From the examples above, we can conclude that, in order to be a son of David, you must be willing to operate in the innovative wisdom of God. When you are operating in God's New-Covenant wisdom, you will be prone to "fashioning new things", constantly pushing the envelope as you grow in your spiritual understanding, creating new "spiritual technologies" that enable the manifestation of God's eternal purposes on Earth. When the Lord God placed Joseph, son of David, as a father figure in Jesus' life, He did so in order to enable an impartation of the David anointing of innovative wisdom in Jesus' life.

As a parenthesis, it is worth considering that Joseph's presence in Jesus' early life is a fulfilment of the following promise that God made to David:

"And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. " (2 Samuel 7:16)

"⁸ Arise, O LORD, into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength. ⁹ Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy. ¹⁰ For thy servant David's sake turn not away the face of thine anointed. ¹¹ The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. ¹² If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore. ¹³ For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. ¹⁴ This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. ¹⁵ I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread. ¹⁶ I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. ¹⁷ There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. ¹⁸ His enemies will I clothe with shame: but upon himself shall his crown flourish." (Psalm 132:8-18)

Notice how verse 11 above declares that God will set the "fruit of thy body" on David's throne, yet the Holy Spirit makes absolutely no effort in Scripture to establish a biological connection between Jesus and David. This reveals that the promise of verse 11 was fulfilled through Joseph's physical body. As he physically stood before Jesus during His early years, he became a "point of contact", an instrument of impartation of David's anointing upon Jesus' life, making Jesus into a "son of David" who walked in the innovative wisdom anointing of David.

{It is worth noting that some Bible "scholars" make an effort to "prove" that the genealogy in Luke 3 is actually Mary's by "noting" the fact that Joseph is called the "son of Jacob" in Matthew 1:16 but is called the "son of Heli" in Luke 3:23. These stubborn Girgashite scholars then conclude that the phrase "son of Heli" really means "son-in-law of Heli" because Joseph "could not have possibly" been the son of both Jacob and Heli at the same time. This is how these recalcitrant fools turn the genealogy of Luke 3 into Mary's, instead of Joseph's. However, this clever intellectual trick ignores several facts. For one, there are several instances in Scripture where the same person is referred to by different names in separate passages (as in the case of Moses' father-in-law, who is called Reuel in Exodus 2:18, Hobab in Judges 4:11, and Jethro in other verses); this "name change" is done for prophetic purposes, for each name is intended by the Holy Spirit to impart a different message, depending on the passage's context. The fact that a single person in Scripture can have several names, not only in a spiritual sense but in the natural sense, is evident in people such as Simon (also known as "Cephas" or "Peter"), Saul (later known as "Paul"), Jacob (also known as "Israel"), and Silvanus (also known as "Silas" for short). Another thing that these Girgashite scholars ignore is the fact that, in Scripture, to be called a "son" of a given person does not denote a direct "father-son" relationship in the natural sense of the phrase; instead, it denotes genealogical lineage. For example, Jacob was considered a "son of Abraham", even if his literal "father" was Isaac, which literally made Jacob Abraham's "grandson". In fact, all of the Israelites considered themselves "sons of Abraham", even if Abraham was actually their great-great-...-great grandfather. The very fact that Jesus was called a "son of David" even when David had died hundreds of years earlier exposes the fact that the word "son" is used in Middle-Eastern culture in a far more figurative sense than in modern Western culture. This is the reason why genealogies in Scripture may at times skip intermediate generations. For example, if A was the son of B, B the son of C, C the son of D, D the son of E, and E the son of F, it is possible that the Holy Spirit may simply say, "A son of C, son of F". Why? Because, given the context of the genealogy, the Holy Spirit may deem it spiritually relevant to mention A, C, and F only. Thus, when the Holy Spirit lists 14 generations between Abraham and David in Matthew 1, the only thing we can say for certain is that the 14 generations mentioned are spiritual milestones in the "path" from Abraham to David, and it is possible that some intermediate generations may have been left unmentioned. Therefore, we can conclude that the fools who try to turn the genealogy in Luke into Mary's genealogy are only showing their unwillingness to understand Scripture beyond the understanding of natural man.}

Joseph the interim protector

Despite the fact that Joseph the tekton, son of David, was a crucial element in the fulfilment of a very meaningful promise made by God to David, the Holy Spirit says little about his life in Scripture. What we do know is that the Lord used him to protect Jesus' life when He was a child. First, he served as a covering shield for Mary whilst she was with child (Matthew 1:19-25). Had Joseph not been willing to take Mary as his wife, life for the pregnant Mary and for Jesus Himself would have been much more difficult, and it would have been riddled both with great poverty and much public shame from the very beginning. Joseph was also fundamental in protecting Jesus from Herod:

"¹³ And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. ¹⁴ When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: ¹⁵ And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son." (Matthew 2:13-15)

Notice that the angel appeared to Joseph, not to Mary, which means that Joseph was the one entrusted by God with the protection of both Jesus the child and His vulnerable mother. Joseph was endowed with the ability and the means to protect Yeshua the child, keeping the embodiment of the Promise alive and preventing the Promise perishing before its full-blown manifestation. Notice also that Yosef (i.e.- Joseph) the tekton took Yeshua to Egypt for a season, just as Yosef, the son of Jacob, took the people of Israel to Egypt to take refuge there for a season (Genesis 47:10-11).

Joseph is mentioned during Jesus' early days, and is briefly alluded to when Jesus was 12 years old. After that, he is never mentioned again. When Jesus would be "visited" by His "relatives" during the days of His public ministry, only Mary and His brothers and sisters are mentioned. When Jesus was hanging from a cross, only his mother was present. All of this seems to indicate that Joseph had already passed away by then. If this is the case, it is interesting to consider that the Holy Spirit does not bother to detail what happened to him, virtually making him disappear from the physical scene. It is also interesting that the Holy Spirit chose to explicitly declare Joseph's impartation presence until Jesus' age of twelve, after which Jesus "emancipates" Himself from His earthly parents by staying at the temple in Jerusalem without requesting their permission. That is when Jesus makes it very clear to Mary (not to Joseph) that His father was up in Heaven and not down on Earth. Jesus had been a child for so long under their care that Mary forgot who His ultimate Father was (Luke 2:43-50). At the end of the narration of this incident, the Holy Spirit emphasises the fact that Jesus "increased in wisdom and stature" (Luke 2:52), which points to the impartation of innovative-wisdom anointing that continued to flow from Joseph, son of David (Luke 2:4), into Yeshua's life.

The fact that Joseph was not "there" (at least physically) to witness the full-blown manifestation of Jesus' earthly ministry means that his role was one of protecting the embodiment of the Promise, making sure it "stayed alive", without having the opportunity to witness its full-blown manifestation. When Jesus died, Jewish custom indicated that his "father" was to be the one responsible for burying the body. Since Joseph, son of David, was no longer around, he was unable to show up to claim Jesus' body. Interestingly enough, however, another Joseph did show up to claim the body, Joseph of Arimathaea; and, just like Joseph, the husband of Mary, Joseph of Arimathaea is known in religious circles as "St. Joseph" (or "San Jose" in Spanish).

