Lessons
from the Duck Yard
By
Bill Somers
Revised Aug 17, 1997
At our home in Gonzales Louisiana
my wife Marylee keeps a collection of about 40 ducks of several types in
a large pen in the yard. We live on 3 acres, so we have the room. We have
a hose running from the house to the duck yard to give them water when
needed. And they usually had plenty to meet their needs. We live in a very
rainy part of the country, so often the duck yard becomes a sea of mud.
That is mud, mud, mud and more mud!. Why mud? Well, because ducks have
a habit of thoroughly eliminating any vegetation in any area where they
are penned up. They dig down into the mud and root out anything that even
resembles plant life. One side effect of this is that they create lots
of holes and ruts in the ground. It becomes very uneven due to all the
holes and extra treacherous when the holes turn to slippery mud.
One afternoon, while helping
Marylee with some chore in the duck yard, I considered the condition of
the yard. It was hot and dry that day. The ground in the duck yard was
hard and dry. It was full of holes and nothing grew there. The ducks and
the heat had turned it into a small scale desert! I thought to myself that
this ground will need to be plowed before being re-seeded. If we were to
get rid of the ducks and take down the fence and return the pen to a normal
lawn, it would need a complete plowing to make it level again.
"That's part of what it means
to break up the fallow ground!" The Holy Spirit spoke to me just at that
moment. And in that moment He opened up a couple of verses in the bible
and related them to a series of scriptures relating this to the Church.
Now I see that the duck yard is a figure for the Church. And even more
that the damage done by the ducks to the lawn that was originally there,
parallels the devastation that the enemy has wreaked upon the Church. And
further, the means I would have to use to restore the lawn are a reflection
of the means the Lord will use to restore his Church in these last days.
The key verses he showed
me were these:
Doth the plowman plow
all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?
When he hath made plain
the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the
cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the
rie in their place?
For his God doth instruct
him to discretion, and doth teach him. (Isaiah 28:24-26 KJV)
And:
6. Then he answered
and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel,
saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of
hosts.
7. Who art thou, O great
mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain:
and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying,
Grace, grace unto it.
8. Moreover the word
of the LORD came unto me, saying,
9. The hands of Zerubbabel
have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it;
and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.
10 For who hath despised
the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet
in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD,
which run to and fro through the whole earth. (Zechariah 4:6-10 KJV)
The key word linking these two passages in the word 'plain'.
Plain refers to a piece of ground that is flat, level or even. Plowing
up a plot of land has several results. The hard ground is broken up so
it will accept new seed. The weeds are all killed off, and the ground is
made plain or level. All of these are typical of what the Lord must do
to the Church.
Both passages speak of a
portion of ground being made plain. They are made plain for a purpose!
The plowman in the passage from Isaiah had the purpose of sowing seed.
Zerubabel in the passage from Zechariah has the purpose of building the
House of the Lord.
The background to all this
can be found in Isaiah chapter 1:24-28
Therefore saith the
Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of
mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
And I will turn my hand
upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
And I will restore thy
judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward
thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
Zion shall be redeemed
with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.
And the destruction of
the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake
the LORD shall be consumed (Isaiah 1:24-28).
This passage is a short summary of the Lords program for the end times.
It includes purifying the Church, converting the lost, vengeance on the
enemy, and destruction of the sinners.
Here verse 27 is the key
verse giving an understanding of the Lords plans.
What is Zion?
"Zion shall be redeemed
with judgment, …".Zion is the Church. Redemption is the
restoring and purifying the Church. Verse 27 elaborates on this. Judgment
is the means of making this happen.
"…, and her converts
with righteousness." This is the results of the redemption.
Zion will have converts, the converts will have righteousness.
For the time is come
that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at
us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 1 Peter
4:17
The Judgment that must begin with the house of God is expressed in many
ways in scripture. One of these is plowing. Here are two instances of Judgment
on Jerusalem referred to as plowing.
Micah the Morasthite
prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the
people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion
shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and
the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest. Jeremiah 26:18
Therefore shall Zion
for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps,
and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest Micah 3:12.
These verses were fulfilled literally in the destruction of Jerusalem
by Nebuchadnezzar. But they also have a figurative meaning speaking of
judgment on the Church. The Plowing is Judgment.
Here in Hosea the idea of
breaking up fallow ground is related to righteousness. When the ground
is broken up, the Lord will come and rain righteousness.
Sow to yourselves in
righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time
to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. (Hosea
10:12)
Who is the Plowman?
Back in Isaiah 28 we can
learn something about the plowman by the way he is described in verse 26
For his God doth instruct
him to discretion, and doth teach him. (Isaiah 28:26 KJV)
Clearly this speaks of Jesus who is instructed by the Father and only
does what the Father tells him.
