Melchizedek—The Increase

Melchizedek

The  Increase

Grace Van Duzen   August 6, 1977

As you may or may not know, before the Bible was translated, in its original form (the Hebrew language) there were only consonants; there were no vowels, and in translation the vowels had to be put in. Actually I think the translators did a masterful job. But this is interesting to me. There are the consonants, framework you might say—a skeleton—and the vowels supply the spirit, you might say the spirit substance, and this makes a vital difference to how the word comes out—what kind of substance. So I thought I would use an illustration—M L K (CH). Now those have no vowels in them and there are several ways that we can put vowels in and get different words. One of them,  M  E  L  CH  izedek. The first part of the word really is the name there—Melchi. Zedek is an ancient form from which has come Zadok, which means "priest", so you really have Priest of the Most High God, this (Melchi) meaning "Most High God." Notice Zedek and Zadok—again you have vowels to make it different, haven't you? Or another great one, but rather obscure perhaps: M A L A CH I, the last prophet in the Old Testament, looking toward the New Testament—Malachi, a very definite connecting link. He prophesied with regard to Elijah, and so on. 

Or you could have something else: A M A L E K. Everyone here who has been to a Bible class knows all about Amalek. You could spell it satan or the devil, or one of those things. Amalek. In the Bible it says that God would have war with Amalek from generation to generation. Well, as so often in the Bible, it is completely backwards. "God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden"—He didn't, of course. Adam and Eve drove themselves out of the garden, and it is Amalek that has war with God from generation to generation. God doesn't fight back but Amalek fights anyway. M O L E CH—just to keep Amalek company!—was a pagan god used in human sacrifice, with a fire inside, etc. So we have exactly the same skeleton here but different substance. We could say this (Amalek and Molech) is substance, but it isn't really, because it destroys itself; it is self‑destructive. 

Here is the substance (M E L CH izedek); but they have the same consonants, you could say perhaps the bones. Ezekiel wrote something about bones, dry bones. And there was a valley full of them, the great valley of the world, and it was full of the dry bones; many, many, many—the great numbers are emphasized, that there were many dry bones. They were very painful because bones rattling against each other are not comfortable, and this is the state of the world, and the substance very shortly disintegrates and disappears, dissolves. So we have the disintegration, the self-destruction, and ultimately the death, of the dry bones in the valley. And do you remember that there was a question asked? Man did not ask the Lord but the Lord asked man, and He said, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And man said, "Well, for heaven's sake, you know the answer; why are you asking me?" I paraphrased that a little bit. He said, "Lord, thou knowest." And the Lord asked him again: "Can these bones live?" Then Ezekiel got the vision. And in Ezekiel: "And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above...and the breath came into them, and they lived." The breath didn't come into them until there was substance; the flesh came up upon them. The substance. And as we so well know, man has tried to put the substance into the bones, cover them up and make them nice; but the increase, according to the function on this one level, very limited, is on this level. So what happens? Well, we have lots of dry bones in the valley—population explosion, it's called. And the Law always works and takes care of these things, but is there anything left afterward? When there is too much substance on one plane the Law works to take care of it and equalize and even things out, so it is self-destruction. 

There is a reference in the wonderful Book of Job, where it says that his, Job's, substance was increased in the land. The very nature of this substance is that it increases. If that increase is on that very limited level which man thinks he is, a physical being, what is the increase? Well he's got to have more land or more houses or more machinery or more people, or something; or in the physical sense maybe the flesh doesn't know when to stop, and of course taken far enough that is self-destruction. So if this is the increase there is no answer. The increase on each level is the answer, the wonderful substance in the land, in this land, in the body on earth; the promised land, we say, individually or collectively the body of God on earth, on this planet. And it is increased in the land. It is not increased rightly after we leave this sphere of things—then we meet our Maker and all sorts of things—but in the land is where the increase needs to be and on each plane of being. Remember Job had seven sons and three daughters, the negative triune world. They ate and drank with each other. Here was the substance on every level and the nature of that substance is to increase; but it is an ascending process, isn't it? It's not constantly increasing the physical substance. Rightly it is an ascending process where substance from one level begins to blend and move with that of the upper level—heaven to heaven. You've got seven heavens so you have this constant movement, not up and then down but constantly ascending and descending—a beautiful picture of the substance of the Lord. 

