Melchizedek was a real person who lived during the time of Abraham about 2,000 B.C.
He was a righteous and Godly leader over the ancient city of Salem, the city of God's Peace,
later to be known as Jerusalem.
He was an early priest-king and in the manner of many early leaders of those times.
He presided over both the religion and the politics of his city.
The significant thing about Melchizedek was not only the place of His rule
and ministry, which was over the "Holy Place", but that he operated in two offices
as both priest and king.
He has been recognized as a "type"
or a forerunner of our coming Messiah who also has dual offices as
High Priest and King of Kings.
Our patriarch Abraham gave Melchizedek tithes and
Melchizedek blessed
Abraham and his family. He also brought out bread and wine which are
the constant and continuing elements of a covenant meal among the covenant people of Israel. The bread and the wine are
the elements seen in
our Christian communion services today.
Here are the three verses from Genesis giving us
nearly all we know about him Biblically and historically.
Genesis 14
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine;
he was the priest of God Most High.
19 And he blessed him and said:
"Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand."
And he gave him a tithe of all. - Gen.14:18-20
Here are some general principles and some conclusions
we can draw out from these three verses.
1. The Order of Melchizedek has two offices,
those being a kingdom and a priesthood.
Both authorities are destined to operate in unity together.
2. The communion of the Most High God
flows out of a two way covenant which a person of faith
makes with the High Priest and King who ministers and rules
in the Order of Melchizedek.
3. The blessings
of God Most High
flow out whenever a member of Abraham's family of faith
enters into communion and makes covenant
with the One who legitimately ministers and rules
in the Order of Melchizedek.
4. The homage and the tribute, which includes the tithe, are owed to the One who rules
in righteousness and ministers in grace in the Order of Melchizedek.
5. Those who are truly in the family of Abraham will recognize and respond to their Messiah
as King and High Priest. And they will give Him a tenth of all that comes to them.
6. The Holy City is not to be divided by presumptuous world leaders
since Jerusalem belongs to the Kingdom and the High Priesthood of the Order of Melchizedek.
7. Jerusalem, the City of Peace, is holy and set apart to God Most High.
Messiah is the righteous King of Salem and High Priest of God Most High.
He is the only One will deliver the Holy City from the raging of nations.
And at the close of this age our coming Messiah will deliver Jerusalem at Armageddon.
As the "Breaker" He will
deliver His
Congregation in exile as the sheep of Bozrah. (Micah 2:12-13)
He will judge the nations and issue His passport into His 1,000 year Millennial Rule.
And so Messiah's
Second Coming will be decisive and set for all time and eternity.
And His dual offices in the Order of Melchizedek will ensure forever the long awaited Peace of Jerusalem.
The Order of Melchizedek will ultimately be seen in our Lord Jesus Christ.
He is Yeshua Hamashiach, our coming Messiah.
How do we know this?
King David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
wrote a song announcing that the reign of the coming Messiah.
He tells us that His coming Lord
would be commissioned by God the Father to rule as
"... a priest forever according to the Order of Melchizedek".
Psalm 110 - A Psalm of David.
1 The LORD (YHVH) said to my Lord,(Adonai)
"Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."
2 The LORD (YHVH) shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.
Rule in the midst of Your enemies!
3 Your people shall be volunteers In the day of Your power;
In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning,
You have the dew of Your youth.
4 The LORD (YHVH) has sworn
And will not relent,
"You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek."
THE TWO OFFICES AND ANOINTINGS OF OUR COMING MESSIAH
WILL UNITE BOTH HOUSES OF THE COVENANT PEOPLE OF GOD
IN THE THE CRUCIBLE OF THE END-TIME DRAMA.
Melchizedek, as king of Salem (peace), was also
priest of God Most High.
So our Messiah as a priest/king in the Order of Melchizedek
has dual offices or authority.
He rules in the priestly or religious realm
ministering to men in order to bring them into union with God.
Melchizedek also bears rulership
in the royal kingdom authority of the Throne of David
which is the burden and anointing for God's righteous rule.
