ISAIAH 30(KJV) EZ.28:1-19

There is a false doctrine called "the covering,” "the chain of command" or "the umbrella of protection.” This doctrine puts women and children under a governing husband, congregations under a governing Pastor and Elder board, and churches under governing denomination, organization, or association heads. They all work the same way. Everybody comes under the authority of some human. It is a hierarchical, governing system that is a copy of the world, not a Godly system under Jesus. It is the kind of governing Jesus himself said would not be like that in His church. See Matthew 20:25-28 and Mark 10:42-45. Even amongst the apostles there was a competitive spirit that wanted special recognition from Jesus. Jesus told them "you know that they who are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you".

In Matthew, the word for the ruler was princes and what they did was have dominion over the people under them. In the world system there is a commander in chief who hands down the law, those under him see to it that the peons, or the underlings, do the work. Jesus Christ himself forbade that kind of command system. In the apostate Church, that command of Jesus has been completely reversed and the church operates as the world does. There is no difference. This "covering, chain of command, umbrella of protection" doctrine is a doctrine of demons! It is not of Jesus at all. Yet, most Christians have been taught to practice it and follow the false doctrine whole heartedly. There is no such thing in the church of Jesus or in Christian marriages! There is no hierarchy.

In the KJV, Ezekiel 28:1-19, God called Lucifer "the cherub that covereth" and" Oh covering cherub.” His special anointing was to cover the abode, the dwelling place, the sanctuaries of God with worship and protection. When he defiled the sanctuaries of God and was cast to the earth, he took his anointing with him. Now he "covers" the members of Christ's body, the living sanctuaries, the temples of the Holy Spirit with his doctrine so that everyone bows to a human rather than to God alone. He is again defiling the abode of God by having the church practice idol worship unwittingly. It is preparation for the reign of anti-Christ. Satan is the author of "the covering" doctrine.

Isa. 30:1-3 " Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, who take counsel but not of me, who cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit that they may add sin to sin, who walk to go down into Egypt, and have asked not at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame and trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion."
They were rebellious children because they fell away from God and turned away from His instruction.

When we choose the instruction of man over the instruction of God, we do the same.

They trusted in Pharaoh and in Egypt rather than God. Today, our trust is in husbands, pastors, and denominations.
They willingly chose to put themselves under the covering; the government, provision, and protection of Pharaoh and Egypt became their idols because they were preferred over God.

We willingly put ourselves under coverings other than God.  
They become our idols too.

Vs.9-11 says they did not want to hear truth from the prophets, they actually told the prophets to tell them deceitful lies that would make them feel good. Worse yet they said tell the Holy Spirit to leave us alone.

Today most teaching on the prophetic gift says one can speak only things that comfort, edify, or build up the believers. One should never bring exhortation or a word of correction to a congregation unless they first submit it to the pastor for approval, lest someone be offended or their feelings get hurt. According to what we just read, is that of man or God?

Vs 12. "Wherefore, thus saith the Holy Spirit, because you despise this word and trust in oppression and perverseness and rely on them," I will do something.

When we rely on other coverings it is perverseness and oppression too.

God said in verses 13 and 14 that because of their perverseness, their sin of taking that covering, He would come upon them suddenly with such destruction it would be like a potter's vessel being smashed so badly there wouldn't be a piece big enough to carry a spark of fire or a drop of water. He would use the strength of Pharaoh and Egypt to bring them into humiliating perverseness, oppression, and slavery. He would bring sorrow and affliction on them.

PERVERSENESS= turn aside or depart from the norm (God); entwine, unite, join with something else.
OPPRESSION= injury, fraud, distress, unjust gain, cruelty, extortion, deceit­fully gotten, violated, overwhelmed, taken advantage of, do wrong to. RESULTS OF OPPRESSION be diminished, degraded, belittled, brought low, brought   down into depression through affliction and sorrow.

I felt degraded, diminished, violated and taken advantage of by former husband and belittled, degraded, spiritually violated, rejected and invalidated as a prophetic Bible teacher by pastors.  I was ALWAYS in the position of being evaluated and trying to prove myself to them so they could approve or disqualify the validity of my calling. The spiritual wounds from them and that process were great and did bring me into depression.

Verses 16,17 said they would flee from God on horses, but the Egyptians would pursue them until they became as visible and as vulnerable as beacons on a hill. They would not escape their pursuers.
Verses 19-21 say that when they had enough affliction and oppression, they would repent and cry out to him. They would again see their teacher, the Holy Spirit, and hear the voice of the Holy Spirit who would keep them from straying to the right or to the left.

(When I repented of my idolatry, The Holy Spirit restored me He and keeps me from straying.

No human can keep themselves or any one else from going astray theologically. Only the Holy Spirit can do that.  To think a human could accomplish that is idolatry.