Amalek presents a different picture. As I mentioned already, here is the self-active function, the increase on this level, and it is always a getting process: "Now I will get more and more and more"; and it is self-destructive. Of course the fighting against God is the getting process. There are so many wonderful texts in the Bible which apply, apply to just about anything, but I am reminded of the words of Samuel, who let none of his words fall to the ground. If something is falling to the ground it is not in an ascending cycle, it seems to me, and I wonder how many words would be categorized as falling to the ground. We think of idle words, yes, but that is rather an easy description of gossip, isn't it?—kind of a nice word, idle words, but they are not nice—or deliberately malicious, spiteful, critical; these all fall to the ground. The substance is utterly wasted, there is nothing there, and we all know that once those words are spoken and fall to the ground there is nothing really to be done about it. We all know how we would like to take back that word more than anything—you can't do it. 

That reminds me of another thing here with regard to Amalek. A Class member in this most recent Class, toward the end of our time together, shared something with me regarding Amalek. He had a Jewish background and in his pattern at least—I don't know how universal it is—there was a kind of ritual, I presume, with regard to Amalek, this ancient thing in their history of Amalek, the hated Amalek who tried to destroy them over and over and over. And his pronunciation of the word was "A mol ech" and they would pronounce the word, his own people—"Amalek!"—and then, in gesture, erase it. This was the whole purpose, erasing Amalek, or they would write it down and scrub it out. How futile! This is what the world has been doing generation after generation—keep Amalek alive but rub him out. Why not forget Amalek? We could look to the real substance! But I thought that was very interesting and he saw the analogy, he really found something in this, this young man. But when the word ceases to be uttered, the idle word that falls to the ground, let it fall; and we don't have to erase it, we cannot erase it. Once it is there, that's it, and then something else must begin. But just simply to let Amalek go; it is the only way. Just let him go. 

It seems like this is what has been done and continues to be done in the consciousness of man in the earthly hereditary pattern, isn't it? Do the wrong thing and then change it, over and over and over. It seems like all the time is taken up with this; we don't have confessionals here but maybe a sort of an equivalent. But to constantly utter "Amalek" and then do away with it—why don't we quit having to do away with it? Why don't we stop having to change what we do, to right the wrong? And if something happens which may be the result of some wrong function it is a wonderful thing to see right away, "I know the factors that made that happen." And there is a whole different feeling. If it is an accident there is not the reaction to it—"How did this happen? Why me?"—but to really be able to see, instantly I mean, not sit down and think about it; that might help but I am talking about an instant revelation where you say, "I know why that happened!" And not just with respect to the physical thing of leaning on the towel bar and going down with it! but the instant recognition of something much deeper. That is good and there is a clean feeling of a new beginning, of something gone; but that is a different thing from keeping the word Amalek in consciousness and then erasing it, because this has been the function ever since man fell. It stays in consciousness; we must always utter "Amalek" and then get rid of it—utterly impossible, because if this is the Word: Melchizedek, that one cannot be there. They cannot occupy the same space.

Melchizedek. The Priest of the Most High God. In the Psalms it speaks of each one as being a Priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek. This is the same word as the Master's when He said, "I am the vine, ye are the branches." It was the same as in His marvelous Prayer of Intercession: "I in them, and thou in me" and they are one, all together in agreement—because this substance is what we have been hearing about: first obedience, then agreement, then spiritual expression. And it is really a thrill to see here in this holy place, true agreement; many, many experiencing this as never before. I think there is a feeling in the self-active thinking pattern of the world that to agree with somebody, to really let down the bars and maybe find something in what somebody else is saying, this is weak. Oh no, it is very strong! This is strength because then there is a body functioning and not just individuals. Substance—and that real genuine substance of agreement is followed by the next step, spiritual expression, the substance which ascends, the increase. This is the increase of the substance and without it there is nothing but bones. 