Now in Zechariah 4 we find
a reference to a great mountain becoming a plain.
Who art thou, O great
mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain:
and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying,
Grace, grace unto it. Zechariah 4:7.
What is the great mountain mentioned here? It is Mt. Zion, a
figure for the Church. A mountain that shall become a plain speaks of a
great humbling that must take place. Now in this figure, the ground is
become a plain, but where is the seed it is to receive? It says 'he shall
bring forth the headstone thereof. Can a plain have a headstone?
Can a mountain have a headstone? No what God is doing here is switching
metaphors. He begins to use a different figure of speech.
In verse 9 he says " The
hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house
…." A house can have a headstone. This is the house of God referred
to in 1st Peter 4:17. That is the Church. So God is saying that the Church,
seen as a plot of ground, or a mountain, must be broken up to receive seed.
And this is the same as saying that the house of God must be judged so
it can receive its headstone.
What is the Seed? And
What is the Fallow Ground?
We know that the word of
God is described as a seed, for example in the parable of the sower.
The fallow ground is our
hearts. Either we break it up ourselves, or the Lord as the plowman will
break it up for us. It must receive the new seed.
In Ps 119:11 we read "Thy
word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." The
word hidden in the heart is the seed received by the ground. The idea of
breaking up ground and opening up your heart is found in Jeremiah 4:3-4
where it says
For thus saith the LORD
to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow
not among thorns.
Circumcise yourselves
to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, …..Jeremiah 4:3-4
It is the broken and contrite heart that will receive the Word of God.
What is the Headstone?
The headstone is the one
that caps off the building. Ephesians 2:20 says:
"… Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone;
The headstone of the Church
is Jesus; the Church is founded on the Lordship of Jesus. This is the headstone
mentioned in Zechariah 4. The headstone of Mt. Zion.
Isaiah tells us, in the same
chapter 28 where we read of the plowman,:
Therefore thus saith
the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a
stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he
that believeth shall not make haste. Isaiah 28:16
The word 'therefore' when seen in the context of chapter 28 follows
a long series of indictments of God's people. It implies that what follows
the 'therefore' is His Judgment upon his people, based upon those
indictments.
What is the Judgment?
The Judgment is accomplished
by setting the Headstone in place. When Jesus takes his proper lace as
head of the Church, He will judge the Church. Jesus is the judgment.
But this will be an occasion
for great praise and rejoicing. The text in Zechariah says "he shall
bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace
unto it".
Verse 9 and 10 speak of Zerubbabel
laying the foundation…:
The hands of Zerubbabel
have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it;
and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.
For who hath despised
the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and
shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven;
they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
(Zechariah 4:9-10 KJV)
Who is the builder?
The historical Zerubbabel
is an ancestor of Jesus, figuratively he is a type of Jesus. It is Jesus
[Zerubbabel] who builds the house. Recall that Jesus was a carpenter, one
who built houses, and ships. Verse 10 says for they shall rejoice, and
shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. Once again we see
rejoicing. Notice that Zerubbabel has in his hand a plummet. That is a
plumb line, the instrument of a carpenter! A plummet, or plumb line is
used to determine if something is truly vertical or upright. The line or
measuring rod is used to see if something measures up to a standard. This
is the same plummet seen in Isaiah 28:17 where it says "Judgment also
will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet …":The one
who lays the foundation and wields the plummet is Isaiah 28 is the same
one doing it in Zechariah 4. The Master Builder, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The historical Zerubbabel
was the one who built the second temple, a type of the end time Church,
in the book Ezra. This was a time of great rejoicing in Israel. It is prophetic
of the great rejoicing and great revival to follow God's restoration of
the Church in the days ahead.
And they sang together
by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good,
for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted
with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because
the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid Ezra 3:11.
What is the Result of Setting the Headstone in Place?
Zion shall be redeemed
with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. Isaiah
1:27
Genesis 28, shows us an example of someone putting a stone in place.
Here we read in the story of Jacob, how he took a stone and set it up for
a pillar.
And he was afraid, and
said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God,
and this is the gate of heaven.
And Jacob rose up early
in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and
set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. Genesis
28:17-18
In verse 17 we see he was afraid and saw that the place was dreadful.
This speaks of the Fear of the Lord that must come to the Church. Calling
the place 'the house of God' clearly refers to the Church. The stone that
he had for a pillow can be thought of as a 'head' stone. The act of setting
it up for a pillar is to set it 'in place'! [It speaks of the Son of Man
having a place to lay his head, atop his body the Church!] Making the stone
a pillar speaks of building something, the Church again. Once the head
stone is set in place he pours oil on the top of it. This speaks of the
Father sending the anointing to his people once they submit to the Lordship
of Jesus. This is what is meant by the words in Zechariah 4.7 "and he shall
bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace
unto it." The grace is the anointing!