According to Scripture, Joseph of Arimathaea was a rich man:

"⁵⁷ When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple: ⁵⁸ He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. ⁵⁹ And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰ And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed." (Matthew 27:57-60)

Had Joseph of Arimathaea not showed up to claim Jesus' body, it would have become exposed to defilement, and even destruction, by the Lord's enemies. This evidences once again how the name "Joseph" is associated with protecting the "embodiment" of the Promise to prevent it being spoilt by the enemy. The fact that Joseph was a rich man is relevant to his "protector" role. In order to provide a protective "cave" for another person, you must have the resources to create the "cave" and sustain the protected person during his time of seclusion. The fact that Joseph the protector had to be a rich man is so relevant that the Holy Spirit prophesied about it centuries earlier:

"⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. ⁸ He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. ⁹ And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth." (Isaiah 53:7-9)

When Martin Luther (the man whom God used to start the Protestant Reformation in 1517) began to suffer persecution for starting the Protestant Reformation, a rich German prince, Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, had him intercepted by masked horsemen as he was heading home, who then escorted him to a castle, Wartburg Castle, at Eisenach, where he remained for a season under the prince's protection, as indicated on wikipedia.org.

You can measure the potential of a revival's longevity and impact by the "Joseph of Arimathaea" who is willing to step up and protect the "revolution's body". In Jesus' case, his post-mortem protector was an "honourable counsellor" (Mark 15:43) who belonged to the Sanhedrin, a man of great importance in the community who was inside the system but was not in agreement with it. In Martin Luther's case, his "post-mortem" protector was Frederick III, a man of great wealth and influence in German society who made himself available to Martin Luther to help him change the German (and European) society of their day. In Joseph the son of Jacob's case, he had as his protector the Pharaoh of Egypt, a man who was willing to enable a "foreigner", a young man who came out of nowhere; and, in doing so, Pharaoh prevented the sons of Jacob dying in the famine, allowing the promise of a multitudinous Israelite nation to remain alive. Sadly enough, the remnant who were forging the latter-rain revival across the US, the UK, and all of Europe in this present generation had no significant "Joseph of Arimathaea" from within the system who was willing to step up and protect the remnant after they went into 5th-seal hibernation. Even after the painful 4-year revival delay that God decreed between 2005 and 2009, not one "Joseph of Arimathaea" from within the system stepped up to provide the necessary protection to the revival's bodily manifestation. What God had intended to turn into a spiritual revival unrivalled in human history, man turned into a "non-event" due to his spiritual indifference. As a result, God was forced to raise up a different Joseph of Arimathaea for His latter-rain remnant, a Joseph who could do little but prevent the latter-rain promise perishing altogether for not only this generation but the next generation.

As a parenthesis, it is worth noting that Frederick III, Martin Luther's protector, was also known as "Frederick the Wise", according to wikipedia.org. This once again points to the spiritual connection between the "Joseph the protector" anointing and the David spirit of innovative wisdom.

The soulless tin man

As indicated on wikipedia.org, it is believed that Joseph of Arimathaea took the Gospel to Britain, allowing Christianity to take hold in Britain long before it took hold in Rome. These "legends" of Joseph arriving in Britain abounded during the Middle Ages. Hippolytus, a learned Christian historian from the late 2nd century and early 3rd century, includes Joseph in his list of the 70+ disciples sent by Jesus in Luke 10, pairing him up with Aristobulus (who is mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:10 and is believed to have been the brother of the apostle Barnabas). Hippolytus then declares that Aristobulus, Joseph's "tag-team partner", ended up becoming a pastor in Britain. Aristobulus, also known as "Aristobulus of Britannia", was so well remembered amongst the Brythonic Celts that a region was named after him (according to wikipedia.org); that region is Arwystli, a cantref in medieval Wales located in the headland of the River Severn that is now part of the county of Powys (as indicated on wikipedia.org). This rather early presence of Christianity in Britannia is further documented by Tertullian, a prolific Christian author (from the region of North Africa) who wrote during the early part of the 3rd century. Tertullian wrote in his Latin work "Adversus Judaeos" that Christianity had already taken hold in Britain by the early 3rd century. He does not describe, however, how Christianity arrived in Britannia. Other historians and writers from the 3rd and 4th centuries also testify that some of Christ's disciples crossed the Channel and landed in the British Isles, and that the apostles had established churches in Britain.

A "legend" that has come down through the centuries is that Joseph of Arimathaea's wealth came from being a tin merchant. Since Britain had an abundance of tin mines at the time, it is believed that Joseph visited Cornwall at least once, and, according to this "legend", Joseph brought Jesus along with him when He was child. According to the legend, the reason why Joseph of Arimathaea knew Jesus as a child is because he was Jesus' uncle. It is believed that Jesus travelled with Joseph to what is now Glastonbury. This "legend" about Jesus walking on British soil is the motivation behind William Blake's famous poem, "And did those feet in ancient time", a poem from the first decade of the 19th century:

And did those feet in ancient time.

Walk upon Englands mountains green:

And was the holy Lamb of God,

On Englands pleasant pastures seen!

And did the Countenance Divine,

Shine forth upon our clouded hills?

And was Jerusalem builded here,

Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;

Bring me my Arrows of desire:

Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!

Bring me my Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,

Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:

Till we have built Jerusalem,

In Englands green & pleasant Land

This poem is so significant in England that its musical version almost has the status of a national anthem. England does not have an official national anthem, the closest thing being "God save the Queen", which is the UK's national anthem. Even though "God save the Queen" is played in England's international football ("soccer") matches, the Jerusalem song is played before England's international cricket and rugby league matches.

Notice how Blake's poem speaks of a longing for a new Kingdom to be established, and, notice also how the narrator of the poem is not passively waiting for that Kingdom to come down from heaven on a silver platter. Instead, he speaks of not ceasing from "mental fight" and of his sword not sleeping in his hand until we have built Jerusalem in this earthly realm. When the Holy Spirit speaks of the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven in Revelation 21 (the second-to-last chapter in Scripture), He does so after having spoken of the remnant's latter-rain battle in the preceding 20 chapters. The New Jerusalem will not "magically" descend as we wait for an Old-Testament Moses to do all the work for us. Instead, it will come through the unleashing of mighty spiritual judgements that issue forth from God's faithful remnant, for the kingdom of God is not to be seen as an entity outside of and foreign to us; the kingdom of God flows forth from within us (Luke 17:20-21).