This is in the royal House of Judah.
Our coming Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, is
therefore both priest and king. This is a very important point
and the key to our understanding of what happens in the end-time drama
and the eventual reconciliation
between the Church and the Jewish nation in Israel.
A word study through the scriptures of the word "elect"
reveals that there is one single elect.
The Church (or Congregation) of Yeshua Hamashich/Jesus Christ will
enter the crucible with the nation of Israel to be refined as a single remnant Elect.
The scriptures above show us that in the Order of Melchizedek there is no separation.
The wall of partition between Israel and the Church has been crafted by
freemason dispensationalists who have infiltrated the Church and are trying
to set the agenda for God Most High.
The Church-Israel partition is a man-made. It may reflect present day religious reality/convenience.
But it does not describe the true and genuine future eternal reality
that comes in with the returning Messiah. Because in the Order of Melchizedek He comes with the stick of Judah and of Joseph!
He embodies BOTH!
The two sticks of Ezekiel 37 are united as one is in His hand.
End-time holy history will see ALL of God's covenant people as a reunited family from both houses of Israel.
They will come together as
one single remnant Elect.
How will this happen?
God says that His covenant people are chosen in the furnace of affliction.
Isaiah 48
10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver;
I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
Isa.48:10 KJV
Israel and the Church will both go into the crucible
of the 70th week
together during the last 7 years of this age.
In this process He will bring both houses of Israel
into confluence and unity.
The Church and the nation of Israel do not realize or "see" their ultimate unity and restoration yet.
The Apostle Paul brings God's Word to us on the matter.
He says that Israel, meaning both houses, the Jewish house and the Church house, are both in partial blindness. (Rom.11:25)
Romans 11
25 ...........blindness in part has happened to Israel
until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
26 And so all Israel will be saved,
Rom.11:25b-26 KJV
This brings us a very important message.
Our Apostle Paul, is opening up this mystery.
He says that it is important that we are aware of it.
The Church has quite obviously entered into the Eternal Covenants of Israel. (Eph.2:12-13)
The Church is hidden in covenant with the Messiah of Israel.
As a hidden part of Israel then we can see that
the Church is just as much in partial blindness, (of her identity in Israel),
as the nation of Israel is in partial blindness of the Messiah of Israel.
BOTH are partially blind!
Our Apostle Paul
tells us that this partial blindness will continue
until the end of the age when
the church has finished her job in the harvest fields and
the "fullness of the Gentiles" has come in.
Romans 11
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant
of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion,
blindness in part has happened to Israel
until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
"The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27 For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins." Rom.11:25-27 NKJV
At this late time in history, the scales will come off the eyes
of Israel, in both houses. Judah, and lost Israel,
will finally "see" and recognize
their Messiah, Jesus/Yeshua. They will repent and be reconciled to Him.
And the Church will "see" and finally recognize
their true national identity
in the Commonwealth and citizenship of Israel. - Eph.2:12-13
The mysteries
as to what has happened to all of the 12 tribes of Israel,
(including the lost 10 tribes
who were taken into captivity by the Assyrians),
will finally be revealed at that time.
And not before.
THE SALVATION OF THE JEWISH NATION WILL COME RIGHT AT
THE END OF THE AGE AND DURING THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON.
It has been a long time coming, and many would consider it impossible,
but the Jewish nation will
at some point come to accept their Messiah, Yeshua Hamashiach
and so come to be 'born again'.
They will receive the salvation Messiah offers in the blood He shed at Calvary.
He is the Sacrifice Lamb prophesied from of old and
"slain from the foundation of the world." - Rev.13:8
The prophet Zechariah tells us how and when this
epic and climactic national salvation of Judah will happen.
It would appear that their spiritual salvation will occur
at the very same time as their military salvation.
The armies of the gentile nations will muster
on the huge plain of Megiddo northwest of Jerusalem. They
will go up to encircle and try to take Jerusalem.
