENANT. God takes covenant seriously. Unfortunately many in the church don’t.

THE BRIDEGROOM’S COVENANT WITH THE BRIDE
At the Last Supper Jesus called His followers, the church, to covenant. Not time to go into greater detail here, but what we read John 14:2-3 were the traditional words spoken by the bridegroom to the bride at a Jewish Betrothal ceremony, Jewish betrothal ceremony. Remeber Jesus in the flesh was Jewish. His Hebrew name is Yeshua, meaning ‘salvation’ (Jesus is only the English translation, meaning Joshua). Jesus was born into a Jewish family, lived among Jewish culture and practised Jewish traditions. We lose out understanding much of the New Testament when we deny these facts. Salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22). He made a promise to return for His Bride with these words:

In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. Jewish traditional betrothal covenant statement made by a bridegroom to his bride.

God’s Word is His Covenant to us. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful (Heb. 10.23). The Bride knows the Bridegroom is faithful to His Covenant. She knows He keeps His Word, His Covenant with her.

Eve is a type of the Bride,. Eve was promised a seed would come through womankind that would crush the head of the serpent who had deceived her (Gen. 3:15) Every Jewish woman knew of this promise. Every Jewish girl carried it, wondering if it would be her, Every Jewish man wondered if it would be his own daughter. This prophetic promise, this Covenant, was fulfilled in Mary the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:26-55). God is faithful.

Even so, The Bride carries a prophetic promise from the Bridegroom, it is the promise of His return. Every member of the Bride wonders if it will be fulfilled in his or her lifetime, but even in death they do not doubt that promise. The Bride knows He is faithful because He cannot deny Himself.

By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Heb. 11:11

The Bride judges Him faithful who has promised. And the Bridegroom in return requires faithfulness from His Bride.

Faithfulness comes forth from faith. You cannot have faithfulness without faith. It is the job of the Holy Spirit to bring forth this faithfulness in God’s people, because it’s a fruit of the Spirit, Gal. 5:22

The worthiness of the Bride is not measured by her sufferings, her anointing, her gifting, her exploits. It is measured by one thing alone: the FULLNESS of her faithfulness.

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STUDY NOTES FOR THE BRIDE, HER JOURNEY AND DESTINATION

PART TWO: The Bride’s Journey and Destination

All scriptures NKJV unless otherwise stated.

Paul to the Philippians 3:7-15

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which [is] from the law, but that which [is] through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind;.....

May be a familiar passage. But this is Paul, apostle, bondservant, leader in the New Testament church. Paul wrote this letter from a Roman prison not as a new Christian but as a seasoned apostle. Yet, here he is talking about ‘gaining Christ”, saying he hasn’t yet reached his goal, but he is pressing on in the hope of reaching some goal he sees in front of him, straining towards some prize he can see but hasn’t quite laid hold of yet. What’s he talking about?

We know Paul had an extraordinary salvation experience on the road to Damascus. We know he was gloriously filled with the Spirit. (See Acts 9). We know he forsook his former life completely and became a missionary apostle, travelling, establishing local assemblies of believers, experiencing hardship, suffering persecution, whippings, imprisonment, shipwreck, yet here he is saying I have not yet reached this higher call (KJV) but I am on my way... I can constantly see it just ahead of me.

Let’s examine the passage more closely:
v. 8 I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may GAIN CHRIST AND BE FOUND IN HIM. Well, hadn’t he already gained Christ?
“Gain” = GreekKerdaino, speaks of “so practically appropriating Christ to oneself that He becomes the dominating power in and over one's whole being and circumstances.” (Vines)

v. 10: that I may KNOW Him (Greek” ginosko”)
Several Greek words for the English ‘know’ in the New Testament, but “ginosko” implies intimate relationship between the one knowing and the one being known. It implies an intimate, personal knowledge beyond just mere observation or casual acquaintance.

For example:
*Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" Luke 1:34

*And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread. Luke 24:35
*I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. John 10:14,15

*And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness Matthew 7:23

These are all examples of ‘ginosko’ to know intimately through relationship.

v. 10 still: “and the power (dunamis) of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings”, The Bride wants the Bridegroom’s fellowship at all cost, whether it be in His supernatural power OR His suffering. It’s the fellowship with Him that is her utmost goal.

