The vigil

First posted: December 28, 2015

This article is the twentieth in a series of articles dealing with the spiritual events --- as prophesied by the Lord in Matthew 24 --- that are already taking place prior to the coming of the Son of Man. This article will share on the words spoken by the Lord in Matthew 24:42.

Index

Watching against shame

Use of the pastoral to refresh the soul

Use of the pastoral to provide support

Use of the teacherly without being genealogical

Use of the teacherly without suppressing prophetic freedom

Use of the teacherly without enabling Jebusite oppression

Use of the teacherly without suppressing evangelistic confidence

Misuse by omission and by overdoing

Watching against shame

In Matthew 24:42, the Lord declares the following:

"Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come" (Matthew 24:42)

The word "watch" was translated from the Greek verb gregoreo, which has the connotation of someone in a "state of vigil", of someone staying awake at night and not falling asleep. Therefore, it speaks of someone staying spiritually awake, aware of his higher calling. The word gregoreo appears 23 times in 23 verses of Scripture, the last one being the following verse, translated as "watcheth":

"Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame" (Revelation 16:15)

The word "shame" was translated from the Greek noun aschemosyne, which is only used one other time in Scripture, in the following verse, where it is translated as "that which is unseemly":

"And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet" (Romans 1:27)

The word "working" in the verse above was translated from the Greek verb katergazomai, which literally means "to perform, achieve, do something that produces results" and which, therefore, has the connotation of someone deliberately putting effort into something that eventually produces certain results. Hence, a better translation of the verse above would read "men with men producing shame" or "men with men working to produce shame". The word "woman" in the phrase "leaving the natural use of the woman" was translated from the Greek noun thelys, which refers directly to the female gender per se and is often used to contrast the female gender versus the male gender (as a parenthesis, this word differs from gyne, the other Greek word for "woman" in the New Testament, which is often used in the context of a woman's marriage relationship to a man). On the other hand, the word "natural" was translated from the Greek word physikos, which has the connotation of instinctive behaviour. Hence, Romans 1:27 speaks of a "use of the woman" that comes naturally and surfaces instinctively. To better comprehend what that "use of the woman" is, we must consider the word "use" itself.

In Romans 1:27, the word "use" was translated from the Greek word chresis, which only appears in two verses: Romans 1:27 and the preceding verse, Romans 1:26. The word chresis is derived from the verb chraomai, which literally means "to receive a loan, to borrow, to take for one's use"; chraomai is used in 11 different verses. Interestingly enough, 7 of those verses are in the 2 epistles to the Corinthians, and the other 4 verses are split between the book of Acts and 1 Timothy. It is these 4 verses which most directly reveal the spiritual meaning of chraomai in the context of Romans 1:27.

Use of the pastoral to refresh the soul

The first appearance of chraomai is in verse 3 of the following passage, translated as "entreated":

"1 And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band. 2 And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. 3 And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself." (Acts 27:1-3)

Interestingly enough, the name "Adramyttium" in verse 2 literally means "I shall abide in death". This, compounded with the fact that Acts 27 narrates the Sheol experience [LINK] that Paul went through as his ship periled for days and eventually wrecked on its way to Rome, we can safely say that the words above are most directly in the context of a believer going through a green-horse death experience and a 5th-seal stage of "limbo uncertainty". This is certified by the reference to the name "Thessalonica" in verse 2, given that it means "victory of falsity", which therefore refers to an interim period during which it seems as if everything has been lost and the enemy has prevailed over God's purposes, which correlates with the dark ambiguity of the 5th-seal phase.

In this 5th-seal context, the Spirit declares that Julius "courteously entreated Paul". The word "courteously" was translated from the Greek word philanthropos, from which the English word "philanthropy" is derived. Thus, it speaks of generosity and an earnest intention to see that others are well-provided for. The word philanthropos is derived from the words philos meaning "friend" and anthropos meaning "man" or "humanity"; the word philos is, in turn, related to the verb phileo, which, as we have shared before, speaks of (emotional) love at the soul level. Interestingly, the word "friends" in verse 3 was translated from the word philos, which reveals that Julius was giving Paul the freedom to engage in soul communion in order to have his soul comforted in the midst of his circumstances.