The key to the manifestation of the New Jerusalem is the unleashing of God's judgements into all the Earth. This is why the book of Revelation is the book in Scripture most densely populated with judgements. This is also why the Holy Spirit prompted William Blake to speak of a "mental fight". As we have shared before, the mind is the soul's "judgement factory". Therefore, a "mental fight" speaks of a mind issuing forth judgements until the New Jerusalem is forged. This correlates with the "sword" "in my hand" that the poem speaks of, for that points to the Sword of God's judgement logos (Hebrews 4:12). To operate in God's nature of righteousness and judgements (Ephesians 4:24-25), you must be renewed in the "spirit of your mind" (Ephesians 4:23), meaning that you must allow your mind's judgements to be moulded by the Spirit of God and not by the spirit of this world. When you allow the Spirit of God to be the "core engine" behind the judgements produced by your mind, you become an expander of God's righteousness on Earth, enabling the new Spirit-man inside of you to shine forth and rule.

All of this explains why the "legend" says that Joseph of Arimathaea was a tin merchant. As you may know, there is a famous literary character known a the "Tin Man", who appears in the Oz books (written by Frank Baum). The "tin man", whose original name was Nick Chopper, went from being a flesh-and-blood human being to a man made completely out of tin because of a spell that the Wicked Witch of the East placed on his axe (as indicated on wikipedia.org). Because he lost his "heart", the Tin Man was unable to "feel" emotions. Here, Frank Baum was using the word "heart" in the colloquial sense of the word, not in the Biblical sense. In Scripture, the word "heart" speaks of the part of the soul that makes decisions; in colloquial usage, the word "heart" refers to the part of the soul that produces emotions. To the matriarchal mind, the "heart" and the "emotions" are the same thing; to the Spirit-centred mind, they are different.

The "emotional disconnect" that the Tin Man experienced is a figure of the "cold-heartedness" that a Spirit-centred believer must manifest in order to walk in God's judgements. As we have shared before, the matriarchal soul abhors God's righteous judgements, deeming them too "heartless", too "insensitive". The matriarchal soul prefers a mercy that condones unrighteousness and allows it to fester, all for the sake of "unity" and "harmony". Ironically, the matriarchal soul can be the most "judgemental" and "close-minded" of all when dealing with those who oppose its views. Because the matriarchal soul is emotion-centric, its judgements tend to be irrational and anti-logical, and any attempt to disprove such judgements is generally futile, given that matriarchal souls have a hard time following a logical train of thought, especially if that train's final destination is a truth their emotions are uncomfortable with. A matriarchal soul would rather live in blatant self-contradiction than admit to the error of its judgements, for, to such a soul, accepting foolish self-contradiction and falsehood produces far less emotional pain and regret than the cold, hard truth.

In Baum's books, the Tin Man has a far more eminent role than that given to him by subsequent writers of the Oz books (and even in the 1939 film, which portrays him in a more childish light). In the original books, the Tin Man returns to the "Winkie Country" (after his journey with Dorothy) to rule as its emperor. This reveals the spiritual connection between "kingship" and "judgements". God's Kingship cannot be considered "fully manifested" unless His judgements are ruling the spiritual atmosphere.

As we have shared before, the ministry most directly related to the expansion of God's Kingdom is the evangelistic ministry, and the ministry most directly related to judgements is the apostolic ministry. As we have also said before, angels are apostolic and evangelistic in their spiritual functionality. Therefore, we can say that spiritual "tin men" act like angels, releasing judgements into the spiritual atmosphere as they long to see the full-blown manifestation of God's Kingship on Earth. Because of their "soullessness", angels are not easily swayed by the lures of soul communion. They are prone to leading lonely lives devoid of fellowship; they are the believers who become "eunuchs" for God's kingdom:

"¹¹ But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. ¹² For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." (Matthew 19:11-12)

This cutting off of fellowship is not a pleasant thing, and it is not something that these tin men "happily" commit to. Instead, it is something that is, in a sense, forced upon them by the magnitude of the soul stronghold on mankind and by the unwillingness of most to share in the burden. Just like the tin man in the Oz story, God's spiritual tin men long for the time when the burdensome battle will be over and they will be able to freely engage in soul communion without the fear of matriarchal contamination. Though they may behave like "soulless" individuals, they are as appreciative of soul communion as the next person, and they wish that their lives could reach a point where they could rest from all of their works and enjoy the fruits of their labour in restful prosperity. This longing for not only an eternal recompense but also a manifestation of that recompense in this realm is consistent with God's nature. This is why the Holy Spirit shows Jesus speaking about "eunuchs" in Matthew 19:11-12, and then shows Him saying the following 17 verses later:

"²⁸ And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life." (Matthew 19:28-29)

Notice how Jesus first speaks of "receiving a hundredfold" and then speaks of "inheriting eternal life". These two things are elaborated on in the parallel passage in Mark:

"²⁹ And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, ³⁰ But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." (Mark 10:29-30)

Notice that the "receiving of a hundredfold" is in this time and the "inheriting of eternal life" is in the "world to come". The word "world" in verse 30 is a misleading translation of the Greek word aion, which actually means "age, era, period of time". Therefore, we can safely say that "receiving a hundredfold" is for now, not for some far away eternity. As we have studied before, the word "hundredfold" cannot be interpreted literally, but it is clear that the Lord is justifying an expectation of reward in this realm, some sort of recompense or rest for the long period of sacrifice that the eunuch is willing to undertake.

One interesting fact about tin is that, unlike iron, it does not rust. This is one of the reasons why tin cans were used in Britain as air-tight food containers from the early 19th century onwards. As you may know, rust occurs when a metal starts interacting with the oxygen and water in the surrounding atmosphere. Curiously enough, oxygen and water are the compounds most responsible for infusing life into a living organism. Therefore, a rusted metal speaks of a soul that loses its ability to act as an angel of the Kingdom because it prefers to absorb and enjoy life outside the full context of God's eternal purposes on Earth. Tin men are not averse to breathing in oxygen and allowing the cool water of life to wash over them. They just want to do it without compromising their righteousness and without forsaking God's eternal purposes on Earth.

Beneath his New Jerusalem poem, Blake inscribed the following excerpt from the book of Numbers:

"... Would to God that all the LORD's people were prophets ..." (Numbers 11:29)

This points to the New-Covenant "spiritual technology" that God's tin men possess. They visualise the God-potential in others, and their desire is to see that potential manifested. That is what drives their lives and makes them willing to become eunuchs for the Kingdom of God. The generalised acceptance of these "tin-man" eunuchs and the New-Covenant "spiritual technology" that they herald is crucial to the manifestation of the latter rain revival. Therefore, it is no coincidence that tin's atomic number is 50, since, as we have said before, the number "50" speaks of spiritual revival.