Our Master uttered some very wonderful words which to me apply also in this analogy here, and that was "Go and bring forth fruit, that your fruit should remain." And in Proverbs: "Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase." If the firstfruits are given to the Lord it remains; you don't have a second, third, fourth, or whatever. The firstfruit remains and that is the fruit. Here (Melchizedek) this fruit remains. The substance is increased. That is its nature. It doesn't increase to a certain point and then—now we've got it; we can put it in a bank and we get interest or whatever. Well that's all fine on this level but it is a constant, it is a characteristic, of the substance. It increases and that is life, isn't it? That is eternal life, everlasting life, whatever we want to call it—not ascending after death and then maybe the descending cycle again in incarnation somewhere. I am not knocking that; it has probably had to be. However, the increase of the substance is life, the constant ascending and descending substance, not up and down and up and down—one thing. 

The sun shines on the just and the unjust but it seems to me there is a difference with respect to what the just and the unjust do about it. The result isn't the same. The radiation is constant, that which comes down from God out of heaven, we say. But there is nothing on earth without that which blends with that which is coming down, and this is the increase, the substance, of one level, and the increase, the refined substance in another level; and all the levels have their own increase, their function. "Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase," that it may remain. 

There is another beautiful passage in the Bible and that is in the Song of Solomon. We don't use many passages from this beautiful Book and this is not the one that we usually use, although if you have been to my Class you know I always mention it, and this is from the Fourth Chapter. To me it is a beautiful portrayal, first a picture of man the way he has made himself to be on earth, his state of consciousness which is separate from the Creator, from God, from the Lord, however we want to put it. It is pictured as a female, rightly, the negative aspect, the means whereby God could be on this planet. It is a picture of this negative body individually or collectively which has removed itself from the Creator, inasmuch as His effectual function through this creation is concerned. 

"A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed." That is a very tight picture. And "a garden inclosed" would be more rightly translated "a garden closed"—"barred" would be a right word. "A spring shut up, a fountain sealed." All the wonder of this magnificent creation is rendered ineffectual purely because man has shut himself out and in essence shut out the Lord. "A spring shut up" is quite a picture to me. A spring is that which bubbles up out of the ground, isn't it? I was wondering what happens when a spring is shut up; it must have to find devious ways in the darkness. Maybe we can think of the subconscious realm, devious and dark, but there is nothing sparkling or bright as that which comes forth from a spring. This has been shut up. Of course the spring shut up dries up altogether in season; it doesn't go on forever that way. "A fountain sealed." This struck me very particularly because of some other wonderful words which Martin spoke last Sunday again, with regard to the Book of Life. 

This was from Revelation—the seven-sealed book, and here we have a fountain sealed; and no man was able to look upon that book which was sealed or to loose the seals, and here you could say we have a fountain with seven heads. I think a fountain is a beautiful description, very apt, of the Seven Spirits, and we may think of them as the physical counterpart, because there is the counterpart on every level. A fountain—something which comes forth directly—and even if we look at the physical counterparts here, or the Seven Seals, seven ductless glands, we see "ductless," a fountain; no ducts, no canals, but directly into the bloodstream. Here are seven fountains! And the marvelous Seven Spirits before the Throne of God have been sealed. Here is the secret to life, as it has been put "life everlasting," life as long as it is right to be on this planet. How very different so-called life has become through that which has been shut up and sealed. 