Even though the phrase "refresh himself" in verse 3 above is consistent with the spiritual meaning of the verse, it is technically a mistranslation of the Greek words epitrepo and epimeleia; epitrepo literally means "to hit the mark" and is at times used in the context of "meeting" someone, as when a waitress sees a new patron sitting at a table and heads directly towards that table to "meet" with the patron and determine what he or she desires to eat. The word epimeleia, on the other hand, is only used once in Scripture, and literally means "care, attention, hospitality"; therefore, it has the connotation of someone opening up his home to provide for a guest who is coming from outside after a long trip. The word epimeleia's verb form is epimeleomai, which is only used 3 times in Scripture, twice in Luke 10:34-35 to refer to the good Samaritan who provided for the wounded man and took him to an inn, and once in 1 Timothy 3:5, where Paul asks, "if a man [aspiring to be bishop] know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the Church of God?". Even though there is deeper meaning behind 1 Timothy 3:5 than what most would see on the surface, it suffices to say here that it again speaks of someone overseeing (i.e. "bishoping" or episkopeo-ing) the circumstances of others in order to provide pastoral care as needed, as when a pastor oversees the sheep under his care (1 Peter 5:2).

Hence, we can conclude from all of the above that chraomai is being used in Acts 27:3 to describe Julius extending pastoral care towards Paul, given that the pastoral ministry is the one most directly related to soul communion, to providing emotional comfort to those in need, and to providing "female" refreshing to those who come "home" after a long period executing "male" ministry work "outside".

Use of the pastoral to provide support

The second appearance of chraomai is once again in Acts 27, translated as "used" in the phrase "they used helps":

"Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven." (Acts 27:17)

The word "helps" was translated from the Greek feminine noun boetheia, and is derived from the adjective boethos meaning "helper". Interestingly, boethos was the word chosen by the Septuagint translators to translate the Hebrew word for "help" in Genesis 2:18:

"And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." (Genesis 2:18)

[The word "meet" was translated from the Hebrew word neged, which literally means "in front of". Hence, it has the connotation, in this context, of someone who stands in front of another to discern what that other person needs so as to provide the exact help needed by that person. This correlates with the use of the verb epitrepo in Acts 27:3 (shared above). The words neged and epitrepo reveal the type of vigilance that God has always desired from those exercising the "female" endowment of pastor in the Church: a vigilance that constantly "surveys" the souls of those operating in the "male" endowment in order to ascertain what they need in order to provide it as speedily as possible. Instead of working in a true Spirit of Service, however, the pastoral matriarchy uses whatever service it provides in order to manipulate the souls it "serves" and to squelch any "male" manifestation that may threaten its supremacy.]

Notice how the Septuagint associates the Greek word boethos with the concept of a "female" raised up to provide support for a "male", which correlates with how the two "female" ministries of pastor and teacher are designed to provide support for the 3 "male" ministries of apostle, prophet, and evangelist. Even though both "female" ministries provide support for the "male" endowments, the one most directly related to "helping" or "serving" is the pastoral endowment. Hence, we can say that the word boetheia ("helps") in Acts 27:17 once again points to the pastoral endowment, which, in a literal sense was providing underlying support to the ship (probably in the form of ropes or cables) to prevent Paul and those with him sinking and perishing at sea.

Even though the ship was eventually lost, the "helps" mentioned in Acts 27:17 provided enough support to keep Paul afloat until he could reach a safer place (which turned out to be Malta). This illustrates a spiritual reality that pastors are unwilling to accept: Their pastoral strengthening of the soul may yield eternal results, but only if it empowers someone to operate in the Spirit; their pastoral strengthening, however, is not, in and of itself, eternal in nature. This correlates with how a drink of water may provide a righteous soul refreshment so that it may continue doing Godly work, but the effect of that drink will eventually fade away. The thirst-quenching that results from a pastoral "drink" is designed to last for a season only, but the thirst-quenching that results from the flow of prophetic waters lasts forever. This is why the "pastoral help" described in Acts 27:17 was unable to permanently preserve the ship. This is also why the Lord declared the following to the Samaritan woman:

"13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:13-14)

It is no coincidence that the words above were spoken to a Samaritan woman, given the connection between pastoral provision and the "good Samaritan" described by the Lord in Luke 10:34-35 (mentioned earlier). It is also worth considering that, prior to offering water of an eternal quality to the Samaritan woman, the Lord first asks her to give Him literal water:

"There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink" (John 4:7)

This emphasises the responsibility that the "female" ministries (led by the pastoral ministry) have in providing refreshment to the "male" ministries in order to empower their provision of "male" anointings to the rest of the Body.