Brit-tin-nia

Fellow believer, as you may have noticed, the previous section was born out of the "legend" that Joseph of Arimathaea was a tin merchant who visited Britain, taking Jesus with him on at least one occasion when Jesus was still a young child. As we have said before, myths and legends are often distortions or exaggerations of spiritual realities. In other words, myths and legends often grow out of realities in the spirit realm. Therefore, even if Joseph of Arimathaea was not a tin merchant who took take Jesus to Britain when He was a child, the fact that the legend chose to portray Joseph as a tin merchant and that it chose to place him along with Jesus in Britannia is no spiritual coincidence. As we saw above, tin is spiritually related to apostolic judgements and evangelistic conquest, which is consistent with Britain's spiritual nature, for, as we have said before, Britain is an apostolic land from which the largest empire in human history issued forth. Britain, along with its spawn, America, are the nations most responsible for the evangelistic spread of Christianity around the world, and they will be the nations that will spawn the latter-rain revival in this age's last generation.

As we saw above, Joseph of Arimathaea is spiritually connected to the David anointing of innovative wisdom, and Britain's connection to that spirit is also evident in its history. Britain is the nation most responsible for the Industrial Revolution, leading the world through a mighty period of technological innovations that have created wealth not only for herself but for the entire world. Because of Britain, wealth creation has reached levels unparalleled in human history, and that spirit of innovation has been continued by Britain's descendant America.

As you may have noticed, Joseph of Arimathaea is spiritually related to the 5th seal of the Apocalypse, given that he placed Yeshua's body in "hibernation" after His 4th-seal (i.e.- green-horse) death. As we have studied before, there is strong connection between Britannia and the 5th seal, for it is in Britannia's spirit realm that God chose to "stow away" His remnant as they died the green-horse death required for the manifestation of the latter-rain revival in this generation. Thus, the connection between Britannia and Joseph of Arimathaea is more than evident, and Yeshua's physical presence in Britain is as real as the remnant's spiritual presence in Britannia's spirit realm.

A sad interim due to the missing quarter

Joseph of Arimathaea is only mentioned in Scripture when he appears on the scene to protect Jesus' body. He is mentioned in all 4 Gospels. In Matthew, he is called "Jesus' disciple"; in Mark, he is called "an honourable counsellor" who waited for the Kingdom of God; and, in Luke, he is called a "good man and a just" who did not consent with what the Sanhedrin had done to Jesus, and who waited for the Kingdom of God. In the 4th Gospel, however, he is described in a different light, as "a disciple of Jesus" who followed Jesus "secretly for fear of the Jews". The fact that Joseph of Arimathaea is spoken of in a positive light in the first 3 Gospels but in a negative light in the 4th Gospel is a prophetic figure of how those who are not fully receptive to the 4th horse of the Apocalypse (the green horse) expose the remnant to death. It is appointed for the remnant to die a green-horse death once. The problem lies when they are sent to their deaths more than once by the same lukewarm people who want to remain within the religious system and see God's will fulfilled at the same time. You cannot serve both God and mammon simultaneously. You cannot derive your sense of identity and self-worth from God and from things in the temporal realm at the same time.

According to the so-called "Gospel of Nicodemus" (a writing from the 4th century or earlier), the Jewish elders expressed anger at Joseph of Arimathaea for having provided a place where Jesus' body could rest, and they ended up imprisoning him, placing a seal on the door to his cell, along with a guard. When the elders returned to the cell, the seal was still on the door, but Joseph was no longer inside. The elders later discovered that Joseph was back in Arimathaea. After writing to him and telling him that they apologised for mistreating him, they convinced him to return to Jerusalem to talk to them. That is when Joseph told them that, around midnight, the house where he had been imprisoned "was hung up by the 4 corners", and a light flashed in his eyes. He then saw the Lord, who somehow transported him out of his cell and into his house, where he was told to hide for 40 days. As we have said before, myths and legends generally contain elements that reflect realities in the spirit realm. Therefore, regardless of whether this story is entirely accurate or not, its narration reflects spiritual realities consistent with the 4th- and 5th-seal experiences. The fact that Joseph saw his prison "hanging up by the 4 corners" just before his liberation points to the spiritual connection between the "Josephs of Arimathaea" and the need for 4 bearers. Three will not do; 3 bearers will not hold up the remnant's liberation from its 5th-seal hibernation.

So far, we have seen how Joseph, son of David, was there to protect Jesus' body at birth but was not there to see Jesus' earthly ministry fully manifested, and we have seen how Joseph of Arimathaea was there to protect Jesus' body at death but was not present to witness Jesus' resurrection (at least in the Scriptural text). In that sense, therefore, "St. Joseph" (or "San Jose") speaks of someone who is there to "hold the fort" so as to prevent a premature collapse but who is not around to see the final outcome that he fought so hard for. Seen this way, the "St. Joseph" mantle is a sad mantle to carry, for it means enduring hardship and perishing without seeing the fruits of that hardship manifested. The sadness of that mantle and the hardships associated with it can be lengthened by the lukewarmth in those who are supposed to serve as bridges between God's remnant and the rest of the Church.

Malleable tinnology

Besides its "rustlessness", one of the reasons why tin was so widely used for food containers and other utensils is its malleability and ductility (as indicated on wikipedia.org). This once again points to the spirit of innovative (David) wisdom, since you must have a "malleable" mind in order to discover inventive solutions to problems. A rigid mind trapped in tradition and the "current order" of this age cannot pioneer new solutions that will break the back of existing problems and open up a new world of opportunities. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the addition of tin to copper was what revolutionised metalworking technology, taking humanity from the Copper Age to the Bronze Age (as indicated on wikipedia.org). It is also interesting to consider that one of the most groundbreaking products of the modern industrial era, the original "Ford Motor T", was known colloquially as the "Tin Lizzy" (as indicated on wikipedia.org).

Tin's "malleability" is also reflected in the fact that tin is the element with the greatest number of stable isotopes (according to wikipedia.org). In fact, it is the only element whose number of stable isotopes reaches double digits. This speaks of a disposition to view things from different perspectives in such a way that new dimensions can be reached.

Ironically, the Latin name for tin is stannum, which many believe is derived from the word stagnum meaning "the same thing" (according to wikipedia.org). Even though this may seem to contradict tin's "malleability", it actually points to a quality required to produce innovative technological solutions: apostolic persistence. In order to become a groundbreaker, you must be utterly dissatisfied with the current state of things, and you must be willing to stay on a problem that others do not see as a "problem", attacking it from different angles until that problem can be cracked. In other words, "tinnology" requires a strong component of spiritual "tin-nacity", and, as you persist in the exercise of innovative "tinnology", the groundwork is laid for immense prosperity.

Tin pest

As indicated on wikipedia.org, tin can on occasions exhibit a rather unusual behaviour known as "tin pest". At low temperatures, tin can turn from its normal, silvery, and ductile white tin form into a brittle, grey tin form. If the temperatures become very, very low, the process can lead to the tin decomposing into powder. This process is very difficult to start due to the high activation energy it requires, but, once it starts, it catalyses itself, meaning that it quickly accelerates once it begins. Thus, tin can at times fall into what could be described as "self-imploding disintegration". An interesting 23-second video depicting this process is available on YouTube.

