All of us are concerned about divine order, more so these days than ever before. At the beginning of this walk it was more of a theory with us, but now it has become a very practical way of life. And as the Body is increasing so rapidly, we know that it must have a divine order, lest confusion and ultimately chaos come out of this walk. If there is one characteristic in which this walk seems to be different than most movements that have come, it is the fact that the emphasis is not upon some now experience or upon the restoration of some Scriptural experience as much as it is upon the restoration of the divine order under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
A story in the book of Ruth reveals some truths about divine order. Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you? And now is not Boaz our kinsman, with whose maids you were? Behold, he winnows barley at the threshing floor tonight. Wash yourself therefore, and anoint yourself and put on your best clothes, and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. And it shall be when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies, and you shall go and uncover his feet and lie down; then he will tell you what you shall do.” And she said to her, “All that you say I will do.”
So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law had commanded her. When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came secretly, and uncovered his feet and lay down.
And it happened in the middle of the night that the man was startled and bent forward, (he twisted as one would turn while asleep); and behold, a woman was lying at his feet. And he said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth your maid. So spread your covering over your maid, for you are a close relative.”
Then he said, “May you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter, You have shown your last kindness to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence. And now it is true I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I. Remain this night, and when morning comes, if he will redeem you, good; let him redeem you. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then I will redeem you, as the Lord lives. Lie down until morning.”
So she lay at his feet until morning and rose before one could recognize another; and he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” Again he said, “Give me the cloak that is on you and hold it.” So she held it and he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her.
Then she went into the city. And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did it go, my daughter?” And she told her all that the man had done for her. And she said, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ ” Then she said, “Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out; for the man will not rest until he has settled it today.” Ruth 3:1–18.
First of all, let me clarify in your mind a custom that existed back in the days of the judges—the period between 1400 and 1100 B.C.—known as the custom of a close kinsman. There were no Social Security or welfare benefits for people who were without means of support. It was a normal procedure for a young widow to marry the brother of her dead husband, and any children born of this marriage would bear the dead husband’s name, and not the name of their natural father. According to the law then, the heritage could continue on, for it was actually very close to the same bloodline and heredity.
Ruth was told by her mother-in-law, Naomi, what she should do. The story of Ruth concludes with the account of Naomi nursing Ruth’s child. In many countries where people believe in it, this practice is quite common. A woman who adopts a baby and has great affection for it, is able, through some kind of psychic force, to nurse that child even though she did not give birth to it.
It is very interesting to note that Naomi had some revelation concerning the situation when she told Ruth what to do. But revelation concerning the situation when she told Ruth what to do. But revelation by a crabby old widow who called herself Mara (bitterness)? Could we trust that in a New Testament church? Would you trust a prophecy from her that gave you such personal direction and guidance? Perhaps not, except for one thing: she seemed to have an uncanny understanding of what revelation should be. In effect, she was telling Ruth, “Seek to have the covering. Seek to be under authority.” Boaz didn’t seem to have any revelation, but in the submissiveness of Ruth he came into his authority. Revelation leads to submission, which leads to authority over that submission—three steps are involved. This same process takes place once again in the New Testament church wherever it is applied.
Ruth was told, “At night you just slip under the cover at the feet of Boaz, very submissively.” To us that may sound like a rather immoral suggestion, but you must understand that Boaz was a near kinsman; and according to the law, Ruth was more than a possible wife. Legally it was required that she be covered. She was not insisting on it; she just positioned herself in submission. And when he wakened, she asked him to put the covering over her. When he covered her, this was a sign that he was taking authority over her. And in the morning he began to make provision for her. When Naomi heard about it, she said, “That man isn’t going to rest until he has finished this job.” She was saying, “He’s a responsible man. He’ll love you. He’ll redeem you. And he won’t rest until the job is done.”
There is so much that the Lord is trying to teach us today about being submissive. If we wait for authority to come and dominate us, we often miss the greatest blessing of the New Testament church. If you wait for the Lord Jesus Christ to come and force you to be submissive, it probably will not happen. This is the way the world governs; they manifest authority and people have to submit to it. Usually it is not submission, but suppression which results. We don’t want that. We don’t want it in the church nor in the home.
Many a wife must learn that it is her own spirit that is causing unhappiness in the home. She insists on doing things her way while complaining about what her husband does. When she stops nagging at him and begins to put herself under his covering, she will find things beginning to change. Many times authority does not precede the revelation that brings submission. It takes a great deal of faith to position yourself in such a place of humility and submission that you believe for the authority to cover you and to be over you.