“ being conformed to His death, if by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Attain here means “to arrive at”. She knows the way to the fullness of His resurrection is by being conformed to His death, not averting the Cross He brings to her life. To so bear Christ’s image in this life that both His death and His resurrection would flow freely and unhindered.

v. 12 “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected....” Remember this is the apostle Paul after many years of ministry. ‘Perfected” means to be made complete, to be finished. This is not about salvation, it is about MATURITY. It’s about the fullness of faithfulness.

“but I press on”, the Greek implies to “seek after earnestly, eagerly, to run swiftly, purposefully, with intent etc”. This is a passionate running, there is nothing casual about it.

“that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me”.

Lay hold of: Greek katalambano, to seize, to make something one’s own by TAKING POSSESSION OF IT.

v. 13 “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended”; he’s saying
“I don’t consider I’m there yet. I haven’t fully taken possession of what I see up ahead, but I am fervently pursuing it.”

“but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind” ;forgetting: Greek word means no longer caring for them at all;

“and reaching forward to those things which are ahead”....reaching forward: Greek epektanomi, stretching out forward towards something one can see or sense. David said in Psalm 16 : “I set the Lord always before me.” He continually sought His Face above all else. This is what Paul is talking about.

v. 14: “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
King James says “I press toward the goal for the prize of the HIGH CALL of God in Christ Jesus. (Greek means ‘a higher place” ). “Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind;”

Now remember where we started: Rev. 21:9: "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." Bride and wife are two different words. I will show you the Bride, Greek nymphe,(numpha) a betrothed woman, a young, newly married woman; the Lamb’s wife: G. gyne (guna) was used for a mature woman, a wife.

There’s a high calling. The calling to Brideship. This is what Paul was talking about, not salvation, not good works, etc. Brideship in its fullness, maturity.
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Looking for a City, Abraham’s Parallel Journey

Heb 13:14 For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.

In 2003 and 2004 the Lord gave me a panoramic prophetic vision which I called The Burning City. (Can be read on the website www.greatsouthland.org) The vision spoke of people finding their way out of a city being destroyed by fire . I believe it has relevance to the spiritual journey many of us find ourselves on.

Jesus spoke of His people being like a city set on a hill (Matt. 5:14) A city can be a place of refuge and shelter or it can be a place of disaster and enslavement. Revelation talks about a harlot city called Babylon and a Bride city called the New Jerusalem.

In light of all this, I want us to look briefly at Abraham’s life.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Heb. 11: 8-10
......
There’s are some parallels in his journey that we can identify with and that I hope will challenge each one of us. His story starts in Genesis 11:31:32

And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

Terah, Abram’s father, leads his family out from Ur to seek Canaan but never gets there. He sets up camp at Haran. Cities are going to crop up quite a bit in this study, so let’s look at Ur of the Chaldeans. Chaldeans were a fierce, warlike people. Some say “Chaldees” is a mistranslation of the Hebrews word “Kasdim, which is the O.T. name of the Babylonians.

Some controversy about where Ur was actually located, modern day Turkey or Iraq, but most scholars believe the city of Ur was dedicated to the worship of the moon god and other deities. It was a place of human sacrifice and a centre of astrology.

We are going to follow a timeline of Abraham’s life from the time he is first called out from Haran to near the end of his life. Haran can mean road, or crossroad. It’s here at this crossroad that Abram first hears from God and is called out & promised an inheritance. God says “Get out of your country, your family, your father’s house to a land I will show you.” It is the Hebrew word ‘raa’ meaning to see with your eyes.