From all of the above, we can conclude that the "shame" of Revelation 16:15 is derived from not recognising the "natural" (physikos) role of the "female" endowments, which includes providing pastoral comforting to those weary from operating in the "male" endowments. Not recognising this "natural" role involves ascribing to it a "supernatural" and "eternal" nature that it truly does not possess. This is when spiritual "men" begin to spiritually sodomise each other, thinking that "female" (i.e. soul) functionality is befitting of a "male" (i.e. spirit). Hence, the vigilance (i.e. gregoreo-ing) of Matthew 24:42 involves staying clear of the pastoral-matriarchy spirit that dominates the Church, a spirit that endeavours to ascribe an eternal nature to soul work and that keeps legitimate "female" (i.e. pastoral) support away from the weary souls who are doing legitimate "male" work.

As a parenthesis, it is worth reconsidering the fact that the pastoral provision in Acts 27 is in the context of a 5th-seal environment, which, as we have studied before, is dominated by Jebusites and Hittites unleashing relentless punishment and torment on the souls of the faithful remnant. It is during the 5th seal that the remnant are in their most vulnerable soul state, meaning that it is the time when they most need pastoral comfort. The fact that those entrenched in the pastoral matriarchy remain determined not to provide pastoral relief to the righteous remnant, even during this difficult time, only adds to the eternal shame that is already upon them in the vigilant eyes of God Almighty.

Use of the teacherly without being genealogical

Now that we have considered the first 2 appearances of the verb chraomai (to "take for one's use") in Scripture, in Acts 27:3 and Acts 27:17, let us consider chraomai's last two appearances. Its second-to-last appearance is in verse 8 of the following passage, translated as "use":

"6 From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; 7 Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm. 8 But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;" (1 Timothy 1:6-8)

Notice how chraomai is being used here in the context of the teacher ministry. Interestingly, the word "good" in verse 8 was translated from the Greek word kalos, which, as we have shared before, is related to prophetic usefulness. Therefore, the Lord is declaring that, in order to teach "lawfully" (i.e. in a way approved by Him), one must handle the written law with an openness to the prophetic endowment. As we have shared before, when teachers go astray, they turn Girgashite, and Girgashites are staunch enemies of God's prophetic endowment. This is why teachers who teach God's Word from the soul and not the Spirit quickly become dry and stale "scholars" of the Word, with absolutely no interest in any prophetic streams flowing beneath the written surface that their Girgashite eyes perceive. This is when they begin to distort the message behind Scripture, turning it into the heretical teachings that Paul warns Timothy of in 1 Timothy 1. By using their natural understanding and despising the prophetic endowment, which reveals what is hidden underneath the surface (1 Corinthians 14:24-25), Girgashite teachers irreverently soil God's Words with the Girgashite dirt on their dry hands, hands that remain unwashed by the prophetic waters of God's Spirit.

The phrase "vain jangling" in 1 Timothy 1:6 above was translated from the Greek word mataiologia, which is derived from the word mataios, meaning "vain", and logos, meaning "word". The word mataios appears 6 times in Scripture, the last time being in the following verse, translated as "vain":

"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers" (1 Peter 1:18)