At that moment it will seem that all is lost.
But then suddenly an earthshaking event will occur.
Just as the Jewish nation is repenting and calling out to the
One whom they had rejected for so long He
will return. Their Messiah will suddenly be at the door! There
will be a magnificent deliverance and the surrounding
armies of the nations will be struck down.
This awesome period of history is well known
as the Battle of Armageddon.
It is an important vignette of the Second Coming of Christ.
Zechariah 12
12:7 "The Lord will save the tents of Judah first,
so that the glory of the house of David and the glory
of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater
than that of Judah.
12:8
In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David,
and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the
Lord before them.
12:9
It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the
nations that come against Jerusalem.
12:10
"And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants
of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they
will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for
Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one
grieves for a firstborn.
12:11
In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem,
like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.*
12:12
And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the
family of the house of David by itself, and their wives
by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself,
and their wives by themselves;
12:13
the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives
by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives
by themselves; Zech.12:1-13
As we can clearly see here in this passage,
the Battle of Armageddon
will be attended by the long awaited salvation of the House of Judah.
The climactic corporate and national salvation of the Jews will
be a stupendous event.
They will undergo a massive conversion to Jesus/Yeshua.
This will be happening just as the fullness of the Gentiles
is brought into the Church. This will be the climax of
the history of this age. Nothing further can or needs to be done
before Messiah returns in wrath on His enemies and deliverance of
both houses of His
Elect people.
The whole nation of Israel will be saved. It will be spiritually
and nationally born in one day as a royal priesthood
and a holy nation. -Exod.19:6, 1Pet.2:9.
The prophet Isaiah was incredulous when
he saw it.
Isaiah 66
8 Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day?
Or shall a nation be born at once?
For as soon as Zion was in labor,
She gave birth to her children.
- Isa.66:8 NKJV
The Breath of God's Spirit will come into
Judah at last.
The coming in of this host of Jewish Messianic Christians
will bring great enrichment to the Church. - Rom.11:15
The natural olive branches willl be grafted back
into the olive tree alongside the wild ones
that were grafted in earlier. - Rom.11:23
The scales will come off the eyes of God's covenant people
in the Church as well.
Wild olive branches are still olive branches!
In that Day they will realize that they are
in the olive tree of Israel.
This has been very difficult for Christian believers to grasp.
At the present time we read about it
in Romans 11 and we scratch our heads.
We partially receive the message.
But we do not really "see it" clearly just yet.
It is a hard thing for us to grasp
with our oaths of national allegiances such as we have them today
and with our national flags resting in our churches.
Over in the other house an epic repentance and national salvation
is destined to occur.
Yes, the national corporate salvation of the Jewish nation will
surely come. This will happen very late in history.
But come it will. The prophet Zechariah tells us about it. (Zech 12:7-13:1)
Up ahead our Jewish brothers and sisters in the royal house of Judah
will be joining us
in the Body of Christ, the wider Commonwealth of Israel.
Can we exercise some patience here?
Can we wait for them as they come?
Do we have to entertain false notions of
deserting the ship and skipping out early?
And here is another question.
Can we be sure we in the Church not be present during those final 7 years?
Will we not be there to witness for our Messiah and witness the unfolding of these glorious Holy Spirit events?
Even in the thick darkness of the midnight hour,
the lamps of the wise virgins will still be burning. They will not go out.
The wise will have the oil of anointing and illumination.
And they have the oil of gladness.
Our God will be very busy pouring out His Spirit and
doing wonders during those awesome future times.
So do we really want to agree with those who declare that we in the Church will not be here?
Do we have any scriptural authority to presume to padlock the Church and close up the Church age seven years early?
Are we permitted to say, "That's all folks" seven years before the fullness of the Gentiles is brought in?
Do we not want to stick around to see the wonder of all Israel restored? (Rom.11)
Let us be honest here with respect to our popular church doctrine of a Pre-Tribulation Rapture.
And are we being presumptious and out of line here with this "cut and run" eschatology of ours?