And there was one way by which the seals could be opened in the book and that was at the hand of the Lamb. The Lamb took the book out of the hand of the Creator, and here, we have been hearing, is spiritual expression, the one way whereby life can be lived on earth the way it was created to be. We are not talking about some foreign, strange way; it is the only natural way, really, that man was ever created to be in. Everything else is completely unnatural, and yet all the other ways, the devious ways and the distorted self-destructive ways are accepted as being natural; they are the thing. Nothing is more certain than death, or all those things that lead to death. Human beings always utter "Amalek" and then try to get rid of him, never just let Amalek be gone and let the Priest of the Most High God have expression, collectively but individually, because each is a Priest of that Most High God. The Order of Melchizedek is the design—"I am the vine, ye are the branches." That is the Order; that is the design; and each is rightly a Priest forever after that Order. 

There is more to this text: "Thy plants are an orchard of pleasant fruits." This of course is the word of the Lord to His creation. "Thy plants are an orchard of pleasant fruits, with all trees of frankincense" and a lot of other beautiful spices, "myrrh, with all the chief spices. "A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters." I am reminded of the word in Genesis at the time of Creation: "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden." Here again is the recognition that all these trees are in the garden, but the garden has been closed, barred. And perhaps we think of a garden with trees, wonderful trees, all that is available, all that is necessary for man, not only his sustenance on earth but his marvelous enjoyment. But it was all meant to be for the pleasure of the Lord, and of course man has thought of his own pleasure, which means that to get this he must do things in a different way than the Lord might do them, so the garden has been closed. And here is reference to these trees, these marvelous sources for all life on earth—"A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters." 

Again, in John, the Fourth Chapter, the Master said, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." Everlasting life, a well of living waters—this is while we are living, not a dead God that you see when you are dead but a living God while we are living; here is where the living waters are. And He said this well springs up, "shall be in him a well of water"—that is where the well is, that is where the spring is, that is where the fountain is—"in him a well of water springing up" in every moment "into everlasting life." Water has been looked upon as truth but, you know, it's used everywhere really, if you look into it, as substance, first substance or whatever. "The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters," and that doesn't just mean water. Here was whatever substance was necessary in that creation. 

I am reminded of Elijah, when fire came down from God out of heaven "and licked up the water that was in the trench"—substance. This is the process of ascension, isn't it, again? Fire from heaven, this marvelous transmuting substance which man can't touch; that one he can't touch and manipulate. It transmutes and it licks up the substance—a picture of the transmuting process, of that which refines and causes to ascend, that doesn't fall to the ground. He says there would never be any more thirsting when this well is present, this which springs up in each moment; no thirsting, no wanting. Here is the absolute provision in every moment within each one. 

Now this female aspect that we have been talking about speaks in the Song of Solomon, the negative capacities, the body, mind, heart; the sister, spouse, now the bride. And in Revelation we have the Bride of the Lamb, and the Lamb is the spiritual expression and here is the negative aspect of that expression; in other words what we are, rightly. Here is this voice now: "Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out." In a few words we see something very precise. "Awake"—that's a very positive action. We have been hearing a lot about waking up and it is positive; we even heard that it could be a shock. "North wind"—here is the positive expression as opposed to the south. Here is the north wind, very often the strong thing. The south is often warm and nice and kind. But here is the north wind, and its action, the positive action, is invited: "Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south." "Come, thou south"—here is the negative, absolutely essential. Here is the union, unified radiation, the blending. But there is the action of the negative aspect taken here or nothing would happen. Awake and come, and the spices thereof flow out. Those trees established in the garden which have not been allowed to be used—"Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits." "His garden," and the garden has been thought of as one's own. Man has taken the garden to be his own, his own possession. The action has been of course man stealing, and he eats the fruits, and he doesn't know how to handle the fruits of that action. That should be rightly, and must be rightly, in the hands of the Lord. And so the invitation is "Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits," the first fruits that remain, the result of the right action on earth.

Melchizedek means King of Righteousness, Prince of Peace—righteousness covering the face of the earth, the fruits of the garden in the hands of the Lord. And of course, as we know, man has messed around with the fruits, the results of action; he takes this as the seed for further action, and so the same thing is continued over and over—"Amalek, be gone!"