Notice how the Spirit of God relates mataios to human traditions passed down from one generation to another. Thus, 1 Timothy 1:6 actually contradicts the matriarchal Church's typical understanding of "wrong teachings", for matriarchals associate the unrighteous teachers of 1 Timothy 1 to "charlatans" saying "crazy, new things", when, in reality, these unrighteous teachers are actually regurgitators of old, stale things whose validity is affirmed not by their inherent truth but by their widespread acceptance throughout the years. This is why Paul says that the unrighteous teachers of 1 Timothy 1 went around teaching "endless genealogies" (1 Timothy 1:4). These "genealogical" teachings were not the invention of some deranged teacher who suddenly began to perceive "new Scriptural revelations" that were untrue. As explained on biblehub.com, these "genealogical teachings" came from Jewish Rabbinical traditions that asserted that there was an oral Law that was given on Mount Sinai and that had been handed down through the ages by a succession of teachers, starting with Moses. Based on this "genealogical" paradigm, it was important to determine whether a particular doctrine could be traced back to teachers within the "kosher" genealogical line of teachings. This is why matriarchals are so concerned with assigning denominational labels to whatever they hear from others; it is also why it is so important for them to ascertain the "seminary-school background" of any "unknown" teacher so as to determine whether the person's teachings descend from the "appropriate" line of "theological thinking". Whatever cannot be assigned to the "correct" denomination (i.e. the correct demon) or whoever does not have the appropriate line of theological credentials and dead scholars backing him must be rejected and branded with the labels of "impostor" and "satanic indoctrinator" from the "pits of hell" itself.

The word "endless" in 1 Timothy 1:4 was translated from the Greek word aperantos, which is not used again in all of Scripture. This word is derived from the Greek prefix a meaning "without" and the verb peiro meaning "to pierce"; aperantos was translated as "endless" because it was taken to mean something that cannot be passed through, i.e. something that does not have a delimiting border that can be "pierced", thus making it endless. This may or may not be the appropriate technical translation of aperantos. However, this writer is convinced that the word "endless" does not convey the true meaning that the Spirit of God intended. This writer believes that the true meaning behind aperantos comes from literally translating its components, meaning that it is better translated as "without piercing through". In other words, these "genealogies", long-winded as they are, will never have the power to pierce through the veil that covers the Law, making them incapable of revealing the prophetic message beneath the visible surface.

"13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: 14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. 15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2 Corinthians 3:13-17)

Notice how Paul speaks of the veil being done away with in Christ. As we have shared before, the word "Christ" literally means "the Anointed One" in Greek. Therefore, it points most directly to the prophetic endowment, given that, as we have shared before, this is the endowment most directly related to "anointing" per se. Notice also that the Spirit speaks of "liberty" in verse 17, which again points to the prophetic endowment, since this is the endowment most directly related to freedom of expression. Hence, the teachings that God warns Timothy about in 1 Timothy 1 are not "wild and new theories" from the "fertile minds of deranged men". Instead, they are well-known teachings deeply embedded in human tradition and that derive their credibility from earthly generations of teachers who, for some reason or another, were accepted as "valid and credible" at some mysterious point in time. These are teachings that drain out the "all-too-volatile" and "unpredictable" prophetic anointing of God, replacing it with what the natural mind considers "tried and true" wisdom, wisdom, which, at the end of the day, is nothing but vain earthly wisdom (James 3:15). This is why the Spirit of God also uses the word mataios in the following verse, translated as "vain":

"And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain" (1 Corinthians 3:20)

In short, the teachings denounced by God in 1 Timothy 1 are teachings that sound "wise" to the natural, religious man because they have a long history of "well-established tradition" behind them. Such teachings come from "ministers" who believe that their "female" teacher endowment can be improved enough so as to supplant the "male" prophetic endowment. Thus, they forsake the "natural" use of their "female" endowment, using it as if it were the "male" prophetic endowment, thereby producing eternal shame for themselves and those who follow them.

Use of the teacherly without suppressing prophetic freedom

The last time that chraomai is used in Scripture is in 1 Timothy as well, translated as "use" in the following verse:

"Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities." (1 Timothy 5:23)

The phrase "drink no longer water" was translated from 2 Greek words, the adverb meleki meaning "any longer" and the verb hydropoteo meaning "to drink water", which only appears in the verse above. The verb hydropoteo here has the connotation of a habitual practice, meaning that the phrase above could have been translated as "water-drink no longer" or "no longer be a water-drinker". Clearly, Paul was not telling Timothy to stop drinking water, full stop. Instead, he was exhorting him not to limit himself to water only. As we have shared before, Timothy was eminently a teacher, and teachers are inherently inclined towards efficiency, which in turn leads to a tendency towards frugality (and outright stinginess when the teacher turns Girgashite). This explains why Timothy had a tendency towards being a "water drinker", i.e. towards a "no frills" existence that covers the most necessities with the minimum resources. Water is the most efficient and economical way to provide the body with the liquids it needs, drab and insipid as it may be. Paul, however, was telling him to go beyond the basics and to not limit himself to what is "sufficient".