Genesis 12:6 Abram arrives at Shechem (meaning shoulder) in Canaan. In Shechem the Lord, rendered "Yahweh" in the original Hebrew, appears to Abram and Abram builds an altar for Him. Gen. 12:7 "The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD (Yahweh) , who had appeared to him."
The shoulder speaks of strength, stamina. Abram, not knowing any other way of worship, builds an altar by the strength of his own hands to this new unfamiliar God who has called him out.
Gen 12: 8 Abram " went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east.” Bethel is the house of God, Ai is a heap of ruins. "There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD (Yahweh)"

Here’s Abram with the house of God on one side and a heap of ruins on his other side. That heap of ruins still holds some interest. Once again he builds an altar and calls on the Name, but he’s got one eye on that heap of ruins. We’re on the same journey. “OK so I’ve started out on this new road, following this God who promises me all kinds of things, but surely there’s something I can bring with me from that heap of ruins?” And God says “We don’t need it, leave it behind you.” “But surely you can’t be serious God. There’s too much of value in that heap of ruins to leave behind, I mean there’s my education. I was taught by the finest scholars in the city of Ur. And my family name. I come from a long line of Chaldean princes. Not to mention the skills I have learned from my father and his father before him in running the family business. I have a lot to offer you.” “Leave it child, it’s all a heap of ruins. I call you to something new.” So we continue building in our own strength, still figuring out a way we can salvage something of our past that will surely come in handy on this journey.

If we were to ask Abram at this stage of the journey “who are you?” he would answer: I am Abram, son of Terah, Noble Citizen of Ur and a Prince of the Chaldeans, who has been called out of my father’s house to follow an unknown God.
Gen 12:10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. There’s a famine and Abram went down to Egypt, to live there. He’s not visiting, he’s dwelling. He’s been distracted from his intended destination. What’s he doing in Egypt? Prophetically Egypt represents the world. Abram’s still not sure who he is or who God is. In his way of thinking, he’s still the son of Terah, not yet a son of God. He can’t yet trust God with big things like providing for his family.

We are on the same journey. Surely a little friendship with the world won’t do any harm? After all, I know who I am. I’m a Christian. I know where to draw the line. I can withstand any temptation the world throws at me. There are things in Egypt I need. And God says, All you need I can provide. But it’s too late, we’ve already crossed the border.

Genesis 12:11-20 Even before entering Egypt Abram is already scheming how to fit in with Egypt’s ways. So he lies about Sara, i saying she is his sister but not his wife, (only to protect his own life). God protects Sarai and exposes Abram’s lie....resulting in an altercation with Pharoah, and Abram is rejected by Egypt. The world will accept you as long as you conform. The world doesn’t like ‘different’. Abram was sent packing.

Genesis 13:3,4 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD. So Abram returns to Bethel, "to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD (Yahweh)".

Notice Abram again calls on the name of Yahweh. He is back at Bethel, the house of God. He has made a decision. Egypt is not for him....he will continue to follow this God who calls Himself Yahweh and BUILD ALTARS TO HIM FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE.

We are on the same journey. Having been called out from the world we find we can’t return to the world unless we conform to the world, which puts us at enmity with God. SO WE TURN WHOLEHEARTEDLY TO RELIGION . The world has spurned us so we will spurn the world. We will show the world what righteousness really is. We will wear the right clothes, read the right books, quote the right scriptures, sing the right songs in order to show how right we really are now that we’ve found the way God wants us to go. We will be the best Christian we possibly can be, NO SACRIFICE WILL BE TOO GREAT and God will surely be so pleased He will reward us with peace and prosperity.

Who are you Abram? I am Abram, who has contended with Pharoah and lived!

Genesis 13:18, the scriptures tell us for the fourth time that Abram builds yet another altar for Yahweh, this time at Mamre (meaning ‘strength, fatness”). "Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD (Yahweh)."

This is a period of growing prosperity for Abram.....his skills and talents bring him wealth and self-reliance. His reputation as a man of wisdom grows, he gains respect and a name for himself. Maybe this journey will turn out to be OK after all. Maybe I’ll just settle here in this place of my strength and fatness and enjoy the rest of my life.

We’re on the same journey. Things start to go well for us and complacency and comfort become our biggest enemies. God says ‘keep moving’ but we like it where we are. Surely this must be the land He promised us.
But in Genesis 14, things start to change dramatically. War comes. A mighty battle takes place between two separate alliances of five kings and four kings, Abram’s nephew Lot, the closest thing he has to a natural son, is taken captive by the victorious four kings, and Abram is bound by kinship to pursue them. Abram wins a mighty victory, rescues his nephew and ends up a whole lot wealthier.

