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   Introduction

"…whose right it is…."
Ezekiel 21:27

Whose Right It Is: A Handbook of Covenantal Theology is a fresh apostolic admonition to the Body of Christ, especially God’s people in America. Brethren, we must return to sound orthodoxy, the expository preaching and teaching of the Scriptures. Jesus is the Word (Jn. 1:1). Preach the Word… preach Jesus!

Holding to and building on our evangelical and Pentecostal heritage, we are being apprehended for the upward calling to the Feast of Tabernacles (Deut. 16:16; Phil. 3:12-14). The Mosaic "pattern" (Ex. 25:40) with its three dimensions—Outer Court, Holy Place, and Most Holy Place—reveals our growth in grace, the development of the New Testament Christian as a babe, youth, and full-grown man (I Jn. 2:12-14).

In the initial experience of regeneration (Jn. 3:7), expressed in the Feast of Passover, the emphasis is completely on man. This is followed by the firstfruits Feast of Pentecost, the earnest of our inheritance (Rom. 8:23; Ephe. 1:13-14)—an outrageous, adolescent mixture of God and man.

Beyond the veil, where men seek His face (nature) not His hand (works), the total focus is on God. There, in the depths, His footsteps are not known (Ps. 77:19). The uncharted territory of the Feast of Tabernacles is the path that the vulture’s eye has not seen (Job 28:7). There, in unapproachable light, is no darkness at all (I Tim. 6:16; I Jn. 1:5), no jungle and no lion, no devil…there (Is. 35:9; I Pet. 5:8).

While we hold the vision of the third feast and the maturity of the Church before us, we are experientially Pentecostal—youthful in our understanding, living in an in-part realm marked by duality or double-mindedness (Jas. 1:8). This is evidenced by the current emphasis upon Jesus and the devil, the new man and the old man.

To see is to understand (Eph. 1:18). We become what we behold in worship (2 Cor. 3:18). Our vision—our focus and emphasis—must be adjusted away from the devil and placed back upon Jesus. The time has come for the Church to unmask our adversary and put him under our feet (Rom. 13:11-14; 16:20).

Heb. 12:2, NIV

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith….

The information that men have received to date with regard to the devil and the endtimes is not necessarily wrong, just incomplete.

Acts 18:24, KJV

And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an elequent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.

The Living Bible says that Apollos was "a wonderful Bible teacher and preacher." Like this powerful man, many today are fluent orators, skilled in literature and the arts. Apollos had stores of learning and could use it convincingly; he was "mighty" or "capable" in the Word.

Acts 18:25, KJV

This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.

Acts 18:25, TLB

…but that is all he knew. He had never heard the rest of the story!

The word describing Apollos’ indoctrination is katecheo (compare the English chatechism). This earnest Christian leader was on fire, ministering the Scriptures he knew with exactness and accuracy (Lk. 1:3). But he knew only the baptism of John—the dynamics of a previous order.

Acts 18:26, KJV

And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.

Apollos preached frankly, confident in spirit and demeanor. The pastoral team of Aquila and Priscilla "expounded" or "exposed" the way of God more perfectly to this teachable man. The information that Apollos had received was incomplete, therefore inaccurate. He needed to hear the rest of the story.

No one has ever graduated from the school of the Holy Spirit. If one’s theology or eschatology is ever challenged by new considerations, he should maintain a right spirit and respond with flexibility and openness. When it comes to picking between God’s Word and man’s tradition, there is no choice.

Ezek. 21:25-27, KJV

And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end,

Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.

I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be nor more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him.

Ezek. 21:27, NIV

…until He comes to whom it rightfully belongs….

Ezek. 21:27, TLB

…until the Man appears who has a right to it. And I will give it all to Him.

Our primary text is prophetically addressed to wicked King Zedekiah and the evil spirit who energized him—satan, the god and prince of this world. The devil’s day is about to end. Up till now, it appears that he has been free to roam loose while the Church has been in captivity. But the Day of the Lord is a day of reversals (Ps. 126); the wicked one will be bound and the people of God released!

