"Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations." Revelation 11:1-2 NAU
Our heavenly Father has given us understanding into these words, “measure the temple” (which we are), signifying inspection, examination, taking inventory to evaluate just how much our worship of God is deemed acceptable to Him. He determines the state of our progress into the calling we are receiving of God’s Kingdom. Since this is a walk of faith, it is important to perceive correctly just what rank and order we are in, so that it may enhance our growth to a unhindered development into what the Father has planned.
God is coming to teach us by His Spirit so that we may see into His nature, power, wisdom, and glory. When we see Him, it shows up all the religious efforts that we Christians use to measure up in the eyes of other believers. Such efforts include accomplishments in church works done with determined efforts of human strength, inspired by religious reasonings and human logic. Much church activity originates from the thinking of our own carnal mind. The religious state of Christianity is hard to see and harder to change but His Spirit has promised to spiritually clothe us with His understanding covering our inner house from heaven:
“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him. For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.” I Corinthians 2:9-11 NAS
“And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel [messenger of revelation from God] stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple…” Revelation 11:1
God Himself gives measuring work on golden altar saints to assess how much they grasp of His thoughts. He stretches out the line, He plumbs the depths of our heart — it is God who is the judge of our knowledge. Abraham is a classic example of a true worshiper. There arrived for the faithful patriarch a most solemn day of testing in which the voice of the Almighty fell upon his attentive ear, commanding:
“Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” Genesis 22:2
Though this command pained Abraham’s heart, he was not as surprised to receive it as a father would be in our day. Such offerings were very common among the people of the land where Abraham sojourned. Abraham, being strong in faith, did not let doubt rule over him to disobey God. He knew that Isaac was the child whom God had promised, and that God had promised, too, that Isaac should have children, and that those coming from Isaac should become a great nation and a company of nations.
Abraham did not know how God would fulfill His promise with regard to Isaac if Isaac was slain as an offering. Indeed, the thought that God could raise him up from the dead afterward was one that Abraham’s unwavering faith could not discount. So Abraham undertook AT ONCE to obey God’s instruction. He took two young men with him and an ass laden with wood for the fire. Then he went toward the mountain in the north, little Isaac, his son, by his side. For two days they journeyed, sleeping under the trees at night in the open country. And on the third day, Abraham saw the mountain far away. As they drew near to the mountain, Abraham said to the young men:
“Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” Genesis 22:5
He did not say, “I and the lad will go yonder and offer up a sacrifice,” but “we will go yonder and WORSHIP.” So great was His faith in God’s communication that Abraham from his heart declared, “and WE (Isaac and I) will come again to you.” He took the wood from the ass and placed it on Isaac, and the two walked up the mountain together. As they were walking, Isaac said, “Father, here is the wood, but where is the lamb for the offering?” And Abraham replied, “My son, God will provide Himself a lamb.”
This is the faith of Abraham: God will provide a lamb. And they came to the place on top of the mountain. There Abraham built an altar of stones and earth heaped up, and on it he placed the wood. Then he took Isaac and tied his hands and feet, and laid him on the wood of the altar. And Abraham lifted up his hand, holding a knife to kill his son. A moment longer, and Isaac would be slain by his own father’s hand, but at just that moment, the messenger of the Lord called out of heaven to Abraham, and said, “Abraham! Abraham!” And Abraham answered, “Here I am, Lord.” Then the messenger of the Lord said:
"‘Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.’ Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham called the name of that place ‘The Lord Will Provide,’ as it is said to this day, ‘in the mount of the Lord it will be provided."” Genesis 22:12-14 NAS
Abraham WORSHIPED GOD in the offering up of Isaac. God’s measuring rod applied to Abraham’s action reveals that he was indeed a true worshiper. When called on to offer up his son, he did it as an act of worship. He prostrated himself, not physically, but, in his mind, he bowed low before the instruction of the Lord in order to obey. HE WORSHIPED GOD BY OBEDIENCE TO HIS INSTRUCTION. He did not clap his hands, sing and dance, or shout praises, but his offering up of Isaac was an act of true worship in the judgment of God. When we offer up obedience to instruction given by the Spirit, we also are being measured in our worshiping of God in spirit and truth. He notes this because the Father seeks such to worship Him.
When Job, that upright man of the east, received the evil tidings that his sons and daughters were dead and all his possessions lost:
“Then Job arose and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshiped.” Job 1:20
I’m sure this wasn’t that beautiful, melodious high-sounding praise we call worship in church meetings today. But Job bowed submissively to the crushing news with INSTANT REVERENCE for the will of God. He worshiped God amidst the tragedy befalling him. If Job had been a complainer, he would have complained. If Job had been a reviler, he would have cursed with much complaint. If Job was rebellious, he would not have worshiped. But Job was a just man, measured as:
"…perfect and upright, one that reverenced God, and eschewed evil," Job 1:1
We may be very congenial and lovable people, with an aura of righteousness surrounding our every movement when you catch us in the proper circumstances and right mood. But, when things happen to us as they did to Job, whatever TRULY dominates our inner being will come out. Job fell on his face because he was a just man who lived by faith, so he worshiped God. What would have been the measure of our first expressions had we been in Job’s place?