I know that God is moving us forward to speak the Word of the Lord, to follow the revelation of the Lord, but it will have to be under His authority. I stand before the Lord and say, “Lord, You’ve given the Word, but now You’ll have to cover me.” I think the authority does not always come forth quickly in its manifestation because submission must not be a thing of coercion; submission must be a matter of faith—faith in an individual who is submissive. Many a wife has had to become submissive because the Lord revealed it to her. As she became submissive and waited before the Lord with faith, her husband came forth with authority. He covered her submission and became the spiritual head to ther that she believed he would be. Sometimes the process is reversed; it is the husband who first moves in with authority and then his wife becomes submissive.
In this day, the Lordship of Jesus Christ over us becomes a revelation to us before it becomes an actual reality with His leading and directing us in all things. Our first impression of the Lordship of Jesus Christ is usually concerned with our part in it. We say, “I must be submissive. He’s the Lord over my life.” We come into the submission without really expecting to get much leading or revelation. We expect that we must first bring our own heart into submission. When we become submissive to the Lord, then He is revealed to us.
Even when we don’t know the answer, we must come with full faith, submitting and believing God that it is under divine order; then God will help us. Don’t say to the ministries, “I’ll be submissive to you just as soon as you can show me all the answers and tell me what to do.” That kind of talk is utter foolishness. Many times submission to a word from God precedes the divine provision of authority over you. On his second missionary journey, when Paul tried to go to Bythinia and up into the mountains to preach, the Spirit hindered him. Finally Paul said, “What do you want, Lord? We’ve gone just as far as we can.” Then he received the vision of a man standing over on the shores across the Aegean sea in Macedonia, saying, “Come over into Macedonia and help us.”
God does not always give extensive revelation, but He will move upon your spirit to be submissive. He will lead you that far. He will give you enough revelation to lead you into a total submission to the Lord; then the authority and the direction will take over. I think there is a principle here that we haven’t seen before. Instead of saying, “I’m just waiting for God to lead me and then I’ll be submissive,” you must first come into that total submission, lie down at His feet and see if He won’t cover you. He won’t let it rest until He has taken care of the whole matter and concluded it. Many times I have waited for God to do something sovereignly, but He was waiting for me to yield or to follow the revelation He had already given about the matter until I was totally submissive. And then His authority took over.
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He began asking His disciples, saying, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
And Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjonas, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ. Matthew 16:13–20.
Jesus is indicating here, first of all, that revelation from the Lord is the first thing that opens the door. After the truth was revealed to Peter and the disciples, and confirmed by Jesus, that He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus warned them not to tell anyone else that He was the Christ. Isn’t that interesting? He blessed the man who had the revelation of it, but He said, “Don’t reveal this to anyone else. Tell no one.” He was going to give Peter the keys of the Kingdom of heaven, but Peter was not to go out, exclaiming to everyone, “Come on, wake up folks. Jesus is the Son of the living God. He’s the Christ. Did you hear me? Do you believe me? Okay, I’ll open the door for you. Here are the keys.” The keys are only going to work for those who receive the revelation through the same process by which Peter received it: “Flesh and blood hath not revealed this.” Revelation does not come because you force it down someone’s throat and say, “This is it.”
I constantly watch for those upon whom I see the spirit of revelation resting—revelation that came perhaps through a word or through a little Scripture—and then I go to them and start ministering, because I have the keys of the Kingdom to open the door for them; I have the authority. That is the way it was with Ruth. There was the revelation to lead her and position her. And then there was the authority of Boaz that covered her. Wherever we look, this will be the pattern in this walk. First the Father will start to reveal things about the Lord and about the walk, and people will begin to open up to it. Then we will take those precious keys and open the door to everything that God has for them.
When Jesus told the disciples not to tell anyone, I don’t think He meant that they could never discuss the Lord Jesus Christ or fail to exalt Him or love Him. He meant that theirs was not a job of salesmanship, that after they had convinced people and talked them into it, it would work for them. It just doesn’t happen that way. Revelation precedes the authority being manifested and operating in your life in every way.
There must be a word that comes from the Lord to almost everyone in this walk if the divine order is going to be followed. Someone must say, “Here’s a word for you. You humble yourself and be submissive, and then follow this word.” We make a big mistake and we’re almost in old order when we’re still seeking the Lord for answers without first seeking for the relationship with Him. The answers do not come that way. You may say, “Lord, I want You to do this in my life. Then I want You to work out that problem for me. When you finish that, I want this answer and that answer.” The Lord says, “No. First your relationship with Me is going to be established. You’re going to lie down at My feet on the threshing floor. When I start threshing your life, when I am winnowing the barley and getting it loose from the chaff, that is when you sleep at My feet, lying there in complete submission.”