The word "wine" in 1 Timothy 5:23 was translated from the Greek word oinos, which also appears two chapters earlier:

"Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre" (1 Timothy 3:8)

Notice the contrast between the phrase "much wine" in 1 Timothy 3:8 and the phrase "little wine" in 1 Timothy 5:23. Hence, the verse above is associating oinos (i.e. "wine") to great excesses. This correlates with the following verse, the last verse before the book of Timothy where oinos appears:

"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18)

The word "excess" was translated from the Greek word asotia, which is derived from the prefix a meaning "not, without" and the verb sozo meaning "to save, make whole". Therefore, asotia literally means "unsaved" or "the opposite of being made whole", which speaks of someone "coming undone", as when something that has been put together and is whole suddenly falls into pieces. In that sense, therefore, we can say that oinos speaks of breaking binds that are holding something together, containing it, preventing it spilling all over the place. As we have shared before, the teacher endowment is one of "containers" that prevent wasteful spillage by keeping things within reliable boundaries. Hence, by telling Timothy to drink "a little wine", the Spirit was telling Timothy to allow himself to break away from the limitations and frugality of the teacher endowment and to allow himself to be spilled out, not in the destructive way of the flesh, but in the freedom of the Spirit. Of the 5 ministerial endowments, the one most directly linked to learning from and acting upon experience is the teacher endowment, due to its inherent focus on what is visible and on its backwards-looking nature. Therefore, teachers would be the quickest to note the destructive ways in which the unrighteous soul uses "wine freedom", taking that destruction as a cue not to engage in "wine freedom" of their own. The Spirit, however, is saying in 1 Timothy 5:23 that the soul's historically destructive use of "wine" does not mean that God rejects "wine" altogether and that, in fact, it is necessary to carry out His purposes.

Notice that the Spirit recommended the wine to Timothy for his "stomach". The word "stomach" was translated from the Greek word stomachos, which only appears once in all of Scripture, and is derived from the word stoma meaning "mouth". Therefore, we can infer that the one-time use of stomachos here is a reference pointing to the mouth and to what is connected to the mouth on the inside. This correlates with the only other appearance of oinos (i.e. "wine") in 1 Timothy:

"Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre" (1 Timothy 3:8)

Notice how this verse mentions wine immediately after referring to people who are "double-tongued". The word "doubletongued" was slightly mistranslated from the Greek word dilogos, which is derived from the word dis meaning "twice, again" and the word logos meaning "word". Hence, it refers to people who can express certain words at one moment to one person and completely contradictory words to another person at another time. Thus, it refers to a mouth that speaks things that do not follow a consistent, logical chain of thought and that clearly contradict each other when compared side by side. Obviously, 1 Timothy 3:8 is referring to deceitful liars who speak out of both sides of their mouths (like b.o., the low-class demagogue in the White House at the time of this writing - 2015). However, it still illustrates a spiritual principle connected to wine, that is, to have your mouth free from the limitations of natural logic. Therefore, when "wine" is not taken in "excess" (as in 1 Timothy 3:8), and is taken in "smaller amounts" (as recommended by God in 1 Timothy 5:23), it actually allows your mouth to speak words that are illogical to the natural mind, things that flow out from the part of your insides that are connected to your mouth (i.e. stomachos). As we have shared before, this is all related to the prophetic endowment, which will often prompt you to say things that sound contradictory or nonsensical but, which, in truth, are deep words of logically robust truth emanating from the depths of God's heart. Hence, we can conclude that the Spirit of God was exhorting the teacher Timothy to allow his mouth the freedom to speak words emanating from his stomachos without constantly filtering them through his natural sense of logic, as teachers are wont to doing. As we all know, wine causes people to become more talkative, saying what is inside of them without filtering their words through the inhibitions of their natural judgement. This is what the Spirit of God was prompting Timothy to do: to allow his mouth to become prophetic, unfettered by his natural judgement and logic, freely and randomly emanating words from inside of him without questioning their validity or raison-d'être with his natural, teacherly mind. In other words, the Spirit was exhorting Timothy to allow his stomachos to speak freely through his mouth and to say things that may sound like "illogical gibberish" to his natural mind.