Anyone can draw nigh with their mouth to praise God and call it worship, but much of it seems to be vanity, a religious pretense that does not proceed from a real, broken, and contrite spirit led of the holy Spirit. God desires our worship to be truthful, coming out of our real spiritual experiences as being His sons. Truly the measure of our worship is in response to our personal instruction by God, Who measures our commitment in a spiritual way. God is making us also to be true worshipers, having the capacity for a true measure dwelling in us as Jesus realized:
“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased…” Matthew 3:17
When the Father said that He was WELL PLEASED with His firstborn Son, that Son had never preached a sermon, never taught the multitude, never performed a miracle, never publicly healed a sick person, never raised any dead people. All He had done was carpentry work for about thirty years. Nevertheless God was pleased with Him.
Can we not see by this the importance of the HIDDEN INNER WORK done within our heart of placing His loving counsel above our selfishness? God is pleased with one who learns to receive instruction to be applied as his personal counsel every day, thus making us true worshipers. We are revealing the importance of His Word in our inner spiritual person that actively obeys in keeping His counsel.
Does it bother you, this being measured? It is necessary for the Lord to reveal just how we measure up to the standard of true sonship. It is most valuable to know just where we lack in that gracious spirit. There needs be an inspection. Do we have a compassionate heart? Do we have a merciful heart? Do we yearn for His purpose more than life itself? Are we willing to be dealt with, chastened, corrected, purged, purified, changed, and transformed? Can we welcome God's dealings with us as a son who can be chastened in order to mature?
"Love your enemies, bless those cursing you, do good to those hating you, and pray for those accusing you falsely, and persecuting you, that ye may be sons of your Father in the heavens…" Matthew 5:44-45 YLT
Selfish ego, greed, jealousy, prejudice, hatred, bigotry, criticism, retaliation, unconcern, insensitivity, immaturity, pettiness, unrighteousness — all these human ways must be put off from deep within us. It takes His light coming to our spirit to raise our spirit to see out of the darkness. Thus, we seek not just a blessed covering over of any of these human conditions, but receive instructions that empower us to be mightily transformed within — changed until every word, attitude, desire, emotion, and action is a pure reaction to the Father’s abiding council within.
This only works as He tabernacles within. Many Christian believers have died and gone to the unseen without such a thorough change of heart. Many speak in tongues, prophesy, see visions, fall out under the power, and can be a deacon or a pastor without such a thorough change. We will not, however, be measured as being in the full stature of a full grown mature son without it. Therefore, He even now is writing His Word within our HEART by His Spirit so that we may be counted among those who worship Him in spirit and truth.
This statement, "Rise, and measure…the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein" is much too important to be passed over lightly. It means there is a MEASURING OF A PEOPLE in His house that is ascertaining whether one possesses a truly mature heart. A mature heart obeys God like a burning fragrance, exhausted to release its essence. This one is transformed, enabled to enter behind the veil into the glorious presence of God. Only ones so measured are chosen of men to be kingdom priests:
“Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests.” Exodus 19:6
"Thou [the Lamb] dost made them [the redeemed] a kingdom and a priesthood for our God, and they shall be reigning on the earth." Revelation 5:10 concordant
Divinely made kings and priests are not honorary titles commissioned by man’s emotional and sensational pomp worn like a merit badge for show. We have had enough popes and their potentates. God within a loving heart is caring, touching, interceding, forgiving, healing, and teaching us to repent, to change, to be transformed. In so doing, He gives all that is necessary to bring an end to our sick, sorrowing, tormented, hostile, perverted, and murderous ways.
Christians still kill their brethren with jealous hateful words. Yet God is extending love through our inner spiritual man to those who persecute us and spitefully use us. Some are being MADE kings and priests of God now. The priesthood of Aaron is a type of these who are set apart, sanctified by the Lord, so they might serve Him in divine matters of the tabernacle. His priesthood is not the life of luxurious idleness, nor of worldly wealth and ease of material comfort. God’s Aaronic priests were to lack nothing, it is true, for full provision was made for their needs. When their life was found in correct measure, though, they were called to a life of service in the tabernacle of God.
Golden altar saints are still receiving and applying His spiritual instructions that are sweet to the mouth and bitter in the belly. They are still embracing the process of working out what hinders from MEASURING UP TO HIS PRESENT REALITY! The standard of His reality is set by our high priest Himself as the correct measure. He, by revelation, releases us from worshiping any image created in the religious minds of men, no matter how long in years a Christian tradition has lasted.
We would rather see and know that our spirit is alive in Him and is in the process of measuring up as He intends for those called outside the camps and denominational walls of well-intended Christian men. All manner of custom and traditions are called “worship” in His house, yet only His golden altar people have moved on from the light of candlestick churches and table of shewbread worship to that third altar in the Holy Place.
This altar keeps looking for that ark behind the veil, into the third compartment behind the veil, to keep the third day, the third heaven, the third feast. The third feast, the Feast of Tabernacles, is a type and shadow of His promise to INDWELL a people until they are beloved sons and daughters in the same stature of the firstborn son. This is where God wipes away all their tears, clamor, and misery, until death is removed in all its forms, to be found in us no more!