Verse 22 says that when the Israelites repented they would discard those idols like menstrous rags.
Verse 15,18 says they would return to God and He would give them rest, quietness, confidence in His strength, He would exalt them, show them mercy, and justice, and bless them.
Passage teaches us a covering other than God brings perverseness, oppression, adversity, and affliction and makes us vulnerable to enemies. Taking God alone as covering provides refuge, confidence, assurance, hope, provision, protection, rest, quietness, and justice.

WHY WE SHOULDN'T TAKE MAN AS COVERING

Job 8:13, 14 "So are the paths of all who forget God and the hypocrite's hope shall perish, whose confidence shall be cut off and whose trust shall be a spider's web.”
Psalm 146:3  "Put not your trust in princes, in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
Jer. 7:8,9 "You trust in lying words that cannot profit. ...you burn incense to Baal and walk after other gods whom you know not." This is trusting man's word that leads you astray.
Jer. 9:4,5 "Take heed every one of his neighbor and trust not in ANY brother for EVERY brother will utterly supplant and every neighbor will walk with slanders.  And they will deceive everyone his neighbor and will not speak truth, they have taught their tongues to speak lies and weary themselves to commit iniquity."
Jer. 17:5 "Thus saith the Lord, Cursed is the man that trusts in man and maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departs from the Lord.”

False teachers or prophets cause people to believe lies.

Jer. 28:15 "Then said the prophet Jeremiah to the prophet Hananiah, The Lord hath not sent thee, but thou makest the people to trust in a lie".
Jer. 29:31,32 "...Because Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you and I sent him not and he caused you to trust in a lie...He hath taught rebellion against the Lord."
Trust here = don't believe them, don't build them up or support them.
Mic. 7:5,6  "Trust not in a friend, put not your confidence in a guide; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lies in thy bosom, for the son dishonoreth his father, the daughter riseth up against the mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house."
Friend = more or less close associate, companion, brother, husband, lover, neighbor.
Guide = familiar person, friend, chieftain, captain, duke, governor. Prov.29:25,26 "The fear of man brings a snare; but whoso puts his trust in the Lord shall be safe. Many seek the ruler's favor, but man's judgment comes from the Lord."
Fear=anxious, fearful, afraid, quaking reverential.
Snare = noose, hook, trap.
Ruler = governing power
Favor = accepted, honored, regarded, approved by man, want them to be partial to you.
Judgment = verdict, penalty, (Abstract, justice, right, privilege).

We seek the favor of men; we fear what they will think of us when we should be seeking God's favor, and fearing what he thinks of us. Judgment comes from Him, not man.

I have sought the favor of men in the pulpit for years. I wanted them to accept and regard me as an equal co-laborer. I wanted them to accept the Holy Spirit gift of prophetic teacher that God put in me. God's gift to me was not a gift of personal prophecy for individuals, it is a gift of being able to see how scriptures have been perverted and twisted. It is a warning voice to the body of Christ that they are being led astray; they are going the wrong way. It brings exhortation to repent and return to the Lord. If the warning is heeded, it will tear down idols and idol worship of men. It will remove a great burden from men, women, pastors, and it will set captives free to worship God in spirit and in truth. Men did not recognize the gift. In addition, they did not want to receive it from a woman. Even though what I speak is truth, they did not want to hear it.

I believed the lie that I had to have their approval and permission to do what God called me to do. I believed the lie that I had to come under some man's pastoral covering. God finally said, take it out of the organized church. You and Curtis are an individual ministry, separate from the confines of church walls. Covet my approval before that of man, for I am the judge of whether you fulfilled my calling or not. Man will not be your judge for that.

MAN IS VANITY

Vanity = emptiness, transitory, unsatisfactory; vain act, word or expectation especially to lead astray.
Psalm 62:9,10 "Surely men of low degree, are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie, to be laid in the balance they are altogether lighter than vanity. Trust not in oppression."
Psalm 39:5 "Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth, and mine age is as nothing before thee. Verily, every man at his best state is vanity.” The best state means a king or a buffoon, millionaire or pauper, most brilliant and intelligent or the most stupid, it makes no difference, even the best are all vanity.
I Cor. 3:20-23  "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore, let no man glory in men, for all things are yours. Whether Paul, or Appolos or Cephas, or the world or life, or death, or things present or things to come, all are yours. And ye are Christ's and Christ is God's."

JONAH 2:8 "They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy".
Observe = take heed, regard
Lying = desolating, evil and destructive, idolatry, uselessness, false.
Vanities = empty, transitory, unsatisfactory. Especially lead astray.
Forsake = relinquish, destitute of.
Mercy = kindness, by implication piety towards God, favor, pity.
Those who take heed and regard evil, destructive idolatries and false teachings of men will be led astray. They will relinquish or become destitute of piety towards God. They will forfeit God's favor, mercy, pity, and kindness.  How awful!