Use of the teacherly without enabling Jebusite oppression

According to 1 Timothy 5:23, the wine was not only for Timothy's stomachos but for his "often infirmities". The word "often" was translated from the Greek word pyknos, which only appears 3 times in Scripture, the first time being in the following verse, translated again as "often":

"And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?" (Luke 5:33)

Notice how pyknos is used in the context of people imposing limitations (in this case, eating limitations) on themselves, which correlates with all that we have shared above. In this case, however, the limitation was not on an excess but on a necessity that is considered more than acceptable under normal circumstances (i.e. eating and drinking). Therefore, the limitation referred to here is of a more "demanding" nature. As we have shared before, fasting is spiritually related to the apostolic endowment, meaning that the more "demanding" limitation that pyknos (i.e. "often") is being linked to in Luke 5:33 is an apostolic limitation. Whereas one part of 1 Timothy 5:23 ("for thy stomach's sake") points to teacherly limitations derived from observing excesses in others, the next part of 1 Timothy 5:23 ("and thine often infirmities") points to apostolic limitations that are not intended to target excesses but are instead intended to forge "non-automatic" growth beyond the current level.

The word "infirmities" in the phrase "often infirmities" of 1 Timothy 5:23 was translated from the Greek word astheneia, which can also be translated as "weakness". This word is spiritually related to several concepts. However, due to its use alongside pyknos, it can be inferred that the concept being conveyed by astheneia in 1 Timothy 5:23 is the one conveyed by astheneia in verses like the one below, where astheneia is translated as "infirmity":

"And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself" (Luke 13:11)

Notice how astheneia is used in the context of a woman who was forced for a long time to walk around hunched over. Because of the notoriously public nature of her condition, it is evident that it brought her much personal shame that was persistently reinforced by an oppression over her that she could not shake off. This connection between astheneia and unshakeable shame is also evident in the following verse:

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

As you may know, Paul spoke the words above in the context of the "thorn in the flesh" that he could not shake off through prayer. A couple of verses earlier (2 Corinthians 12:7), Paul says that the thorn acted as a messenger of satan that would slap him (2 Corinthians 12:7), meaning that it brought him much shame. As you may also know, it is believed that the thorn was a condition in Paul's eyes that would cause them to discharge significant amounts of rheum at all times, a condition that stemmed from seeing the Lord in His Glory on the road to Damascus. Interestingly, the word astheneia appears twice in the verse above; even so, the KJV translators chose for some reason to translate it in two different ways, first as "weakness" and later as "infirmities". Therefore, the verse above reinforces the connection between astheneia and a very public shame.

As we have shared before, the evil spirit that allows shame to remain as a permanent cloud over a person's psyche is the Perizzite spirit, and the spirit that reinforces that shame through "slaps" is the Jebusite spirit of earthly judgements, which results from the distortion of the apostolic endowment. Therefore, we can infer that there was an influence of the Perizzite spirit over Timothy's life, an influence enabled by an apostolic endowment that had gone slightly awry. Having grown up in a devout household (2 Timothy 1:5), and having an inherent apostolic calling of his own (1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2:6), it seems as if Timothy allowed himself to be oppressed by burdens and laws beyond what God intended for him. This would not only bring additional limitations on his life but also bring unnecessary Perizzite shame on his life, causing him at times to feel small and insecure, thereby reducing his spiritual boldness.

As we have shared before, boldness is strongly related to the prophetic endowment. A person cannot speak prophetically unless he or she has the boldness to believe that he or she is special enough in the eyes of God to be a channel of His rhema words on Earth. A person whose boldness has been stolen can in no way stand up and say, "Thus saith the Lord", and, even if he could, his words would be so weak and full of insecurity that they would fall harmlessly to the ground without fulfilling the purpose behind them.