As we have shared before, silver speaks of purity, and purity is forged through the fire of God's judgements, which are, in turn, wrought in God's apostolic judgements. All of this explains why tin is normally silver in colour. By contrast, the colour "grey" speaks of ambiguity and compromise, i.e.- of pure truth compromised by earthliness and complacent indifference. As we have also said before, "coldness", when taken in a negative context, speaks of an "unwelcoming attitude". Therefore, we can say that "tin pest" is a figure of how God's innovative "David" wisdom (represented by the tin) can be wasted away by a "cold" spiritual atmosphere that is unreceptive to God's innovative "spiritual technology", especially when that "technology" is laden with "fractal" components of "uncompromising greenness". In an atmosphere of "grey" compromise that is willing to accept the status quo and is not interested in the fullness of God's comprehensive and expansive wisdom, God's "tin men" are destined to "wilt" into powder, and the innovative wisdom within them is doomed to "disintegrate" and be blown away by the winds of this age, like fallen leaves in the autumn air.

As we said above, the Latin word for tin is apparently derived from the word stagnum. It is no spiritual coincidence that the first 4 letters of this word form the English word "stag". This points to the spiritual connection between "tin men" and "eunuchs" that we studied above. In a darker sense, however, it also points to the vanishing that "tin men" experience when there is not a large enough number of "female" souls receptive to the innovative "spiritual technology" within them. As we shared in a recent word, God's remnant were left standing all alone, like a "little stag", because a purblind America was unable to rise to the significant visitation kairos that was upon her; the "4th spiritual column" required to establish the latter-rain visitation did not rise, even when God's "tin men" had worked double-overtime to raise the first 3 columns. This has led to "tin pest" hitting God's remnant, spurring their eventual disappearance (along with the disappearance of their New-Covenant "spiritual technology") from the midst of this stubborn generation.

Aluminium

As you may know, the phrase "tin can", or simply "tin", is often used in the UK to refer to cans in general, including those used for fizzy drinks, this despite the fact that most "tins" are actually made out of aluminium. For some reason, as I meditated on tin, the Lord kept reminding me of a catchy jingle I used to hear when watching NFL games on television during the 1980s. Some of you who are NFL fans may recall a segment called "Fantastic Finishes" that was often run near the end of games. These segments were sponsored by the aluminium company ALCOA (one of the largest aluminium companies in the world). The short segments, played near the end of the game, would feature a dramatic finish in NFL history such as "The miracle at the Meadowlands" (or "the debacle at the Meadowlands", as I would call it) and the "Immaculate Reception". These segments would end with a female voice chanting a catchy phrase that said, "ALCOA can't wait ... for tomorrow ... ALCOA can't wait!". This phrase points to the spirit of innovation driving the company, a spirit that was inherent in the company's birth. As indicated on wikipedia.org, ALCOA was created by Charles Martin Hall after he discovered the process of smelting aluminium in 1886. This discovery, known as the Hall-Héroult process (because it was discovered almost simultaneously by Paul Héroult in France) was so fundamentally innovative that it remains the only process used to this day to make aluminium. Charles Martin Hall had tried to implement his new process at the "Electric Smelting and Aluminum Company" first, but he left after one year because the company let the year go by without implementing the process. The fact that he left that company shows how people with the David spirit of "tin-man" innovation are not willing to settle for the status quo, even when the atmosphere around them is pressuring them to do so. They will push and push until either the atmosphere buckles around their innovative technology or until the atmosphere "assassinates" them, at which point they disintegrate like tin in extreme cold and are no more. Tin men can't wait for tomorrow, even when the world around them can.

The Oberlin decay

Charles Martin Hall was a graduate of Oberlin College in Ohio. As indicated on wikipedia.org, Oberlin College was the first institution of higher learning in America to regularly admit female and black students. According to the school's website, Oberlin College has been the liberal arts college in America with the most alumni who have gone on to earn Ph.D.'s between 1997 and 2006 (1079 in total, which makes Oberlin College the only liberal arts college in quadruple figures in that regard). All of this emphasises Oberlin College's spiritual connection to the spirit of non-conformant tin-man innovation.

The Oberlin campus has a monument known as Memorial Arch (in front of Peters Hall). This arch was built in memory of the Christian missionaries from Oberlin who were murdered in China by vicious and unrighteous Chinese in the "Boxer Rebellion" at the turn of the 20th century. This points to how those with the spirit of tin-man innovation are susceptible to being unappreciated and killed off when the atmosphere around them is unwilling to embrace true and necessary innovation. The "Boxer Rebellion" was an anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising in China organised by the Qing Dynasty, which points to the spirit of anti-innovation isolationism that has kept China from truly becoming a modern nation (as opposed to Japan, which was willing to recognise the God-ordained dominion of Japheth and embraced European values, allowing it to become the economic and technological superpower that it is today).

Unfortunately, Oberlin's spirit of innovation has in modern times distorted into a spirit of runaway liberalism, actively promoting the radical social and political agenda of the radical left. This points to the danger that an "innovation spirit" is susceptible to when it is not embraced in righteousness. The "tin-man" spirit of innovation is eminently apostolic in its nature, for it requires people with the trailblazer spirit of apostolic endurance who operate in apostolic wisdom. As we have said before, wisdom is for the explicit purpose of making judgements; judgement-oriented people are "no-nonsense" type of people who like to call a "spade" a "spade" and who are always struggling to find a definitive "resolution" to the problems they encounter (an "INTJ" trait). This is what propels them to innovate and to pursue creative solutions, going "from strength to strength" (Psalm 84:7), aiming towards the most righteous and ideal result. This creative pursuit also requires a strong prophetic component. However, when the prophetic component "runs amok" and becomes disconnected from apostolic wisdom and judgements, it becomes like a speeding car with no brakes, a runaway "Canaanite chariot" (Judges 1:19) that promotes change for change's sake, embracing agendas based on emotionalism and on how "radical" these agendas sound and not on their internal merits. When this happens, what begins as a spirit of innovation becomes completely devoid of new and creative ideas, turning into an agenda for "change" that is propelled by ambiguous and emotion-centric principles. Therefore, it becomes immediately susceptible to manipulation driven by personal interests, due to the fact that righteous judgements and moral scruples are eliminated from the equation from the get-go. All of this means that, when the tin men are forced to "disintegrate", the ground is paved for a move of radical "change" that disintegrates righteous judgements and moral principles. Another way of putting it is: When the "tin men" are rejected, you get barack obama, MTV, and "Keeping up with the Kardashians".

David the Jebusite

It is not known exactly where Joseph's "Arimathaea" was located, but there is strong evidence (as indicated on wikipedia.org) that it might have been Samuel's home town of Ramathaim-Zophim, also known as "Ramah" for short. This connection between Joseph of Arimathaea and Samuel has strong spiritual significance. As you may know, Samuel was a man whose judgements (i.e.- whose wisdom) were rejected by the people (1 Samuel 8:5-7), which led to the eventual rise of the unrighteous dictator Saul, a man who acted like a roadblock that unnecessarily protracted the rise of a man after God's own heart, David. Due to the request of the people to have a Saul over them, Samuel was forced to act as a remedial bridge between Saul and David, "holding the fort", so to speak, until David could arise. Once Saul was officially rejected by God (1 Samuel 15:26-28), Samuel was then free to anoint David as king of Israel (1 Samuel 16:13).