Where is the Holy Scripture, chapter and verse, proving such a notion?
And by whose authority do we presume to lock up the dispensation of Grace seven years ahead of time?
CONTRARY TO WHAT WE HAVE BEEN TOLD, THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL
BE PRESENT DURING THE TRIBULATION PERIOD. THE OUTPOURING
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL IN FACT COME TO A CLIMACTIC
GRAND FINALE AT THE VERY END OF THIS PRESENT AGE.
Dear saints, we can and should be encouraged here.
The last seven years of this age, and the Great Tribulation
are not all gloom and doom as we have been told.
And the wrath of God comes afterwards and only on the wicked.
Much of what we have been taught we must unlearn.
We must align our bliefs with scripture and scripture alone.
For example, the prophet Joel tells us that the Holy
Spirit outpouring will come to a final glorious crescendo
right at the end of the age. Can we believe what He is saying here?
Joel saw this final climactic and glorious Pentecostal
outpouring at the time of the salvation of Jerusalem
at the Battle of Armageddon. He saw it
in the time context of the 6th seal cosmic disturbances
of a darkened sun and a a bloody moon. - Joel 2:28-32
Therefore we know that this magnificent
revival will occur inside the 70th week
and in fact will come to a climax at the end of the tribulation period.
Just before the Day of the Lord opens up
with wrath being poured out on the enemies of God's
covenant people we still see the Gospel at work.
This blow-out
end-time revival will a revisitation, even an eclipsing,
of the Day of Pentecost.
Back on that epic day 2,000 years ago
our Apostle Peter referred to Joel's prophecy
of the final Holy Spirit outpouring. - Acts 2
Here is that scripture giving us some details of this
magnificent story which is still out there in the future.
Notice the embedded time reference in Joel's mentioning
of the darkened sun and and moon turned to blood.
These are the cosmic disturbances tagging this
final blaze of glory in the timeframe of
the very last few days of this age.
It is just before the
Day of the Lord opens up
with the coming of His wrath.
Joel 2
28 "And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
Joel 2:28-30
Joel goes on to tell us that at the last possible moment,
and just before God's wrath falls on the wicked,
the call will go out to all mankind one last time
to repent and be saved.
Joel 2
32 And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.
For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance,
As the Lord has said, Among the remnant whom the Lord calls.
- Joel 2:32 NKJV
This great revival at the end of this age
was also prophesied by others.
Hosea prophesied that after "two days", (two millennia),
God would revive Israel.
Thus the Jewish nation will come to an epic national salvation.
In the manner of the classic fireworks festival
the Holy Spirit outpouring will climax
in a grand finale at the very end of the seven years.
This outpouring will not only see the salvation of the Jewish nation
in Judah but will also empower the Church to
complete the
Great Commission.
In this same late 70th week
time period the fullness of the gentiles will come in.
While all this is happening the heathen nations will be raging,
and yes these will be awful times this is true.
But the covenant people of God will 'rise and shine',
for their Light has come. -Isa.60
They will not be ducking and weaving away from the witness
or hiding out like those fictitious characters in the "Left behind" novels.
The Bride of Christ will be clothed in righteousness, radiant in splendour,
and like a supernova, about to go out in a blaze of glory!
THE SALVATION AND FULL RESTORATION OF 'ALL ISRAEL' WILL
EMBRACE BOTH HOUSES. THIS WILL COME BY THE AGENCY OF
THE INDWELLING CHRIST. THE TWO OFFICES OF MELCHIZEDEK
WILL DRAW THE JEWISH NATION AND THE CHURCH TOGETHER
INTO A COMMON DESTINY AS A SINGLE, UNIFIED, ELECT, AND
CHOSEN PEOPLE; A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD AND A HOLY NATION.
The re-union of the two houses of Israel focusses on
Ephraim or his father Joseph and Judah. Ephraim is a handle on Israel
for the ten northern tribes of Israel.