In its historical context, Ezekiel 21:25-27 addresses Zedekiah, who was king of Judah from 597-586 B.C. (see 2 Kings 24:17-20; 25:1-7; Jer. 37:1-2; 2 Chron. 36:12). The last of 21 monarches in the Davidic line, this evil man eventually fell under Jehovah’s rod of correction, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (2 Kings 25:7).

"Until He come…." This specific prophecy heralds the arrival of the Messiah. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one "whose right it is…." Moses, centuries before, bore witness to the Advent of Judah’s Ruler and Zion’s King.

Gen. 49:10, NIV

The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until He comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is His.

2 Cor. 2:11, KJV

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

The Greek word for "devices" means "perception, purpose," and is translated in the King James Version as "device, mind, thought." The strategies and schemes concocted in the gates of hell will not overcome the true Church (Mt. 16:18). The prophet Ezekiel details Zedekiah’s demise, reflecting satan’s undoing.

Ezek. 21:25, KJV

And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end.

Ezek. 21:25, NIV

…whose time of punishment has reached its climax.

Ezek. 21:25, TLB

O King Zedekiah, evil prince of Israel, your final day of reckoning is here.

As with Zedekiah, the devil, the wicked prince of this world system (Jn. 12:31; Eph. 2:2), is "profane." This Hebrew word means "pierced (especially to death); figuratively, polluted." Translated over 30 times in the Book of Ezekiel as "slain," it comes from a primitive root meaning "to bore, to wound, to dissolve." It points to satan’s day of reckoning at Golgotha, where Jesus "pierced" him through at the cross (Col. 2:15). On that awful day when the true Passover Lamb was sacrificed for us, Jesus bruised the king of darkness and dismantled his kingdom.

Like the courageous Jael who bored the workman’s hammer through the head of Sisera (Judg. 4:18-21; 5:24-27), Jesus mortally wounded our adversary at the place of the skull (Hab. 3:13). In that historic moment, iniquity and perversity came to an end; it was literally "chopped off." This latter noun in Ezekiel 21:25 is used to denote the end of a person or a "death" (Gen. 6:13). The day has come, the seventh day from Adam and the third day from Jesus (Hos. 6:1-3; 2 Pet. 3:8), to fully understand and appropriate those spoils of His eternal triumph!

Ezek. 21:26, KJV

Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.

Ezek. 21:26, NIV

…Take off the turban, remove the crown. It will not be as it was….

Ezek. 21:26, TLB

…The old order changes….

The word for "diadem" in our root text means "a tiara, the official turban (of a king or high priest)," and it is translated in the King James Version as "diadem, mitre." It reveals the office of the High Priest (see Ex. 28:4,37,39; 29:6; 39:28, 31; Lev. 8:9; 16:4). The "crown" speaks of the office of king. Together, they point to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, our great King-Priest after the order of Melchisedec (Heb. 5:1-8:6).

The power and authority of the Kingdom was taken from Zedekiah and retained by the heavenly Father until the day He sent His Son, made of a woman, made under the law (Gal. 4:4). The prophet Zechariah foresaw the time when Messiah would come, the one "whose right it is," who mingles the office of priest and king, rightly attired with both mitre and crown (Zech. 6:12-13; Heb. 2:9). Jesus would build the true temple, the Church of the New Covenant (Mt. 6:18).

"This [this government, administration, authority, way of things] shall not be the same" (Ezek. 21:26). In the coming of the promised Messiah, the order of the Old Testament would change. The Law and priesthood would never be the same (Heb. 7:12). Sin and death was swallowed up by the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Levi was superceded by Melchisedec.

Having prophesied these things, Ezekiel then sets forth the governing principle of the Messianic Kingdom, the criterion for being a king-priest, the key that unlocks all true spiritual authority (Mk. 10:44-45).

Ezek. 21:26, KJV

…exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.

This word for "exalt" means "to soar, be lofty." "Low" comes from a root meaning "to depress or sink, to humiliate," the same word translated in this verse as "abase." The word for "high" means "elevated, powerful, arrogant."

The excessive, unreasonable focus upon the devil must be abated. Jesus must be lifted up and exalted (Jn. 12:32). Just as ungodly King Zedekiah was publicly stripped, humiliated, and his crown removed, so the unwarranted attention given to satan must be severed from him and given to Him "whose right it is."