When David was anointed king, the Spirit of God departed from Saul (1 Samuel 16:14), meaning that he was no longer the anointed king. Even so, David was unwilling to kill Saul and end his de facto regime every time that the Spirit of God gave him the opportunity to do so. Even though pastors praise David for not daring to so much as "touch" Saul when he had the chance to slay him, these matriarchal pastors fail to realise that the narrator voice in Scripture never refers to Saul as the "anointed one" after the kingdom has been rent from him. The only one quoted as calling Saul the "anointed one" is David, and there is never any praise from the narrator voice in Scripture for David's words or his inaction. Instead, the Holy Spirit (who is the narrator voice in all of Scripture) makes a silent but very clear contrast between David's inaction towards Saul and his actions against others, making it evident that David had Jebusite issues in his heart. David is shown sparing Saul's life in chapters 24 and 26 of 1 Samuel, and, sandwiched in between these two chapters, the Holy Spirit includes a chapter 25 that shows a David determined to kill everyone in the house of Nabal after Nabal had foolishly refused to help him:

"²¹ Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good. ²² So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall." (1 Samuel 25:21-22)

This means that David had no qualms about murdering all of Nabal's servants, and even his wife Abigail, even though the Holy Spirit clearly bears out in chapter 25 that they had no fault in the matter. The only one who deserved to die was Nabal, yet David had no problems with murdering all the "little" people around him once Nabal proved himself unrighteous. What is even more interesting to consider is the fact that Nabal's sin was his inaction, i.e.- his refusal to help David, which earned him a death sentence from God, a sentence that David was more than happy to execute on him and anyone in his vicinity . By contrast, Saul was not sinning by "inaction"; instead, Saul was proactively pursuing David in order to murder him and all those who supported him. Even so, David would not even fathom the thought of killing Saul or anyone who supported him in his unrighteousness. Even though Nabal's sin was clearly not as egregious as Saul's, David was willing to kill Nabal and murder his entire household in a knee-jerk moment of rage (for not giving him food), as opposed to the "reverent caution" that he maintained towards Saul and his compliant followers who were out to murder him.

The Holy Spirit emphasises David's unbalanced regard for human life at the very beginning of chapter 25:

"¹ And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran. ² And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. ³ Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb." (1 Samuel 25:1-3)

Notice how the Holy Spirit starts the chapter by declaring that Samuel had died. Notice also how the Holy Spirit speaks of the Israelites' mournful reaction to Samuel's death. In verse 2, the Holy Spirit then speaks of "David arising" and going down to Paran. This is a figure of David simply "moving on with his life" after Samuel died. At no point does the Holy Spirit speak of David lamenting or feeling any type of sorrow over Samuel's death (not in this passage or in any other passage in Scripture). Even when Samuel had risked his life to anoint him as king in place of Saul, and even when Samuel played an instrumental role in furthering David along his spiritual journey, David seems to show no major sign of grief over Samuel's passing. This contrasts with David's melodramatic responses to people whose lives were less than "righteous" before God or spiritually supportive of his own calling:

"¹¹ Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him: ¹² And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword. " (2 Samuel 1:11-12)

"³² And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is. ³³ And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is. ¹ And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom. ² And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son. ³ And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. ⁴ But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son! ⁵ And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines; ⁶ In that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well." (2 Samuel 18:32-19:6)

As you may know, Absalom was the son of David who tried to overthrow him and become king himself. During Absalom's short stint as the de facto "king", he slept with his father's concubines and made a public spectacle of it in order to humiliate David and establish his superiority over him (2 Samuel 16:21-22). He also pursued David and wanted to murder him and all those who supported him in any way. Yet, when Absalom was finally defeated and Joab killed him in order to end the insurrection once and for all, David cried like an inconsolable mother, acting as if a great and wonderful son had just passed away. As Joab pointed out, David was acting as if he would have preferred for all those who were righteous and helpful to him to have died if that would have spared the life of his treacherous, murderous, and lecherous son Absalom.

Why was David so overwrought with grief at the deaths of evil people such as Saul and Absalom, even when they were people trying to murder him and thwart the fulfilment of God's prophetic purposes for him? To answer this, we must consider a quality that was common to both Saul and Absalom: their outstanding physical appearance. Scripture describes Saul as a man of great physical stature, literally standing "head and shoulders" above the rest of the people in Israel (1 Samuel 9:2), and Absalom is described as the man most praised in all of Israel for his physical beauty, for there was "no blemish in him from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head" (2 Samuel 14:25). This reveals that David had a "soft spot" in his heart for "great men", i.e.- men who could awe you with their external greatness and who could garner great popular support from the "multitudes", just as Saul and Absalom did. This means that David was a man who was easily taken by the greatness of "Amorite kings" and who would stand by them in Jebusite faithfulness, to the point that he would gladly kill for them out of sheer loyalty, just as Jebusites do for their Amorite masters. In other words, David had an undealt-with Jebusite contamination in his heart that prompted him to revere great Amorite men and despise the "little" people, to the point of being willing to murder these "little" people if they dared to behave irreverently towards the Amorite "greats". This explains David's reaction in the following passage:

"²³ When Joab and all the host that was with him were come, they told Joab, saying, Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he hath sent him away, and he is gone in peace. ²⁴ Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why is it that thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone? ²⁵ Thou knowest Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive thee, and to know thy going out and thy coming in, and to know all that thou doest. ²⁶ And when Joab was come out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, which brought him again from the well of Sirah: but David knew it not. ²⁷ And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib, that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother. ²⁸ And afterward when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD for ever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner: ²⁹ Let it rest on the head of Joab, and on all his father's house; and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that leaneth on a staff, or that falleth on the sword, or that lacketh bread. ³⁰ So Joab and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had slain their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle. ³¹ And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David himself followed the bier. ³² And they buried Abner in Hebron: and the king lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept. ³³ And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth? ³⁴ Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: as a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again over him. ³⁵ And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day, David sware, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or ought else, till the sun be down. ³⁶ And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them: as whatsoever the king did pleased all the people. ³⁷ For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to slay Abner the son of Ner. ³⁸ And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel? ³⁹ And I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me: the LORD shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness." (2 Samuel 3:23-39)

Abner was the captain of Saul's army, and he was one of the key men endeavouring to capture David and murder him when Saul was chasing after him (1 Samuel 26:5-14). When Saul died, Abner tried to delay David's rightful rise to kingship by taking Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, and making him king over part of Israel (2 Samuel 2:8-9). This led to a bitter civil war that lasted some two years. As shown by 2 Samuel 3:6, Abner's interest in having Ishbosheth as king was to preserve and consolidate his position of relevance in Israel, especially since he feared that David's rise as king of all of Israel would probably mean the end of his public eminence, and even death, since he had endeavoured to murder David whilst Saul was the de facto king.