There is another word here, the word of the Lord after the bride speaks, and He says, "I am come into my garden." "I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved." See the perfect steps, the perfect action here. The bride is in place, and the Lord is in position to effectively function on earth, to operate again in spiritual expression. And we can see, oh so clearly, how this is true. In agreement the way is easy. In spiritual expression the substance is present and we quickly see that manipulating it is utterly futile. Nothing happens; we don't get anywhere! But, the substance present, it is like magic, because the Lord is again in operation; He's in business, and that business is marvelous, and it is not some mysterious business up in the sky. This business right here is taken care of so easily, so smoothly; to the human mind it is miraculous, simply because it said it couldn't be done; but here it is, the substance. And the word of the Lord in victory certainly comes through these beautiful words: "I am come into my garden." It has been a long time, in the sense of earthly heredity, according to that viewpoint, since "I am come into my garden."

Then the next automatic function is "O friends, eat"; then it is passed on; now we can let it cover the face of the earth. Here is the increase of the substance. "Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved." That is the word of the Lord, and who is the Lord? All who are letting this be an absolute reality on earth, not fictional anymore but factual. Then the invitation is extended, strong and sure: "Eat, O friends; drink, yea drink abundantly, O beloved." And this is the word of the Lord spoken on earth.

Another very beautiful verse in the New Testament, words spoken by the Master: "I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." And this is it! "l am come into my garden, and I eat and drink of the fruit of this vine" which is the expression of the body of mankind on earth, but it is the Body of God on earth now, again. That is why He comes into His garden and that is why all the pleasant fruits and the wonder of this magnificent world, the earth, then is available to Him. And how great is our privilege to be here on earth, on this planet, right now. I have no desire for a spaceship to take me somewhere else because this one is ruined. It so quickly comes back into place when the Lord is on earth to let it happen, to make it happen because we let Him do the job. It very quickly comes back because this is what it wants to do. I suspect that Amalek is happy to get out of there! The Law works and we are here in this most marvelous position to let it be restored to that One. And we know what His joy is like—we don't have to imagine it, because we have the one who leads us here in the Way, and there is no more beautiful sight than that smile on his face when he is allowed to say, "l am come into my garden; they are doing it." There is no more joy actually, no greater joy on earth, than to share in this Law of the Lord which is righteousness, right function. It is the other way that is hard—good and evil.

So I count it all joy and a great privilege to move with each one of you in this place in the generation of that substance which never falls to the ground. Perhaps we wouldn't speak so often or so much if none of our words were to fall to the ground. I think that is entirely possible. Simply multiplying words seems to lead it in a certain direction; have you noticed? It can start off so nice. We are only saying nice things about people but there is something about saying things about people that leads into a certain area, and I know we all know what I am talking about. Idle words fall to the ground and that establishes a downward cycle. How marvelous to be able to say with Samuel: "None of my words fall to the ground." The substance is allowed to be in the ascending cycle to meet that which is coming down from the Lord, and then there is light. This is light, and the darkness flees away and everything that is identified with darkness flees away fast.

How good it is to share the words of the Lord in these days, "Behold, I come quickly," and the response is quick and eager: "Even so, come, Lord." We can only say that when we are one with that expression, "Behold, I come quickly," and let all that is not part of this flee away. Darkness flees away when the light is there. It doesn't crawl out; it's gone! You don't even see it go. The light is on and the rest is gone. Melchizedek is here and Amalek is gone. The Lord is in His Holy Place, "let all the earth keep silence before him." And we share His word, "I am come into my garden. I have drunk my wine. Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved." And that is our Word that goes forth to all. He called them friends, and how many friends there are waiting to eat and drink abundantly that which we are right here in position to know right now. Could there be any greater blessing or any greater mission or job to do on the face of the earth?

© emissaries of divine light