Then we read in verse 17: "And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley), after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him. Then Melchizedek king of Salem (meaning peace) brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said:
"Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand." And he gave him a tithe of all. Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself." (Gen. 14:17-21)

Melchizadek, King of Peace and Priest of the Most High God, comes out to meet Abram in the King’s Valley. He blesses Abram and blesses God Most High, Funnily enough, along comes the King of the City of Sodom, who had been part of the defeated alliance of kings, to tempt Abram, saying " give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself." Sound familiar?
(See Matt. 4:8-10 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Give me the people, and take the material riches.) Sodom, by the way means "burnt, bituminous, and volcanic".

Verse 22 "But Abram said to the king of Sodom: "I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High (Hebrew Yaweh El Elyon), Possessor of Heaven and Earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say "I have made Abram rich....." (Gen. 14: 22,23). This is a watershed moment in Abram’s journey. Up until now Abram has been calling on the Name of Yahweh, the ONE WHO EXISTS. But now in coming face to face with the mysterious priest Melchizadek, he has a revelation that this God he's been dealing with is not just any God. He's El Elyon, the MOST HIGH GOD! Yaweh El Elyon means "the supreme, the most lofty, the highest God."
Abram raises his right hand in recognition of El Elyon, which was an ancient method of taking a very solemn oath (see Isa. 62:8, Dan. 12:7, Rev. 10:5 &6). Abram has such a revelation of God that their relationship goes to a whole new level. How do we know.?

Gen 15: 1-2 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." But Abram said "Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" (Gen. 15:1,2) Did you get that? Abram is now calling Yahweh "Lord God" or "ADONAI YAHWEH" "Adonai Yaweh" literally translates "Sovereign Lord, Master, Owner". Abram’s journey has taken him from "Yahweh", to "El Elyon" and now to "Adonai Yaweh"! Abram has arrived at a place where he is acknowledging that not only is Yahweh the Most High God, Possessor of Heaven and Earth, but that He also has the right of OWNERSHIP over Abram himself.

Abram is now more than called out, He’s a follower, He’s a disciple. He has entered into covenant. We are on the same journey. God is continually revealing Himself to us. He calls us to deeper and deeper relationship with Him. He brings watershed moments and seasons into our lives where everything we thought we knew is tested and shaken and we find out we didn’t know nearly as much as we thought we did. He desires us to not only follow Him but to know Him. He knows that only in finding out Who He is will we find out who we are.

Then we find in Genesis 15 that God initiates a blood covenant with Abram. He Did so through a very ancient custom described in verses 9 through 17. Genesis 15:18: On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram. So Abram’s finding out who God is. But he hasn’t yet found out who HE is! Who are you Abram? I am Abram, conqueror of kings and follower of God Most High! I am in covenant with El Elyon!

Moving into Chapter 16... we know the story. God has promised Abram fatherhood, not only of a son, but of a nation. He has sealed His promise with a covenant . Abram knows Sarai is past child bearing age, so presumes God will give him a son through Sarai’s maid Hagar, which was the custom. As a result Ishmael is born. Abram assumes he has the son he has been promised and gets on with his life. Abram has wealth, reputation and at last he has a son. What more could he want? Surely NOW he has arrived at the place God wanted to show him.

But then, God suddenly turns up again In Gen. 17:1: we read “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I [am] Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. It is years later. And He says to Abram: I am EL SHADDAI the ALL POWERFUL, THE ALMIGHTY.” Now when God begins to reveal a new aspect of His own character you can bet it’s with the purpose of doing SOMETHING NEW in your life. And just to show He’s serious, God changes Abram’s name to Abraham, meaning father of many nations. God is saying not only am I El Elyon, the most High God, I am El Shaddai and I have the power to bring about what I have promised you.”

We are on the same journey. Abraham wants desperately to believe, but reveals his own heart when he pleads: “Oh that Ishmael might live before you”. “Please Lord, don’t rock the boat. Look around ....I’ve got a good life here. Things are going well. I have followed you to this place and you have, in turn, blessed me. Why spoil things? There’s no need for you to go to all that trouble, God, see I’ve already taken care of the matter for you.” Instead of being grateful, God says,” no”. “It is Sarai your wife I have chosen to be the mother of this nation. Ishmael shall be blessed, but he is not the child of covenant Abraham had done the best he could with what he had. What more can be asked of any human being? But it wasn’t GOOD ENOUGH for God.