You may say, “But I want those six measures of barley; that’s what I’m after.” But you won’t get them that way. “I’d like to have God work out this circumstance in my life. It has been hanging fire for a long time.” If you keep on going, you will hit a wall that will stop you. Just start submitting. Start seeking for the right relationship to your Lord and Master. Bow before Him and humble yourself. Then in a true sense you are becoming ready for the ministry that divine order can bring to you.
People come trotting up in a ministry service with their prayer request, “I want to know what my line of employment is to be. Am I to sell my house? Am I to do this, that, or the other thing?” Often God gives the answer. But there should first be the preparation in the heart of the individual who seeks the ministry. More and more that ought to be the procedure that we follow.
Come and submit yourself to the pastors and elders who are over you. Don’t be too quick to say, “They don’t know about my needs.” You might be surprised. “Well, they haven’t said anything about it and apparently God hasn’t revealed to them what I’m to do.” Come and lie at their feet for a while. Humble yourself and then look for that authority to reach out and cover your life. We always see it to be true, that if you look to an elder to be an elder, he’ll be an elder. And that’s why we push the elders out to minister to the people. An elder may say, “Oh, how can I meet the needs of the people? I don’t have any revelation. I don’t have any ministry.” Did God make you an elder? “Yes.” Then God will give you the word you need, because that’s the way authority moves. He’s asking you to do the same thing that He’s asking the people to do to you. You also must come and lie at His feet until He covers you. Then those who come to you in submission will find that because of your humble, submissive heart, God will give you the authority to bless them also. This is the way it works. He that would be the greatest must be the servant of all.
Jesus is telling us, “I’ll give you the keys, and what you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven.” I wonder how much of it has already been done, but is waiting for us to move into that position of submission. Those of you who have had blessings and promises hanging fire, just humble yourself before the Lord. Come and yield to Him. He’s your Lord. All of us are to move in submission and all of us are to move in authority, but there is a divine order and different levels and ways that it is to be manifested.
“And if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer. Truly I say to you, whatever you shall bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
“Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.” Matthew 18:15–20.
This passage is usually used to explain church discipline and the way in which offenders should be dealt with. But if you look at it very carefully, you will see again the same threefold pattern of revelation, submission, authority. Here’s revelation; this is what you do. This is the way you go to the brother and try to reach him. There must be a submissiveness in you; then when you go to him, there will be a submissiveness in him.
Peter went on to reason (verse 21), “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” “No, up to seventy times seven.” Jesus is pointing out something very clearly. The authority that we wield is wielded by our agreement together, but also by our submission together to the will of the Lord and the willingness we have in our heart to forgive. Authority is never abusive, never vindictive. We’re to manifest authority in using the name of the Lord, for He says, “Lo, I am in their midst.” But we must also be ready to forgive seventy times seven. Within our spirit there is a complete openness to forgive and love that man, and yet, there is also that responsibility of authority to speak to him, and if God has worked a submission in him, he will repent. He’ll seek the Lord and he’ll be forgiven. If he doesn’t, we can bind. We become the voice of the Lord because He has already bound it in heaven. When we loose, we will find that God has already loosed it in heaven.
There is so much that God has turned loose in this divine order. If we keep a right spirit, if we remain submissive before the Lord, submitting and relating ourselves to the Lord as His bondservants, as His handmaidens, ready to do His will, we will watch the authority being loosed in the church. As you begin submitting yourself to the Lord, a prophet will walk up and say, “The Lord shows me that this and that is binding your life, and I loose it for you in the name of the Lord.” Whatever channel He uses, whether it comes to you directly or through another, He’s going to move on your life. But first comes the submission. Then comes the manifestation of authority.
Do you realize now why many things have never been resolved? It is because we never really tapped into the right process. We didn’t humble ourselves. We don’t need to go year after year with things hanging fire in our life, never being resolved or answered. There are needs that are never met. Like hidden rocks in our love feast, they just lie below the surface. We don’t think about them. We willfully or unconsciously pass them from our mind. God is going to help us get at those things. And it starts with an openness, with a humility and a submission that comes from sleeping at the feet of the Lord at the threshing floor.