LET NO MAN DECEIVE YOU

Math.24:4, Mark13:5, I Cor.3:18 (self) Eph.5:6, 11 Thes.2:3, I John3:7 Romans 16: 17,18 "I beseech you brethren, mark them who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own body, and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of many."

Part of the doctrine that Paul taught is there is no partiality in God, there is neither male nor female, Jew or Gentile, master or slave. Another part is that gifts are given to all believers and all believers are to be using those gifts to benefit the body. Divisions and offenses are caused when partiality is shown to men as the male gender, husbands, pastors, preachers etc. as though they are more important than others.  It is not of God and people who practice or preach those things should be avoided.

Those kinds of reverential speeches or sermons deceive many.
Deceive = cause to roam from safety, truth, or virtue; cause to seduce, to err, to wander and go astray into false doctrine.

Taking man as covering is rebellion against God and causes oppression.

 Psalm 107: 11, 12a, 39 "Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned (despised) the counsel of the Most High, therefore, He brought them down in their heart..." "Again they are diminished and were brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow." Contemned means to scorn, abhor, give occasion to blaspheme and provoke.
Ecc.7:7a "Surely oppression makes a wise man mad..."
Mad = clamorously foolish, uproariously unwise, lacking good sense, ridiculous, appearing absurd, worthless, ineffectual and of an unsound mind.

PAUL'S OPINION OF A HUMAN COVERING

Galatians.1:10-2:14, my commentary
1:10. Does not seek to find favor with or to please men. If he did that, he would be a servant of man, not Christ.
11,12. He did not receive what he had to preach from man and he was not taught what to preach by man, it came by revelation from Jesus Christ.
15. In God's time, he was called by the grace of God to demonstrate what Jesus Christ had done in him.
16. He did not ask anyone's permission, or confer with anyone or get approved by anyone, to preach to the Gentiles.  He just did it.
17. He didn't even go to Jerusalem to speak with those other Apostles. He went directly to Arabia to preach.
18,19. Three years later he went to Jerusalem, and spent 15 days with Peter. He saw no other Apostles except James, the brother of Jesus. Gal. 2:1,2. 14 years later, he took Barnabas and Titus along, and went to Jerusalem again where he talked privately to a few people he felt he could trust, and told them what he was preaching.
3. Titus who was a Greek was not compelled by them to be circumcised.
4. Spies were sent in to see what kind of liberty in Christ Paul and the others were practicing and tried to bring them back into Jewish traditional bondage.
5. "To whom we gave place by subjection no not for one hour, that the truth of the Gospel might continue with you." He refused to be subject to leaders in any way because they were compromising the truth of the gospel with man's traditions.

Today when women are forbidden to operate in the speaking gifts, and when anyone is forbidden to prophesy unless it is cleared by a human, men are reverting to Jewish traditional bondage too.  No one professing Jesus should submit to that for one hour either because that compromises the truth of the gospel!

6. "But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatever they were, it maketh no matter to me; God accepteth no man's person) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me."

These people who seemed important didn't matter to Paul because God isn't partial and doesn't favor some people over others. Being in conference with these so-called important people added nothing to him and his message. In other words, he knew as much as they did! They had nothing to teach him that didn’t already know through the Holy Spirit.

7,9.  Though they could add nothing to Paul, Peter, James and John did recognize that God had chosen him and sent him to Gentiles just as they had been sent to the Jews. The message was the same.
11-13 But later, Peter went to Antioch, were Paul was and Paul "withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed". Paul confronted Peter to his face because in front of some Gentiles, Peter acted like they did, but when James and some Jews came, Peter feared the Jews and so withdrew from the Gentiles seeking favor and approval from the Jews. Other Jews joined them and acted like hypocrites, even convincing Barnabas to join them. They convinced him he needed to be circumcised according to Jewish tradition.
14 Paul confronted Peter in front of all of them when he saw that Peter was not following the truth of the Gospel. He demanded to know why Peter, who was a Jew, lived in freedom from Jewish tradition like a Gentile but then compelled Gentiles to come under Jewish tradition.

Are pastors and leaders of the church today better than Peter was? If Peter could lead others astray, are not leaders of today just as fallible and couldn't they do the same?

If Paul did not need approval to do what God called him to do, whydo we need the approval of man to do what God has called us to do?

Today the coverings are just as hypocritical as Peter and the Jews were. Why don't we withstand them face to face as Paul did?

GOD CALLS TAKING A COVERING OTHER THAN HIM A SIN

Psalm 114:133,134 Should be our prayer. "Order my steps in thy word and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Deliver me from oppression of man, so I will keep thy precepts.” (KJV) Precepts mean appointed by God, a mandate from God. God has an appointed mandate, a destiny to fulfill, for each one. They must be faithful to do them no matter what man says.