When Ishbosheth confronts Abner about his involvement with Saul's concubine, Abner is so offended that he treacherously decides to turn Ishbosheth over to David, and he offers David a deal in which he will supposedly convince the tribes under Ishbosheth to accept David as king (2 Samuel 3:7-21). As you may see, Abner was anything but a righteous man, acting more like a dirty politician who would say or do anything just to remain a relevant political figure. He had the ability to sway people into his camp (2 Samuel 3:6), a trait typical of Amorites, and he also showed signs of Jebusite protectiveness, as shown by Abner's response to David when he perceived that David was irreverently raising his voice at "king" Saul (1 Samuel 26:14). Instead of yielding to God's will regarding David's kingship, Abner was willing to put Israel through 2 years of bloody civil war that cost the unnecessary deaths of many, and, when confronted about his inappropriate behaviour, he was willing to sell out the very man whom he had propped up, all in an effort to buy himself time whilst he devised and carried out a plan to eventually oust David and become king himself, if possible. This is the man David called a "prince" and a "great man" (2 Samuel 3:38), the man whom he publicly mourned and rent his clothes for when he learnt of his death. David was clearly so taken by Abner's Amorite "greatness" and public persona that he was willing to overlook all the evil that Abner had done, even the evil against himself. He was more offended at the fact that Joab dared to "touch" such a "great" man than at Abner's unrepentant efforts to kill him (when Saul was alive) and his efforts to turn the people of Israel against him (after Saul died).

All of the above explains why God forced David to stand at the threshold of Araunah the Jebusite whilst He was killing the people of Israel after David had unwisely chosen to take a census (2 Samuel 24:16). When Araunah, in typical "Jebusite" fashion, tried to make a reverential sacrifice on behalf of the "great" man David (2 Samuel 24:20-22), David finally broke the Jebusite spell over his own heart when he chose to provide for his own sacrifice, without allowing the "smaller" man Araunah to do the sacrifice for him (2 Samuel 24:24). When David the "great king" became willing to die himself rather than behold the death of the "little" people (2 Samuel 24:17), he at last was showing a willingness to value the lives of those who were not "great" in the eyes of natural man. Sadly enough, it took David until the end of the second book of Samuel to realise all of this. By this time, thousands and thousands of "little" lives had already perished as a result of his Jebusite contamination, including the life of Uriah the Hittite, whom he gladly sacrificed just so he could have his way with Bathsheba. This Jebusite (and, at times, Amorite) disregard for the value of human life is what prevented David being used by God to build the temple in Jerusalem (the temple that his son Solomon eventually built). When God said that David could not build the temple because he had "shed blood abundantly" (1 Chronicles 22:8), He was not referring to David's killing of Goliath, his killing of Philistines, or to his killing in battle of men who fought for Saul or Abner. Instead, he was referring to all the "little" people who lost their lives because of the Jebusite contamination in David's heart. He was referring to the unnecessary deaths of those who perished because David valued the life of one "great" man such as Saul, Abner, or Absalom, over the lives of thousands of "little" people. As evidenced by the first chapters of 1 Kings, Solomon was a "bloody" man himself who killed many people who opposed him, and he ordered these people killed prior to building the temple. Had being a mere "man of war" been enough to disqualify David, Solomon would have also been disqualified. Therefore, we can safely say that the blood that God saw in David's (Jebusite) hands was the blood of all the "little" people he was willing to slaughter (or see slaughtered) so as to prolong the kingship of "great" Amorite men. David spent most of his life believing that it was better that many righteous "little" ones die than to have one "great", though unrighteous, man die, even if it meant unnecessarily delaying God's plans. The Holy Spirit's approach, however, is completely different (2 Samuel 17:1-14).

As a parenthesis, it is worth noting that it is no spiritual coincidence that Saul had to beg his armour-bearer to kill him in his last minutes on Earth after he was mortally wounded in the battlefield (1 Samuel 31:1-6). As 1 Samuel 16:21 clearly declares, David was Saul's armour-bearer for a season, and, in fact, David is the first armour-bearer of Saul that Scripture ever talks about. Thus, when the Lord allowed Saul's armour-bearer to stand before Saul as he lay mortally wounded, He was doing it as a prophetic portrayal of what David (Saul's first armour-bearer) was supposed to have done. Saul was so seriously wounded that it was only a matter of time before he died, yet his armour-bearer was willing to postpone Saul's necessary death as much as possible. In the same way, the Saul of 1 Samuel 16:14 onwards was a dead man walking, but David was willing to postpone Saul's literal death as much as possible. Ironically, this not only made matters worse for everyone around Saul but for Saul himself. Saul went on to live years in which he did much evil and did much to destroy the little eternal reward he may have accumulated before his demise. This is represented in how the last armour-bearer's refusal to finish off Saul forced the tormented Saul to take his own life, which only tarnished his legacy even more. À la Pontius Pilate, David had washed his hands of all responsibility by delegating the killing of Saul to "God", yet God never took Saul's life, for it was by the hand of an Israelite that Saul was decreed to die. Since the Israelites around Saul were unwilling to do the job, Saul was forced to do it himself.

Samuel disquieted

Because David acted like a Jebusite and did not kill Saul when he had the chance, Jonathan, his closest friend, did not live to see David's manifested kingship (1 Samuel 31:2), and neither did Samuel. God gave David a chance to kill Saul (1 Samuel 24:1-3) immediately before Samuel died (1 Samuel 25:1), but David passed up on the opportunity. God had given him a prophetic promise that He would deliver his enemy into his hand to do to him as it seemed good to him, virtually giving David a "carte blanche" of "sovereignty" over him (1 Samuel 24:4), but David made the wrong choice. Shortly after Samuel died, God gave David a second chance, but he blew it yet again (1 Samuel 26:8-9). Saul's human "greatness" was more important to David than the fact that Saul was God's enemy, a fact declared by the Holy Spirit in verse 16 below:

"¹⁰ And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing. ¹¹ Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. ¹² And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. ¹³ And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. ¹⁴ And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself. ¹⁵ And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. ¹⁶ Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? ¹⁷ And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David: ¹⁸ Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing unto thee this day. ¹⁹ Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines." (1 Samuel 28:10-19)

Notice that the narrator, who is the Holy Spirit, clearly speaks of Samuel appearing to Saul. Contrary to what the matriarchal pastors may teach, this apparition is not a mirage from satan. Otherwise, the Holy Spirit, who is narrating this story, would have referred to the apparition as "a form resembling Samuel", or He would have said very plainly that it was a deceitful spirit. Therefore, regardless of what theological beliefs one may or may not have regarding the afterlife, it is plainly clear that this passage from Scripture is declaring that Samuel was the one who appeared before Saul that day. Since we must allow Scripture to mould our beliefs, and not the other way around, we must take this at face value and attempt to discern God's message behind this passage, rather than twist this passage enough so as to cast it aside and pretend as if it does not say what it says. Another thing to consider is the fact that Samuel's words in the passage above were words full of truth and justice. There is absolutely no deceit or pandering in them. They are the full-blown expression of God's assessment of Saul, and the judgement that Samuel pronounces against Saul (v19) did indeed come to pass.