Use of the teacherly without suppressing evangelistic confidence

In a sense, boldness is also related to the evangelistic endowment. Because of his calling to be a conqueror, an evangelist is born with inherent faith in himself. Evangelists exude self-confidence, and they have no problems stepping into unchartered territory and establishing their "dominion" over the place. Whereas prophetic boldness is emotionally appropriated by the prophet (being accepted from the Lord), evangelistic boldness is more "silent" and "subtle" in its nature, emanating more from within (as opposed to being accepted from the outside). This evangelistic boldness is founded on a simple acceptance and direct awareness of the spiritual king that you are, a king destined to establish kingship and dominion everywhere you go. As you may know, those who are born into royalty on Earth have a certain aura or demeanour about them. They always carry a silent awareness within them that they are royalty, and that awareness of who they are causes them to somehow gain control of the atmosphere around them. Those around them cannot help but become aware of their presence, and their thoughts and actions begin to revolve around their awareness of that presence.

As we have shared before, wine is spiritually related to the evangelistic endowment of conquest. Therefore, we can say that the wine that the Spirit was calling Timothy to imbibe also meant an embracing of evangelistic boldness that would nullify the Perizzite influence of shame and smallness that hung over Timothy's life. As we have studied before, the evangelistic endowment has a strong connection to the Spirit of Philadelphia (and to the Spirit of Laodicea), and the Perizzite spirit is a distortion of the Spirit of Philadelphia. This means that the Perizzite spirit does much to trap the evangelistic calling hidden within those who are in a state of external "smallness". In other words, many people who are easily influenced by the Perizzite spirit are actually evangelists whose calling has been covered up by the rags of Perizzite spirits. Those Perizzite spirits erode the evangelistic boldness of these people, which, in turn, hampers their boldness to speak prophetically.

{As a parenthesis, a clear example of how Perizzites are often "evangelists in disguise" is the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4. A meditation on the words that she initially spoke to Yeshua reveal a pattern of "great-men" worship (John 4:12, 20) and excessive simplicity (John 4:11, 15, 29), two traits that are typical in Perizzites. However, upon believing, she immediately went into the city, spoke with confident boldness to many, and drew a multitude of souls unto the Lord (John 4:28-30), all of which reveals the strong evangelistic endowment that resided within that woman.}

Fellow believer, as the Lord had me meditating on all of the above, He led me to meditate on the concept of "narcissism", sending me to the Wikipedia page on narcissism. Interestingly, I found the following phrase in that article:
Healthy narcissism has to do with a strong feeling of "own love" protecting the human being against illness

Regardless of what the original writer of the above phrase may have meant in the literal, the words resonated in my spirit being, for they were words from the Lord God. There is a measure of "healthy" royal boldness that comes from embracing the evangelistic endowment. Unfortunately, many who have embraced this royal boldness turn it into narcissistic, Amorite pride. This is the reason why this evangelistic boldness is quickly rejected and vilified by the religious mind at its slightest manifestation, being embraced only when it emanates from a matriarchal pastor whose earthly credentials somehow make it "OK" for him to act in that boldness. Thus, the natural mind is unable to discern that there is a healthy level of evangelistic boldness that must be embraced, just as there is a "healthy" level of "narcissism" that a person must possess. When the measure of evangelistic boldness is artificially reduced below this healthy level by Jebusite and Perizzite spirits, the person becomes susceptible to disease, not only in the soul but in the physical body. Thus, it can be said that the "often infirmities" in Timothy's life were largely related to the Perizzite and Jebusite oppression that had lingered over his life, an oppression that would not go away unless he was willing to embrace evangelistic boldness.

As we have briefly shared before, the evangelistic endowment spawns the gifts of healings, meaning that, where the evangelistic endowment abounds, disease is often conquered and subjugated by God. When the evangelistic endowment is suppressed, disease is given room to linger and thrive. Hence, the phrase in the Wikipedia article makes spiritual sense. A healthy awareness of your royal identity will release the gifts of healings within your own physical body and enable its release from within you and into the lives of others.