What a moment! HAVE YOU HAD THAT MOMENT? If not, then by God’s grace may you be brought to it.

Chapter 17:17: Abraham doesn’t build an altar this time. Instead he falls on his face, laughing. Things have gone from sublime to ridiculous! All the altars and sacrifices in the world aren’t going to fix this one. Everything he’s done to help God is falling down before his eyes. All the years spent in his self-righteous religion have been utterly worthless. At last he knows what God has known all along, religion with all its man made altars, it’s never ending sacrifice, is just the flesh in disguise.
Who are you Abraham? I am Abraham, father of nations, who has been blind, foolish and deceived by my own goodness.
Gen 22:8: We come to a day when God asked the unthinkable of Abraham....the sacrifice of his son Isaac, the same child of covenant who had been promised so many years before. Again we find Abraham building an altar, but this time at God’s direction. But there is no longer a divided heart in Abraham, not even an argument. Abraham knows who he is and more importantly He knows His God.

Gen. 22:8 “ Where is the lamb father?” And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.
We are on the same journey. God is willing to spend our whole lifetime bringing us to that point where we can utter those words from the deepest place of our being, even in unimaginable testing. “God will provide for Himself..... “ The same One who provided our salvation provides our righteousness. Why are we so far into the journey before we can receive that revelation?

Gen22:19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

Abraham is now dwelling at BEERSHEBA; THE WELL OF THE OATH. He has found a place of peace and rest, his life is sustained by the water he draws daily from the well God has provided. His faith is sustained by the knowledge of God’s faithfulness. His faith no longer rests in his own strength, his own wisdom, or his own abilities. His faith rests in the faithfulness of God.

Abraham had come to a deep sense of resting in the God he had come to know. He arrived at that rest because he never gave up pursuing God, even when it cost him everything. Something continually called him onward. He caught sight of something ..... a vision that would not let him go, a spiritual city unlike any city he ever visited.
By faith...... he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Heb. 11:10
We are on the same journey. At every point in the road Abraham could have said “I’ve gone as far as I want to go God. I will settle here.” Here in Egypt where I can still enjoy all the world has to offer me, or here in Mamre where I am surrounded by all I have built and accomplished, or here with Ishmael, the evidence of my human strength, or here tending these many altars I have built you.

Who are you Abraham? I am Abraham, the called out one who walks in the shadow of God Most High. It is He you need to know about, not me. I am merely a traveller on the road with you, looking for a city I once glimpsed in a dream. Are you on the same journey?

Who are we, and what are we doing? We are those who have been called out of darkness, and into the realm of walking with God through the Spirit of God. We are looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. We are on the same journey, Abraham, Paul, each one of us. The message is simple, wherever you are on that journey, maybe trying to salvage something from the past, maybe still flirting with the ways of Egypt, maybe still building altars and burning sacrifices, relying on your own strength and religious lifestyle....iIn the end God will show you none of it is good enough for Him. He has something better for you than where you are now....always. You can camp where you are or you can keep journeying towards that great Bridal city.

You are the LORD God, Who chose Abram, And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, And gave him the name Abraham;you found his heart faithful before you and made a covenant with him Nehemiah 9:7-8

I believe the city Abraham was travelling towards, the spiritual place Paul said he had still to attain and the city we are travelling towards are one and the same: the New Jerusalem, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. We have been called, we have been chosen, but marriage to the Lamb, brideship, is all about keeping covenant. And keeping covenant is about faithfulness.

The book of Hebrews has a lot to say about this city, this homeland, this high calling we reach for. For instance,

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. Heb. 11:13-16

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem......Heb. 12:22

The question I leave you with is “where am I on this journey?” Can I remain faithful, no matter where the journey leads, no matter what the cost. Can I truly testify that the Bridegroom is worthy of all He asks of me? And when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faithfulness on the earth?" (Luke 18:8)