The Northern Kingdom of Israel rebelled from the royal tribe of Judah
went their own way. They ended up in gross idolatry.
They were were divorced by God and cast off. - Jer.3:8
They were taken captive by the Assyrians in 722 B.C..
The northern ten tribes never returned to the land of Israel in numbers
sufficient to restore their tribal names or their sovereignty in Israel.
These are the so-called 'lost ten tribes'.
Judah is the royal tribe in the Jewish nation. They too went into
idolatry and captivity.
In their case it was Babylon that carried them off in 605 and 586 B.C..
They did return
to the land of Israel in faith and numbers sufficient to
re-establish a sovereign presence in the Holy City.
Their temple was rebuilt under Zerubbabel,
faith and devotion restored under Ezra,
and the gates and walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt
under Nehemiah thus securing Jerusalem's sovereignty
as a city state. Thus continued the saga of the Jews.
The Gospel is going out to the ends of the earth.
The Shepherd of Israel will find all of these lost people
and save their companions as well.
He will seek out and find every last one of the lost sheep
of the House of Israel, even on a dark and cloudy day. -Ezek.37:16
Then He will bring them home,
every last one of them.- Ezek.34:12
Isaiah 11
12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations,
and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel,
and gather together the dispersed of Judah
from the four corners of the earth.
13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart,
and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off:
Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. - Isa.11:12-13 KJV
In the His priestly office our Messiah is our
Sacrifice Lamb and our High Priest.
Two millennia ago He came as the prophesied Suffering Servant.
But when He comes again as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah,
we shall see Him come as a conquering King
in His royal or kingdom role.
These two offices of Messiah have been a puzzle and a
source of wonder for the Jewish rabbis for a long long time.
One theory they put forward was that there might
be two messiahs.
The messiah of the kingdom office they would name Meshiach ben David.
The messiah of the priestly office they would name Meshiach ben Joseph.
Ben David would be the the messiah as King of Israel.
Ben Joseph would be the messiah as High Priest of Israel.
As we have seen from scripture, Jesus will fit the bill for both offices
quite nicely. He will fulfil both in His two comings.
In the fullness of time these two offices of Messiah.
in the Order of Melchizedek will have been paraded into holy history
by Jesus in
the first and second comings of Messiah.
A gap of two millennia will have separated them.
The first coming of Messiah came on
the 10th of Nisan in the year of His passion.
Our Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
It was just 4 days before the Passover of His crucifixion.
He came to His people in his priestly ministry
as the 'suffering servant' riding on a donkey
bringing the bridal price in his very life for the betrothal
to His Bride and covenant people.
This next time He comes it will be quite different.
He will return in His kingdom role as a 'conquering King'
and riding on a white horse. He will
rule in the royal or kingdom office
of Melchizedek from the Throne of David.
The priestly office and the kingdom office
complement each other. In the coming Millennium of Messiah
the people and the creation of this world will have the best
opportunity that they have ever had to find true happiness.
Peace with God will bring peace with their fellow man.
And this planet will be restored to order and beauty.
Ezekiel saw the kingdom and priestly offices of Melchizedek
as well. He saw them exemplified by the two sticks that became one
in his hand.
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Ezekiel 37
15 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
16 "As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself
and write on it: 'For Judah and for the children of Israel,
his companions.' Then take another stick and write on it,
'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim,
and for all the house of Israel, his companions.'
17 Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick,
and they will become one in your hand.
18 "And when the children of your people speak to you, saying,
'Will you not show us what you mean by these?'--
19 say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God:
"Surely I will take the stick of Joseph,
which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel,
his companions; and I will join them with it,
with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick,
and they will be one in My hand."
20 And the sticks on which you write
will be in your hand before their eyes.
21 Then say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God:
"Surely I will take the children of Israel
from among the nations, wherever they have gone,
and will gather them from every side and bring
them into their own land; 22 and I will make
them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel;
and one king shall be king over them all; they shall
no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided
into two kingdoms again. 23 They shall not defile
themselves anymore with their idols, nor
with their detestable things, nor with any of their
transgressions; but I will deliver them from
all their dwelling places in which they have sinned,
and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people,
and I will be their God.