In conclusion, when the Lord was telling Timothy to use (i.e. chraomai) a little wine, He was telling him to not misuse his teacher endowment in a such a way that it would limit the prophetic flow from his mouth and remove the healing presence of the evangelistic endowment on his body and in his life. The teacher endowment is by essence a "cautious" one. Therefore, when it is not ruled by the higher vision of the Spirit, the teacher endowment has the tendency to completely reject anything that has been misused by others, preferring to err on the side of caution rather than risk any excess. This creates Girgashite bindings on the person's "prophetic mouth" and Perizzite bindings on the person's "evangelistic self-confidence". Ironically, the teacher endowment actually oversteps its boundaries (i.e. it exceeds its role) when it goes overboard stopping prophetic and evangelistic excesses. When it does this, the teacher endowment stops conforming to the "natural" use that God intended for it, for it tries to use "female" strength to prevent "male" endowment excesses without recognising those endowments' roles. This is what happens when people try to restrict spiritual excesses through the strength of the weak flesh; prophetic and evangelistic boldness are aborted and the person is left in a spiritually weak and oppressed state.

{As a final parenthesis to 1 Timothy 5:23, we can say that the Lord's call for Timothy to transition from "water" to "wine" correlates with the transition from "water baptism" to "fire baptism" referred to in 1 Peter 3:20-21 and 2 Peter 3:7-12 (in that sense, "wine" is like "fire" because of the burning effect of its alcohol). The "water baptism" cleanses our conscience (Romans 8:1) and prepares our soul for spiritual growth; this is why the Spirit speaks of 8 souls going through the water baptism of (the first) Noah's flood. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the Church, being soulish and matriarchal, is so comfortable staying at the level of a water baptism and never cares to progress towards a fire baptism that will allow them to grow as spirit beings and enter into the Kingdom of God. This is why they are spiritually naked and full of shame in God's eyes, and they are in no ways vigilant or prepared for when the Lord comes as a thief in the night.}

Misuse by omission and by overdoing

Returning to Matthew 24:42, we can conclude, based on what we saw through Revelation 16:15, that what we are to be vigilant about is the shame that is produced when one operates in the 2 "female" endowments of pastor and teacher without realising their limitations and without recognising the place and priority of the 3 "male" endowments. When the pastoral endowment ignores its limitations and forsakes its natural (i.e. physikos) "female" use (i.e. chresis), it ends up withholding soul-refreshment and support (especially through 5th-seal limbo) from the very souls that it should serve the most. In other words, when the pastoral endowment goes soulishly "unnatural", its shame is produced by its omissions, i.e. what it refuses to do. It is ironic, therefore, that the ministry that prides itself in "covering the needy" derives its eternal nakedness and shame from not providing covering to their main audience: those weary from operating in the "male" endowments (that they so profoundly abhor). The indictment against the Church's pastors is for not giving food to a hungry manifestation of Yeshua (not to a needy sinner), for not giving drink to a thirty manifestation of Yeshua (not to a needy sinner), for not gathering in a "foreign" manifestation of Yeshua (not a needy sinner), for not clothing a naked manifestation of Yeshua (not a needy sinner), for not visiting a weak and imprisoned manifestation of Yeshua (not a needy sinner). Let him who has ears hear the terrible judgement against the worthless and useless pastors who rule the Church and who defile the Earth by their very presence.

Whereas the pastoral endowment produces shame through its failure to act, the teacher endowment produces its shame through its over-reactions. When the teacher endowment ignores its limitations and forsakes its natural "female" use, it begins to work against real excesses of the flesh through its limited means; and, in doing so, it begins to attack manifestations that are not excesses and are actually essential for healthy growth. Through their zealous overwork, the soulish teacher endowment destroys prophetic boldness and evangelistic confidence in those under their influence, causing nakedness in them due to the spiritual incompleteness that is left in them. In a sense, it can be said that the soulish pastoral endowment mercilessly leaves its righteous enemies uncovered through inaction, whilst the soulish teacher endowment zealously leaves its naive and/or unrighteous followers uncovered through excessive action. In other words, the soulish pastoral endowment produces earthly nakedness and shame for the righteous, and the soulish teacher endowment produces eternal nakedness and shame for the unrighteous. Because they produce shame in others, those who elevate the pastoral and teacher endowments beyond their assigned levels also reap shame unto themselves, and those who are not vigilant against the pastoral matriarchy can expect nothing but great public shame at the Lord's manifestation.

{The next article is called "The break-in"}