Jacob is acting as a type
of the Father in this passage. It's the Father who sets the headstone in
place and who imparts the anointing. It's the voice of the father crying
Grace, grace! It is the Father setting up the Kingdom of God in
His Church on the earth; putting the Lamb upon the Throne and saying "Rule
thou in the midst of thine enemies! It is God arising and coming to his
resting place. It is the fulfillment of the prayer "thy kingdom come".
We see it further illustrated
in Psalm 133.
Psalm 133 A Song of
degrees of David
1 Behold, how good and how
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious
ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard,
even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
3 As the dew of Hermon,
and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion:
for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
Here you can see the psalmist speaking of Mt. Zion, the Church, in the
context of pouring ointment, or oil, on the head of Aaron. Aaron is, of
course, typical of Jesus, our High Priest. The body of the High priest
is compared to a mountain, in that the oil on the head is likened to dew
on the top of the mountain! Setting the headstone in place is equal to
setting the head on top the body. This is where the Son of Man lays his
head. This means that the body comes together. It comes into unity.
Unity
And so the result is UNITY!
The brethren dwell together, in unity. And because of this, the Lord commands
a Blessing.
This is the blessing mentioned
also in Haggai 2:16, from this day will I bless you.
The same concepts are covered
in the book of Ephesians. In chapter 1 we read that He is the Head of the
Body
And hath put all things
under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Which is his body, the
fulness of him that filleth all in all Ephesians 1:22-23.
In chapter 4 there is a discussion of what happens when the head and
body come together.
Till we all come in
the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ:
That we henceforth be
no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every
wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby
they lie in wait to deceive;
But speaking the truth
in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is
the head, even Christ:
From whom the whole body
fitly joined together and compacted by that which
every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure
of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of
itself in love. Ephesians 4:13-16:
And here in chapter 2 it speaks of the Headstone, Jesus Christ, as the
chief cornerstone, and how the building will grow or be built
only as it is fitly framed.
And are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief corner stone;
In whom all the building
fitly framed together groweth unto an holy
temple in the Lord:
In whom ye also are builded
together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. Ephesians
2:20-22
The Body and the Temple are the same. They can only grow when the head
is in place. The foundation is the headstone. The Church is not the Church
unless it is submitted to the head or "… holding the Head, from which all
the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together,
increaseth with the increase of God." Colossians 2:19
The foundation is the Lordship
of Jesus. Since the foundation is the Head the Church must be built from
the top down, just as illustrated in Psalm 133. There the body comes under
the anointing from the top down as the oil is poured on the head. When
it reaches the hem of the garment we can expect to see a release of healing
power!
Instruments of Judgment
Notice that in these passages,
the carpenter, the wise master builder, is never shown with hammer or nails,
cement, saw or chisel. These are instruments of construction or assembly.
This carpenter is shown using instruments of measurement or judgment. The
passages in Ephesians indicate that once the building is 'fitly framed'
or once the body is rightly joined to the head, it will grow automatically!
Once the Church gets right it can't help but grow! People will be attracted
to the presence of the Lord!
What is the Result of
Breaking up the Ground?
Zion shall be redeemed
with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. Isaiah 1:27
Figuratively the bible describes what happens after the ground is broken
up in terms of rainfall. Once the ground is plowed and the seed is sown,
the Lord sends His Rain. Here are a selection of verses that speak of the
Rain and the Harvest.
Then shall we know,
if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning;
and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter
and former rain unto the earth. Hosea 6:3
He shall come down like
rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water
the earth. Psalm 72:6
Then shall he give the
rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal;
and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous:
in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures Isaiah 30:23.
For I will pour water
upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I
will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine
offspring. Isaiah 44:3:
Drop down, ye heavens,
from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness:
let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness
spring up together; I the LORD have created it Isaiah 45:8.
Thou visitest the earth,
and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the
river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn,
when thou hast so provided for it.
Thou waterest
the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou
makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof.
Thou crownest the year
with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. Psalm 65:9-11
This verse from Micah describes the results in a more literal fashion:
But in the last days
it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall
be established in the top of the mountains, and it
shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.
Micah 4:1
And these verses from Isaiah 2:
And it shall come to
pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established
in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and
all nations shall flow unto it.
And many people shall
go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain
of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us
of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth
the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
And he shall judge among
the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords
into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift
up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more
O house of Jacob, come
ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD Isaiah
2:2-5.
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