24 "David My servant shall be king over them,
and they shall all have one shepherd;
(Ezek.37:15-28 NKJV)
The final reconciliation of all Israel
is also laid out for us in the
Fall Feasts, the final three of the
Seven Feasts of Israel.
The fulfilment and culmination of all these seven feasts
will finalize
the kingdom agenda in Christ,
even the 'Gospel of the Kingdom'.
14. And this gospel of the kingdom
will be preached in all the world
as a witness to all the nations,
and then the end will come. -Mat.24:14
The 'Gospel of the Kingdom' is spoken of quite often
in the gospels. - Mat.4:23, 9:35, 24:14, Mark 1:14.
As Christian believers this mention of 'kingdom'
in association with the Gospel
sounds strange in our ears.
This is because we are so focussed on the priestly burden
of the Church which is the spreading of the Gospel of grace.
The Kingdom, however, is the place of His rule.
He rules first in the hearts of men in the gentle bonds of His love.
Later, at His coming, He will minister and rule upon the earth from Jerusalem
in the glorious future
Messianic Kingdom.
This eventual union of the Kingdom and the Priesthood
was laid out for the covenant people of God way back at Sinai.
In Moses's final address and charge to the Children of Israel
he brought them this exhortation and challenge,
Exodus 19
5 'Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant,
then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples,
for all the earth is Mine;
6 and you shall be to Me
a kingdom of priests and
a holy nation.' -Exo.19:5-6 NKJV
Notice that God does not speak of
a 'royal nation' and a
'holy priesthood'
as we would do today with our inclination, (in Greek logic and mindset),
to totally
separate and compartmentalize the political and priestly
offices of church and state.
But rather God, through this message to us from Moses,
crosswires the connections between the two virtues and the two offices.
The priestly virtue of
holiness
He applies to the kingdom, and
the kingdom virtue of
royalty
He applies to the priesthood.
So we have a 'royal
priesthood'
and we have a 'holy
nation'.
Our Apostle Peter brings us precisely the same message
as Moses brought us 3500 years ago
from out of the New Testament.
1 PETER
2:9
But you are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood,
a holy nation,
His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises
of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
- 1Pet.2:9
This is wonderful news indeed. In the coming Messianic kingdom/priesthood
our Messiah intends to
thoroughly mix and intertwine
the kingdom or political office of Melchizedek with that of the
priestly office. There will be no dichotomies, compartmentalizations,
vaticanizations or bureaucratic hierarchies in the Kingdom of God.
Every agency of Messiah's Kingdom will be subject to Him and to each other.
Each too will be blessed by Him and all the other agencies.
This is demonstrated for us
in the architecture of the New Jerusalem with its 12 gates and alcoves.
- Rev.21
Each and all of the 12 gates into the Holy City are unique
with their separate identity preserved.
Every one of them, including the gate of the royal Jewish tribe
of Judah, have privilege of place in the New Jerusalem
even as there are 12 stones
on the High Priest's breastplate.
The Throne of David, which is the place of Messiah's Kingdom rule,
will be at the gate of Judah.
Indeed, the Apostle John, the writer of the Book of Revelation, saw
Jesus as the 'Lion of the Tribe of Judah'. -Rev. 5:5
His kingdom authority will go out from the Gate of Judah
into the cosmos.
But every gate is a also a pearl even as the 11 brothers of Joseph
bowed down to him and to his ministry of reconciliation. The Bread of Life
and the Cup of the covenant as the burden and the ministry of Joseph
who has a central and special connection to all
of the other 11 gates. The 12 gates lead
into a common area in the center where Messiah, as the Lamb of God
presides.
He and all His people from the 12 different spiritual
streams commune together in a free and open interchange.
And yet they all operate together in perfect unity and harmony.
This is our city!
What a magnificent inheritance we have!
SUMMARY 