Once we accept that the above passage speaks of Samuel truly appearing before Saul, the question becomes, "What is the Lord's intention behind this passage?". To answer that, we must focus on verse 15, where Samuel asks, "Why have you disquieted me to bring me up?". The word "disquieted" was translated from the Hebrew word ragaz, which can also be translated as "to tremble, quake". This word appears 41 times in Scripture; the next time it appears after 1 Samuel 28:15 is in verse 10 of the following passage, translated as "moved":

"⁸ Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: ⁹ And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. ¹⁰ Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, ¹¹ And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house." (2 Samuel 7:8-11)

Notice that the passage above is in the context of the cutting off of all of David's enemies and the establishment of God's kingship through David, which is directly connected to the people of Israel having a permanent dwelling of their own and not being "moved" (ragaz) anymore. Therefore, we can say that ragaz speaks of someone who is abiding in an unstable state or situation because his enemies have yet to be cut off and God's kingship remains un-established.

The word ragaz also appears in verse 21 of the following passage, translated as "disquieted":

"²¹ For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear: ²² For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat; ²³ For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress. " (Proverbs 30:21-23)

Notice how "ragaz" (i.e.- "disquieting") is caused ...

1. ... when "servants", i.e.- people trapped under the Old-Covenant paradigm (Galatians 4:1-8), are allowed to reign (v22)

    

2. ... when a "fool" (nabal, in the original Hebrew text) has all the resources and the wise David "tin men" have none, as was the case with David vs. Nabal in 1 Samuel 25 (v22)

    

3. ... when an "odious woman" (i.e.- a "female" soul that is an avowed enemy of God, as evidenced by its actions and words, and who is thus hated by God) is "married", i.e.- validated as worthy and given a respected name and a niche amongst men, much like the odious Arab Helen Thomas was given in the White House for so many years (v23)

    

4. ... when a "handmaid" (i.e.- a soul who never matured out of the Old-Covenant stage of "servitude" - Galatians 4:1-8) is the heir to her mistress, i.e.- when the New-Covenant righteous have no one with a New-Covenant mentality to leave their spiritual inheritance to (v23)

Notice, therefore, that the word ragaz is used in the context of honour being bestowed upon undeserving people whilst those deserving are left in the (tin-pest) dust. Notice also that, according to verse 21, 3 things "disquiet" (i.e.- ragaz) the earth, but the 4th thing makes it "unbearable". This correlates with what the Lord has had us say about the lonely remnant bearing 3 quarters but being unable to bear the 4th, which was left "unborne" because those who were supposed to place that burden on their shoulders were too busy upholding the undeserving.

From all of the above, we can conclude that the reason why Samuel was "disquieted" (ragaz) by Saul was because Saul had had so many people (including David) actively or passively supporting him even after the kingship anointing had been stripped from him. Because they allowed a "servant" to reign and allowed a fool to be full of resources (Proverbs 30:22), and because they allowed an avowed enemy of God to establish a niche in Israel and be validated for so long (v23), the people of Israel (amongst them David himself) had created a spiritual door that gave Saul's evil soul access to Samuel in order to disquiet him, even after Samuel had died. This is the reason why Saul had the "authority" or "ability" to bring Samuel up from the Paradise section of Sheol (as we have said before, Paradise remained below, in the centre of the Earth, where literal Sheol lies, prior to the Lord's resurrection, and it was taken up from the centre of the Earth by the resurrected Lord, according to Ephesians 4:8; even so, it remains a place of "limbo", a temporary holding place where the righteous await the manifestation of the sons of God on Earth).

As verified by God in 1 Samuel 24:4 and 1 Samuel 26:8, it was the God of Israel (not satan) who delivered Saul into the hands of David. But, because David did not kill Saul when God gave him the chance, David is very much to blame for Saul being able to disquiet Samuel's soul. Saul had such a "disquieting" authority over Samuel's soul that he was able to "summon" Samuel up even from Sheol, and, when he did, it was to do little more than have Samuel restate the judgement that God had pronounced over Saul many painful years earlier. In all that Samuel said to Saul that night, the only "new" thing that Samuel added was the statement that Saul and "his sons" (1 Samuel 28:19) would soon join him in Paradise. When Samuel said "sons", the Holy Spirit was referring to more than Saul's literal sons; He was referring to all those who saw Saul as a father figure and who followed him faithfully, participating in (or being indifferent to) the spirit that was upon Saul. After Saul was cast off by God, anyone who received an impartation from Saul and became as his "son" was no longer receiving an impartation of God's anointing, for that anointing had departed from him and was now upon David. Instead, anyone who received an impartation from Saul was now participating of the evil spirit from the Lord that was sent upon Saul the moment the kingship anointing departed from him (1 Samuel 16:13-14). Sadly enough, David disgustingly considered himself a "son" of Saul, which means that a part of David also shared in the spiritual death experienced by Saul and his other sons:

"Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it. " (1 Samuel 24:11)

[Here, David is speaking to Saul after he spared Saul's life the first time]

"And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept."

"And Saul knew David's voice, and said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king."

[Here, Saul is speaking to David the second time David spared his life. Notice how David gladly responded with a reverent, "my lord, o king" when Saul disgustingly referred to him as "my son David"]

Do you know the way to San Jose?

As you may know, the city of San Jose was made famous around the world because of a song sung by Dionne Warwick entitled "Do you know the way to San Jose?". As indicated on wikipedia.org, the song is a about a person from San Jose who tries to break into the entertainment industry in Los Angeles but who, after being unsuccessful, decides to return to San Jose. Therefore, the song is a prophetic figure of someone whose "San Jose" anointing of innovative wisdom gets rejected, forcing the heartbreaking cancellation of a dream or vision.

"Coincidentally", this song was released in April 1968, which happens to be the month when Martin Luther King was assassinated. As we shared in a recent posting, the Lord had us writing about the imminent demise of the latter-rain vision in this generation (due to the missing 4th bearer) on April 4, 2010, the 42nd anniversary of Martin Luther King's death. As we shared then, Martin Luther King was a man who died without seeing his vision fulfilled; the night before he died, he gave a speech in which he declared that the vision would be for a future generation and that he would not be there to see it. Therefore, the fact that the Lord prompted this dream related to "San Jose" to be sent around this time confirms the fact that the Lord is in the process of calling off His latter-rain visitation for this American generation, for the tin man's New-Covenant wisdom was sadly ignored and the "4th bearer" never showed up.

God willing, we will continue this word in a future posting...