“And she vowed a vow, and said, O Jehovah of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thy handmaid, but wilt give unto thy handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto Jehovah all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head” (1 Samuel 1:11, KJV).
The matter of the man-child is dear to the heart of God and holds a cardinal place in the remedial plan of God for the creation. The opening scripture gives us a glimpse into the identity of the man[1]child utilizing typology. The man-child is certainly a promised son, dedicated thoroughly to Jehovah, and lives on the Nazirite vow of separation unto God. John, the beloved apostle, brings us to speed on the personality of the man child in Revelation 12:5: “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.” We see the designation of the man-child to be a ruling class; the man-child rules with a rod of iron – this is the purpose of God. Revelation 20:4 further throws light on the identity of this corporate personality known as the man-child; “Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4). The man-child reigns with Christ in the age of perfection: the Millennium. The man-child we see here is constituted of the overcomers. The means by which they became overcomers is revealed briefly in Revelation 12:11: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” They are the ones that carry the witness of Jesus which is the spirit of prophecy in their generation.
Furthermore, John, the Apostle, reveals the workings and identity of the overcomers’ company who are the man-child in Revelation 17:14: “They will wage war against the Lamb (Christ), and the Lamb will triumph and conquer them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him and on His side are the called and chosen (elect) and faithful.” They are the company that have come through the stages of being called, through being chosen and now stand in the rank of the faithful. They are the one who will reign victoriously with Christ. Understand that all in the Church are called yet few will be chosen. Concerning the chosen few, a caucus will stand firm and true in their divine mandates in all faithfulness as God’s stewards to become the faithful. It is the faithful that will become the man-child company birthed by the Church.
Child of God, this glorious heritage is in store for you. It is not enough to be born again; you must grow through the ranks and become an overcomer and part of the man-child company. The Christian experience is not a shallow one. We must endeavour to grow and attain all the heights the Father desires that we should attain. We must go past being the Called to being the Chosen, and move on to being the Faithful! The Scripture says that this man-child will shepherd all the nations with an iron rod. This is God’s eternal counsel. The work of the church is to cause Satan to lose his power and bring in God’s kingdom. This became imperative as Adam, in the fall, had gifted Satan with his dominion of the earth. Hear how the devil put it in Luke 4:5-7; “Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” He makes the Lord know that all the authority in this world has been delivered to him; Adam delivered it to him in the Fall.
Since the church, however, has not fully attained God’s purpose, nor does the majority of the Church even know God’s purpose, God has implemented a shortcut of righteousness in this regard. He will choose a group of overcomers who will attain His purpose and fulfil His demand. This is the principle of the man-child. There are many examples of this principle in the Bible. This was God’s purpose in electing the nation of Israel in the era of the Old Testament. In Exodus 19:6, the Lord said, “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” Being a kingdom of priests and a holy nation means that the whole nation was to serve God and be His priests.
However, not all of the people of Israel became priests, because they worshipped the golden calf. Instead of serving God, they worshipped an idol. Therefore Exodus 32:26 declares, “Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.” All of the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto Moses. The sons of Levi put to death all who had engaged in idolatry on that day. The worshiping of idols is the greatest sin, so God required these men to slay their brothers with the sword. They were willing to serve God above all their human affection, so God chose them to be priests. From that time forward, only those of the tribe of Levi were priests among all the people of Israel. The whole body of the Israelites henceforth approached God through the Levites. Originally, all of the Israelites were chosen to serve God, but they failed Him; therefore, God chose from among the whole body of failures a group of people who would stand in their place. This group of people is the overcomers. Only the children of Levi were priests, but the whole nation of Israel benefited from their priesthood. In the same manner, the work of the overcomers is for the whole church.
Beloved, understand that the work is done by the overcomers, but the church receives the blessing of the work. This is the glory of the overcomers. The business is theirs, but their accomplishments bring glory to the whole church; the work is theirs, but the whole church derives the blessing. Be diligent in your growth to be part of the company of the overcomers. You will reign with Christ!
